What did you do today?

[adsm08 4,363]

Just now, ebinmaine said:

 

Same. 

We got a new splitter. Haven't got all the bugs/adjustments right yet.  It'll get there.  

 

 

 

 

We ran out this past winter, and it has been getting hard to find suppliers.

 

We had a load of fairly green wood dropped earlier this week, so today I attacked it with the saw, while the wife was running the splitter.  Hopefully we have enough decently seasoned by December.

 

I have 1/2 a cord of stuff that was green last year and good now, plus a big tree worth probably another half cord that's been down and should be good to go.

[19richie66 17,868]

@Blue Chips beautiful work bud! Can’t wait to see the rest of the truck. 

[Blue Chips 728]

42 minutes ago, 19richie66 said:

@Blue Chips beautiful work bud! Can’t wait to see the rest of the truck. 

 

Thanks. It may be a while before it's back together, but I'll post my progress now and then.

[8ntruck 8,786]

2 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

Same. 

We got a new splitter. Haven't got all the bugs/adjustments right yet.  It'll get there.  

 

 

 

@ebinmaine - you got a separate thread running on this?  There is a splitter purchase some time in the future for us.  These double ended rigs look kind of interesting.

Edited April 19 by 8ntruck

[ebinmaine 78,404]

16 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

@ebinmaine - you got a separate thread running on this?  There is a splitter purchase some time in the future for us.  These double ended rigs look kind of interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 78,404]

This morning we had a visit from a sharp shinned hawk. They're closely related to, and similar in coloring to, a coopers hawk. 

The main difference is size. 

A "sharpy" is a bit larger than an average blue jay. 

A coopers is more in the range of a crow. 

 

The other difference is the preferred hunting areas for each. 

The sharpy is an open field hunter while the cooper prefers more wooded places like a loosely treed forest. 

 

We've been expanding our open space here so we see more of the birds that like those spaces. Bluebirds as well.  

 

 

 

[Dan 312-8 505]

Beautiful day to get a little seat time. 3rd cutting for the season thus far.

[sqrlgtr 2,651]

On 4/19/2026 at 12:35 PM, ebinmaine said:

This morning we had a visit from a sharp shinned hawk. They're closely related to, and similar in coloring to, a coopers hawk. 

The main difference is size. 

A "sharpy" is a bit larger than an average blue jay. 

A coopers is more in the range of a crow. 

 

The other difference is the preferred hunting areas for each. 

The sharpy is an open field hunter while the cooper prefers more wooded places like a loosely treed forest. 

 

We've been expanding our open space here so we see more of the birds that like those spaces. Bluebirds as well.  

 

 

 

I think the Cooper is what I've been seeing around here. I used to only see Red Tail hawks but been noticing more of these in the last few years, may have been around a long time and I just hadn't noticed before. I do know the ones I've seen will catch other birds and tare their heads off, had one almost drop a head right on top of me the other day..

[ebinmaine 78,404]

3 minutes ago, sqrlgtr said:

I think the Cooper is what I've been seeing around here. I used to only see Red Tail hawks but been noticing more of these in the last few years, may have been around a long time and I just hadn't noticed before. I do know the ones I've seen will catch other birds and tare their heads off, had one almost drop a head right on top of me the other day..

 

 

Look at the local falcons too.  You may have a merlin or peregrine around.  

[8ntruck 8,786]

Actually, this happened a couple days ago.  An impulse buy found at Wal Mart:

 

 

A left handed Tigger mug! 

 

Seems fitting as I am left handed and Tigger is impulsive.

Edited April 26 by 8ntruck

[ebinmaine 78,404]

Spent several hours clearing more brush and small trees from the area beside the house. 

We now have all the little stuff cleaned out from approximately 40 x 60 ish or so. 

 

 

 

Tools used were my Stihl MS180C gas chainsaw and this new super cute 6" battery powered limbing & trimming saw. Trina's latest tool buy. So far.... VERY IMPRESSIVE.  

 

 

 

[Ed Kennell 45,818]

Helped a few chicks.    They were having trouble navigating the curb so I gave thema lift.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[8ntruck 8,786]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Spent several hours clearing more brush and small trees from the area beside the house. 

We now have all the little stuff cleaned out from approximately 40 x 60 ish or so. 

 

 

 

Tools used were my Stihl MS180C gas chainsaw and this new super cute 6" battery powered limbing & trimming saw. Trina's latest tool buy. So far.... VERY IMPRESSIVE.  

 

 

 

We picked up the WORKX version of that last summer.  Only thing I don't like about it is that the chain oiling is manual - a cute little squeeze bottle came with it.  I used it Friday to trim a lilac bush and do some trumpet vine control on the barn.

