Homesteading and Hobby Farm/Ranch

lurkingdirk

lurkingdirk

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No need to spend that much, something like this will do nicely:

As BrutulTM BrutulTM said, get one with a Honda or Briggs and Stratton engine. I favour Honda over B&S by a lot, but to each his own. And you're not going to need more than a 25 ton splitter.

Another thing to think about is how to get your wood ready to burn. I have made several greenhouses out of PVC that curves nicely and plastic rolls. Looks just like a traditional commercial greenhouse. On each end I have a closeable vent grate, and at one end I put a pretty strong fan. I put the firewood in there and it's dry and ready to burn in a month. I stack from one end to the other, then use it in the opposite direction. I currently have about 18 chord in six greenhouses. I run the fan for the first two months it's in there, and then again for a week or two before I start burning it. A lot of that lumber came when I made my pond and cleared land for farming. I put a real push on for a few years to get as much wood done as possible (my kids still don't forgive me for how many hours they spent splitting and stacking wood) in order to have enough wood for many years without having to do some every year. That makes it not so big a deal when a tree falls and needs to be cleaned up. It's a couple day thing and you're done.

All that to say if you're going to sell firewood, don't sell it green or wet. People will get pissed.
 
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Sludig

Sludig

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lurkingdirk said:
No need to spend that much, something like this will do nicely:

As BrutulTM BrutulTM said, get one with a Honda or Briggs and Stratton engine. I favour Honda over B&S by a lot, but to each his own. And you're not going to need more than a 25 ton splitter.

Another thing to think about is how to get your wood ready to burn. I have made several greenhouses out of PVC that curves nicely and plastic rolls. Looks just like a traditional commercial greenhouse. On each end I have a closeable vent grate, and at one end I put a pretty strong fan. I put the firewood in there and it's dry and ready to burn in a month. I stack from one end to the other, then use it in the opposite direction. I currently have about 18 chord in six greenhouses. I run the fan for the first two months it's in there, and then again for a week or two before I start burning it. A lot of that lumber came when I made my pond and cleared land for farming. I put a real push on for a few years to get as much wood done as possible (my kids still don't forgive me for how many hours they spent splitting and stacking wood) in order to have enough wood for many years without having to do some every year. That makes it not so big a deal when a tree falls and needs to be cleaned up. It's a couple day thing and you're done.

All that to say if you're going to sell firewood, don't sell it green or wet. People will get pissed.
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And doesn't seem like worth the money/hassle unless you are getting free wood from also doing a arborist business. Like I don't usually see the folks selling wood here throwing the kind of money around Foler says on his property.
 
Foler

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I really just want the hydraulic lift for huge ass logs. Guess I could cut them down the middle with chainsaw tho.
 
BrutulTM

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Most of them will pivot vertical so you don't have to lift the logs as high.
 
BrutulTM

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Speaking of firewood, I recently acquired one of these ..

1000009021.jpg


It's called a pickaroon and they come in full axe handle length and hatchet length. I bought one of each but only really use the hatchet size. You just stab it into the log and now it's got a handle so you can carry it with one hand. It can easily lift 50+ lb logs onto the truck or splitter and then easily comes out when the weight is off of it. Takes all the bending over out of handling logs which makes things much quicker and easier on your back. Also, you could easily use it to kill someone.
 
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lurkingdirk

lurkingdirk

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BrutulTM said:
Speaking of firewood, I recently acquired one of these ..

View attachment 581465

It's called a pickaroon and they come in full axe handle length and hatchet length. I bought one of each but only really use the hatchet size. You just stab it into the log and now it's got a handle so you can carry it with one hand. It can easily lift 50+ lb logs onto the truck or splitter and then easily comes out when the weight is off of it. Takes all the bending over out of handling logs which makes things much quicker and easier on your back. Also, you could easily use it to kill someone.
Click to expand...

Kinda went a different direction at the end there...
 
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Sludig

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BrutulTM said:
Speaking of firewood, I recently acquired one of these ..

View attachment 581465

It's called a pickaroon and they come in full axe handle length and hatchet length. I bought one of each but only really use the hatchet size. You just stab it into the log and now it's got a handle so you can carry it with one hand. It can easily lift 50+ lb logs onto the truck or splitter and then easily comes out when the weight is off of it. Takes all the bending over out of handling logs which makes things much quicker and easier on your back. Also, you could easily use it to kill someone.
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Any kind of actual known brand with history? Saw that website, expecting some $200 nonsense. For the price and the plethora of stuff they had, made me kinda feel like it's one of the many shops you see that try to look like some fancy boutique product. (From fancy beard oil, fancy hatchets, random other hipster shit) But is all rebranded chinese.

Looked at the fiskers one, but looks like the lil tips on that one like to break.
 
BrutulTM

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I don't know the brand from the picture but you may be right. I just Google image searched it. The one I have is made by Husqvarna, the Canadian chainsaw manufacturer. Seems very well made and reasonably priced.

Hookaroon (Sappie)

Handsappie, Ideal for turn, pull and moving woods. Polished metal head with sharply bent tip . Wood handle partely painted with orange color making the tool
www.husqvarna.com www.husqvarna.com
 
lurkingdirk

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BrutulTM said:
I don't know the brand from the picture but you may be right. I just Google image searched it. The one I have is made by Husqvarna, the Canadian chainsaw manufacturer. Seems very well made and reasonably priced.

