Colt Case Ingersoll Garden Tractors

We had a big ash tree that needed to come down, but it was too close to the house, septic, woodshed, etc. so had a guy climb it.

I had him drop a 40ft stem once the limbs were off and then I milled some posts using one of these beam makers. There are a few different companies that make them, and many of you could make your own with some basic materials and tools. All based on the "Beam machine" from out in BC, but those are hard to find now.

https://www.amazon.ca/LASER-THE-BEAM-MA ... B06Y19281G

Did a fairly decent job. I need some more practice but I ended up with about 10 usable 4x4 posts at 8-9 feet. Some of these will be used to support the roof of my new firewood shed. They are very heavy!

I still have a good amount of this tree left and I'm going to try making some 6x6 posts next.

Pretty easy to set up, and you don't need a big saw or bar to get decent results. I used a 20" bar and this log was on average 22" in diameter. You do need a straight 2x4 (actually there's about 1/2 play so I ended up gluing a strip of mdf to take up the slack). Guess it was made for a real 2x4!

Sorry for the lack of action shots...guess I didn't take any - next time.

If you have trees/logs but don't own or want to pay/transport logs on a sawmill this is a great way to beat lumber prices. Super portable, easy and fast to set up. It can also be used to make boards.







Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

I'm very impressed @Chad . That's something I was hoping to do with the ash logs I got. Are your arms sore?

Nicely done! I’ve alway been interested in one of those potable saw mills but what you have looks really useful at a fraction of what one of those would cost. Being able to cut your own lumber is a great advantage.

Thanks guys! @Eugen they weren't too bad! The key I found is to do a few "shallow" passes, especially the first cuts. Trying to go all the way the first pass doesn't work well in terms of keeping things square. The mill has small dogs which bite down on the 2x4, enough that you can lever the saw into cut just like normal dogs on a large saw. Plus I was standing while cutting, way nicer than when using my alaskan mill.

It is unfortunate that there is more waste vs. a different mill (ie. band saw) but for what it is I'm impressed.

I guess with enough practice you could do it like this guy! Although I'd still wear some PPE

https://youtu.be/y5Ei-fBIAVk

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

Chad wrote: ↑Mon Aug 29, 2022 8:51 pm
I guess with enough practice you could do it like this guy! Although I'd still wear some PPE

https://youtu.be/y5Ei-fBIAVk

The find it hard to believe that is hard wood. Seems kinda unreal.

So, did you use a ripping chain? I find it amazing you were able to cut so nicely all those 4x4s. Nice little device and good technique I'm sure.

I've got one of those beam saws that my father bought ages ago. Never used it as far as I know... I bought my Alaskan mill before I knew we had it, but the Alaskan was better for what I did with it anyway... Still want to try it out at some point when life calms down a bit. Big ash trees can turn in to a lot of lumber in a hurry. When I got my crane, I decided I needed to get in a supply of cribbing to go with it. Took down a 4 or 5 way ash, and ended up with a huge stack of 4x6 beams 12' long or so from the bottoms. Guy with the bandmill only charged me a couple hundred bucks to slice and dice, so I couldn't complain. The tops went in to the firewood stack, and came close to a cord on their own. Big trees. Damn shame what we're loosing to the ash borers.

@Eugen no ripping chain, but I'm sure it would be better with one. I'm planing them down right now, and I cut them a little oversized with the chainsaw knowing I would. I did cheat a little once I got the 12" slabs and used my circular saw, slow and steady.

@Toolslinger I agree it's bittersweet. I think down the road I'll have a guy with a bandsaw mill some for me...or I may get one.

It is a shame that we're losing these trees, when we moved here 5 years ago you'd never know it would die - had a full and healthy crown, of course I knew it was a matter of time. There have also since been a lot more elms die off too, and the beech have been struggling/dying for quite a while. I'm very worried about oak wilt, since 90% of our trees here are burr oaks/swamp oaks. The past 2-3 years of gypsy moth outbreaks gave us an idea of what that would look like in our woodlots. Spooky seeing a forest de-foliated in the summer...