[ebinmaine 78,404]

1 minute ago, 8ntruck said:

We picked up the WORKX version of that last summer.  Only thing I don't like about it is that the chain oiling is manual - a cute little squeeze bottle came with it.  I used it Friday to trim a lilac bush and do some trumpet vine control on the barn.

 

This one has an odd oiling setup.  

You lift the upper guard up, point the saw down, and pull the trigger to let it run full speed for a few seconds. 

[8ntruck 8,786]

 run it full speed until it draws a line of oil on your pants, you mean.

 

That is better than the squeeze bottle system, though - it is all on board of the saw.

[MainelyWheelhorse 2,437]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Spent several hours clearing more brush and small trees from the area beside the house. 

We now have all the little stuff cleaned out from approximately 40 x 60 ish or so. 

 

 

 

Tools used were my Stihl MS180C gas chainsaw and this new super cute 6" battery powered limbing & trimming saw. Trina's latest tool buy. So far.... VERY IMPRESSIVE.  

 

 

 

My parents have an Electric DeWalt saw that looks more like a traditional saw. It gets used a lot by them and by me. The electric stuff does come in handy.

[SylvanLakeWH 31,143]

 love my Dewalt electric chainsaw and pole saw... Auto oil... really does the job.

[ebinmaine 78,404]

8 hours ago, MainelyWheelhorse said:

My parents have an Electric DeWalt saw that looks more like a traditional saw. It gets used a lot by them and by me. The electric stuff does come in handy.

 

Trina also has a larger battery powered chainsaw. That's a 14" bar I believe. Kobalt brand. Also an excellent purchase.  

 

 

8 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

run it full speed until it draws a line of oil on your pants, you mean.

 

Not at all. 

 

She finds it very easy to regulate the amount.  If anything, I'd rather see it dole out more oil.  

[cleat 8,945]

14 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Spent several hours clearing more brush and small trees from the area beside the house. 

We now have all the little stuff cleaned out from approximately 40 x 60 ish or so. 

 

 

 

Tools used were my Stihl MS180C gas chainsaw and this new super cute 6" battery powered limbing & trimming saw. Trina's latest tool buy. So far.... VERY IMPRESSIVE.  

 

 

 

 

I have a little Milwaukee M18 Hatchet as they call it.

It is full auto oil and works great.

 

I also have it's bigger brother.

 

[8ntruck 8,786]

Finally got to Houston for the FRC World Championships are being held.  Both of the local high school robotics teams I have qualified.  I have volunteered to be a Robot Inspector for the first 2 days of the championships and spectate for the last two days.

 

The trip to Houston didn't go as planned.  Original plan was to start driving just before lunch, stop overnight near Little Rock, then finish up today.  Ma nature had other plans.  Lots of rain overnight, and we woke up to water coming into the basement through the floor drains.  It was about 4pm when I finally took off after pumping the basement out, hosing the first layer of grunge, jetting the house trap, and setting up a plumber for this morning.   I got into Arkansas before stopping for the night.  A very early start this morning got me back on schedule.  Really cool drive through the Boston Mountains on US 65 while the sun came up.

 

Called my wife to find out what the plumber found.  Wasn't real good news.  The house trap was clogged with clay - the bottom has probably cracked.  The proper fix is to excavate and replace.  The house trap is under the deck.  Typical 100 year old house.  You open it up to fix one thing (clean the trap), and you discover 2 more projects - excavate and replace, and replace the deck. 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 31,143]

Made a bench out of trash picked skis and bench frame. Fertility God Kokopelli (on skis, on a bench, what could possibly go wrong) was my inspiration...

 

 

[Dan 312-8 505]

So, after breaking my #1 cardinal rule when it comes to cutting the lawn, “grass must be 100% totally dry before cutting”. Broken out of necessity due to upcoming business travel next week I had to cut the grass this past Thursday so I can cut Tuesday next week before I leave on Wednesday morning.

The skies were sketchy but I decided to go for it. 10 minutes in, those skies started raining, figured oh well, here we go. By the time I was finished mowing the damage was done, my tractor looked like a big green booger. So I hosed it off and sprayed under the deck the best I could, but knowing that as anal as I am I needed to remove the deck for a thorough cleaning and boy am I glad I did. Getting the deck off was the fun part, my shoulder is still in the healing process from my rotator cuff surgery in January. So borrowing the idea from a few fellas here, I used my garage hoist and lifted the front end up and rolled it out for a proper cleaning. And will roll it back in under here in a few minutes. Have a great weekend!