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Topics - vinsond

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ATIS General Tractor Discussion / Osage orange
« on: March 23, 2018, 04:56:40 PM »
I have about 14 acres of old pasture that's pretty much completely overgrown with osage orange, which I assume spread from the two old deliberately-planted hedgerows (hence the other common name for osage, “hedge apple,”) along the old farm lanes.   I get the original purpose, but left untended for many decades the darn stuff sprawls and twists and leans and interlocks and spreads, making the land all but impenetrable.   For four years now I’ve been slowly battling it with a chainsaw and some prodigious bonfires.

The wood is amazingly hard and dense, making for magnificent fenceposts and extremely hot, long-lasting fires, and I’ve read it’s a great choice for archery bows.   But it darn sure makes you work for it.   The same features that make it such an effective hedge (long, jagged, twisted, interlocked branches, and strong, sharp thorns on the young shoots and suckers) make it darn hard to cut down; cutting through a big branch or the main trunk might be easy enough but getting the darn thing to fall to the ground is another matter.   Sometimes takes a tractor and chain to drag each cut section down and out of the surrounding hedge.    Clock goes by fast without much to show for it in situations like that.

Then there’s the question of what to do with the stumps, since the wood won’t hardly ever rot and becomes harder with time.   Wild cherry turns into marshmallow after a couple years laying on the ground and in the weather; osage turns into iron and just lays there, waiting for you to forget it, until the day comes when it snaps the shear pin in your rotary cutter like a piece of chalk.

For most of the big trees, my normal procedure is to cut the tree about 18” or 24” above the ground and let it fall (or drag it down with the tractor and chain, if necessary).  After cutting it all up into manageable size pieces, I pile some of the big stuff around the stump but save some for later.   The few medium-size branches that are straight and free of shoots and suckers and forks, I cut for firewood and haul into a shed; the twisty nasty crap goes straight onto the pile above the stump, along with all the small stuff, for (sooner or later) a nice bonfire.   Once all the small stuff has burned down I gradually throw on the rest of the big logs to keep the stump burning.   Usually takes a couple of days to really catch, but eventually the stump and big roots will burn down underground like a seam of coal, sometimes continuing to smoke and smolder for a week or more, finally leaving a little crater as the ash and dirt above it collapse down into the void.   

For the smaller trees, I scrape away enough dirt to give the chainsaw chain a little breathing room and then cut them dead level with the ground, saw them up into pieces, and chuck them onto the nearest burnpile.   But then I paint the cut stumps with Garlon 3A to keep them from turning into the nastiest thorniest hardiest bushes you can imagine.

This morning’s episode in the battle against the osage was fairly light, continuing a long process of cleanup along one of the original hedgerows.   Unlike with the big osage trees out in the middle of the old pasture, I’m trying to save some of the original hedgerow trees if they’re at least somewhat vertical, so I don’t cut and burn them in place--but the long low branches that sprawled 30 or 40 feet over into the neighboring field had go.   So I cut them up and loaded them into a wagon, and hauled them around to a burnpile away from the main hedgerow.   The Super M provided the motive power and looked good doing it.

When I first began clearing this particular area a few months ago, it was a thicket, impossible to see through from one side to the other, much less walk around in.   As I cut and piled and cut and piled, I eventually ran across the remains of a very old farm wagon.   Seems to have been there many decades, based on the size of some of the honeysuckle and other scrubby trees I cut out from all in and around it, but whether it’s been 50 years or 100 I don’t know.  I think I’ll just leave it where it sits, plant some native hardwoods in the area to give it some company.   Looked pretty neat this morning, rising out of the remains of last Wednesday’s snowfall.

Dean Vinson
Saint Paris, Ohio

2
'round the pot-bellied stove / Up at the farm
« on: July 02, 2012, 05:53:01 PM »
I visited my dad and stepmom this past weekend, their 35th wedding anniversary, and enjoyed a nice time at the old farmstead in northeast Ohio.  They're not as young as they once were (nor am I), but they keep the place looking good.

