Homesteading

[joncutt87]

I was in Eden, which I actually claim as my home town. Worked 2nd shift in the cotton mills there till I graduated high school and joined the army. Eden is about an hour's drive from my farm.

2x6x8 at under $6.00 each? I need to be looking somewhere besides Lowes!!!

That was my local lowes price.

 

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[DeepseekerADS]

Show em how ol boy.

Yeah! Those puppies shouldn't underestimate us old gaseous expulsions

 

[DeepseekerADS]

That was my local lowes price.

Our Relevent friend gave me a good idea that will cost me zero bucks. Makes me think twice about buying lumber when I have everything I need right here

 

[joncutt87]

I bought a Haddon lumber maker last year. One of the many chainsaw mills on the market. Cost me $70, I've only used it twice but I've been impressed. My husqvarna 450 does pretty good with it. You can also check out the wood mizer website for local sawyers, a lot of those guys sell the initial cuts for cheap if anything. Makes cheap siding and firewood too.

 

[joncutt87]

I'm also thinking about making the switch from bar oil to canola oil this year.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I apologize for being mostly absent the last few days. Mom (89) lives with me. She had a mini-stroke, and I've had to take care of that. Brought her home from the hospital yesterday late.

Meanwhile, while I was sitting and waiting in the hospital I picked a book off my shelf to read - "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. The book is great and gave me some very serious ideas. He talks companion planting, expected harvests, layouts, spacing, and on and on. What this book leads me to do is re-plan my garden beds. His method is to take a bed, 4 ft x 4 ft, divide it into one foot squares = 16 squares, and populate from there. He claims, or projects, that using 3 season planting (late Winter/early Spring), Summer, and Fall harvests, one 4 ft sq bed will feed a person vegetables for a year.

Looking at the overall, sounds plausible to me, and since this coming season will be my first, I'll give that a try and evolve from what I learn. My plans will be a little different, as I'll have in addition to the veggies, fruits and berries.

Keep the faith!

It's Deep

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I'm also thinking about making the switch from bar oil to canola oil this year.

I'd like to hear the reasoning for this switch - something I'd not even thought about thinking about....

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

Hey Deep, I been lurking, everyone got great ideas and info! Best to and for Mom also.
I got a few ideas I pm'd to myself, lol. Sometimes I hate to over-ride someone else's post.
I'll hafta try and google earth my uncles place, show you his layout. He's 94, 95 and still gardening.
Hope joncutt gets back to you, with his reasonings.....

 

[coazon de oro]

I myself use any cheap cooking oil in my chainsaw for cutting firewood destined for bbq use. I'm kind of particular when it comes to bbq.

Homar

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I myself use any cheap cooking oil in my chainsaw for cutting firewood destined for bbq use. I'm kind of particular when it comes to bbq. Homar

This is interesting. Wouldn't cooking oil be more environmentally friendly than petrochemicals? Sounds reasonable to me, and probably much less expensive as well.

 

[joncutt87]

Yep, enviro friendly for sure, plus your not breathing in any atomized petroleum. Canola is supposed to lube better, but because it's thinner your saw will run through it quicker. Since I'm only 27, the health concerns are enough of a reason for me.

 

[joncutt87]

Deepseeker, sorry to hear about your mother, but I'm glad to hear that she's doing better.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Both my chainsaws are down right now. Not sure what's wrong with the Stihl, gotta take that apart to see. The Poulan works, but wants to cut askew. Blade is very sharp, so it's not dullness. It also bogs down pretty easily. I was thinking it might be carburetor adjustment, but I don't think it's that. Maybe the blade tips are a bit off on the angle. Believe I'll sharpen it again being extremely careful on the angle.

Was busy last night in AutoCAD (once had my own engineering business and purchased 2000i -15 years ago now). Couldn't feed myself consistently with the business, so went back working for companies. The software did pay for itself, all $3700 of it. Hadn't installed it in years, it really doesn't seem to like Windows 7, flaky, but it works. Coming in handy now, as I'm slowly laying out = the lay of the land

Was playing with the new Square Foot Gardening, seeing just what I could fit in where, how much fencing I need, and where to put the fence.

My basement is dirt floor, and I will say that my grandfather must have had skilled help in putting up the cinder block walls. Over 60 years later, they're still darned near perfect. I have the wood stove setting on pavers. When I came back, the basement was a horrid mess of junk. I've been picking up plastic shelving units, need to get one more. I've been scrounging through all the boxes, buckets, piles, putting those things I don't want to toss on the shelves - you never know what you'll need later! Enormous headway on cleaning the basement up already.

I'm focusing on the basement first, as that is "Command Central" = the wood stove, work shop, and garden center. After two months I can actually walk through all sides of the basement without wiggling my way through. Meanwhile my upstairs suite is still a mess. Too darned many things I don't want to throw away yet, and I need outbuildings.