Hookaroon (Sappie)

Handsappie, Ideal for turn, pull and moving woods. Polished metal head with sharply bent tip . Wood handle partely painted with orange color making the tool
www.husqvarna.com www.husqvarna.com
Click to expand...

Hookaroon is a terribad name.
 
Borzak

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I get 7 full cords of wood a year delivered and stacked. Lot of wood around here, I live next to the national forest. I pay extra to get mostly hickory which has more BTUs than most oaks they have here. Cords is probably something that a lot people estimate and get totally wrong. It is not how much can fit in a half ton truck and such.
 
Foler

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Borzak said:
I get 7 full cords of wood a year delivered and stacked. Lot of wood around here, I live next to the national forest. I pay extra to get mostly hickory which has more BTUs than most oaks they have here. Cords is probably something that a lot people estimate and get totally wrong. It is not how much can fit in a half ton truck and such.
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Unfortunately my wood will be a complete mix mash of oaks, maples, pine, camphor, etc. I’m sure that’ll lower what I can get for it..
 
BrutulTM

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lurkingdirk said:
Don't burn pine inside. Mess up your chimney right quick.
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This is a myth. We have burned pine exclusively for my entire life and never had any problem aside from having to sweep the chimney every couple of years. It's just people who live in hardwood areas being snobs.
 
lurkingdirk

lurkingdirk

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BrutulTM said:
This is a myth. We have burned pine exclusively for my entire life and never had any problem aside from having to sweep the chimney every couple of years. It's just people who live in hardwood areas being snobs.
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Interesting. I've seen multiple chimney fires caused by people burning exclusively pine. You may be right, I don't think it's worth finding out. I do burn exclusively hardwood, and though I do clean my chimney every year, it's only because I'm a freak like that. It's never dirty. Get nothing out of it.
 
Sludig

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lurkingdirk said:
Interesting. I've seen multiple chimney fires caused by people burning exclusively pine. You may be right, I don't think it's worth finding out. I do burn exclusively hardwood, and though I do clean my chimney every year, it's only because I'm a freak like that. It's never dirty. Get nothing out of it.
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I think it's somewhere in the middle, my reading is that you need to make sure it's getting good and super hot somewhat routinely rather than a fairly low key fire like I usually do here in OK vs mr freezing montana.
 
BrutulTM

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Burning at low temp and/or with wet wood will produce creosote with hard wood as well. We have 3 houses on the ranch that all burn pine and pretty much nothing else and have for decades. The majority of people around here are the same. It's not like I'm a stickler about cleaning the chimney either. In theory I do it every year but there's been times when it wasn't cleaned for 5 years. I'm not an expert but my money is on old wive's tale. Googling generally backs up my experience.

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Blazin

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Started seeding last week and like to get a pic while everything is actually clean. I do clean equipment during the season but when I put it away for winter I like it to be like new kind of clean. All maintenance stuff done on tractor/zero turn etc. , as much as I like spring can suck thinking about how many hours of mowing sometimes.

Went through a lot of hay this winter so glad to see the alfalfa is off to a pretty good start.
IMG_8790.jpg
 
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Sludig

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BrutulTM said:
Burning at low temp and/or with wet wood will produce creosote with hard wood as well. We have 3 houses on the ranch that all burn pine and pretty much nothing else and have for decades. The majority of people around here are the same. It's not like I'm a stickler about cleaning the chimney either. In theory I do it every year but there's been times when it wasn't cleaned for 5 years. I'm not an expert but my money is on old wive's tale. Googling generally backs up my experience.

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Click to expand...

What do you do about flies, though I feel like way worse here with constant wet ground, decomposing brush, etc.

Did ivermectin pour on as a dewormer. Doesnt seem to abate flies any as a side benefit. Had the side effect of bleaching/burning off the hair on my white cows it seems like. (Went by the dosage cap by body weight and poured down the back, sure maybe more concentrated where it first splashed down , fuckers act like I'm pouring lava on them when they stand in the rain normally.)

Had a fly minteral block, have a sulfur block, was giving some loose fly warrior mineral in with their pellets etc, but still mega bad. Got a couple fly bags (only 5 acres after all so figuring put them up near the shed/hay and by the water trough. ) and probably going to try a 1gal spray bottle and cylence when I'm feeding them if theyll cooperate. Might try to build an oiler? That I can put the stuff in w/ mineral oil (where bulk I wonder) some say diesel but that seems.... bad and evaporates quick.
 
BrutulTM

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Flies are tough. Especially in a small area where you can't move the cattle away from their own feces which is where flies lay eggs. Ivermectin is mainly for internal parasites but I've heard it can help with flies as well. Oilers and dust bags are kind of old fashioned. We used them when I was a kid but I haven't seen anyone using them in decades so I'm guessing they weren't too effective.

What I see people doing these days is using insecticide ear tags or giving them mineral supplements with insect growth regulator (IGR) in it. You can also get mineral with garlic powder which is supposed to help with flies if you want something more natural.

Fly traps and giant sheets of fly paper by the water tank can help as well I've heard. Moving the herd daily is supposed to help too but obviously that's not going to be an option for you.

If you use the ear tags, you're supposed to rotate the tags you use with different active ingredients or they can develop resistance over time. I've tried a lot of this stuff and it's hard to tell how well any of it works so ymmv. Some individual animals also get flies worse than others for some reason.
 
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