Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

The Big Stuff => Full Sized Gas & Oil Engines & Tractors => Topic started by: Nick on March 06, 2021, 06:06:08 pm

Title: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Nick on March 06, 2021, 06:06:08 pm
Beautiful 40° day (5° “metricated”  ;)  :D )


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Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Damnfmaschine on March 06, 2021, 06:11:26 pm
I love the old Allis Nick; I had one a few years ago that I slung a mid-mounted mower deck underneath. Then I ‘loaned’ it to someone; last I heard it was used to launch and retrieve a boat at the seaside somewhere.
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Nick on March 06, 2021, 06:19:08 pm
She’s a good runner! Lives outside year round, was parked November 1st last year and had a couple feet of snow on it the past few months, but started on the 4th or 5th crank

Walter, wanna “loan” me a few engines?  ;)  :D
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: ShadetreeMotorcycle on March 06, 2021, 06:54:52 pm
Nick...I am Far from a tree identification expert....but it appears you are turning a Black Walnut tree into humble firewood heating fuel?...please say it isn't so Nick? :o
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Nick on March 06, 2021, 07:03:12 pm
Nick...I am Far from a tree identification expert....but it appears you are turning a Black Walnut tree into humble firewood heating fuel?...please say it isn't so Nick? :o

Haha, just the small branches, I have 5 logs from this tree alone that I will be milling and hopefully a year or so from now will supply me with plenty of steam toy bases.

What you see in the wood pile is circled in red, the rest was saved. I have lived with these 2 black walnuts above my driveway for 5 years now. The first spring I trimmed them WAY up and wanted to save them because they are over 80 years old, maybe older BUT I am absolutely sick of walnuts all over the driveway, on the cars and the squirrels hiding them everywhere possible. This tree has been half dead since I have lived here, the bottom is losing bark, it’s infested with ants and it only gets about half its leaves and fills a large rolling garbage can 3 times with walnuts every year. Even with all these flaws, it was not an easy decision to take it down.

And by the way, I get $125/face cord for that humble firewood  ;)

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Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Damnfmaschine on March 06, 2021, 07:12:01 pm
Did you heap the snow up there on purpose @Nick ; just in case you take a dive off the ladder  :D
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Nick on March 06, 2021, 07:16:12 pm
Did you heap the snow up there on purpose @Nick ; just in case you take a dive off the ladder  :D

Kids (and my) sledding hill  ;)  and yes, that was use #2 just in case 😂

(Worked good so I didn’t have to carry out the other half of the ladder... those wooden ladders are not light!  :D )
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: ShadetreeMotorcycle on March 06, 2021, 07:30:28 pm
Nick...I am Far from a tree identification expert....but it appears you are turning a Black Walnut tree into humble firewood heating fuel?...please say it isn't so Nick? :o

Haha, just the small branches, I have 5 logs from this tree alone that I will be milling and hopefully a year or so from now will supply me with plenty of steam toy bases.

What you see in the wood pile is circled in red, the rest was saved. I have lived with these 2 black walnuts above my driveway for 5 years now. The first spring I trimmed them WAY up and wanted to save them because they are over 80 years old, maybe older BUT I am absolutely sick of walnuts all over the driveway, on the cars and the squirrels hiding them everywhere possible. This tree has been half dead since I have lived here, the bottom is losing bark, it’s infested with ants and it only gets about half its leaves and fills a large rolling garbage can 3 times with walnuts every year. Even with all these flaws, it was not an easy decision to take it down.

And by the way, I get $125/face cord for that humble firewood  ;)

(Attachment Link)

Nothing wrong with humble firewood, my family farm has been heated exclusively with it for 50 years.
  I am paying $50 to $65 per face cord here in Michigan for oak, that's what we like...has lots of BTU but my stove will burn most any wood dryer than 15% water prefured around 9%
  I would go $150 on a face cord (delivered) of black walnut... No idea what the BTU are as it never occurred to me to burn it, we call it black gold around here... Think I see a few candle sticks, ink pen blanks and turning stock in there somewhere...lol
  Just teasing....shoot.. I heard them poor folks in Texas was burning there furniture to keep warm in the 100 year storm.
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Nick on March 06, 2021, 07:40:57 pm
I have never gone less than $125 on the black walnut (no delivery, they drive here and I help them load). I start at $125/face cord on my oak, usually around 15% moisture, always tested under 20%. When the selling slows down I drop to $115 or $100. My house was $96 to heat during the coldest month this year, so all my firewood gets burned by others. I have quite a few repeat customers and run out every year as they like that I keep my pieces all at 16” and split it small. I love to cut and split firewood, just don’t have a use for it  :D

I have helped on full size sawmills powered by steam, but this will be my first attempt at milling my own... I bought a Granberg Alaskan Chainsaw Mill a year ago, so should be fun to try... If anything, I’ll have some very nicely cut firewood 😂
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Jim on March 06, 2021, 10:01:56 pm
Face cord????

Metricate !!!!

 ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Nick on March 06, 2021, 10:09:33 pm
Face cord????

Metricate !!!!

 ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

40.64 centimeter sticks, stacked 1.2192 meters tall by 2.4384 meters long 😂

(In this case 16” pieces stacked 4 feet x 8 feet sounds better  ;) 😂 )
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Jim on March 06, 2021, 10:11:23 pm
Face cord????

Metricate !!!!

 ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

40.64 centimeter sticks, stacked 1.2192 meters tall by 2.4384 meters long 😂

(In this case 16” pieces stacked 4 feet x 8 feet sounds better  ;) 😂 )

LOL :)

Face Cord....that's something that I had never heard before. Had to Google it :)
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Nick on March 06, 2021, 10:11:38 pm
This is how full a face cord will fill your convertible (tossed in, not stacked)  ;)

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Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Nick on March 06, 2021, 10:12:35 pm
Face Cord....that's something that I had never heard before. Had to Google it :)

Technically it is not a legal unit of measure according to the state of MN. When I talked to them about selling, it has to be sold as 1/3 of a cord
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Jim on March 06, 2021, 10:15:07 pm
This is how full a face cord will fill your convertible (tossed in, not stacked)  ;)

(Attachment Link)

Don't worry....I've shown this to a few mates just to see the look on their faces :) :) :)

They all asked "Does he drive around town like that"??? and I said "Hell yeah" :) :)
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Jim on March 06, 2021, 10:17:28 pm
Face Cord....that's something that I had never heard before. Had to Google it :)

Technically it is not a legal unit of measure according to the state of MN. When I talked to them about selling, it has to be sold as 1/3 of a cord

Here its generally sold by the cubic metre, but that's not technically legal in my state either as its supposed to be sold by weight.
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Nick on March 06, 2021, 10:26:36 pm
Here, if we are not present at the sale or if we sell it in bundles, we have to supply paperwork with date of harvest/date of sale and county of harvest. If sold in bulk and I am present, no record needs to be kept... doesn’t make much sense...
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Jim on March 06, 2021, 11:12:25 pm
Here, if we are not present at the sale or if we sell it in bundles, we have to supply paperwork with date of harvest/date of sale and county of harvest. If sold in bulk and I am present, no record needs to be kept... doesn’t make much sense...

I know some wood turners down here that would go crazy for that black walnut Nick.....even little pieces!
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Nick on March 06, 2021, 11:14:54 pm
I know some wood turners down here that would go crazy for that black walnut Nick.....even little pieces!

I would save it if I had the room (and probably never use it  :D  )

Still have another to take down... I take engines on trade  :D
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Jim on March 06, 2021, 11:19:19 pm
I know some wood turners down here that would go crazy for that black walnut Nick.....even little pieces!

I would save it if I had the room (and probably never use it  :D  )

Still have another to take down... I take engines on trade  :D

LOL just float them over on the ocean....I'll go up to the beach and wait for 'em to come in on the high tide :)
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: ShadetreeMotorcycle on March 07, 2021, 01:48:17 am
Face cord????

Metricate !!!!

 ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

40.64 centimeter sticks, stacked 1.2192 meters tall by 2.4384 meters long 😂

(In this case 16” pieces stacked 4 feet x 8 feet sounds better  ;) 😂 )

LOL :)

Face Cord....that's something that I had never heard before. Had to Google it :)

I believe the term "Face Cord" comes from this:
A "Full Cord" is a unit of wood measures 4 feet tall x 4 feet wide x 8 feet long.
  We then decided that 4 foot long logs are rough to handle but cut into thirds are pleasant....most indoor decorative wood stoves are designed to handle 16 inch long sticks here in the US....then some city feller comes to buy wood in his convertible and says:
  I can't fit that big pile of wood in my car....can I buy just a little?
  The Farmer rubs his chin...and
standing there looking at the full cord stack viewing the 8 foot long side.
Farmer says: I reckon I could sell you just that front face for $125....and the Face Cord was Born! Lol
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: crazydoug on March 07, 2021, 07:24:59 am
We used to heat with wood, and i enjoyed cutting and splitting wood when i was younger.but free gas and old age has kept me from firing up the fireplace for decades.
We have mostly poplar here on the farm. It grows fast but not particularly valuable nor is it desirable for heating.
And it wont make nearly as nice engine bases!
Crazydoug
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Nick on March 07, 2021, 07:52:20 am
We used to heat with wood, and i enjoyed cutting and splitting wood when i was younger.but free gas and old age has kept me from firing up the fireplace for decades.
We have mostly poplar here on the farm. It grows fast but not particularly valuable nor is it desirable for heating.
And it wont make nearly as nice engine bases!
Crazydoug

Haha, you’d have to cut the boards 2 inches thicker to dry to the correct size.

I built this “Holz Hausen” for fun out of Poplar and it shrunk in height by nearly 3 feet after one year of drying. Poor “roof” almost went flat by the end.

