Weekend Steam: Scott-Carver Threshers, Jordan, Minnesota

 We've never been to this show, and it looks like a good one. Merle spotted it for us, and be sure to admire the big Vilter Corliss engine. Most of these big industrial engines were or are being scrapped, and we should rejoice for every one of them that is saved in the engine shows around the country. It takes knowledgeable, dedicated volunteers to move and restore these giants to running condition. Many Thanks, Merle!

No-Fear Deer

 This is just the latest example I have seen of deer wandering in close to running equipment. Yesterday Susan and I were running the log splitter, and Mama Deer and Baby came out and eyeballed us. Back in 1989 when we were prepping the Bull Springs field to plant, deer stood around watching while I drove the John Deere B back and forth across the field. They make all the fancy hunting gear seem a bit silly.

Dead Pin Oak Firewood

 These trees have been dead just one year, but the sapwood is already going punky, so the hinge must be deep enough to get into the heartwood. If wedging is needed, make your falling cuts up the stem a foot or more from your girdling cuts.

Tuesday Torque: Bulls Eye Gas Engines

 Great selection, Merle! Many Thanks!

Including a Sears bonus!

How To Make Cowboy Coffee With Kent Rollins

 

Back To The Old Grind!

Headaches In The Woods

 Watch your topknot. Forked trees make a couple problems for forest landowners. A forked tree has less merchantable volume than a well formed, straight tree, and they are prone to breaking up in storms, or from ice. Any time a forked tree is up against a better one, it is good to take out the forked one and let the good tree grow faster. The hackberry in this photo has provided me with yet another widow maker to watch for. Always be watching overhead when you are in timber.

Revisiting Our Log Landing And The Headsaw Pit

I took a little hike through the woods and stopped by the site of the sawmill that was here in 1940. The photos at the end were shot during the harvest we did in 2012. We are still amazed at the speed of our black oaks after we thinned out hickories. They grew like weeds after that treatment, and now the white oaks appear to be turning on after the woods was thinned by the harvest.

Weekend Steam: The First Locomotive

Replaying an old favorite.

Merle's pick is  a brief video of a re-creation of Peter Trevithick's little loco, which was the first one. Think about the inventions and upgrades that had to come along after this 1802 invention.  Boilers were notorious for failing in the early years.  There are very few steam engines of any kind from before the late Nineteenth Century that survive. Boilers are a big reason for that. Of course, stopping these machines was harder than making them go.  During the mid-Nineteenth Century train wrecks that killed scores of people were common.  Wrecks were caused by bad rails, inadequate brakes, poor communication, telescoping cars in wrecks, stoves in the cars that ignited wrecked cars, and bad bridges. Travel by rail was not for the faint of heart.  It all started with Trevithick's little engine.  Thank You, Merle!

Who Is In Charge Of Axe Handles?

 Remember when you were a kid, you were taught to always put the trademark up on a bat so you wouldn't break it? The trademark is oriented so the growth rings in the bat are horizontal and in line with your swing. Turn it 90 degrees and you really can break your bat. The same rule on growth rings applies to wooden tool handles, too. Internet sellers of tool handles are not paying attention to that. I was about to order a couple axe handles, and saw this photo on the page I was on.

So, we went to town to one of the big hardware/lumber yard stores and I looked at handles there. Here is what we found.

At least you get to inspect and choose when you are in a store. Also check the grain along the length of the handle. If it runs out either side it is also prone to breaking. We bought the one on the right.

Samsung Clothes Dryer Repair Hack

 Instructions for changing the heating element are to lift the drum out to access the element assembly. I had limited space, and I found a better way. Less disassembly = less chance of screwing up. Watch for sharp edges on sheet metal components.