Site Discussions

HELP!  We still have tadpoles in our TINY plastic ponds!  Unfortunately, our ponds become big blocks of solid ice, during the winter.  It’s not unusual for us to have temps of 50 degrees BELOW zero…or even lower, so I don’t think pond heaters are an option.  I suppose the tads are doomed, but I can’t understand why they’re in there so late in the season.

Wonderful! Amazing and very educational. It is a brilliant piece.

I have been trying to get help for over four years.I have had my home ruined with smoke from outdoor wood-boiler and cant sell it. I have had breast cancer and asthma, spot on my lungs, pneumonia and problems with my eyes from smoke that does not smell of wood. neighbor burns in 80 degree weather with his windows open. It is with in 35 ft of my door where the south wind blows it all over us.we have had to go to parking lot and sleep at 3 am it was so bad. Our health dept is useless. I have over 200 video’s and dated pictures of it blowing black smoke on us and video’s of neighbor mocking me for crying about it. we have had to live in a hell on earth and no mercy any where. Our neighbor burns his owb wide open on us.we have no ideal what all has been burned on us.have video of flames coming out top of owb and sparks going all over my yard.we are gardeners and have had to stay in house on beautiful days and h even went to churches to request prayer. My grandkids have to run to get into our home to keep the smoke off them.we go to emergency room so sick they have to give us breathing treatments as soon as they see us. If people want owb’s then they and the manufacturers need to step up and speak out if they see someone using them to harm peoples health. Our neighbor has used his owb to harm two old senior citizens. We have been entertainment for him. we use to have beautiful yard full of daylilies, irises and fruit orchard .people usto come sat in my yard enjoying them now no one can cause they cant stand the horrible smoke and afraid of what it could be.we will never be the same people it has harmed us so bad. and what really hurts is people that knew and could have stopped it turned a blind eye. we cant even use our fonly what it pulls it in the house cant open our doors or windows and if our neighbor sees us out side he opens it up on us. We are afraid it will catch our home on fire while we are asleep. Wish I could put my pictures on here then you would certainly see. Thank you.

What a beautiful writer you are. Such an interesting article! I’ve learned so much. Thanks for sharing!

Just happened upon this old wood splitters discussion. Im the novice of all of you woodsmen, Young and old spent the last 4 days at a friends families cabin just outside of West Yellowstone on Hegen Lake in Montana. Its an annual opportunity to drink vast sums of whiskey and beer, catch as many fish as we can and pile cord after cord for the next summer season. To blast through the cords we used a powerful little Briggs and Stratton splitting screw ... but the large fresh Ponderosa logs put too much torque on the support arm and tore through the steel.

L. obscurum is commonly called “princess pine,” but this is one of those plants that has a dizzying number of informal names, depending on where you are and whom you’re talking with. While I haven’t heard it called “prince’s pine” before, it may well that it has that name in some circles.

I wonder however if you’re thinking of pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata) which is not a clubmoss but also grows in our region. One of its common names is prince’s pine. 
- Elise

I agree with the CU in principle but I’m pretty sure it’s the forest getting screwed. Our neighbor just had her regularly scheduled “logging” done, which I was assured by the logger would be a “selective cut”.

If I wanted them to preserve the bike trail I could flag it every fifty feet. Naively, I spent an afternoon doing just that. What a joke. Even the state forester I got out here to have a look called it a “clear cut.” Nary even a seed tree left standing in the 5 acre gash in the forest.

It’s hard to reconcile something that’s supposed to be protective of Vermont’s environment with DESTRUCTION of that environment. I know, I know, it will all grow back eventually. When I’m old and grey. So I said well, at least it must have given scores of loggers food on their table. I met the loggers. Not including the guy who drives around from site to site, there were three. Who were about .0001 percent by mass of their diesel-guzzling, out-of-state-made machines….

What is there to keep the loggers from taking everything?

Dave - Thanks for the enjoyable reading! I’m a woodworker, and wood movement in these remarkable temp/humidity swings in the NE is definitely important. For furniture, there is a whole bag of tools. For a camp door, I’d go with option B. You’ll likely rework anyway, and do you really care about a few cracks? Keep writing!

The saw tooth graph seems to prove that wood burning is not carbon neutral. As soon as the trees reach as size where they are absorbing a reasonable amount of CO2 they are felled and it is back to virtually zero and it takes a decade or so before they start to absorb much CO2.

Son and I hand built small cabin & made the door with tongue in groove boards. Perfect fit. But then rain, winter drafts, etc., so we had to do lots of incremental retrofitting over the next two years and then added an off the store shelf storm door to protect it. It’s stayed pretty tight the last eight years.

What is correct “Prince’s Pine” or “Princess Pine”? Field guides have Prince’s Pine and you used Princess.

Very informative article, Susan.
Thanks. My husband and I are canoeists, and it was super to see an otter swim in front of us one time. They’re my totem animals!

Have an old ross and having trouble with blade guide. Is there an owners manual, parts supplier, any info appreciated. Could I use woodmiser parts on it? Any advice appreciated.

Thanks. This was very helpful.

I wonder if I saw what you saw, a kettle of broad-wing hawks flying very high in the sky over my house the middle of last week (around sept.25-26). The sky was very blue and clear. I notice something very high in the sky. It look like a swarm of something, moving. I noticed again in the early afternoon. I talked with Sara Sergent (Audubon spokesperson). She said that raptors are migrating now.

Mike,

Piptoporus betulinus is specific to birch trees, there are many other polypores found on other tree species but not P. betulinus.

Dave

Hey there! Awesome photographs. I have a question, is there a way to estimate the machine operating costs? This is for making my budget because I’m trying to buy some machines.

I still don’t know which kind of aster grows at my place, but here is pretty much the only place I see it. Lovely, small, cornflower-blue flowers, it may have been planted by previous owners but has spread so much it’s all over our immediate landscape, making a cloud of periwinkle in a beautiful showing of good-bye to summer. It indeed stands up to frost and gets devoted attention from the lingering pollinators.

Wow, this is a *camp* ? Sounds like you’re building a real house! (And also seems better built than houses I’ve lived in!)

Nice work, hope you finish in time for deer season.

I just found a really well taken care of Vermont Castings Defiant Encore #0028
I got it for $500.00 and this thing is in great condition.
It needs a little tlc but we are so excited at getting this into our home.We are going to try to heat 1000 sq. ft with it. Our home is well insulated. I can get cut, split and delivered wood for $250.00 a full cord….next year will cut our own. We get to 40 below zero at times here.. hoping we can use this stove to keep us warm.. if not, we have a Toyo 56.. new.. but at nearly 4.00 a gallon for fuel.. would rather use wood.