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Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Woe is me on March 07, 2021, 07:57:33 am
This is how full a face cord will fill your convertible (tossed in, not stacked)  ;)

(Attachment Link)




I know you were thinking about it but it's nice to see that you didn't sell the family car.
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Woe is me on March 07, 2021, 08:08:44 am
To bad you didn't live in Michigan. My aunt & uncle had a black walnut removed from their backyard years ago.
A guy looked, said I'll make a call. Another called back, showed up with a crew. Took the tree down and even
the branches like you're splitting were lowered with ropes in 24" sections. They measured and took everything.
The stump they removed whole. Then they paid my A & U $3000.00 and left. They were from Grand Rapids, some
furniture Co.
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: ShadetreeMotorcycle on March 07, 2021, 08:19:59 am
To bad you didn't live in Michigan. My aunt & uncle had a black walnut removed from their backyard years ago.
A guy looked, said I'll make a call. Another called back, showed up with a crew. Took the tree down and even
the branches like you're splitting were lowered with ropes in 24" sections. They measured and took everything.
The stump they removed whole. Then they paid my A & U $3000.00 and left. They were from Grand Rapids, some
furniture Co.

Yup....Grand Rapids use to be known as "furniture city"
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Nick on March 07, 2021, 08:40:03 am
To bad you didn't live in Michigan. My aunt & uncle had a black walnut removed from their backyard years ago.
A guy looked, said I'll make a call. Another called back, showed up with a crew. Took the tree down and even
the branches like you're splitting were lowered with ropes in 24" sections. They measured and took everything.
The stump they removed whole. Then they paid my A & U $3000.00 and left. They were from Grand Rapids, some
furniture Co.

I had high hopes of this when I first thought of cutting them down as I had a great-aunt that sold an entire woods full of walnut and she made something like $50K or more. I put ads on facebook and craigslist, but was told they would be doing me a favor since the trees were so close to all the buildings  ::)  I have also read about people getting $2000 or more for large logs that get sent to Japan for veneer and the base of this tree would probably fit that, but I could not find a buyer... I just looked again on marketplace and there are all kinds of walnut logs the size of mine for $150-300, so I guess I missed out on the days of them selling good... I think I’d like to find an old dining room table with claw feet and make a nice thick walnut top for it  8)
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Woe is me on March 07, 2021, 09:22:45 am
Do you have access to a wood lathe? Could make some chair and table legs once the wood is dry.
Sell the shavings for fire starter.
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Nick on March 15, 2021, 09:03:59 pm
Soooo.... I guess it’s break time?  :D

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Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Stoker on March 15, 2021, 09:20:22 pm
Face cord????

Metricate !!!!

 ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

40.64 centimeter sticks, stacked 1.2192 meters tall by 2.4384 meters long 😂

(In this case 16” pieces stacked 4 feet x 8 feet sounds better  ;) 😂 )

Hey ya Jim ..... when ya gonna metricate yer clock?

.... and if not, then why not???
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Jim on March 15, 2021, 09:37:05 pm
Face cord????

Metricate !!!!

 ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

40.64 centimeter sticks, stacked 1.2192 meters tall by 2.4384 meters long 😂

(In this case 16” pieces stacked 4 feet x 8 feet sounds better  ;) 😂 )

Hey ya Jim ..... when ya gonna metricate yer clock?

.... and if not, then why not???

24 hour time is enough to do my head in..... I'm happy to stick to old school 12 hour analogue  ;D
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Jim on March 15, 2021, 09:39:48 pm
Do you guys heat with softwood, hardwood or a mixture?

We only burn hardwoods here for heat.
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Stoker on March 15, 2021, 09:43:50 pm
Face cord????

Metricate !!!!

 ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

40.64 centimeter sticks, stacked 1.2192 meters tall by 2.4384 meters long 😂

(In this case 16” pieces stacked 4 feet x 8 feet sounds better  ;) 😂 )

Hey ya Jim ..... when ya gonna metricate yer clock?

.... and if not, then why not???

24 hour time is enough to do my head in..... I'm happy to stick to old school 12 hour analogue  ;D

12 & 24 hours ain't metric ... it would need to be a factor of 10 somehow. Then you'll need to metricate the calendar next!

Metric systems have their uses ..... but they ain't all some folks crack them up to be!  ;c)
Title: Re: Out of Hibernation and Back to Work
Post by: Jim on March 15, 2021, 09:48:23 pm
Face cord????

Metricate !!!!

 ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

40.64 centimeter sticks, stacked 1.2192 meters tall by 2.4384 meters long 😂

(In this case 16” pieces stacked 4 feet x 8 feet sounds better  ;) 😂 )

Hey ya Jim ..... when ya gonna metricate yer clock?

.... and if not, then why not???

24 hour time is enough to do my head in..... I'm happy to stick to old school 12 hour analogue  ;D

12 & 24 hours ain't metric ... it would need to be a factor of 10 somehow. Then you'll need to metricate the calendar next!

Metric systems have their uses ..... but they ain't all some folks crack them up to be!  ;c)

I'll be back in 20-30 kiloseconds -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_time