Take-down fence

Here’s an idea for folks who may need, as I do, a privacy fence that can be removed to drive a tractor through, for instance. The details of its construction show better before being painted, so here it is. Next spring I’ll paint it and maybe put some ornamental grass in front of the posts.

Since this fence is probably going to be removed some day, I did not set the 4X4 posts in concrete, as I would have done for a permanent fence; instead, just dug holes about two feet deep and gave a good tamping to the dirt as I shoveled it around them.

To those posts I air-nailed 1X3-1/2 X4” pieces of oak at 12” intervals, beginning 18” above ground level. Over those I nailed 3 1/2”-wide pieces of 2X4. Over these were nailed 1X3X44” vertical oak strips. Horizontal rails are 1X3X76” oak. They are laid over the spacers and not nailed, allowing them to be removed for entrance of a tractor or vehicle. All the 3" oak strips are salvaged from another fence and have been in use for at least 20 years, so far without paint or preservative. Also, they were free, making them a very good deal.

I had to use 16-gauge finish air nails because framing nails blew the short wood spacers apart. My plan is to set a 6” construction screw through each of the upright oak strips where they cross the spacers if and when the 16 gauge nails fail. If I only use one screw the post assemblies will be easily removed if I want to take the fence down some day.

How to eat weeds and collect "green" info

Other than dandelions, I never thought much about weeds as food, though I had a neighbor who moved in from Kentucky and often talked about the joys of eating pokeweed. I’d want confirmation of that before I gave it a try.

I may never eat a weed, but in a book entitled “Weeds - Guardians of the Soil” by Joseph A. Cocannouer is a chapter about “Weeds as Food” for anyone inclined toward this sort of experimentation. The link is here.

I found the weed book on a web site devoted to environment and rural development work: journeytoforever.org

The site covers a wide scope of information, including reproductions of books on small farms and gardening in what they call “Journey to Forever Online Library.” - Here’s a direct link to the farm library.

Sharpening saw chains is worth the effort

During my many years of burning firewood, I’ve bought a variety of sharpening instruments - files, gauges, and even an attachment for my old Dremel grinder. They were all pretty slow and - for me - too time-consuming and tedious. Finally I chucked all of it and began taking my chains to a shop, keeping on hand enough extra chains to keep me going.

With slim hope that it would help, I ordered a little sharpener (shown above) from Harbor Freight tools. It cost less than $40 and paid for itself quickly, compared to shop sharpening prices - now about $4 per chain in my part of the world.

It isn’t difficult to set up once you know your chain’s size and angles, and the sharpening process goes fairly quickly.

Don’t mistake this thing for a quality tool. It’s mostly plastic and probably the angles aren’t exact, and I don’t expect it to last a lifetime. Still, this is an affordable way to avoid commercial sharpening prices.

Sponsorship for this essay is provided by wood-burning stove suppliers.

Loader hook makes tractor more versatile

The hook that’s welded to the back of the bucket on my front-end loader increases my tractor’s versatility and my ability to lift all sorts of unhandy items with it. Why the loader didn’t come from the factory that way is a mystery. Fact is, I never knew there was any need for such a hook, not until my son needed me to move something for him and he knew exactly how to make it happen. He welded the hook to the bucket and showed me how to use it.

I doubt he invented this, but I also doubt that its use is very widespread; correct me if you know differently. I think most folks use the boom pole, which is okay if you don’t have a loader. But I have both and I know that a driver can maneuver the front end of a tractor a lot better than the boom.

To illustrate how precise you can be with a chain from the bucket, I present photos of the way I put the wood rack on my flatbed trailer - the rack I built to haul firewood. Getting that heavy rack into a position from which the side stakes will drop straight down into the holes on the trailer is no easy skate, not unless you lift it with a chain from a ring at the rack’s center of balance.

Among the most frequent uses I make of this front-loader hook is the snaking of logs to be cut for firewood with grabber tongs. Often you can hitch onto a log without dismounting from the tractor, and once you get the end of the log off the ground just a little bit you can pull a surprising piece of tree with a little tractor like mine.