Dean



3
'round the pot-bellied stove / Raking leaves
« on: October 22, 2011, 04:16:23 PM »
I live in the suburbs but have a fairly nice wooded back yard, and a small front yard on a street with plenty of trees, so the annual leaf-raking ritual is a task of some significance.  I gave it a good start today, probably three hours' worth, just using a rake to create big piles and then an old sheet to bundle them up and haul them back to the corner of the yard where last year's crop is now nothing but spongy compost.  Three hours' worth got the front yard and most of the side yards done, but didn't touch the back--and there's still a whole bunch of leaves yet to fall.  The oaks will thin out some more over the next month but will hang on to their favorites, it seems, until early spring.

Some light frost this morning gave everything a nice crisp autumn look, but the sun was warm and the air pretty still and by mid-afternoon the thermometer was in the high fifties.  One heck of a nice day.  Too nice for just raking leaves, so I poured a little bottle of Sta-Bil into the Super M tank and took the tractor out for a spin around the neighborhood to get it warmed up and give the gas a chance to mix up a little bit.  Looked good, sounded good, felt good.  Posed for a snapshot in the (unraked) back yard later on...

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio
www.vinsonfarm.net


4
Today was the day for the annual company picnic, and it was everything a summer company picnic ought to be:  Mostly a goof-off afternoon, lots of tasty artery-clogging food, blissfully few speeches by the boss, blazing heat.

One of the recurring events at the picnic is an all-comers cruise-in, where people from the various shops and departments show whatever vehicle they want to display.  An old Studebaker, couple of new Mustangs, '57 Willys jeep, 2007 Mercedes-Benz Crossover, big old beautifully restored Plymouth, gorgeous mid-50s Chevy pickup, etc.  Last year I admired the pickup and thought my faithful Super M would look good next to it, so this year I drove the tractor to work (about 12 miles, 45 minutes) and parked it next to the pickup at the cruise-in.

I told the show organizers I didn't want the tractor to compete in the popularity judging, just wanted to display it with the other old vehicles, but they decided if the show can include a 57 jeep and a 2007 Mercedes it probably has room for an old tractor.  So I cleaned up:  First prize in both the "People's Choice" and "Ladies' Choice" categories.  I was embarrassed, but eventually decided that I've been waiting 50 years to be the Ladies' Choice in something so I might as well take what I can get.  :)

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio
http://www.vinsonfarm.net




5
'round the pot-bellied stove / Gene and the LA on the sawmill
« on: July 09, 2011, 08:24:04 PM »
I enjoyed the annual Farm Power of the Past show today in Greenville, Ohio, and watched for a while as Gene Dotson and his Case LA powered the sawmill.  Thanks for another good show, Gene!  We're lucky that folks like you and the Fox brothers share your time and energy with everyone.



[video=youtube;rf2NSN9BJ0A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf2NSN9BJ0A[/video]

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio
http://www.vinsonfarm.net

6
ATIS General Tractor Discussion / Pulling the dogwood stump
« on: June 05, 2011, 08:58:04 AM »
I mentioned this in a post on the email list... in a case of substantial overkill, I used the Super M last evening to pull the stump of a dead dogwood tree in my back yard.  My neighbor and his kids were on hand to watch, and he took this photo.  Kind of neat how the chain is caught in mid-bounce.

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio
http://www.vinsonfarm.net


7
ATIS General Tractor Discussion / Hi speed road gear
« on: September 02, 2010, 05:53:17 PM »
The Super M I bought earlier this year has always felt to me like it has a fast road gear, faster than the M and the other Super M I'd previously owned, which in my memory would do about 17 mph in 5th.  

I'd been planning to have my son follow me in the car sometime and give me a sanity check from his speedometer, but this week the local sheriff has one of those radar-activated speed signs by the side of the road just a little ways from my house.  So as soon as I got home this evening I got the SM out and took a couple of trips past the sign, full throttle.  28 mph on the slight downgrade, 26 mph coming back up hill, call it 27 on level ground.  

