Now For This Week's Problem

 

Always some thing ain't it? Actually this isn't really a problem, at least not a real problem as it is easily handled and while it will require a bit of work it's not like it is expensive to fix or something.

I got the 8N and Brush hog out Sunday to start mowing in the back area that I just let grow this year. Normally I mow the back fields about once a month or so but with gas prices and the heat this Summer I just decided to let it go. So I hadn't been around this tree for a few months now.  I was walking along the fence that allows access over into the old horse pasture as my ultimate plan here is to turn my retired old ewes out into the now regrowing hay field for a month or so and allow the close in pastures to sit idle for a bit.

But first I have to get the tall nasty weeds, especially those with sticky seed pods, mowed down and close the gate over to the old horse pasture.

The 8N fired up like the champion she is. Man I love those old 6 volt batteries. You leave any of these 12 volt prim-adonna  type batteries sit idle for almost 3 months and you better have a power pack with ya but those old 6 volt batteries can sit all Winter and be ready to go in the Spring.

I got off to check this area behind the tree out along the fence and I kept hearing this groaning and cracking. When I go to check it out I see this split. It actually opened up a few inches while I was watching it. Good thing I hadn't mowed there yet. I had an 8 to 10 MPH wind moving it yesterday and then today gusts upto 15 MPH but no luck on finishing the toppling process yet. Suppose to be pretty calm tomorrow so I will chance getting under there and clearing the fence out to save my T-posts and then see about bringing it down completely.

This is actually two trees that grew together. It's a Mullberry tree and they have a bad habit of growing together like this. This is one of the weed trees that I have just been letting grow for harvesting later around here for 20 years. If Mullberry and BoxElder trees had commercial value I would be rich. Actually both specie have some advantages going for them, just not good enough to make em worth anything. Mullberry has to be in my opinion one of the best firewood trees out there except it grows kinda slow. If I cut that tree down tomorrow it will still be burnable 20 years from now. Mullberry around here just does not rot. It also refuses to grow straight more than a foot or two otherwise they would make excellent fence posts.

I was down looking the split over tonight which goes all the way into the roots in the middle but trying to notch it from the outside is going to cause at least a bit of an up angle on the shelf and no way to wedge it from the inside of the crack. Looks like it is heavy enough on the top to over come this but it could cause a twist too. I am actually wondering if I can just give this somewhat dangerous set up a bit of a nudge or maybe even use a bottle jack in the crack itself and let it fall naturally rather than help it along with the saw cuts first. It only needs a few more feet of lean to be pretty safe unless it rolls anyway.

Either way I hope to get this cut this week to let the sheep out on that field for a bit before Winter and get it split and stored in one of my shed that might allow enough of it to cure to burn this next Spring a bit. It may have enough time as dry as it has been for the smaller stuff anyway.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!