Alas, a little at a time.

Keep the faith!

It's still pretty "Deep" here....

 

[releventchair]

"Alas, a little at a time."

How an elephant is eaten. One bite at a time.



With chain sharpening it is good to keep an eye on the rakers too. Left high the teeth don't get a good bite. Cutters dull on one side are a prime culprit in cutting to one side. Sometimes it is the dominant hand of the person sharpening having greater effect by uneven amounts of sharpening! Turning the bar over each sharpening helps even the wear and gauging the depth of its groove then too.
All my non auto fuel gets stabilizer but with a focus on using one that combats the effects of ethanol. That stuff is wicked on fuel lines and carbs.
Fresh plugs and clean air filters go far in a bogger usually. Clean chain route around bar and clutch follow. Don't take much to slow a chain.
On my bigger saw sometimes the clutch gets oily ,maybe from smoke, and has to be wiped clean or it slips enough to reduce torque following centrifugal force.

 

[joncutt87]

+1 on checking raker depth, do both of your saws use the same chain size? (3/8 or .325) if so check out the husqvarna sharpening guide, I'll take a picture of mine tonight. I use seafoam or Marvel mystery oil in all my small engines.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

+1 on checking raker depth, do both of your saws use the same chain size? (3/8 or .325) if so check out the husqvarna sharpening guide, I'll take a picture of mine tonight. I use seafoam or Marvel mystery oil in all my small engines.

I took the Stihl's bar and chain off. The Stihl and the Poulan are naturally different, bar & chain. I checked the Stihl out without going into the gut parts. Lubricated the bar and the chain, and then pulled the chain around and around the bar. I'd cleaned the bar before I put it back on, and the chain does not pull freely. Went to the Poulan, and the chain does turn freely by hand.

What happened to the Stihl last time I used it = I was cutting a log, and both the chain and bar jammed & jumped out from the body of the saw. I'd figured maybe I should have tightened it down more. But I see now there is something else wrong, being the chain, adjusted properly and fully lubricated, is a bear to spin by hand. The motor itself runs well, so I wonder if it is in the internal gearing. It's under warranty, but I'll play with it a bit, take the bar and chain back off and see how the sprocket gear spins by itself. When this happened, I had added chain oil, and had kept it supplied with oil at all times. The bar is new, since the other bar was pinched in a tree kick-back.

Perhaps there was more damage done during the kick-back incident than just the damage to the bar....

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Pictures coming! My brother came up and snapped a bunch of pics just minutes ago. When I said I was homesteading, I think you'll see what I meant. This is rudimentary and elementary. I'm NOT living in luxury. This is a place built by very poor people. I am at home with all of it, after all - this is home and full of peace.

And I am just getting started. This place has set untended since my grandmother passed in '83. The land used to be clear. That spring down there as shown in the picture is 200 years old, with the walls put up well before my birth. I put that scrap aluminum roofing on last year as I was passing through.

A year from now, it will be completely different around here.

 

[releventchair]

Ain't insultin ya Deep.
My Mculloch's the chain can get wrapped higher on the clutch than where it is supposed to ride. Rolling wonky on the bar is my clue it is not riding right. They wear were they are supposed to ride but yours being newer should not be there yet.Another place causing bind on chain was an L shaped piece at bottom before chain entered saw housing on return. It would get bent sometimes and cause friction. But riding off the rear sprocket caused most wonky chain travel. The worst problems came from reassembly with anti kickback lever in wrong position. With an anti kick back your clutch should have been braked to not allow chain running. That should defend from engine problems too. Dang saws after the seventies anyway.
Was at a shop once when an old timer came in with his dead first time ran saw saying he did not know you needed to add oil to the gas. Ouch!
Makes other saw problems seem trivial.

 

[releventchair]

Pictures coming! My brother came up and snapped a bunch of pics just minutes ago. When I said I was homesteading, I think you'll see what I meant. This is rudimentary and elementary. I'm NOT living in luxury. This is a place built by very poor people. I am at home with all of it, after all - this is home and full of peace.

And I am just getting started. This place has set untended since my grandmother passed in '83. The land used to be clear. That spring down there as shown in the picture is 200 years old, with the walls put up well before my birth. I put that scrap aluminum roofing on last year as I was passing through.

A year from now, it will be completely different around here.

Driveway pic earlier in your thread alone showed they weren't poor ,poor.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Ain't insultin ya Deep..

I know you aren't, you give pretty darned good advice and I value that. I haven't messed with the saw since I was checking the chain. You gave me a couple areas there to look at which I hadn't looked at yet. Thanks once again my friend

Gotta feed the fire, etc... I may have to shrink each picture to fit on here, they're all right at 1.5 MB each.