Homesteading

[BIGSCOTT]

Well jon,
I think a big cigar and cogratualation are in order,
Congratualations

 

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[BIGSCOTT]

Deep,
I wouldnt do to much untill I saw where juaquin is headed.

 

[joncutt87]

Yeah, what he said.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Congratulations Jon!

Scott, ain't no use me fixing anything at the bridge! I was looking at the weather this morning, saw an article that said there could be as much as 18" of rain from the storm. Supposed to start here around 2:30 today - the beginning... Tomorrow & Saturday we'll be in flood stage.

I walked down to the bridge a bit ago to see what I could see. I'm definitely going to need a dump truck of rocks. The water was still over the bridge, and my neighbor cut the big part of the tree off & pulled it up out of the way. The other part will wash away during the coming storm. I took a couple pictures....





Nepa, are you sure you want to go hide up the holler?

 

[releventchair]

Congrats joncutt!
A hardy welcome to you Miss Aubrey.

 

[releventchair]

Dang Deep, that bridge looks like a coffer dam.
Intakes need defended with a grate that can be cleared of debris with a grab hook, but what would filter leaves and fine stuff?
A dam needs a diversion gate or a berm that would fail during flooding to avoid the hydraulics undermining or overwhelming it.
Now sure ain't the time but a site for a large culvert seems established where the rapids are now.
When bridge culverts get clogged or overwhelmed the bridge would as now direct flow, but.. being on a bend of the drainage makes it tougher.
Sheesh.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Yep, dam thing is a dam.

I keep the culverts clear, but when the wash comes down there's no way to do anything but watch until the water level goes down. Back during the early Spring it washed out and I hauled loads of rocks & set them in as pavers on that washed out side (entrance to the farm side). This last storm washed out the Bob White Covered Bridge, standing since 1921. It has begun raining again out there. So, here comes round two....

I did get a mess of beans picked for supper.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Here's a picture of the bridge this morning after our second pass. I expected to find trees down on the driveway this morning with the soaked ground and wind advisories. None yet, and though the water is back higher there's probably no more damage than we already have. But we are still getting rain.



Here's a picture of my very gentle stream by the beech tree I'd posted pictures of earlier in this thread. I had put a bridge there, but you can't see it! I get all this settled out, and out comes the sluice and gold pans

 

[DeepseekerADS]

The flood level was low enough mid-morning, so I put on galoshes and cleared the culverts so they'd drain. The very last log was on the deep end. Pulling it out was a heck of a lot of effort! When it broke loose, I took a dive into the water, about 4 feet deep there. Oh man was that refreshing (not)!

Took the galoshes off & put my boots on and started search out rocks to fill the washed out areas.. I'm gonna need a whole lot more rocks!

But, I put the truck in 4WD Low (I'd looked for crossing points) and made it up to the house. Came back here and got out of the wet clothes, dried off and just rested a bit.

Now I'm heading down the drive looking for more rocks....

I can get in and out, just wanna make it better for now - I can't be careless with egress until I get more filled in.

Keep the faith!

It's Deep in the water

 

[releventchair]

The ol "up a creek without a ummm.. rock" ehh?
All that rain on the news I feared you'd see higher water yet.
A relief to read you are still afloat.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

The ol "up a creek without a ummm.. rock" ehh?
All that rain on the news I feared you'd see higher water yet.
A relief to read you are still afloat.

I just finished with more rocks. It's a heck of a lot better now. Gotta do some more before Mom's car can make it out. But I've gotta fix the washed out ruts in the driveway for her to get out. Bridge came first. I knew my truck could handle the driveway. Mom needs to go to town, and I can take her there tomorrow.

The initial forecast for the second pass was supposed to give us 15" more. Thank Our Lord, we just got steady rain and no torrents. I've seen what it did to South Carolina.

 

[Reed Lukens]

We built our new bridge out of an old railroad flat car. It looks like you could put one in down in the narrows and put it up high. We have 10 feet between the bottom of the bridge and our river and we use the full length with barriers beneath for maximum clearance. I say new but it was back in the late 70's and it's still there through our massive floods. It's been under water once and moved a bit, but the river was 20 feet up the banks. You couldn't see it under the water and it was thin enough to allow trees to pass under and over during that flood. When the water went down, that bridge survived and didn't even need any new support. It would probably cost you less to run a rail car bridge in the long run and they do last

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I actually got some metal detecting in today.... Pulled out my 1260X....

My Poulan is down, need to replace the clutch. New bar & chain on the Stihl - burned the chain up trying to cut part of that tree off the bridge. So, I took that down yesterday and did very careful repairs, sharpening, and inspection of that.

Was using the Stihl to cut firewood - it's getting cold quickly this year. All of a sudden the chain popped off, the cover bolting had apparently given away. I had tightened that thing as snug as I was comfortable. Went looking for the nut, and even with the Fisher, couldn't find it. So, I found a replacement nut.

All last Winter, cutting wood every 3 days, one chainsaw, or the other was down at all times..

I've decided they are toys.

If I'm going through this every Winter, I think it's time to get a beast of a chainsaw. I'm looking at getting a Husqvarna 60.3cc 2-Cycle 24-in Gas Chainsaw, described as a serious chainsaw for those who heat with wood.

The bridge, gotta get the rest of the tree off there before I can go any further with repairs.

Keep the faith!

 

[joncutt87]

If I was going to get a new saw it would be a jonsered cs2166 same as the 365 husqvarna. 70.7cc can easily be turned into a 2172 with a little grinding.


Just don't tell my wife, I'm looking at saws again.

 

[Oregon Viking]

I have friends that are fallers, they all use Stihl.
The problem is the price. Husqvarnas are the second best choice.

 

[Reed Lukens]

I have a Jonsered as my big saw with a 32" bar, it will handle a 48" if needed, then I have a Stihl with a 20" for general use and a 12" Husky. The Jonsered is a professional tree falling saw and I have used it for years, but for general wood cutting Stihl or Husky makes for a great saw. Most of my tree's are 2 to 4ft around so all of my saws have their own purpose. For falling it's the Jonsered every time. Also chain makes a huge difference and I've used carbide chain for years now and I don't use any other
You should check out baileysonline.com

 

[releventchair]

"Pro" saws are about the only way to go any more.
The homeowner types no longer have the quality or durability that I can see.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Hi everyone, update here.

I've never been a chimney sweep, figured I'd have to hire someone. I got the ball and 8 x 48" rods, and spent 2 hours sweeping my chimney, over and over. For less than I'd have paid a chimney sweep, I purchased the ball & rods, and did it myself and will from now on. I swept it good, over and over until no location dropped more than a little dust, all the way up. Sooo..... I hired myself as a chimney sweep the first year, and will never need another one I'm swept away

It's below freezing tonight, and I have the stove loaded. Geez, I didn't fire up the stove until December last year. This global warming kinda sucks. The next 10 day forecast does not "relax" me, Mom gets cold easily.

I picked up that big beast, can't do this year with toys anymore. My cousin Bill asked me to refrain from starting the Husq Ranch 460 with 24" bar, he wants to be here for it - maybe he just wants to keep me alive

No more toys, staying warm is serious stuff, and ya'll watched my adventures last year!

Now, I need a saw horse kinda thing to set the logs in to feed and saw lengths. I know what Granny had and I've been thinking over some designs as well. All suggestions will be greatly appreciated - as long as that new Husq doesn't saw my leg off!

 

[joncutt87]

The 460 is a perky little saw, starts right up as long as you follow the directions. I've been running a 450 for almost 4 years. I fired the new stove up last night, already glad that I upgraded this year.

 

[Oregon Viking]

Sawbuck.