So, what did you do today?

[WIMUSKY]

Plowed, like every other day. Been getting slammed up north....

 

[Grub54891]

Just got back from a daytrip. Came home to 5" more snow, cleaned it up and am now relaxing. Will the snow stop? Supposed to get another batch starting tomorrow. About 60" so far here.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Heck, the groomers r getting stuck because of all the snow. Crazy... And it's not our heavy snow season yet. Just wait unti Feb, March....

 

[82rude]

Last few days have been snowsqualls from across Superior.Not as much snow as our friends from Wis or western Mich but enough to keep me and my trusty polaris ace busy plowing today for sure.Though we have the typical winers our city snow removal gang is second to none.

 

[GA_Boater]

Winter is truly here. All our resident iPlowers are hard at work.

Hoping for an early spring with only 51 days until Groundhog Day and good news from Punxatawny Phil.

 

[82rude]

Just got finished doing 4 driveways.We only got about 8 inches but at the end of the driveways was about 2 feet of the heavy stuff.Even plowed the darn sidewalk as nobody else did.

 

[StarTed]

Rain melted the snow away.

Fixed the wiring for my downrigger. Now it actually runs. Next I need to install a new heating system for the cab I built.

 

[Grub54891]

Going to Shovel the roof at the cabin. Hope I can get in there easily as the neighbors *usually* have the drive plowed.

 

[GA_Boater]

Be careful on the roof, Grub. Things happen fast in slippery conditions. Like this;

 

[jakedaawg]

Happy end of the year....


my wish for the New Year is a year of No change...had too much change this year.

 

[dwco5051]

Only one week into the new year and I already messed up big time. Was going to remove a tree that leaned out over my lane and ended up making the famous “Barber Chair.” I first used a McCulloch 3-25 which weighed over 25 pounds back in the early 1950's and have been cutting ever since and this was my first barber chair ever. This tree was a serious leaner put I was planning to pull it at a 90 degree angle to the lean. Had a rope high up hooked to the skid steer to drop it where I wanted. Was going to wrap it with either ratchet straps or chain but forgot. Got about 90 percent of the cut made (no plunge cutting on a tree that was only 16 or so inches, just straight notch and cut) stopped and since I work by myself had to go to the machine and make sure there was no slack in the rope and the second I put a little tension on it down it came. The butt kicked back a landed right where I would have been kneeling had it fell while I was cutting. Leaners have always scared the be jabbers out of me but I will guarantee I will be a lot more careful on the next one as I have three more a lot bigger to do that are over my drive. The next shortcut may be my last.

 

[Grub54891]

Had one a bit bigger that was leaning towards the power line. Come along and 50' of strap and chain. Notch, cut, tighten up repeat several times. By golly it landed right where I needed it to. They can be scary, I have three that lean towards the shed I have to figure out yet. Got to land them between the shed and power lines.

 

[foodfisher]

Scary, that's why fallers make the big bucks.

 

[jakedaawg]

I use what grandpa called a swing hinge to steer leaners. When you use a tractor to guide you are exerting a lot of extra tension that doesnt necessarily work with the stresses in the tree. It takes some figuring but between notching and angled /multiple hinges you would be surprised how far you can get them to change direction. I be seen a couple how to videos on you tube that were similiar to the way I learned.

 

[dwco5051]

I use what grandpa called a swing hinge to steer leaners. When you use a tractor to guide you are exerting a lot of extra tension that doesnt necessarily work with the stresses in the tree. It takes some figuring but between notching and angled /multiple hinges you would be surprised how far you can get them to change direction. I be seen a couple how to videos on you tube that were similiar to the way I learned.

I spent some time examining the aftermath and determined I just put too much tension on when I took the slack out. I was pulling from a location higher than the stump so the horizontal vector increased but the trig result was only about a 6% increase, not enough to make a big difference. I was dropping it perpendicular to the lean so the lean was not the problem. I had only started the back cut and was planning on a tapered hinge to move the top about six feet or so from the pull but was only about 1/3 of the way through the cut. If I had strapped or chained the trunk it may not of split like it did but fall on the extra large hinge but the truth is I just pulled too darn hard on a relatively small tree.

 

[82rude]

Its been howling and screaming all night.

 

[jakedaawg]

I did not mean to imply that you did wrong...I meant to mention that there are other ways as well

 

[82rude]

Taking pops out tomorrow to get his new-used car from the dealer.His old sunfire refuses to start so i mentioned to him that he,s 83 and as long as he could afford it buy a reliable car for his twilight years.So he got a 2013 kia forte which for him is an excellent choice.The sunfire was a great little car, just elderly and too unreliable for an oldman.

 

[82rude]

Well pops did pretty well for himself i have to admit.Theres not a mark inside or outside on that kia.100,000 km or 60,000 miles for my american friends.Being in Canada ,Ontario in particular the car has to pass a saftey /mechanical fitness test.All new brakes,rotors ,calipers plus other stuff to make it like new.New goodyears all around ,all oils and filters also.The 156 hp i4 moves along pretty good and returns outstanding mpg.Fwd with stability and trac control.Looks like approx 6800 usd did it which is well within the range considering its a 10/10 vehicle.File picture

 

[jakedaawg]

Well, somehow I managed to lose a set of tire chains for the loader tractor. This is NOT a small pile of chain. It would take a few five gallon buckets. Blows my mind. So, I guess I'll be making tire chains today. Fml.