Tuesday Torque: Wayback Machine To Boonville, 2009

 This video has had just 1000 views since we posted it seventeen years ago. The nickels aren't coming in very fast. It's not a bad video, and there are some good hit-and-miss mechanical views.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great cemetery crawl this weekend, and had some quality time with family and friends.

This marker had the marble spire stolen a few years ago. Maybe a sculptor strapped for funds and needing raw material. Who needs a stranger's grave marker in their home?

Poor George. Went from Bluford, IL down to Tennessee to visit family and was abducted and drafted into the Confederate army. He came home after the war. 

We got to review a lot of history of family and neighbors.

 

Weekend Steam: No Controversy In My Mind!

 The only way you can keep antiques like this original is to never operate them. Steam engines need flues, new grates, new staybolts, new flue sheets, new crown sheets, effective brakes, and on and on. I am glad to see old machinery restored and running for new generations to learn from and enjoy.  Tastes change. Back in the 1960s the gas engine hobby was just taking off and restorers mostly wanted their vintage engines to look like new. Lots of original paint and patina were stripped off for new paint. That changed, and now most want the barn fresh, dull paint, old grease, and rust look. Don't fret over how original the machines are.  Just be thankful that dedicated hobbyists spent the time, effort and money to make these treasure run again. 

Soap Class For Everybody!

 Here's Susan's basic soap making lesson. No rehearsal, one take!

Wednesday Windage: .22 Mag, .22 LR, .380 Auto Comparisons, by Gun Sam

 

Tuesday Torque: Galloping Goose!

 Another great topic from Merle! Thank You, Merle!

Out Of Retirement

 Susan has made a lot of soap in years past, both basic and fancy. With lard, tallow, various vegetable oils, and she taught a lot of people how to do it, too. Soap making used to be a basic skill for a homemaker. Her tools and supplies have been sitting idle for many years, but she got a call to teach a class for Home Extension. The lye in that container was some we bought more than twenty years ago!  She will be making a batch Monday to have samples to hand out. 

                                   Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam V: Another Place To Visit! Steamtown!

 Thanks, Merle!

Weekend Steam IV: Who Needs A Quiet Saturday?

 Another great link from our spotter friend Merle.  Many Thanks, Merle!

Weekend Steam III: A Bit Of Railroading History

 Brief, but great info! Thanks, Merle!

Weekend Steam II: West Somerset Railway

 Real Beauty! Thanks, Merle!

Weekend Steam: The Last Shay!

 Merle sent some good ones for us this week! The last Shay out of the shop is one of the engines at Cass Scenic Railroad in West Virginia.  Many Thanks, Merle!

Fox Kits Playing At The Back Door!

 One of our blog friends sent us this video, with permission to post it! This fox family lives in a major eastern city. Foxes and coyotes have adapted to urban settings, but it still seems unusual to see wildlife in developed areas. Foxes in rural areas have a tough time because coyotes prey on them. That drives foxes to live up close to humans, where coyotes traditionally have feared to tread. MANY THANKS TO JOHN for sharing this happy video!

Slo-Mo Recap Of Snag Hinge Failure

 

Here's the hinge failure video slowed down to 1/4 for us to examine. You can see the one that failed swinging toward the camera as it pulls the other stem over. It comes through the mulberry tree that was growing in the fencerow. Note the stump at the end. The left side was punched down when the master snag was pulled over. The branches coming down are impressive! Hinge failure AAR: https://youtu.be/sixSbZ5SRDo

Wednesday Windage: Tim Sundles On 10 mm vs. 45 ACP For Bear Protection

 

Tuesday Torque: Buffalo Springfield 1928 Road Roller

 

This beauty sold recently at Aumann Auctions.  It brought $77,000!

Thanks for spotting, Merle!

Rollag Gas Engine Area

Back To The Old Grind!

 

Hinge Failure After Action Review

 I am in the process of cutting up this snag now, and it is a disappointment. Pin oaks standing dead rot much faster than other oaks, and this one is really punky. I am going to load it out into the woods and dump it because it will not make good firewood. It is too soft and too light. Oh Well, or words to that effect. Take your pin oaks down early while they are solid. 

Weekend Steam II: Big Boy Eastern Schedule

 

May 25: Depart Cheyenne for Eastern Leg.

May 30: Public Display: Omaha, Nebraska.

June 3: Public Display: West Chicago, Illinois.

