Burnt Up

[kevin_standlee]

Let's see, what did we get done today?

1. Drove up to Mill City (about ten miles east of Mehama) and bought 16 2" x 10" x 10' boards that will eventually be fitted into the frame of the utility trailer. Took two of the boards back and traded them for 2" x 12" x 10' boards when we realized that it would make the floor of the trailer fit better.

2. Replaced the lower radiator hose on the Little Orange Pickup.

3. Cut about half of the old telephone pole on the property into roughly 75 cm-long pieces and hauled them to the "coal seam."

4. Dug out the ash from under the burn barrel, sifted out the metal, and disposed of the ash in the "coal seam."

5. Burned another couple cart loads of burnable stuff. Because we cleared out the old ash, there was a wonderfully efficient draft in the barrel, and it burned quite nicely. Our only concern was that it was going to melt the barrel, which was glowing cherry red at the bottom.

We ran out of energy before running out of jobs. The lumber will have to stay stacked up on the frame of the utility trailer and dry out a bit before Lisa can start painting it with wood preservative after cutting it to size.

I have pictures of some of our work today, but am too tired to post them. Maybe I'll have some spare time at PDX before my flight back to California tomorrow.

Comments

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

You know some telephone poles, soaked with creosote to make them last longer, are considered toxic waste, not suitable for "clean" landfill. I don't, of course, know the circumstances of your coal seam.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I know, but they've decided to go ahead and have me drop the pieces into the brush pile that fills the old ditch anyway. It seems better than burning them, which is right out.

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

Being "that way" I always prefer knowledgable ecological destruction to non-knowledgable. :) [and no, dumping a single telephone pole is NOT ecological destruction. At most it's a groundwater problem a couple years down the road).

I often have trouble with that - my saying "you know that's illegal/bad/unsafe/whatever" is never "you shouldn't do that". I just hate the idea of ignorance being an excuse. But people, being people, often interpret it as "I'm calling the cops".

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's difficult. But I have no idea of how to dispose of a creosote-treated telephone pole, and it's just as bad a problem sitting where it was on the property slowly decaying anyway.

[redneckotaku.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you had a very busy day for you. That is good to hear.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

My back is now letting me know how much it does not appreciate me hefting 30kg logs. Even with proper safe lifting techniques, it's (literally) a pain.