Work Done in 2019

[thewoodlands]

It looks good @SpaceBus , nothing wrong with that job.

 

[SpaceBus]

I think some gravel will be going down soon. I managed to split two bucket loads before it got dark.

 

[thewoodlands]

I think some gravel will be going down soon. I managed to split two bucket loads before it got dark.

When we bought the 4540 in 2016, we did our driveway with two or three truck loads.

 

[SpaceBus]

When we bought the 4540 in 2016, we did our driveway with two or three truck loads.

Yep, I'll probably need just as much.

 

[EODMSgt]

I tried out the land plane today, and it worked really well. Unfortunately, there just wasn't much gravel left. The before photos are kind of deceiving due to the surface being so dry, now it's much darker. I don't know if the photos will really show how much smoother it is, but it's a big difference. After making several passes in either direction, I drove up and down repeatedly with all of the giant stones that came up as I went.

Looks good. Multiple passes is the only way to really level it out. It can get monotonous however working on the tractor isn't really work.

From the pictures it looks as if you created a lip at the edges of the driveway. Be careful about that as water will not be able to run off the driveway except downhill. You'll need to either scrape the edges so the water can flow off the driveway onto the sides or at least cut some side waterbars/trenches. If you're not doing a crown in the center of the driveway so water flows towards both sides, you should at least angle it slightly towards whichever side is lower. It's all trial and error and nothing one or two dump loads of gravel won't fix. Looks good for first time playing with the land plane. I use a box blade with my tractor.

 

[SpaceBus]

Looks good. Multiple passes is the only way to really level it out. It can get monotonous however working on the tractor isn't really work.

From the pictures it looks as if you created a lip at the edges of the driveway. Be careful about that as water will not be able to run off the driveway except downhill. You'll need to either scrape the edges so the water can flow off the driveway onto the sides or at least cut some side waterbars/trenches. If you're not doing a crown in the center of the driveway so water flows towards both sides, you should at least angle it slightly towards whichever side is lower. It's all trial and error and nothing one or two dump loads of gravel won't fix. Looks good for first time playing with the land plane. I use a box blade with my tractor.

The "lip" is really just some roughed up sod, it's probably gone already. I tried to give it a crown, but the dirt just didn't want to work with me and there's hardly any gravel left. For the first hour I had the rippers at their most shallow positions, but I flipped them to do the finishing work. There were drainage ditches on either side, but trees have grown in them. There is a slight pitch in the road towards the downhill side rather than a crown, but I think that's how it was down originally.

 

[SpaceBus]

It rained all night, so I was dying to see how it turned out. The rain really helped pack it all down. The center is softer than I'd like, and I didn't pack down the parking area at the top very well. I was beat when I finished working yesterday and forgot to put the cover back on the splitter. Overall I'm happy with the results. Without knowing the history of the property, it seems the road was either never maintained or it is just hard packed glacial till. Perhaps they never brought gravel in. Nothing is of any kind of uniformity, so I'm leaning towards never any gravel put down to begin with. I was able to make a better transition into the cut through I made on the side of the driveway. That was going to be an access to the cleared part of the property, but as soon as I made it through to the other side with the tractor, it sank. I don't know if I'll ever be able to drive on the cleared portion of our property without making another road.

All in all, I'd call it a success. More gravel will certainly improve things. Maybe I'll call the materials place today.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Looks good!

 

[SpaceBus]

Looks good!

Thank you, seeing it after the rain was very encouraging. We are going to need gravel for a different project, so a good time to put some good crushed interlocking gravel and rock dust.

 

[thewoodlands]

I finally bucked up and split this ash (9074b), there were between 40-42 rounds, the splits went on top of the existing ash splits.

 

[Mojappa]

Had a couple trees dropped to open up sunlight to the backyard so we can grow more food and such. Stacked the rounds I had but still have to finish getting it bucked, saw started cutting crooked so I stopped. New bar and chain put on today, should get the last of it cleaned up today.

 

[thewoodlands]

It rained all night, so I was dying to see how it turned out. The rain really helped pack it all down. The center is softer than I'd like, and I didn't pack down the parking area at the top very well. I was beat when I finished working yesterday and forgot to put the cover back on the splitter. Overall I'm happy with the results. Without knowing the history of the property, it seems the road was either never maintained or it is just hard packed glacial till. Perhaps they never brought gravel in. Nothing is of any kind of uniformity, so I'm leaning towards never any gravel put down to begin with. I was able to make a better transition into the cut through I made on the side of the driveway. That was going to be an access to the cleared part of the property, but as soon as I made it through to the other side with the tractor, it sank. I don't know if I'll ever be able to drive on the cleared portion of our property without making another road.

