unicornduke (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
unicornduke) wrote2023-01-03 09:19 am
unicornduke) wrote2023-01-03 09:19 am
What a week
I left my brother's place a week ago, went up to my parents' to spend a couple of days there. Didn't do much relaxing since I gifted my mom a Boston Creme Pie for Christmas and so had to actually make it.
My dad had the wood processers coming in Thurs/Fri that week and had some last minute preparation work to do so I helped with that. The creek had melted enough that the ice had broken, so the tractor couldn't get across the creek to skid the last of the birch trees so I was on the tree side of the creek, hooked the winch around the trees and dad winched them across the creek. It was pretty cool. Then plowed the area near the wood pile clear of snow so the processors had space to set up their equipment.
Thurs was wood processing day. The wood processors have a machine that can cut and chop firewood quickly, you load a 20 foot log onto the machine, it advances the log through a portal with a chainsaw that lowers down and cut the log to size. It drops down into the section with the splitter and then goes up a ramp into the wagon. Very cool!
Dad uses some quantity of wood like 20 cords for the year between the maple syrup production and the campfires in the fall for group outings so the wood processor charged $750 per day and Dad had them come for two days. Once they got rolling, they could get 8-10 cords done in a day. So worth it. I mostly drove the tractors with the wood loads, running them down the road to the main farm and dumping them. But you really need to have everything ready for them, trees need to be a specific size, not too big or too small, skidsteer ready to load more trees on the machine, trailers ready to take the wood away. Fun stuff.
I left Friday because of rain forecasted and also I wanted to sleep in my own bed again.
Saturday, I cleaned the shed out. I swept first, getting the big piles and scooping them into a trashbag. Then ran the shopvac around the one side of the building so I could get the bracers off the walls but have somewhere to put them. They are all rough cut 2x4s so I set them up for drying with gaps between the boards and pieces of wood between the layers. The new drill worked very well and I got all the bracers off in a few hours. Then I finished vacuuming all the walls and floor. Plus the gaps between the floorboards. It's a whole new shed!
I did relaxing on Sunday.
Monday I had off work, so I spent some time taking the things off the porch and storing them in the shed! Incredible! Storage space! All the lumber on the porch, the pieces of plywood and stuff left from construction all went into the shed. All the fleece stuff. All the bins. The push mower. So many things! The porch is so clean! I need more screws to put the door back on since Dad took the screws with him when he left but putting that back on and putting the one missing board on will get it pretty animal proofed.
Work stuff this week, busy busy.
My dad had the wood processers coming in Thurs/Fri that week and had some last minute preparation work to do so I helped with that. The creek had melted enough that the ice had broken, so the tractor couldn't get across the creek to skid the last of the birch trees so I was on the tree side of the creek, hooked the winch around the trees and dad winched them across the creek. It was pretty cool. Then plowed the area near the wood pile clear of snow so the processors had space to set up their equipment.
Thurs was wood processing day. The wood processors have a machine that can cut and chop firewood quickly, you load a 20 foot log onto the machine, it advances the log through a portal with a chainsaw that lowers down and cut the log to size. It drops down into the section with the splitter and then goes up a ramp into the wagon. Very cool!
Dad uses some quantity of wood like 20 cords for the year between the maple syrup production and the campfires in the fall for group outings so the wood processor charged $750 per day and Dad had them come for two days. Once they got rolling, they could get 8-10 cords done in a day. So worth it. I mostly drove the tractors with the wood loads, running them down the road to the main farm and dumping them. But you really need to have everything ready for them, trees need to be a specific size, not too big or too small, skidsteer ready to load more trees on the machine, trailers ready to take the wood away. Fun stuff.
I left Friday because of rain forecasted and also I wanted to sleep in my own bed again.
Saturday, I cleaned the shed out. I swept first, getting the big piles and scooping them into a trashbag. Then ran the shopvac around the one side of the building so I could get the bracers off the walls but have somewhere to put them. They are all rough cut 2x4s so I set them up for drying with gaps between the boards and pieces of wood between the layers. The new drill worked very well and I got all the bracers off in a few hours. Then I finished vacuuming all the walls and floor. Plus the gaps between the floorboards. It's a whole new shed!
I did relaxing on Sunday.
Monday I had off work, so I spent some time taking the things off the porch and storing them in the shed! Incredible! Storage space! All the lumber on the porch, the pieces of plywood and stuff left from construction all went into the shed. All the fleece stuff. All the bins. The push mower. So many things! The porch is so clean! I need more screws to put the door back on since Dad took the screws with him when he left but putting that back on and putting the one missing board on will get it pretty animal proofed.
Work stuff this week, busy busy.
no subject
Fasteners-in-pocket is a classic dad move.
Goodness, that's a lot! you have a real gift for writing cheerfully about stuff I know is a lot of work.
(/fussbudget stickers under the bottom layer of 2x4s? put on a respirator/gloves/moon suit, change the vacuum filter, because now it has mouse diseases in it?)
Stocking up on screws -- just getting a box of each of a bunch of common sizes -- is not the worst approach, and it's way quicker than slow-accumulation-through-project-overbuying.
no subject
Yep, stickers under the bottom layer and I did empty out the shopvac with mask and gloves, pounds of mouse nest and poop. Gross. Dumped my clothes in the wash right after!
I kinda enjoy this kind of stuff. Hard work but not for a super long time so it's nice.
no subject
I hear you; being able to get stuff done is nice.
Leaving you one screw so the sizing isn't ambiguous is even more a dad thing. Definite top-tier father behaviour.
I shall endeavour to fussbudget at you less. You've clearly got this.
no subject
no subject
Wait! Did you actually move the shed? Or just prop it up?
Mouse poo. Gaaah. Nasty. Hope your cat can help keep the shed free of rodents.
Screws. I have pretty much quit buying anything but coated deck screws unless I'm working on a door. Then I like brass. Thank goodness I can now afford both.
no subject
Coated deck screws are great, especially the star ones! I used 4 inch coated deck screws star drive for putting all the bracers in so now I have so many of those! I'm trying to figure out good screws to use for interior work that is visible and I've honestly just used regular wood screws and some uncoated deck screws. They don't look super bad to me and I hate finish nails so much.
no subject
The Ukiah house was mostly put together with 3 inch finishing nails which have not stood the test of time in any reasonable fashion. I mean, what were they thinking to put the siding on with finishing nails? Build the cabinets with finishing nails, put the sheet rock up... I keep replacing them with screws.