How do we cut up those long wood mill discards in just the right size for firewood?
We now use a fence post next to some porch steps.
Anna pushes the board up against the fence post where I cut a piece that drops straight down.
Slowly but surely we are filling up the greenhouse woodshed.
We started cutting up and stacking our neighbors’ wood-mill throwaways.
A new problem cropped up. How to stack unconventional sized firewood?
This is what we came up with.
Is there a better way to stack these pieces of wood?
I chose 2×3 over 2×4 boards in an effort to make our caterpillar tunnels lighter.
We now know this makes them a little too heavy and prone to decay faster than expected.
I was able to fix the problem with some brackets but needed a whole new design.
The new version takes advantage of the light and strong steel rails used to support ceiling tiles in big buildings.
I also decided that a smaller structure is easier to move and less prone to damage.
Stay tuned for a more detailed post on the smaller and better caterpillar tunnel after we’ve finished driving it around the block a few times this year.
We got a late start on our deck grown tomatoes.
A bit of a mix up on which variety this is but I really like the sweet taste and easy harvest.
This is the second year our deck tomatoes seem to be healthier than the ones we planted in the garden.
I like to split them down the middle to add a sweet dash of color to our salads.
Anna and I assembled a Craftsman steel dump cart while visiting my Mom recently.
The book says it takes 45 minutes to put together but we needed nearly 2 hours.
It’s a solid cart that can handle 750 pounds. Lowes sells it for 350 but Menards has a Yardworks version that is a little over 200.
Some of the problems with restoring a wheelbarrow is the damage around bolt holes which prevents the round headed bolts from biting in so you can tighten them.
An exterior screw with a washer isn’t exactly flat but it seemed better than a traditional nut and fastened in nicely with the wood of the handles.
Zip ties helped me hold it all together without needing a second hand while I tightened everything down.
The wheelbarrow repair was not as easy as it first looked.
Holes in the wooden handles did not match up with the modern Kohl design.
Wooden Handles 19 dollars
Rustoleum Spray Paint 7 dollars
Nuts, Washers, Bolts 10 dollars
EvapaRust 13 dollars
It also took more time than I originally planned for.
Prepare surface of parts for EvapaRust, Apply EvapaRust, Wait, Wipe off, Paint with spray paint.
Drill the additional holes, and put it all back together.
Would’ve been much smarter to buy the 79 dollar Truper wheelbarrow with a plastic tray at Menards.
I did discover that Evaparust was a useful product with zero toxic smell that does what it says.
What about the Kohl lifetime warranty?
Not so fast. Kohl tools have a generous lifetime warranty but Kohl products do not.
They still sell the same 6 cubic feet Kohl model…now it’s 179 dollars.
Wooden replacement handles are 19 dollars which hopefully will give us many more years of hauling.
We used some green plastic mesh to add some walls to our woodshed structure.
The Tenax brand of garden fence material has been the mesh I prefer because it’s cheap and easy.
Next step is to get some firewood cut up and stacked for the upcoming Winter.
What are these extremely small white particles appearing out of nowhere?
It took me almost a year to figure out some ants were making a home in a section of our styrofoam.
We don’t like toxic chemicals so I just removed the offending styrofoam and will have to replace it with some of the itchy stuff.