June 10: Public Display: Buffalo, New York.

June 15–16: Public Display: Scranton, Pennsylvania (Steamtown).

July 4–5: Public Display: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

July 9–10: Public Display: Altoona, Pennsylvania.

July 14: Public Display: Fostoria, Ohio.

July 19: Public Display: St. Louis, Missouri.

July 29: Return to Cheyenne, WY

Weekend Steam: Take A Ride On The Cass Scenic Railroad!

 This little engine is a Climax geared logging locomotive. Ingenious design, fascinating to watch.  Thanks, Merle!

HINGE FAILURE! Snags Write Their Own Ending!

 I am glad I have this recorded! I had it set up the way I wanted, but while I was working away on the backstrap of the in-leaning tree, the hinge failed on the out-leaner! I did not see that because the tree I was working on blocked the view. The chain swung it over to our side of the boundary fence, and then the in-leaner dropped on top of it. You can watch both hinges fail, going sideways. Snags always have extra risks. The wood had lost some strength on these stems and I am lucky the hinge on the out-leaner held until the other one was able to go.

One of the things to do when making your falling plan is to figure out where the tree will go if the hinge fails. You can tell that within a 90 degree quadrant. That is the worst place to be during your cutting. These trees fell almost 90 degrees from where I intended because of the first hinge failure, and knowing where NOT to be turned out to be vital to me remaining vertical when it was all over.

Don't Lose Your Marbles!

Wednesday Windage: Ruger .44 Magnum Hunter, A Hickok 45 Oldie But Goodie

Tuesday Torque: Some Oldies But Goodies!

 Many thanks for the picks, Merle!

NRA Women On Target Day

 We had rain and cold temps at the Carmi Rifle Club, and a small turnout, but we had a good time anyway.  Half of the day was indoors on the rimfire pistol range, then we had some great cheeseburgers off the grill, and shooting all afternoon.  The sun came out to take off the chill, finally!

Potato salad, Big Thick Cheeseburgers, chips, cookies!

Weekend Steam: Propane Is Neat, No Smoke, No Soot, Lights Right Up

 

Give Up Your Hydraulic Splitter?

 I won't be switching.  Working up firewood by hand takes energy, and then you have to go pick up another load and do it all over again.  Dad told me that if you have a good hand shucking corn, you unload for him. If he shucks and then has to unload, he won't be able to shuck like he did on the first load. I gave up splitting by hand at 58 because my right elbow couldn't stand it anymore. This is a beautiful axe, though. It's hand forged and made just for splitting wood.  The handle is hand made, by splitting the hickory rather than sawing. That insures that there is no runout in the grain, which can wreck your day on a tough chunk of wood. Anyhow, if you look up this axe on line you will see that one can be yours for $600.

Wednesday Windage: Changes Coming With The 4473?

Tuesday Torque: Engines On Show Grounds, From Someplace Or Another

 Suggestions from Merle. Thank You, Merle!

Making Wood!

 Susan and I have seen exactly one mill like this, in Michigan.  I wonder how many there are in the U.S. 

Back To The Old Grind!

Update: I found the original video on YouTube>

Weekend Steam II: Pawnee Oklahoma Steam And Gas Show, 2025

 A lot of gas, but there is some steam in there, too. From Someplace Or Another.

Weekend Steam: Early Traction Engines at 2019 Pageant Of Steam

 The Birdsall engines are different from other traction engines you will see. They use a driveshaft to move power, which is unique as far as I have seen. 

Here's a really good look at the driveshaft side of a Birdsall.

B-B-B-Buzzards!

Turkey vultures are enjoying themselves at our place. They circle around over us throughout the day. Our timber provides a good updraft when the wind is moving, and they surf the edges. Every morning they will roost in this dead tree to sun themselves. We admire from afar!

 

Wednesday Windage II: New To Me Things On My Old Contender

 We have a nice selection of 10 inch barrels for the Contender, but I have been wanting a barrel in .223, and you gain a lot of speed if you move up to a 14 inch barrel. I found a good one online at a fair price and have it sighted in.  That extra 4 inches of bull barrel is heavy! I ordered a kit to install sling swivels to the gun, and now it hangs easy on the shoulder.  Stick your support arm through the sling, hasty sling style, push out with your shooting hand, and this rig is steady like a rifle!