Still feels way fast to me for one of these tractors, and out of concern for safety and wear and tear I won't make a practice of it.  But I'm curious about the high gear to begin with.  I know you could get low-low speed gears, but was there a high road gear setup from an aftermarket supplier or something?

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio
http://www.vinsonfarm.net

p.s.  Since this is the web forum rather than the list, here's a photo!


8
ATIS General Tractor Discussion / Thanksgiving Day tractor chores
« on: November 30, 2008, 02:41:47 PM »
My kids and I drove up to my dad's farm in northeast Ohio for Thanksgiving, and had a fine time.  In what seems to be becoming a Thanksgiving tradition for us, we cut down a dead tree that had become a nuisance along one of the farm lanes, and then had a great bonfire.  

Big old poplar I think, maybe three feet in diameter and 60 feet high.  To increase the chances that the tree would fall downhill as we wanted, and not onto on the nearby fenceline or back uphill across the lane itself, we tied a very long rope around it up high, notched the trunk on the side we wanted to fall towards, and then my dad used his Allis D-19 to gradually tension the rope as my brother cut the trunk on the uphill side and my son drove in some wedges.  I watched from several feet away so I could gauge which way the tree was leaning and warn my brother and son off if things started to go bad, and used some pre-arranged arm signals to tell my dad when to pull more on the rope.  All went well, and the tree came down with a mighty crash, much to the delight of assorted nephews and nieces watching from a safe distance.  

Dad used the D-19 to drag over some big limbs that had fallen off other nearby trees over the past several months, and we had a bonfire that's probably still got a lot of heat left in it now, three days later.  Tending that fire over the next day or two was a lot of fun, and we wished we had some more vacation days to stay up there.

Motivated by all the fun, once home I got the M out and pulled down the broken-off upper trunk of a tree that had fallen but gotten hung up in the woods behind my house.  It had been out there since the big post-Ike windstorm a couple months ago but I just hadn't gotten around to it.  The crash coming down wasn't near the big one up at the farm but it felt good to do some work with the M, and once again I'm wishing there was more.

Couple of pictures attached...

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio
http://www.vinsonfarm.net

9
John Deere / Green and yellow in an unexpected place
« on: March 12, 2008, 05:37:34 PM »
No political intent here, but I had to chuckle at the mention of John Deere in this military news article, which I received today at work.  

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio

---------------------------------
From: Air Force Materiel Command News Service
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 1:27 PM
Subject: Air Force Materiel Command News Service for March 12, 2008

Five years later, it’s still known as ‘Mother of All Bombs’

AFMCNS13 — March 12, 2008

By Staff Sgt. Stacia Zachary
96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFMCNS) — What's worse than unleashing on society the wrath of the largest non-nuclear bomb yet to be made? Letting the world know it's out there and ready to be used at any moment.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb is a 21,600 pound, GPS-guided munition with precision guidance and architecture to be delivered accurately to enemy forces with the main intention of permanently disabling them. The goal was to put pressure on then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to cease and desist or the United States would not only have the means but use them against the unpopular tyrant.

"The goal is to have the pressure be so great that Saddam Hussein cooperates," said then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a March 2003 interview. "Short of that - an unwillingness to cooperate - the goal is to have the capabilities of the coalition so clear and so obvious that there is an enormous disincentive for the Iraqi military to fight against the coalition."

While the history books have well-documented the day of MOAB's final day of testing - March 11, 2003 at 1 p.m. a huge mushroom cloud could be seen from 20 miles away - much of the design and ramp up for producing it have been little talked about.

The MOAB, nicknamed the Mother of All Bombs, was rapidly produced in-house at the Air Force Research Laboratory Munitions Directorate here. It started out simply as an idea and quickly made its way to the lab for prototype production. The request came during Thanksgiving 2002 and was originally designed as a replacement for the BLU-82 Daisy Cutter. One unique characteristic would later define the MOAB from the Daisy Cutter: it was satellite guided or a "smart bomb."

