# New Boots!



## quads (Jan 4, 2010)

My unexpected flurry of wood sales this weekend was greatly appreciated. I've been trying to save up enough money for a new Stihl, and that helped me get a little closer. But first I thought I'd treat myself to a new pair of boots. I've been surviving with the cheap $20 Pamida boots as necessary, but they are not very warm and don't last long. Most years by the time Spring rolls around my socks are sticking out and getting caught on the brush while cutting wood!

Years ago I bought a pair of insulated rubber boots from Farm and Fleet (I wear uninsulated rubber boots while milking the cows and doing chores). They were pretty warm and lasted fairly long. I have big feet, so even when I get the right size they go on hard and pull off hard, because they are all rubber and no laces. When I bought them before, they were $35 and the last time I looked at them they were $50. But still, since it was a treat for me, I was willing to spend the $50 on them.

When I got to the farm store, I was very disappointed. The boots I wanted were now $80 and there was no way I was going to spend that much money on a pair of rubber boots. All the other boots they had were the same as the crappy Pamida boots I have been buying. So I left, without buying them.

On the way out of town, I was passing Gander Mountain and thinking I should stop there to see what they have. What the heck, so I did. Well, they had a lot of boots there, real boots like Sorels and LaCrosse! It has been a very long time since I had a real pair of boots. They were way too much money though, and I was just about to give up, when I noticed some LaCrosse boots stacked on a pallet for $80. And luck was with me, they had my size!

So, for the same $80 that the farm store wanted for rubber boots, I came home with a pair of real boots! It's been a long time.







And no better way to try out my very own pair of real boots than to go cut some wood. It was a bit nipley, but my feet were warm! This is a pile of tops, leftover from the tornado in 2004 and the logging that followed. Some really good wood in there yet.






All cut up with the last one of my $50 Stihls. That old 026 is getting pretty tired, but I'm slowly getting closer to buying a new one.






After selling a bunch of firewood this weekend, and refilling my monthly supply on the porch, I've got room in my stacks up at the house. I hauled this up and didn't have to add it to my stacks in the woods.






Uh oh! I lost my stupid gas can!






The deer have really been munching on the turnips!






When the deer aren't using their own paths,...






...they use my ATV tire tracks. It's easier for them to get around in the tire tracks than walking through the deeper snow. Plus they help me by keeping the trails packed.






And a shot of Old Smokey chugging away at -10°F below zero (-24°C/250°K).


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## Jack Straw (Jan 4, 2010)

I got to get me a sleigh... this weekend my small trailer I pull behind my 4 wheeler fell through the ice in the woods, bent the axle and bent the rim. I was able to fix it, but it will probably bend again. The 400lbs of maple in the trailer didn't help.


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## Pagey (Jan 4, 2010)

I got a pair of Carhartt's 8" boots at Tractor Supply last month.  Best investment I've made in years.


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## Jack Straw (Jan 4, 2010)

Did you notice where those Carhartts were made?


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## jeremy_129 (Jan 4, 2010)

Dad got me these rocky's for christmas, it feels like they have a built in heater. It was 15 degrees out yesterday when I worked in them and feet didnt get cold.


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## hareball (Jan 4, 2010)

Nice photos! Hope you have your new saw soon!%

I usually go all out on boots (diabetic feet). Standing on deck doing winter fishing really blows when feet and hands get cold. The Rocky boots work great.


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## quads (Jan 5, 2010)

Ha, $80 was all out for me!  One thing I like about these new boots is they have the old-fashioned liners that I can remove and dry out by the stove for the next day.  All the cheap ones I've been buying lately, and the rubber ones from the farm store, don't have that feature.

Funny thing I noticed about Carhartt stuff is some of it is priced pretty reasonable, and some of it is way more than I want to spend.  My wood-cutting jacket (and my insulated pants, rarely worn) are Carhartt.  The Farm and Fleet store carries Carhart products, but have never seen the Carhartt boots there.  We have a couple Tractor Supply stores around, but they are both in different towns than I went to.

I was thinking about pulling my trailer, since I am hauling more wood again until the stacks at home are filled, but was also afraid of it breaking through the hard-pack, or sliding off the edge and getting stuck.  So I just made more trips with the little sled and didn't take the chance.


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## bogydave (Jan 5, 2010)

Quads
You're "Style'n " now. 
& have warm toes too 
La Crosse, must be Canadien. Good stuff!

Brainless gas cans, hate'm. 

Good pics, Thanks


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## SlyFerret (Jan 5, 2010)

Man, how do you get time to go out in the woods during the daylight hours?

I leave for work in the morning and it's barely light out.  By the time I get home it's been dark for well over an hour.

I'm so jealous!

-SF


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## Dix (Jan 5, 2010)

Nice boots  Nothing like a pair of new boots   

I'd go for a pair of those if I saw them. They'd make pushing the wheel barrow in the snow alot easier !


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## quads (Jan 5, 2010)

SlyFerret said:
			
		

> Man, how do you get time to go out in the woods during the daylight hours?
> 
> I leave for work in the morning and it's barely light out.  By the time I get home it's been dark for well over an hour.
> 
> ...


Shucks, it's easy!  

I get up every morning before 4, get on here, I start milking the cows while it's still dark, I'm done just as it's getting light, get back on here, head out in the woods and cut a load or two of firewood while taking pictures, get back on here, start milking the cows just before it gets dark, get done after it's dark, get back on here, and that's it!  

Plus do anything else in between that needs to be done.  Sure am glad I'm retired from the field work, although there isn't much of that this time of year!  For a long time I didn't know what to do with myself during the day when I would have normally been cutting hay or whatever, but now I just cut firewood.


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## hareball (Jan 5, 2010)

Sounds like a good time Quads! I really miss farm fresh milk.


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## savageactor7 (Jan 5, 2010)

Hey I like the tread on those monsters LaCrosse boots are almost bulletproof too.


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## mikepinto65 (Jan 5, 2010)

hareball said:
			
		

> Sounds like a good time Quads! I really miss farm fresh milk.



I've been getting fresh, unpasteurized, raw milk from 100% grass fed jersey cows at a local farm for the past couple months. I will NEVER go back to pasteurized grocery store milk again. The quality,  taste and health benefits are unreal!


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## quads (Jan 5, 2010)

mikepinto65 said:
			
		

> hareball said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's what I grew up on, of course.


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## hareball (Jan 5, 2010)

My ex is from Vermont and her Mom still goes to the farm every morning and heads to a big stainless holding tank with blades that rotate and taps herself a glass then fills the jug. $1 for the best milk I've ever had!! My Daughter loved it too.


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## gibson (Jan 6, 2010)

Quads:
How you do what you do, living where you live, you GOT'S to have yourself some top-notch waterproof breathable (-50*) rated footwear.  Glad you invested, I'm sure your feet are thanking you!


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## trailrated (Jan 6, 2010)

Quads, I am living vicariously through you.  I'm only 32 and only have a woodstove in my garage (one for the house is next winter) but by looking at your pics of split wood, motivates me to start collecting all the wood I can on my property. Keep the pictures coming, love seeing them.


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## quads (Jan 6, 2010)

Thanks!  I'm out there making firewood almost everyday, all year long, whenever possible.  I really enjoy it.  Some days I don't even take pictures, but just cut wood!  Like yesterday.  No wait, I did take two pictures yesterday but didn't upload them.  I'm glad my pictures motivate you.  Keep working at your firewood collecting, it's fun exercise, and eventually you'll be so far ahead you'll start giving it away too!

Yes, I am glad I got a real pair of boots again.  Not that I couldn't have kept living with the poor ones; I'm used to it and what doesn't kill me can only make me tougher, right?  But the new boots sure are a nice treat!  Even just stomping around in the snow with them feels nice.  I also have to keep looking back at my new footprints, they actually have tread marks!  Ha ha!


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## muncybob (Jan 6, 2010)

Nice pics as usual and "how sweet it is" to be able to do what you want each day!!.......but, I can't imagine ever giving firewood away!


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## Leadfoot (Jan 6, 2010)

Great looking boots. LaCrosse boots are the only work boot I can wear (the only ones that proper) I've been wearing LaCrosse work boots for the last 6 years. I have the have steal toes because of my job.


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## quads (Jan 6, 2010)

muncybob said:
			
		

> Nice pics as usual and "how sweet it is" to be able to do what you want each day!!.......but, I can't imagine ever giving firewood away!


Ahhhhh, retirement!  At least from the field work anyway, even if this time of year there really isn't any actual field work to do.  The cows still require my attention every morning and night, but someday I hope to give that up too.  It's hard though, because they're my pals and I raised all of them from babies.

Giving away firewood just gives me another excuse to do one of my favorite things, which is cut more firewood!  I only give it away to close friends and family, or someone in need, etc.


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## jcjohnston (Jan 6, 2010)

You are an awesome guy quads, your writings make me think about and miss my Dad all the more, he passed away 6 months ago


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## quads (Jan 7, 2010)

You will always miss your dad.  My dad passed away 25 years ago, and I think about him everyday.  His favorite place to be was right out there, in the same woods that I am cutting in.  I feel very close to him there, stepping on the same ground that he did, cutting wood where we used to cut wood together.


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