All in all, I'd call it a success. More gravel will certainly improve things. Maybe I'll call the materials place today.

Looks great @SpaceBus , you could charge for a job like that.

 

[SpaceBus]

Looks great @SpaceBus , you could charge for a job like that.

That's encouraging to hear!

 

[thewoodlands]

That's encouraging to hear!

You tell the boss that woody said she should pay the operated.....food does count.

 

[SpaceBus]

You tell the boss that woody said she should pay the operated.....food does count.

Ha, we are researching the viability for her to drop out of the rat race entirely and for real be my boss. With a trailer and a commercial mower I might be able to really make some money.

 

[thewoodlands]

Ha, we are researching the viability for her to drop out of the rat race entirely and for real be my boss. With a trailer and a commercial mower I might be able to really make some money.

The warning was just taken off so we just received more rain.

It seems like there are a good amount of people mowing in the north country for a business, if you're in an area with older people you could do ok. I'm not sure how many are on the books.

 

[SpaceBus]

The warning was just taken off so we just received more rain.

It seems like there are a good amount of people mowing in the north country for a business, if you're in an area with older people you could do ok. I'm not sure how many are on the books.

Ideally I'll be able to do a lot more than mow with the right trailer. We also want to do a Christmas tree farm, but that will take quite a while.

 

[heavy hammer]

Nice job SpaceBus looks good. All I did was mulch and mow this weekend. It has been raining all day here I'm glad I got all the mulch down.

 

[thewoodlands]

Nice job SpaceBus looks good. All I did was mulch and mow this weekend. It has been raining all day here I'm glad I got all the mulch down.

It turned out to be a nice day but since we received a chit load of rain yesterday/night, I stayed off any trails. I will be removing some shrubs and the roots for a lady this week so I sharpened my mudder chains real good.

Tomorrow we are planning on taking down a pine so the eastside of the house gets more sun.

 

[SpaceBus]

It turned out to be a nice day but since we received a chit load of rain yesterday/night, I stayed off any trails. I will be removing some shrubs and the roots for a lady this week so I sharpened my mudder chains real good.

Tomorrow we are planning on taking down a pine so the eastside of the house gets more sun.

We have a cluster of large beautiful red spruce that are both close to the house and shade it quite a bit. The upper limbs block part of our view as well, but the trees themselves are great. We consider felling them, but we aren't sure.

 

[sweedish]

The mower and the carts are how I got most of the firewood, far left was this years, once upon a time 2/3 full, i think the burning season is done for now, which is good, I was down to a 1/3 of a cord. I shifted it into the far right one.

Middle one is next years, I have more hardwood in it than The previous years. That bay I filled with standing dead. The far right is the following years, mainly lying dead. When I return to cutting I’ll finish it with standing dead, then start filling the left bay again. For now I’m taking a hiatus from cutting since I put the deck back on.

The holhouzen is green I cut this year, I guess it’s an safety net if I can’t cut as much as I need.

All of this has been cut since February, I measured the carts and 12 carts is about a cord. If I can get a fair amount of firewood done this upcoming winter I should be able to get 3 years ahead. Today was only 6 carts, so half a cord.

 

[heavy hammer]

Every little bit adds up sweedish. I ended up cleaning out the stoves and chimneys and replacing the catalyst in the Kuma I'll post some pics later.

 

[sweedish]

Every little bit adds up sweedish. I ended up cleaning out the stoves and chimneys and replacing the catalyst in the Kuma I'll post some pics later.

I have a fire right now actually, I am sick with something so I’m freezing.

 

[thewoodlands]

The pine is down with some of it bucked up, more shoulder season wood. Good ole softwood makes me think I can almost sharpen. All the wood chips in the old wheelbarrow is from making the back cut when felling the pine.

We will mill up some boards from the biggest 12 foot section.

 

[SpaceBus]

My wife finally used the splitter today and enjoyed it. Next I'm hoping she will drive the tractor. I don't know if she will ever use a chainsaw, but who knows.