Last Monday we went to our cabin to check on our newly planted basswood and to clean up some of the uncut wood and piles of branches.
It looked like only three of the 25 seedlings had been bitten, but they might not have had the longest branch intact when we planted them.
Our first order of business was to unjam our chipper. We had left it jammed from our visit two weeks ago. I don't like to bend over to work on things, and so we wanted to have it elevated. I had a loading dock that was at a good height for such work, but it had too many rotted boards two years ago. The picnic table that I built seventeen years ago is still usable although we use another table for al fresco dining. It has become a de facto work bench for many tasks.
I hauled our aluminum ramps to the one end of the table and the two of us were able to push, lift, and wriggle the chipper into place for further work. Now it seemed a piece of cake to take off the screen and the input chute and reach next to the flywheel for the jammed piece. Well, the first two were a piece of cake, but even seeing the jammed piece was not.
I pushed in a cheap, long keyhole saw I had bought for this purpose, but its teeth were too fine to really grab the wood. I could saw at the wood, but that was a long, laborious process.
If I pushed the flywheel in the opposite direction that it normally went, I hoped it would push the piece within reach. Unfortunately, pushing it backward jams the handle of the starter rope against the housing very quickly. I had figured out that if one of us pulled out the starter rope first and the other pushed the flywheel in the opposite direction, we could push the flywheel for several rotations.
This worked only once. A very little piece showed itself at the chute opening. I grabbed that piece with pliers and pulled steadily. The whole piece came out shortly and the flywheel turned easily.
The next time we were not so lucky. I had to use the better back saw to get at it and cut or grab. Eventually the piece broke up into smaller piece and the flywheel turned freely. However, there is still some still in there that could cause some other wood to jam.
The problem is one of design. The gap between the blades and the housing is quite large, and so a piece can be pulled in and jam, especially in an area away from the blades. The problem is further compounded by the nuts and bolts in the cutting area that hold the housing to the engine. These are just one more obstruction to cause a jam.
Why, oh why, didn't I buy that Troy-bilt drum chipper when they were still marketed? Supposedly, if it jammed, one inserted a crank into the axle and turned it backward. These are available from time to time on eBay, but they always seem to be in Texas or Pennsylvania or some other locale two or more days driver away.
When I wasn't busy unjamming the chipper, I was cutting up the tree bolts. I had moved my sawhorse close to the pile of the biggest bolts. I only had three problems with this.
The first was getting the biggest bolts onto the sawhorse. There were six to ten inches in diameter. I had to use what I call the "little brother carry". I would stand one on end, squat a bit, put my arms around it about 3/4 the way up, stand up, and stagger over to the sawhorse. I could leverage one end onto the sawhorse, and then walk my hands down and lift up the other.
The second was despite the bolts being on a sawhorse, the saw would still jam. Not seriously, but enough to have to back off. I did manage to make most of the cuts perpendicular and clean. It was amazing how much easier it was to control the saw at waist height than it was bending over a trunk on the ground.
The third problem was probably a result of the second problem. The chain broke! Fortunately for me, it didn't fly off and hit me or anything or anybody else. It just dangled from the saw. I got out another chain, put it on and I was back in business.
I also took a few minutes to split a few rounds. This late in spring, they still split easily when I hit them correctly. Correctly doesn't include being dead on center.
So, we got rid of one pile of bolts and several piles of branches. There is more waiting for our next visit.
Unless something really interesting happens, this will be the last episode of "Adventures of Superwoodsman" for a while. Our next few visits will be more chipping and sawing, then we will widen some paths and do more chipping. I do hope we start spending more time walking around or just sitting around enjoying the outdoors.
If you would like to see some pictures of our place in Brimson and the surrounding area, see my Brimson set on Flickr.
