Summer cutting

[Ashful]

Just had an enormous storm roll thru, two weeks ago. Estimated yield from one property I manage will be 400 - 500 yards of ground trunks and branches, grinding every trunk over 30” DBH, plus almost 100 cords of stuff under 30” DBH kept as firewood. I will definitely be doing some cutting this summer!

 

[KJamesJR]

Summer heat isn’t a huge issue. If your cutting in the woods typically your under shade. It’s the damn ticks that are murder. Haven’t lifted a finger in regard to cutting in my woods this summer. Ticks are just too wicked this year.

Ideally I like around 30f and dry when cutting splitting and stacking.

 

[SpaceBus]

My lighter saw came in today and between it and cutting in the shade 75f didn't even bother me. While I was out in town I even found a bug net shirt that has totally changed my life. No longer can these mosquitoes and flies get under my head net.

 

[EODMSgt]

Summer heat isn’t a huge issue. If your cutting in the woods typically your under shade. It’s the damn ticks that are murder. Haven’t lifted a finger in regard to cutting in my woods this summer. Ticks are just too wicked this year.

Ideally I like around 30f and dry when cutting splitting and stacking.

Gotta agree with you on this one. Even processing wood in the yard I've had to pull ticks off. They're definitely bad this year (get worse every year unfortunately).

 

[johneh]

Been lucky this year have not seen one but 2 miles down the road they are
inundated . You can try this it seems to work for us
We take Garlic powder about 1/2 cup dissolve it in about a Qt of warm water
put the mixture in a garden sprayer add water to full mark mines a 2 1/2 gallon unit
spray the perimeter of your lawn mines 2 1/2 acres any left over spray it around the
flower bed and trees . This seems to work or may be we are just lucky an
old Farmer down the road told me about this he swears it works

 

[KJamesJR]

Been lucky this year have not seen one but 2 miles down the road they are
inundated . You can try this it seems to work for us
We take Garlic powder about 1/2 cup dissolve it in about a Qt of warm water
put the mixture in a garden sprayer add water to full mark mines a 2 1/2 gallon unit
spray the perimeter of your lawn mines 2 1/2 acres any left over spray it around the
flower bed and trees . This seems to work or may be we are just lucky an
old Farmer down the road told me about this he swears it works

Typically I treat my clothes with permethrin, which has worked like a charm in the past. There have been times this summer however when I’ve looked over and brushed half a dozen deer ticks off my shoulder making their way to my neck.

 

[SpaceBus]

Typically I treat my clothes with permethrin, which has worked like a charm in the past. There have been times this summer however when I’ve looked over and brushed half a dozen deer ticks off my shoulder making their way to my neck.

That's nightmarish. We have found two ticks so far this year, both on our dogs. We have 25 wooded acres with trees 25' from the house and expected loads and loads of ticks. I'm not sure why we don't have them. Perhaps our local crow colony and songbirds eat them all?

 

[KJamesJR]

That's nightmarish. We have found two ticks so far this year, both on our dogs. We have 25 wooded acres with trees 25' from the house and expected loads and loads of ticks. I'm not sure why we don't have them. Perhaps our local crow colony and songbirds eat them all?

We had hardly any last year but we were also raising chickens. We’re down to one bird and don’t get much in the way of wild birds.

 

[Kevin Weis]

I've found no ticks on me this year yet. Dog ticks I don't worry about so much. The Deer ticks I do. I have a co-worker that has to use a cane now and another co-workers daughter that has some brain damage from Lyme. Nothing to fool around with.

 

[SpaceBus]

We had hardly any last year but we were also raising chickens. We’re down to one bird and don’t get much in the way of wild birds.

Good to hear that poultry will eat pests. Do they go after mosquitoes and black flies too?

 

[Woody Stover]

My nice new MS261 pro saw can get vapor lock very easily in temps above 75F.

All you guys talking about your MS261s makes me worry about mine now. I've been running it for a little over a year now with no trouble in the heat, but is this something I have to look forward to? I might have to swap the cap out for a better vented version (like a weedeater) if that's the case.

Huh, never had that happen on my 261, and I've cut in some real hot weather. It was in the shady woods, though.

It’s the damn ticks that are murder. Haven’t lifted a finger in regard to cutting in my woods this summer. Ticks are just too wicked this year.

I have a co-worker that has to use a cane now and another co-workers daughter that has some brain damage from Lyme. Nothing to fool around with.

I've been folding the bottoms of my pant legs and putting rubber bands around the bottom, then stuffing them in my boots and spraying that area with Natrapel or Repel Lemon Eucalyptus (stinky stuff!) Once in a while, a tick will still make it past. Be very aware of any itches, and you can usually get them off of you pretty quick. They say if you get them off within the first day, you are less likely to get infected with Lyme. I'm not sure how true that is, though. Luckily, it's not a high-Lyme area here, but it's around and I know people who have had debilitating cases when it went untreated for a long time.

 

[Sawset]

Huh, never had that happen on my 261, and I've cut in some real hot weather. It was in the shady woods, though.

I found it's not the outside temp so much as leaving the saw sit in the hot sun for half an hour or more. It runs fine in all temps, just wouldn't start after baking in the sun.
Maybe some setting is wrong, not sure. Lay the thing in the shade though and everything was fine. I should put a meat thermometer in the case once, let it bake, and see what it is.
If we ever get some sun.

 

[KJamesJR]

Good to hear that poultry will eat pests. Do they go after mosquitoes and black flies too?

No the small fast moving buggers were never targeted. I did have one chicken that would chase and snatch dragon flys right out of the air. Kind of like a dog with a frisbee. She was our smallest hen but was the most active when foraging. The ticks population at this time was almost non existent in the yard. Fast forward a year with no chickens... Now I’ve even found them inside the house waiting for a blood meal. As of mid-May they seem to be mostly dog ticks. March - May were mostly deer ticks.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Will attempt to get the last of the dead Ash I cut down about three weeks ago before it starts to rot. Very small, probably less than 6" so will season for a couple years as to small to split for me. An EAB victim. Lots more to come. Have another neighbor that has a huge Ash in a horse pasture on 4-1 slope that has been infected. Lower limbs are starting to die out now. So large it will probably survive another 3-4 years though but when it does go will be at least 4-5 cords in it.