The big rule of thumb for bucking cuts is to cut into the compressed side first, and finish on the tensioned side. We cut one wrong here to show what happens. You can split a log easily by bucking badly. Dope out each cut you make to avoid being stuck or splitting a good log.
We have a great time hooting and doing howler monkey calls with our barred owls, and now they are also cooing to each other in our back yard. We have been hearing this talk for some time, and we suspected it was the owls. Now we have confirmed it. It is fun to have the birds around!
Take a load off your arms and back when bucking a big log that is compressed on top. It's not laziness; it saves wear and tear on the body, and keeps you working safely and effectively.
Please pardon the fur hanging into the top of the screen when the camera is zoomed wide. We got a new microphone and a wind sock that looks like it is made from a possum. We will fix the problem for sure! The new mike does sound good!
Mike's Engines posted this nice video of two of his engines The Peerless side shaft and Gade 2 HP are both desirable old engines for any collection. Thanks for spotting this one, Merle!
I helped at a concealed carry class this past weekend. We had eight students, many whom had never handled a pistol. At the end of the class they have to shoot thirty rounds total from 15, 20, and 30 feet. Five of students scored 299 out of 300 possible on their targets. Pretty darned good!
Back To The Old Grind!
It blew down a lot of wood, and a few dead trees. This ash is dead, of course, and it also had a low fork that had died and introduced rot into the stump area. You can't see it in the photo, but that wood is softer than normal; a bit punky. Thinking back to Forest Patholgy, there are two main types of wood rotting fungi; brown rot, and white rot. I guess this one is white, because you can't see it in the white wood. You can see a couple of bud scales from red maple on the stump. Everything is getting ready to pop!
Going back a few years, one of our hunter friends nailed a sapling pecan tree in our woods in December 2014. I left a target for him to use and he found that his sights were WAY off. No venison for him! I stopped the other day and took a couple photos of that tree, and it has closed up the wound. It is overtopped by a cypress and a silver maple, so those are going to exit stage left. By the time this tree is a sawlog, you won't be able to tell that the cobb has a hole in it!
Susan, Zeke and I visited the B & O Museum in 1999. Somehow, we missed this catastrophe when it happened. The restoration is remarkable.