Wednesday Windage: Pairing Handgun And Rifle Cartridges

 Here's another good one from Tim Sundles of Buffalo Bore Ammunition.

Baby Owl Update

 We are checking the yard every time before we let dogs out. This morning the little owl was gone from the yard, but I soon spotted him back up in his tree. I am amazed! 

Tuesday Torque: Tioga Tractors, Have You Seen One?

 This is a rare, maybe totally extinct tractor. I have never heard of or seen one of these. Many thanks to Merle for spotting this one!

Excitement In The Dog Yard!

A barred owl fledgling hopped out of the den today.  We set up fencing immediately to keep it from the dogs.
 

No Retirement For This Faithful Friend

 We're cranking out two pots a day, plus a few cups of instant.

                       Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam II: Minne Out In The Wild

 Many Thanks to Eaton Rapids Joe!

Weekend Steam: Oldest Paddle Steamer In Australia, PS Melbourne

This is one I stumble across, and it is great to watch.  It is the Paddle Steamer Melbourne, plying the Murray River at Mildura. It is a much different layout in the engine room than American steamboats!

No Log Too Big!

 Once in a while a really big log will come into a mill, too big for the carriage, too big for the blade to cut through. Sawyers would use this method to bust a log in two so it could be sawed. Powder is a bit pricey nowadays, so don't let your trees go over-ripe on you!

Wednesday Windage II: Caliber Choices For Bear

Wednesday Windage: Tom Grieve On Gun Controllers

Tuesday Torque: Big Patina!

 This is a great one, Merle!

Five, Count 'em, Five!

 Our resident nesters are the proud parents of five little fluffs! Doing their annual Spring Grind, raising young'uns.

People's Good!

 How far would you drive to adopt/save a dog you have never met? Today we have an adopter choosing one of the hoarding case Schipperkes after driving 1100 miles, and then he will be driving two days to go home. Happy Trails!

Susan has been coordinating adoptions from southern California to Willow, Alaska since late January, and is about halfway through 51 dogs plus 12 pups born to two of the adults. Seven of the original 58 were adopted from the county shelter.  

Dogs will be moving east in the weeks to come. A family is coming from Havre, Montana soon, and three dogs will be making a road trip to Minnesota. We have adopters wanting for Schips up and down the east coast and scattered about flyover country. We are working on transport solutions.

Midwest Schipperke Adoption Application Link

Hiving A Swarm

 Our next door neighbor called, needing help with a swarm of honey bees. I set one of his hive boxes under the swarm and cut the dead branch holding the swarm so I could fold it down. I shake the bees off and into the top of the hive at the end of the video, which was shot by my lovely Susan.

A swarm in May is worth a bale of hay, a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon, A swarm in July, Let it fly!

Weekend Steam: Southern Pacific Daylight

 

Thank You, Merle! Great Suggestion!

Dangerous Red Maple Photos!

 Our neighbor lady took some great photos of the drop and shared them with us today.  Here are my picks!

IT'S GOING! Dangerous Red Maple!

 Our neighbor's red maple was getting more dangerous by the day, with a dead, rotten top, plus many dead limbs. The wind was from the southeast to help us, so today was the day. It was a 44 segment tree, and it tipped with two 1" wedges, minus the saw kerf. So about 1 1/2" times 44 segments equals moving the top over 66" to the tipping point. Susan heard it pop while I was bringing up another wedge, and warned me. Glad she did that! I did not hear it!

Wednesday Windage II: Failure To Fire

 Tim Sundles offers some good thoughts about failures to fire. We shoot bulk 22s of various brands, so we get a few. We have had the firing pin rebound springs wear out on a few guns, Mk III Rugers, and 10/22s, and that will cause failures to fire, and slow burns resulting in stuck bullets. Those tiny springs are good to keep on hand if you can keep track of them!

Wednesday Windage: Dusty Bagged A Turkey!

 Dusty was out early Monday morning and he texted us at 9A to let us know he got what he came for!  We are thrilled of course.  He was out Sunday evening to listen for gobblers as they settled in for the night, and they had all moved half a mile north. A little time the day before pays off when turkey hunting.

Tuesday Torque: The First Motorcycle, 1/2 HP, Hot Tube Ignition!

 Many Thanks to Merle for spotting this gem!

Spring Turkey Season

One of our friends is coming to hunt this week for a gobbler, so of course this evening, NO turkeys were talking around the homestead. Well, they have to be somewhere around here....

