Saturday, February 11, 2023
Friday, February 10, 2023
Toby Is Retiring To Florida!
Today we took Toby to Lambert Field in St. Louis to meet his new papa. Toby was a quick turnaround, with just two weeks in our home. Midwest Schipperke Rescue made Toby a Lifer because of his age; there was no adoption fee. The kind people who adopt rescued dogs are special, and become like family to the foster parents. We have adopters as far away as Denver, Houston, Detroit, Chesapeake Bay, Chattanooga, and now Florida. Good People!
Thursday, February 9, 2023
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
One Piece At A Time
Susan and I are both hoping that she is done with surgeries for a while. She had her eight week checkup at the Bonutti Clinic in Effingham, and her knee checked out just fine.
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Bad Idea Falling Cut
When I was working in Kentucky, many of the loggers had an odd method of match cutting the trees they felled, and they usually called it stump-jumping. Match cutting is used in bucking logs and making pruning cuts. You make a cut on the compressed side until the kerf begins to close, and then you cut on the tensioned side, causing the two sides to part. It is not a good idea for falling a tree, though many do it. A match cut gives the tree no guidance and it will fall where gravity and wind take it. The idea of the method they called stump jumping was to create a V match cut on the stump. The V is supposed to act like a knee joint and let the tree fall with a bit of guidance.
I have watched this cut being made and there is little that is predictable about the path the tree takes. It can pop sideways, spin, or jump back. A hinge is a darn important safety device when you cut a tree. It guides the tree in the direction you want it to fall and it keeps the butt of the log anchored to the stump until hinge failure when the face cut closes.
I was surprised to see this reminder of a bad idea in McLeansboro the other day. Maybe this ash tree was taken down from the top and this was just part of the final cleanup. I hope so, but I have seen that many of the bucket truck tree trimmers do not understand the safest ways of falling a tree.
Monday, February 6, 2023
Tuesday Torque: 50 HP Superior Oilfield Engine
This looks to be a 2-stroke engine with a crosshead, and the displacement cylinder is the tail end of the power cylinder, much like the Bessemer oilfield engines. This guy is seriously in need of blocking, but I bet he has that figured out! Many Thanks, Merle, for spotting this one!
