maple flats
02-20-2006, 06:06 PM
Yesterday i walked my pipelines to survey wind damage. I found 3 good (bad) sized hemlocks downed by the wind, right on top of the tubing. Cut the first 2 and hauled the logs to my log bunks for future life as batten on my sugarhouse. Still have 1 to go but it will be harder to do. It didn't fall all the way yet, is sort of caught in the branches of a couple of big red maples that were going to get buckets. If it falls the rest of the way the top will land on the mainline near the sugarhouse but I don't think my tractor can pull it back up and over the opposite way. The reds to get buckets were for showing visitors how sap was collected before tubing. I must be real careful on this so no one gets hurt. The falling tree has a big root ball (really flat on the bottom but sort of round where it pulled loose from the surrounding soil), I might borrow a big tractor to help tip it with a logging winch but won't lock the brake on the winch so if it starts to overpower the winch I just release the clutch rope and let it fall and then after cleanup I fix the mainline. I don't dare get to the tightener to loosen it so fixing after is safer. Aside from the uprooted hemlocks I have several limbs down but none hit anything except 5/16 lines, one pulled a 5/16 quick disconnect apart but nothing broke. After the season I have enough logs to make all of the batten and several 2 x 4's which I always find use for so i will need to get sawing with my Peterson sawmill and nailing the batten in place. I wonder if my wife had anything to do with it, she recently said the batten should keep the sugarhouse a little warmer so she wouldn't mind boiling sometimes and I told her I would cut some hemlock after the season for next year.