True Blue Sam the Travelin' Man

David aka True Blue Sam

Cumbres and Toltec 484! Thank You Merle!

David aka True Blue Sam

Tap your file down frequently and brush it to knock chips out, and replace it when it no longer cuts well. File straight, so your top edge is correct. Watch your side angle. You should be pressing straight into the gullet as you stroke. Run your file too high and your chain won't cut well. Run it too low and the teeth will be grabby. Check your depth gauges so you get a good bite.

David aka True Blue Sam

That wonky wood between the forks is a tough nut to crack if you split by hand. Work your way around it to save your breath and frustration. Better yet, get a hydraulic splitter before you wreck your elbows!

David aka True Blue Sam

I am really shocked by the moisture content of these trees. We have been checking them after splitting and they are running 15%. We can put them right into the stove and they light and burn. We are hoping to store a bunch of this wood in the barn as a hedge against emergency wood cutting!

I am glad to have good weather for a few days. I was back in the woods to drop more ash trees. We got a load home, split it and stacked it, and checked the moisture. These trees are running 15% moisture right off the stump, so we are stacking at the house and saving the dry wood in the barn. The 359 began misbehaving, not wanting to idle down, and I found that a bunch of dust from these dry trees was under the cover. I blew it out and then the throttle would click back to idle.

David aka True Blue Sam

David aka True Blue Sam

The Rio Grande Southern built these in the 1930s. Thanks for spotting, Merle!

David aka True Blue Sam

This morning we had a vet appointment, then we stacked wood. I went back to the woods, cut another load, brought it home, and we split and stacked it. We checked the moisture content of the ash trees we are cutting, and they are right at 15% from the stump. Back To The Old Grind!