"We were asked to generate a prototype and we were asked to work out the bugs so that it might evolve into something that could be produced (for the warfighter)," said Robert Hammack, AFRL Munitions Directorate Munitions Fabrication Facility (or Model Factory) team chief.

When the model shop was first tasked with the bringing the idea to reality, the lead model maker, Joseph Fellenz, made many of the parts himself and helped solve the fabrication issue associated with bringing the prototype to a full-scale operational munition. Also on the project was Al Weimorts, the late creator of the BLU-82.

"Every technical glitch or roadblock we encountered was worked out by Al," Mr. Hammack said. "Our team was filled with engineers and other people with deeply important skill sets necessary to pull this off."

The reason this project remains so significant to the model shop workers is it was the first project they were not only asked to focus on solely proving theories but implementing them into reality.

"The shop was filled with such excitement and the morale immediately went up," Mr. Hammack said. "The enthusiasm went through the roof and we went on two 10-hour shifts a day until the project was completed."

The model shop crew was given carte blanch to get the prototype built and that included selecting the people they needed to get the project rolling.

"When this project came to us, everyone immediately came on board," Mr. Hammack said. "Many people willingly came out of retirement for the chance to work on MOAB because it was a chance to work on something different -- a cradle-to-grave project."

Unlike any project before or since, the model shop was solely responsible for coordinating the logistics on material acquirement and engineering the new munition. It was designed, built, tested and refined all in one location.

After each weapon was assembled, it was individually loaded onto a rented flatbed truck, secured and covered by tarps. The munition was then transported to the Naval Ammunition Depot at McAllister, Okla., where it was filled with explosive materials and painted and catalogued for the inventory.

"A little known fact is why the MOAB is green,” said Mr. Hammack. "Since we were in such a rush to get the weapon into our inventory to send over to aid the war effort, resources were limited. The weekend the MOAB arrived, the only color available in the amount we needed was John Deere green."

The 16-hour expedition was a sensitive undertaking -- one which saw the drivers making the trip in one long haul stopping only for gas.

"Once I was stopped by a Texas State Trooper who was curious about our cargo and wanted a peek," he said. "Apparently he had stopped one of our drivers the week before and had some idea of what we were carrying."

Once the television networks broadcast the detonation, the American public became very supportive of the drivers' long hauls.

"We started getting thumbs up by passersby on the highway," Mr. Hammack remembered.

Five years later, the event is remembered more with a sense of awe and sense of unequaled accomplishment.

"At the time we didn't think too much of what we were doing other than our job and aiding in the war effort," he said. "After we delivered the weapons, it soon became clear the magnitude of our efforts -- what we had actually helped create."

Patriots come in all shapes and sizes. Their contributions, however understated at the time, can send ripples felt throughout the world -- even if the contribution is the largest non-nuclear weapon in the Air Force inventory yet to be used.

"The most amazing thing about MOAB is it's the most powerful bomb ever built and has done its job -- deterring the enemy -- simply because they know about it," Mr. Hammack said.

The first MOAB was delivered into the operational theater for the Global War on Terror April 1, 2003. To date, none have been used in combat.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb sits in theater of the Global War on Terror waiting to be used should it become necessary. The MOAB is also called "The Mother of all Bombs" by scientists and the community alike. (Courtesy photo)

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'round the pot-bellied stove / Croatian heritage?
« on: December 29, 2007, 05:32:53 AM »
An old friend of mine is a first-generation American of Croatian descent.  I'd like to get her something special, a gift that would have some meaning in her parents' country, perhaps the way an upright horseshoe or a four-leaf clover are considered good luck here.  Or perhaps a certain flower that's especially symbolic of Croatia, or a traditional craft item made there?  Would anyone on the list have any information that might help?

(By the way, one of my favorite photos of this woman is of her driving a Farmall M, so you *know* she's something special... :-)

Thank you,

Dean Vinson

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