Back To The Old Grind!  Photos if he gets one!

 

Weekend Steam: 1770 French Cugnot

 I remember reading about this leap in technology when I was still in grade school. It is amazing that it worked with that heavy pot boiler hanging on the front end!

Like Old Times

 I got a call for a shade tree case. I haven't had one of those since I retired nine years ago! It's a white pine that I stuck in the ground when this property belonged to a friend, who was growing Christmas trees.  I rode the planter and my friend was driving the tractor. That's long ago, and the Christmas tree operation is no more, and now this tree is next to the house of the current owner. He called me because recent winds made this tree tip over. Just out of sight in the pictures is the septic tank, which knocked out a large part of the root system.

This fork is too far gone to correct by taking off one side, and it has a large area of included bark. Not Good,...

...because that fork leans straight on to the porch on the east side of the house. There is no imminent danger, but eventually it will want to split off with a strong south wind. 

The coup de grace. That tip it got from the wind pushed the top over ten feet and brought up a big hump of root on the west side.  It's too much to pull back and heal over, especially with the septic tank on the west side.  It will be an easy takedown.  

The North Barn...

 ...appears to be groundhog free! Kind of a good thing, but also a sad thing. The possum is occupying the inside den.

Wednesday Windage, Videos From GunBlue490

 

I have followed GunBlue for many years, and he shares lots of valuable knowledge.  Susan and I at least have the dog part well covered!

Make A Proper Hinge,

 ...and DON'T CUT IT OFF! You will see people who keep cutting when a tree doesn't go. If you made a proper hinge, keep your saw away from it. This tree should have been disassembled from the top with a bucket truck. Lucky that someone wasn't smashed.

Tuesday Torque: One Of A Kind, American Tractor

 Early in the Twentieth Century, nobody knew just how a tractor should be built. It took many years before industries settled on the formats that still work today, and of course, tractors are still changing.  I saw this one at Rollag, Minnesota a few years ago.  Thanks, Merle!

Here are some photos I got of this unique machine at Rollag in 2022.

Why Do I Make Chainsaw Videos?

 The fellow in this video is a certified arborist out on the west coast, and he does a lot of tree removals, and makes a lot of YouTube videos. He should know how to drop a leaner without it barber chairing, but west coast fallers, and it seems most arborists won't bore/plunge cut the trees they cut. The primary key to prevent barber chairs is to establish a hinge of proper thickness before the tree is released and set into motion. That requires bore cutting.  There is real resistance to bore cutting, even though it is an easy skill to learn, and it is a technique that sets us apart from the axe and crosscut saw methods. I hope to keep preaching the use of proper, safe methods while I can still crank a saw.

Back To The Old Grind!

Here's the link to the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhYggnpWYJs

And the video embedded.

Weekend Steam: Let's Make It A Steam Lorrie Weekend!

 Thanks, Merle!

Weekend Steam: Another Steam Lorrie

 

Thanks, Merle!

Change Of Seasons

 

The stoves are cold and gardening has begun!  Onions and cabbages are in the ground.

Assess Weight and Lean Properly

 I have heard through all of my forestry years to go up to a tree, hug it and look up to see which way it leans. You will see trees going in unexpected directions on YouTube videos when people listen to that advice. Put a heavy nut on a string, or use a straight stick for a plumb to assess where a tree wants to go.  View it from two sides and you will have the info you need to drop a tree where you want it, and be in a safe place when it falls.

Wednesday Windage: Revolutionary Rifle Tactics

 We never heard about this in history classes.  Disney ran a short series about the Swamp Fox back around 1960. I doubt it was an accurate portrayal, and I don't remember any of the episodes, sixty six years after!  Here's History Underground.

Tuesday Torque: Six Cylinder Fairbanks 2-Stroke

That's impressive! Six power strokes per revolution! Thanks, Merle!

A Good Stiff Drink...

....for work well done! Here we have a very nice young walnut surrounded by lesser trees impeding its growth. Look at your timber with a critical eye and these decisions are easy. The sap running from the grapevine was a nice little bonus.

 

Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam: Sandaoling Coal Mine Railway

 Contrary to the caption on this video, the engine is not ejecting cinders. The Sandaoling coal mine is low quality coal that throws lots of cinders when the engine is in a hard pull.  It is dramatic!  Many Thanks, Merle!