[near horse]

Hi All!

I too enjoyed my conversation yesterday with Carl – often I feel like I’ve known him a long time.

I can hardly express how much I enjoy the company here on DAP.com – it has broadened my understanding of the word community (we can debate that in another thread later) and, as Carl put it, “makes my world a better place” too. (Hey, what’s that in my eye? No, it’s not a tear, must be a bug.:))

Carl and Lisa, we all are thankful for all you’ve done to initiate this endeavor and help it grow and flourish. It’s like you started “The Big Bang” that has generated a new and ever-expanding universe. 😮 Best wishes for a prosperous and fulfilling new year.

Merry Christmas to all you DAP.com users

And finally – Andy – Please don’t tell us you were out plowing snow buck naked! You’ve heard of getting your tongue stuck to a flagpole or pump handle? There can be WORSE things to get stuck to cold metal. So I hear. Keep on fabricating.

[near horse]

Bedding? We’re supposed to be providing bedding? Food, water AND now bedding?! What is this the Hilton? But thanks for telling me!

My horses aren’t too keen on laying anywhere but in the snow outside. Maybe if they had a bed? Or a draft futon. I did see the cable guy out there with ’em last week. Can’t wait for that bill.:)

[near horse]

@Carl Russell 23068 wrote:

Like Mitch says. I mark at breast height for the cutter, and at the stump for the landowner. Upon inspection, we can see if tree were cut that weren’t marked.

Carl

Interesting – I’ve never seen the stump marks here. Maybe just haven’t visited enough private landowner sites – makes sense.

I’ll fess up to one personal issue I run into – maybe(?) I’m just strange but I get into trouble when I get “tunnel vision” being so into the particular nuance of the job at hand that I lose perspective of what else is going on around me. Bad Bad Bad. Whether in farming or in the woods, it can result in extra work (trips to get this or that) that in turn creates the “hurried” syndrome that can be so dangerous.

I’m working on it but “stuff” happens that redirects your plans (and focus) – all the more reason to slow down and realize “if it don’t get done today, it might tomorrow.”

During the crazy springs we see here everyone stresses about getting stuff in the ground before “x, y, z” – an old timer said “I don’t recall a year that the farming didn’t get done.” Perspective.

[near horse]

Wellll – the SFJ auction happens the same weekend as the plowing event (go figure) but, since you could be headed this way …..

Last year there were some guys at the Colfax plowing event that went to SFJ on Thurs and Fri and then drove over to Colfax (no short trip) for Sat/Sun plowing.

Your call – BTW I think I saw your name posting on the Smok Stak site. That was you right?

[near horse]

Hey Carl,

I think your comment about being in a hurry as the underlying cause of many accidents is right on. With all the technology we have in modern logging, much of it making things safer, one result has been to push harder to get more wood out per hour. Regardless of the level of “tech” – rushed is rushed and that, as you said, can spell disaster.

While the odds of a branch or top falling and hitting one seem to be almost astronomically long, it still happens. I know I don’t have nearly the time in the woods as you Carl and I do respect your observations. But logging is a unique situation in the woods that requires us to be working in an area where we’ve “disturbed” the stand via dropping trees, hanging some up etc. For example (and a funny one -sorry mitch) did Mitch increas the likelihood of being hit by a falling porcupine by cutting trees rather than say picking mushrooms? I would say yes.

As a sidelight – do you guys who work in the woods see much change in broken tops or branches, tipped up trees etc after opening up a stand? Is that indicative of a stand that has not been managed well? We see that here when a stand is thinned and what’s left are 60ft+ 16″ DBH trees that then get blown over. See I’m a rookie!

Okay – to seem even dumber, can you tell me what your paint mark down low is for? Does it mark something in particular?

[near horse]

Hi Ed,

Hope you’re doing well. I’ve never seen one of those units before but it looks like it could be the precursor to the modern rotary hoe. How far below the frame do the “blades” stick? Can you adjust that or is it just one depth?

[near horse]

@Big Horses 23041 wrote:

Ahhhh……not that far! I might be heading to Moscow this winter or next spring, to get some wheel work done by Bill Twigg.
John

I pass Bill’s place everytime I go into town. If you work the dates right in the spring, you can go to one of the plowing days – April. I’ll send you the 2 dates I know of, bring your horses, plow or cart if you got one. Drop the wheel of with Bill and then have some fun!

If you’re up to it, keep in contact. Like most of the draft horse working events, there’s a bunch of good people – hell, they let me go!

[near horse]

I am reminded of the danger of those “upper tree parts” every time I go to our local grocery and go thru the checkout. The clerk there is a woman whose husband was killed by a rotten top falling on him while he was felling. He was 29 w/ 3 kids under 7yrs old.

George – thinks for the GOL stats. I always wondered just how prevalent those injuries were – they seemd to me to be a lot of the injuries.

Does GOL have some kind of reminder phrase like:

“Check overhead or you can end up dead.”

Watch yourselves!

[near horse]

I’m certainly nowhere near as experienced as most of you guys when it comes to dropping trees and freeing hangups but another very real concern with hangups is overhead. While we’re finagling stuff to get our stuck tree loose, we (I) can lose awareness of the danger overhead – specifically the widowmaker branches/tops that may have been created in the process of our original snagging.

It seems a lot of accidents out here come from above. Amplify that number when you’ve got snow/wet snow on the branches – we ain’t got no hardwoods.

So at the risk of restating the obvious “don’t forget to look up – often”.

Carl – I’ve never heard of that sawdust in the kerf trick – sounds kind of interesting.

Also, and this might sound like butchery, but to get/change the lift Carl mentioned by using a short log, we’ve used the hi-lift jack leaned backward away from the direction of pull and lifting up on the choker (we were using cable). When you pull, the jack rotates forward and lifts up even more to hopefully raise the butt enough to clear the stump or what have you – jack just falls over. Biggest issue – hauling the hi-lift up slope to where you need it!

[near horse]

Does anyone know if Les Barden addresses this in his D-ring video or has discussed it in any of his talks? He might (would) be worth giving a call.

[near horse]

Hi John,

I live near Deary ID – about 100 miles south of Spokane/Couer D’Alene and 30 miles east of Moscow ID.

[near horse]

Hi John,

Glad to hear the business is feeding the horses! I ask about nearby populations as that is really a necessity for most of us. When we get too remote, the distance to/for clientele becomes cost prohibitive.

BTW – we’re almost neighbors (you’re probably only 8 hrs away:rolleyes:)

Merry Christmas.

[near horse]

After seeing your pics, I checked out your website photos. Some nice ones! I like the “reindeer/moose” horse made by adding gloves?

How does the carriage/sleighride business work out for you? Are you all near any larger towns (Kalispell?) that could provide you with potential customers?

Anyway, nice setup and have a merry christmas.

[near horse]

Crack a couple of salmonella eggs in, some leftover growth hormone and a jigger of campaign contributions and voila! We’ve got ourselves a safe food supply!

[near horse]

Thanks Brad. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of – as a sponsored entity, do we need to do anything with regard to this state or that? OR do we really just operate under the sponsoring agency and they are ultimately accountable to the state.

Probably just splitting hairs!

[Author]

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