This was a quick solo trip, arriving late afternoon Saturday and leaving fairly early Sunday afternoon -- but a very rewarding trip! And yet another warm December weekend with highs in the upper 50s Saturday (cloudy) and just touching 60 Sunday afternoon (clear and gorgeous).
Expose Bluffs
I had been looking at all the unsightly under brush and small trees growing in front of the bluffs just above the spring, much of it growing up underneath the big cedars there. Plus the cedars, which had been trimmed up nicely at one time, had now put out new limbs growing back down toward the ground. Our bluffs are an attractive part of the place, and these were mostly hidden. So exposing them was my big project for the weekend. These first pictures are the before.
I lopped all I could Saturday and hauled one load of small trees and branches down to the pasture near one of the cedar groves where I had piled ice storm limbs (which I eventually burned). Now there is a new pile to eventually be burned (a great activity for some cold wet weekend -- if it ever gets wet again). Sunday morning I took the Poulan and cut all the larger trees, and began cutting out the lower cedar limbs. Eventually I had to get my step ladder to reach some of the cedar limbs I wanted removed. Balancing it on the step hill and using the chain saw was a bit tricky. Luckily I only fell once and just torked my knee a little.
I hauled 6 loads total down to the pasture. I had to strap the limbs down in order to keep from losing any on the way. Some of the longest ones had to be cut in half. The bulk of them are cedars. I now have a quite large burn pile.
The results, I must say, are very impressive. There is probably nothing I else I could have done to spruce the place up with an equivalent effort. I wish I could have gotten this done before the wedding. The trees I left will be reviewed after they leaf out, and any undesirables will go. I also need to paint the stumps with herbicide to keep new growth in check.
Riving Boards
I had talked to my dad last month about the struggle I was having trying to split off shakes from all my pine logs. I knew they had used pine for roofing. He said that as a boy that was one of his jobs, riving boards. I had never heard that term, so I looked it up and found it quite appropriate.
Rive:
verb (used with object)
1. to tear or rend apart: to rive meat from a bone.
2. to separate by striking; split; cleave.
3. to rend, harrow, or distress (the feelings, heart, etc.).
4. to split (wood) radially from a log.
verb (used without object)
5. to become rent or split apart: stones that rive easily.
He didn't call the results shakes, but boards. He also said his were 2 to 3 feet long each (versus what I cut at 18 inches), since for roofing you had to overlap them three times.
I was anxious to tackle my pine logs again, and so with 30 minutes before time to leave I got this technique down which I videoed using my iPhone. Watch the video on Youtube -- Riving a Board (http://youtu.be/r23MV2_qbgw). I am sure this is not the proper technique for using a froe, but hey it works.
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