The new perspective

                        

A careful eye might notice the wall of Stihl chainsaws or the handle of a snowblower in the background. The subject matter of the photo that I wanted to highlight are the tires on the A220. The A220 skid-steer has somewhat of a middle child mentality out here, on Arington Tree Farm. Its doesn't have the speed of the Bobcat 5600 Toolcat utility vehicle. It also lacks the lifting capacity or the go anywhere attitude of the T300 tracked Bobcat. Simply put, this skid-steer is somewhere in the middle. 

However, the life of this middle child does have at least one perk. The A220 is lucky enough to be reshod biannually. Let me preface that the shoe change isn't a new pair of shoes twice a year. It's simply switching back and forth between a nice weather pair of loafers (turf tires) and bad weather pair of steel toe boots (utility tires). The spring time, turf tire swap is waited for with bated breathe as it signifies the start of the more temperate weather. The winter, utility tire swap is something more of an ominous event. Irregardless of the date on the calendar, our winter starts once the A220 has the aggressive tire pictured in the foreground. 

So the significance of this photo is; I have resigned to the the fate that Old Man Winter has in store for us out here on the farm. The proper foot ware is currently being worn (on all four tires even) by our lovely middle child. And in parting I'll make a confession. It might not be a confession, as much as an act of rebellion on my part. I won't put the chains on those dang winter tires until the night before they are needed or before the first major winter storm. Which ever comes first. 

When things don't go as planned...

Arik is taking advantage of the dry August days by using the Bobcat to mow some typically swampy areas. I wanted to capture this for the blog, so headed down Husker Road hoping to catch him action. And I did get a couple action shots:

And then, this:

What grows up, must come down

Arik and I

Through most of this summer I have been working on timber stand improvements on the farm. I have been making my way through the woods working from the ground up. I started by using the brush mower to clear the knee high shrubs and trees. Then, I transitioned into using the brush saw to remove thumb size diameter trees and shrubs. The hand saw (my favorite) came next to cut down small trees (6” in diameter or less). I have been driving the tool cat andusing the bobcat with the grapple. But, up until last week, something had been missing from summer experience.  You guessed it—the chain saw!

While working the Walbridge Woods, I got my first hands on experience with the chain saw. Arik briefly went over the functions and safety of the chainsaw while we were in the woods, and demonstrated how to do a wedge and bore cut on an Elm before letting me tackle my first tree.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I created this image to give a better understanding of what a wedge and bore cut looks like.

Arik started by using the chain saw to score the bark where I would be making my cuts. We discussed what would happen with each cut, about the tension and compression of the cells and how the cuts would effect them.

Arik scoring the tree

Save the Cup Plants!

The last week has been warm and dry, prompting us to dive head-first into a plant advocacy campaign:

The plugs got a good drink on planting day and a couple days after when 0.4" rain fell. However, the sun has been relentless lately. We have a thirsty field of cup plants crying for H2O. 

Arik, the Tree Farm's Bruce Wayne, heard their plea and effortlessly came to the rescue with this rigged up watering system: 

ALF intern work day at the Farm

On Wednesday the Tree Farm hosted an intern work day for my fellow interns at the Aldo Leopold Foundation (ALF). Arik lent us his time and knowledge on some bigger equipment that we do not have at ALF. I have been fortunate to be able to use most of the equipment on a regular basis while working here this summer and I was thrilled to be able to share the experience with my fellow interns: Leann, Cameron, and Emily.

The three of us girls started the morning by familiarizing ourselves with the Stihl brush saw. We worked as a team to cut down Buckthorn and clear the area. One of us used the saw while the others removed the small trees and the other treated the stump with Garlon. We put the Buckthorn in piles in order to practice using the grapple attachment on the 220 Bobcat.

Emily handling the brush saw in the thicket of Buckthorn

Leann cutting out Buckthorn using the brush saw

Makin' some lumber

On Monday, Rachel and I took a road trip to the sleepy little town of Johnson Creek, Wisconsin. The purpose of our trip was to use a bandsaw mill to saw two white oak logs and to view a lumber drying kiln. 

The Alaskan chainsaw mill that we have put to work on Arington Tree Farm has given us a stack of live edge, slab lumber. Unfortunately, before we can build anything with it, we will have to get some moisture out of the wood. The passive approach would be allowing the lumber to air dry. However, with the thick slabs that we milled, it would take years to dry to a workable level - approximately 6-8% moisture content for interior applications. 

New chainsaw mill brackets

As my earlier post mentioned, the chainsaw mill brackets for the first slab didn't work well. The system was simply turning 2x4 lumber on edge to then run the mill along. The weight of the saw, the lack of perfectly level and straight 2x4s, and the narrowness of the rails all factored in to a less than flat initial slab. 

Well my Yankee ingenuity got the best of me. I spent some time building my own slab rail system. I cut a 3/4" thick piece of plywood down to 24" wide and 7' long. To add even more height and strength to the bracket, I actually sandwiched two sheets of plywood together, then added a metal frame to the underside (1 1/4" square tubing). The frame adds strength as well, but I mostly wanted the metal to create a level and square frame to attach the plywood.

Chainsaw mill is up and running!

I got a heads up that Arik was running the Alaskan chainsaw mill today so I ran back to take some photos. He and Joel were busy slabbing up the Big Oak and a black oak.

I had never seen a chainsaw mill in action before, so it was very interesting and educational to watch! While Arik has used the saw solo, it's definitely helpful to have an extra pair of hands on deck.

The slabbing of the Big Oak!

Winter has held on here at Arington Tree farm. I had hoped to slab the Burr Oak months ago, but snow plowing has occupied my time. However, with no measurable snow the last few weeks I was finally able to use the new Stihl 880 running an Alaskan chainsaw mill.

The photo below shows the slabbing brackets setup for the first cut. From all my prior research, the importance of a level first cut can't be stressed enough. I didn't like the slabbing brackets that were supplied with the kit. They only require two, 2x4's on edge, which is what this photo shows. After a challenge first cut I will be building my own bracket. That will be another blog post.

I didn't have anyone available to take an action shot. I'll get Holly or Joe to do that soon. But this second photo shows the log with three slabs removed. At the widest part, the log is 42 inches across. I feel that the scale is hard to appreciate in the photo. We have some ideas of what we want to do with slabs. My next post will show the action photo and what those slabs look like. But if you have any ideas post a comment.

I learned that an Alaskan mill is loud, dusty, and creates a lot of vibration. After three cuts I was close to being done for the day. I actually ran out of sunlight, but it was a welcome interruption in the process.