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

With any luck the Gypsy Moth will catch some plague, or move on... They were real bad when I was a kid, and then just disappeared for a couple decades out in PA. I never really knew why, but yea, they can shred the trees. We've started seeing them again, which is just delightful...

I never really gave the ash much thought until they all started to die. They're a surprisingly high percentage of the woods by me. Now when I drive through my logging roads, I've got areas that are wide open, and grass, and ferns have taken over. I'm going to have to mow the roads, because I can't see where it is in some areas. I don't want to spray since the plants help hold the dirt, but I can't figure out really how to mow it safely since the roads are real rough and rocky with a lot of erosion... If I keep a mower up to clear the rocks, all I'll get is a slightly lower mess where I still can't see where I'm driving. Perhaps drag some chain link , or just a bunch of chains through to just knock it all down...

Toolslinger wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 4:37 am With any luck the Gypsy Moth will catch some plague, or move on... They were real bad when I was a kid, and then just disappeared for a couple decades out in PA. I never really knew why, but yea, they can shred the trees. We've started seeing them again, which is just delightful...

I never really gave the ash much thought until they all started to die. They're a surprisingly high percentage of the woods by me. Now when I drive through my logging roads, I've got areas that are wide open, and grass, and ferns have taken over. I'm going to have to mow the roads, because I can't see where it is in some areas. I don't want to spray since the plants help hold the dirt, but I can't figure out really how to mow it safely since the roads are real rough and rocky with a lot of erosion... If I keep a mower up to clear the rocks, all I'll get is a slightly lower mess where I still can't see where I'm driving. Perhaps drag some chain link , or just a bunch of chains through to just knock it all down...

Last years the Gypsy moth decimated a lot of trees here . The last couple of years the Ash trees are dieing off . The tree guy said it takes 3 years for the trees to fully die . Fortunatly those are a small percentage of the trees around here .

We had 2 full seasons of severe gypsy moth infestation. They attack all varieties of trees. I thought we would loose our pines and red maples. It was sickening to watch the defoliation. I tried a dishsoap and water rince, and pharamone traps. We may loose an oak but the damage may be from a very late spring freeze. This year we are not seeing many moth. A local University of Guelph professor thinks the moths were hit by a virus in early fall that wiped out the moth population.

Yes, same for us. After a brutal past 2 years I only saw one or 2 live caterpillars this year thankfully. I'd heard they're on average a 10 year cycle?

They did get the top of the white pine out front, but it has since recovered. Not that it'll be used one day for any ship masts in the British navy or anything lol. I do love those trees though.

Why can't these invasive species prey on something nobody wants...like poison ivy?! They can have all of mine

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

Wouldn't that be nice... The moths could team up with the damn spotted lanternfly that is causing havoc here, and they could wipe out poison ivy once and for all, then promptly die off from starvation.

Toolslinger wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 4:37 am I never really gave the ash much thought until they all started to die. They're a surprisingly high percentage of the woods by me. Now when I drive through my logging roads, I've got areas that are wide open, and grass, and ferns have taken over. I'm going to have to mow the roads, because I can't see where it is in some areas. I don't want to spray since the plants help hold the dirt, but I can't figure out really how to mow it safely since the roads are real rough and rocky with a lot of erosion... If I keep a mower up to clear the rocks, all I'll get is a slightly lower mess where I still can't see where I'm driving. Perhaps drag some chain link , or just a bunch of chains through to just knock it all down...

Sounds like a job for a bigger tractor dragging an angle scraper blade, to push the rocks to the side a few times. Then you could mow/bush hog it.

It's amazing what low prices older bigger tractors have. There's a David Brown diesel not far from me, with loader, going for $1500.

Eugen wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 2:18 pm Sounds like a job for a bigger tractor dragging an angle scraper blade, to push the rocks to the side a few times. Then you could mow/bush hog it.

It's amazing what low prices older bigger tractors have. There's a David Brown diesel not far from me, with loader, going for $1500.