Sponsorship for this essay is provided by wood-burning stove suppliers.

Brush fork for front-end loader

A front-end loader can be man’s best friend, but when it comes to moving and stacking brush there’s something lacking - namely the big long teeth to dig into the brush and then hold it in place.


They sell pallet forks that can be clamped to front-end loaders (http://www.wikco.com/palletbktforks.html) and should do well with brush, but the cost is nearly $400 for the cheapest set.

A lot cheaper ($130) and just as good for my purposes turned out to be something called a “carry all” for three-point hook up. If you turn it teeth-forward and chain it to the loader, it will do a pretty good job even though the “teeth” are angled steel, rather than flat.

You have to secure the top of the carry all so it can’t tip forward, and you have to secure bottom so it can’t slip away from the bucket.


There’s probably a better way to do this with one chain, but I used two of them, tightening them with load-binders.

One of the conveniences that helped considerably was the chain hook that my son had welded to the back of the bucket several years ago. It shows at the bottom of the lower photo. This allows me to grab a log chain from the front of the tractor and expands the convenience and ability of the tractor many times over. Why front-end loaders don’t come so equipped is a mystery.

Twine for everything

Here is a many-years-long supply of string for tying anything you got, and I bought it for $10, maybe half the retail price. But even at $20 it would still have been a good deal.

I went to the Tractor Supply Co. store for a roll of hemp twine they use in baling hay, but those are now sold only in packages of two. Turns out they sell plastic twine in singles and, better, they happened to have one on hand with a damaged wrap at reduced price.

If you get one of these, a good way to keep track of the end feeding from the center of the spool is to tie it to the other end sticking up out of the wrapper.

Avoid losing tools in the fields or forests ...

A few years ago when I was working in the back country my handgun slipped from the shoulder holster and dropped into the leaves and underbrush. Not only was the gun a gift from my son, it was among my all-time favorites. I learned through some tense hours of searching for it just how invisible even brightly reflective metal can be in the shadows and shapes of a forest floor. Since then I've kept a bright ribbon tied to the trigger guard.

Such a trick is also good for other tools that are used in out-of-the-way places. See, for instance, how I keep from losing log chains at this link.

Patch and preserve a tree

Among Rosalie's dearest possessions is a pink dogwood that has beautified our front yard for more than 40 years - a mere baby when we moved here.

Now it's a veteran of many fallen limbs and bug and worm attacks. A few years ago I sprayed into the holes and rotted places some foam insulation, without believing it would do much good. I assumed the insulation would fall out and the damage would continue.

But the stuff did stay put. You can see it as brown spots in the photo above.

When the Big Wind of '08 hit us recently, it snapped off a large part of the tree and I removed it with a chain saw.

Over the amputation I again squirted foam insulation. It makes an air-tight seal, seemingly one that bugs aren't interested in attacking. Whether it will save the tree is still to be learned.

To make it less noticeable I spray-painted the hardened insulation with a bluish paint, then I toned that color down with some brown spots from another spray can. The color doesn't suit me so maybe next spring I'll cover more of it with gray. Still, from a distance it isn't too noticeable.

Because the tree is so special, I feed it with garden fertilizer each year. That has kept it healthy and radiating pink each spring, and perhaps it will aid in the tree's full recovery.

Paint your log chains

I dropped a short log chain in the woods about three years ago. I know where it is, give or take 75 feet in each direction, and I've looked for it many times without success.

Recently I replaced it - a 4 foot log chain with two hooks cost about $34.

But I had long since begun painting my chains once each season - just a little whack from a spray can will turn a chain from invisible to otherwise

Secure loading ramps for an ATV

While driving an ATV or tractor onto the back of a pickup truck you need to ensure they don't slip off the tailgate.

I did this by using heavy I-screws in the sides of the ramps and running a ratchet tie-down strap from them to the truck hitch.

Carry a chain saw on an ATV

Getting a chain saw from one place to another on an ATV is as easy as strapping an old plastic milk crate to the rack and putting the saw inside. The plastic won't damage the chain teeth or other saw parts. These crates are lots cheaper and maybe easier than the kind you buy for $50 or so.