Remembering brush cutter glory days

With the FS250 now deceased, a walk today went to places where the former brush cutter achieved great victories.  Here is a pic showing a young birch grove.  Two years ago, these trees were being drowned in the shade of young quaking aspen.  One tank from the FS250 cut the aspen out of the area, then some lopping and transport up the hill turned the aspen into boxes of kindling that burned in the last few weeks.  This is just one of many spots where very severe birch-aspen competition has turned into birch dominance, thanks to the FS250.

Trails can be seen in the snow, even though winter walking is not as common as during the more intense work seasons.  With the trimming spools and cutting line, the FS250 created and maintained our walking trails, which spread like a web from the house.  Expansion of the trail system is always a consideration, and we know the FS250 found much glory clearing our way.  It's amazing what just a few minutes of work can do to transform weedy areas into walkable terrain.

And many baby red oaks are turning into adolescents because of the FS250.  The oak on the left had no shot in 2012 without a big reduction in weeds blocking the sun.  The oak still faces lots of competition from birches in the neighborhood, but just look at him now, about 12 feet taller!

Yet, a forest manager's work is never done.  When the new brush cutter arrives, the vital tool has years of work ahead.  We can't wait for the snow to melt!

Balmy conditions

Our big snow days last week are replaced by warmer temperatures for the foreseeable future.  The solar panels started to clear on Saturday, and we're destined for some nice production over the next week.  Temps will soon surpass 50 degrees, so a lot of snow will be gone by the weekend.

But there's still plenty out there.  Thanks to two birch walking sticks, a walk in some heavy snow was completed this a.m.  The other pic shows a really big black cherry spring pole that will be taken down in the spring.

After snow, a new brush cutter

A dear old friend on Hardwood Hermitage is no more.  Word arrived yesterday that the brush cutter, a central part of the property's forest management, kindling creation, and trail maintenance activities, has serious engine issues after five glorious seasons working so hard on the hill.  The cost to repair the machine, a Stihl FS250, was more than a new unit would cost.  The replacement is the FS131, which was ordered not long after the bad news arrived about the FS250.

The saw blade, trimmer spools, and cultivator head of the deceased unit will fit fine on the FS131, which Stihl is introducing in 2017.  We'll have slightly less power for the vital work the brush cutter performs, but the FS131 is more fuel efficient and weighs in excess of two pounds less than the FS250.

We'll make sure to share pictures of the FS131 in early spring, when it's due at our Stihl dealer.  That much time will be needed before the snow disappears.  Five more inches have fallen today, getting us to 60 inches (five feet) for the season so far.  Look for some updated wintry pictures tomorrow!

Biggest storm of the season

Snow started falling on Sunday afternoon.  We have nearly a foot of new snow 24 hours later.  The tractor has done  great work, and lots of snow has been removed from around the house.  We now just need the solar panels to clear.  Temps of about 40 degrees later this week should help, especially when the roof rake takes off much of the snow below the panels.  Here are some shots taken today in the storm's windy aftermath.

Snowbow over New Hampshire

While doing some work with the bowsaw this morning, a snowbow was seen from a birch grove.  The day is sunny and cold, so the light creating the rainbow colors passed through really frigid water vapor in the sky.  The snowbow was so neat by itself, but the picture wouldn't be nearly as awesome without the shining birches.

The morning's work included taking down five spring poles:  3 yellow birch, one red oak, and one paper birch.  In addition to some large wood from these unfortunately bent trees, our kindling supply for next season just grew by leaps and bounds!