I've got the bigger (not massive, but plenty big for a back blade) tractor, and even have an angled back blade...

Where I am, if you managed to push the rocks to the side to find dirt, you'd end up in the far east someplace... I'm never really sure what it is that keeps the little bit of dirt we have in the woods from just falling down in to the bottomless abys of rocks... The fields aren't too bad, I mean people can farm here, but the woods are still woods because there wouldn't be any point in clearing them to try to make a field. The fields are clay and rock. Hard on the ag equipment, and murder if you are trying to set a post...
I'm not complaining... It's beautiful out there, but I'd hate to have to make a living farming it...

No problem, @Toolslinger, get this and don't look back


And to keep to the topic, @Chad , did you film by any chance any of your milling with the Laser product?

Toolslinger wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 4:37 am With any luck the Gypsy Moth will catch some plague, or move on... They were real bad when I was a kid, and then just disappeared for a couple decades out in PA. I never really knew why, but yea, they can shred the trees. We've started seeing them again, which is just delightful...

I never really gave the ash much thought until they all started to die. They're a surprisingly high percentage of the woods by me. Now when I drive through my logging roads, I've got areas that are wide open, and grass, and ferns have taken over. I'm going to have to mow the roads, because I can't see where it is in some areas. I don't want to spray since the plants help hold the dirt, but I can't figure out really how to mow it safely since the roads are real rough and rocky with a lot of erosion... If I keep a mower up to clear the rocks, all I'll get is a slightly lower mess where I still can't see where I'm driving. Perhaps drag some chain link , or just a bunch of chains through to just knock it all down...

I was thinking about your logging roads. I imagine they are not wide enough to use a sickle mower with the cutting bar tilted up slightly to skip over the rocks. But what about a flail mower? It would probably be noisy and you might have to replace some knives from hitting rock but it might knock the grass down. I don’t know, it’s just a thought.

JSinMo that might be a good solution for Tools linger. Not sure how forgiving they are with rocks, but they can do damage to culverts. Hopefully not the new one we had put in!

@Eugen - unfortunately no video. I will for sure next time though!

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

Chad wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 2:01 pm Why can't these invasive species prey on something nobody wants...like poison ivy?! They can have all of mine

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

I'd like to see something that likes to eat buckthorn, pac man style.


Gordy

Eugen wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 3:08 pm No problem, @Toolslinger, get this and don't look back

Screen Shot 2022-08-31 at 15.06.38.png

You might be on to something there... A couple 4' rollers, or cultipackers might do a reasonable job if I run them through weekly... After a while the greenery might decide it didn't like being crushed...

JSinMO wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 5:56 pm I was thinking about your logging roads. I imagine they are not wide enough to use a sickle mower with the cutting bar tilted up slightly to skip over the rocks. But what about a flail mower? It would probably be noisy and you might have to replace some knives from hitting rock but it might knock the grass down. I don’t know, it’s just a thought.

Yea, sickle would be too wide unless it was front mounted. The flail is an option... I could give it a shot, but man, I'd hate to do that to the unit since I just finally got it in service... $250 flail, and $2500 in parts/repairs over 6 months... Cuts the grass and brush great, terrifying sounds when it catches a rock. I haven't tried it lifted much. The discussions I've read on flails seem to indicate they don't work terribly well high off the ground. That's the grass cutting style like I have, obviously the hammer style must work ok since they put them on boom units now.

And with that, I'm not going to drive this train any further off the tracks... Back to the ash cutting! I'll revisit this in its own post when I decide to try something. Thanks for the input, always good to have fresh eyes/brains on a problem.

@Chad I see you didn't paint the ends of your milled wood. I noticed that on other people's milled planks. Is that so it doesn't crack while drying? Are you going to do it?

@Eugen yes I probably should paint the ends to prevent checking and splits. The stuff I milled a number of years ago didn't split too badly, so I'm not that worried. But it's always a good idea, especially if it was green wood

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk