Hand Tools and Machinery for Country Living

[Mabouya]

Speaking of firewood, I finally got rid of the stupid plastic tarps and installed corrugated metal roofs. Not an elegant retrofit, but it works.

So Jorn, based on that image I must conclude that whenever it rains at your place the wind drops down to 0.01 mph, correct? ; )

[j44ke]

So Jorn, based on that image I must conclude that whenever it rains at your place the wind drops down to 0.01 mph, correct? ; )

They are pitched enough water runs off them towards the plants. The tin is screwed down plenty with washers etc.. There are 3 1/2" screws holding the frame for the tin down to the 2x4's and the 2x4" down to the 4x4's. The racks are less than 4' tall. And they are in a relatively sheltered area. More likely that a tree falls on them, but that's same as anywhere around here. We'll see. First decent storm is this weekend. 1.5" of rain predicted.

[rwsaunders]

Jorn…you will not believe how quickly your wood will dry in those racks and how well it will stay dry…nice work.

[j44ke]

That would be excellent. Some of that cherry is nearly 4 years old and still burns like a cheap cigar. Cherry burns great once dry, but it seems to take forever getting there. Hopefully no tarp speeds things up.

Next on the list, sorting this and splitting all the maple before it starts to grow hair. Then I'll decide what to do with the cherry, which isn't in great shape. Limb wood with a lot of rotten centers. Big old tree developed latex fungus and limbs died before the trunk let go. Carpenter ants loved it.

[Too Tall]

@j44ke I vote bonfire. Throw in a liar's contest and fiddle music you've got yourself a event :)

[j44ke]

@j44ke I vote bonfire. Throw in a liar's contest and fiddle music you've got yourself a event :)

Yep, maybe T-Day or shortly around there.

[SlowPokePete]

Yep, maybe T-Day or shortly around there.

I'm in.

SPP

[bigbill]

I'd like to profess my love for my EGO chainsaw. I also have a nice Husky gas chainsaw, but it's nice to grab the cordless chainsaw to make some quick cuts. Two weekends ago, I put about 60 minutes of runtime on the EGO and still had more than half a charge. No gas can, just some bar oil.

https://egopowerplus.com/18-inch-chain-saw/

[j44ke]

I'm in.

SPP

Top o' the list!

[Too Tall]

I've given it the old Liberal Arts College try and come up with less than satisfying results.

Is there ANY cordless E-Mower that is capable of mowing over a pile of leaves? I'm not going to be happy with nibbling away at a pile until it is scattered ;) My dear trusty 20 yr. old Honda is no more, a victim of the last creek flooding. Bummer eh? Loved that little dead dinosaur burning machine.

[Tom]

That's how I vacuumed my back yard yesterday. Ego 2135M "Power+" model. The one with two blades. 7.5 amp hour battery only used about 60% in an hour or so. Blew all the maple and forsythia leaves out of the side garden onto the lawn, ate them all up along with the poplar and maple drifts along the back. It is much easier on my bad left hip than the lateral motion of raking for an hour.

[mnoble485]

Speaking of firewood, I finally got rid of the stupid plastic tarps and installed corrugated metal roofs. Not an elegant retrofit, but it works. I also moved a bunch of bad wood off these racks onto a pile for outdoor consumption where punky poorly burning wood is less offensive. In the process I evicted a lot of mice. Getting rid of the tarps will help that issue also.

That “tool” center left. I’ve been looking at them recently. Can I get a verified consumer review please.

Mike

[j44ke]

That “tool” center left. I’ve been looking at them recently. Can I get a verified consumer review please.

Mike

Center right maybe? The Kindling Cracker. I like it and use it all the time for kindling. I have the regular sized one, so I just avoid using awkwardly long pieces of firewood in it. Or cut the piece in half. They make an XL version but that seems over-ambitious - it is for making kindling which works better small. One of those go outside, grab four or five pieces off the rack, bang away for 15 - 20 minutes to get everything down to 3/4-1" sticks, then take them in the garage and halve them with the chopsaw. The original is nicely cast. Copycats are less so and break. I bolted mine to a poplar round, so top of the wood was just above counter height for a good whack.

This one.

[Too Tall]

That's how I vacuumed my back yard yesterday. Ego 2135M "Power+" model. The one with two blades. 7.5 amp hour battery only used about 60% in an hour or so. Blew all the maple and forsythia leaves out of the side garden onto the lawn, ate them all up along with the poplar and maple drifts along the back. It is much easier on my bad left hip than the lateral motion of raking for an hour.

Thanks for that:)

[Tom]

Model number is actually LM2135SP but I haven't used the self propulsion feature yet. I'm saving that for when I am truly decrepit. The mulching function is way superior to the Craftsman it replaced, you can let the lawn get away from you and it chops everything up to where it just disappears. This morning I did the front lawn, raking back all the maple leaves that fell off our tree and blew on to our neighbor's lawn plus a bunch of bonus feral oak and European beech leaves then used that thing to bag them all up. Only thing I had to do was raise it up so the leaves would go into it instead of just pushing along in front.

It's not inexpensive but if it lasts I think it was worth the money. It seems well built.

[j44ke]

My neighbor recommends his Makita, but it sounds like Tom has the one you want. I don't know if the Makita has a mulching blade.

[Too Tall]

Model number is actually LM2135SP but I haven't used the self propulsion feature yet. I'm saving that for when I am truly decrepit. The mulching function is way superior to the Craftsman it replaced, you can let the lawn get away from you and it chops everything up to where it just disappears. This morning I did the front lawn, raking back all the maple leaves that fell off our tree and blew on to our neighbor's lawn plus a bunch of bonus feral oak and European beech leaves then used that thing to bag them all up. Only thing I had to do was raise it up so the leaves would go into it instead of just pushing along in front.

It's not inexpensive but if it lasts I think it was worth the money. It seems well built.

Thanks for this.
I spent way too much time today pushing leaves around. Mulching them has been the right stuff for yrs. and yrs. Good to know there are decent e-mowers.

[j44ke]

We got a ton of rain and still experiencing some heavy-duty winds. Weather station is saying 15-20mph with gusts to 50mph. Heard two trees go down so far, one pretty close. Pretty good whump to it so figure it hit ground and not the garage. Dollars to donuts it is a pine. Just sharpened the chainsaw yesterday so that's ready to go tomorrow morning if needed. Fortunately the nasty looking squall line ahead of this front went to the north of us. Albany was dead center and Vermont is next. In about 4 hours we should start to see declining winds. Good news is I haven't had to discuss grazing rights with any deer today.

[j44ke]

This is what ran over Jeremy Renner and I want one.

[Mabouya]

This is what ran over Jeremy Renner and I want one.

Set up a T bar lift to the top of your driveway, sell day-passes for $5, free hot cocoa in the garage, and you're good to go.

Re: Renner - I saw the story on the BBC web site and looked up the machine - I'm amazed that he survived - it's a monster.

PS Don't forget to set the parking brake. (or whatever those things use)