MrIncredible
Is fintastic
That's marriage material right there bro!!
Nah-that's a vacuum in her hand, not a sammich.
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Big, Bad Treehouse
- Thread starter tzrider
- Start date
Nah-that's a vacuum in her hand, not a sammich.
tzrider
Write Only User
There is some ladder fuel in the area still, but it's vastly reduced over the past few years. In five years' time, I've cut down about 100 trees, ranging from saplings to 130 foot standing dead firs. We've chipped several tons of wood, reducing it to mulch, which is the next best thing to burning it from a fire prevention standpoint.
The specific location of the tree house was one of the most heavily entangled areas on the property until last summer. There is a bit of work to go removing dead lower branches, but that will have to keep until next year.
MrIncredible
Is fintastic
n10sive
Well-known member
tzrider
Write Only User
Got any firewood you want to sell?
It's closer to my house
Hoo boy!
It seems like there is always some dead wood that needs clearing out. A couple of lodgepole pines died suddenly last year and I need to take them out at some point.
That said, I have typically provided surplus wood to a family in the area that lives there year round, as it is their sole heat source and they can use the help. They may not continue to stay year round beyond this coming year, so I may have wood available some day.
Until that family moved to the area, I began making log furniture, partly because I thought it was cool but also because I needed to do something with the extra wood, as I didn't need it all for fuel.
MrIncredible
Is fintastic
I only burn hardwood-no pine-too dirty.
tzrider
Write Only User
Understood. FWIW, pine can burn pretty cleanly if cured long enough. The climate there is very dry and the stuff burns acceptably in a woodstove.
ThumperX
Slayer of Deer
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2007
- Location
- Off Elk Mtn
- Moto(s)
- Different strokes
Big Bore and little bore Thumpers Imaginary Twingle
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 2817058
andy, it's looking most awesome 
this is where the diverted river powering the rollercoaster elevating chain will serve a dual purpose
SalCal
The Dainbramaged
Waterslide!!!!!!!!!
louemc
New member
A mix of wood types, like hot burning smaller pieces that keep the slower burning pieces, at a cleaner burn....Works exceptionally well.
Where I live I have Oak and Manzanita (sp?) and Bull Pine. It's kinda a full time battle to burn the dead and dangerous wood fast enough as a home heating fuel...to stay ahead of it....It just keeps growing...and on large acreage...the "it" is a lot of "it".
It helps to get the junk wood in a pile, that can be burned in a rain storm, so sparks etc, can't start something going that Ya don't want going.
We have sure seen controlled burns, get out of control in Colorado, etc where the people involved are the very people that should know better.
tzrider
Write Only User
Yes, controlled burns are pretty much out of the question where we are. The community has had "chipping days" for the past few years, where we hire an arborist with a large chipper to grind up whatever people leave by the roadside. Between chipping smaller material and donating firewood to a couple of year round families, we have substantially reduced the fire hazard.
Chipping is nearly as effective as burning for reducing the fire hazard. The fuel is still on the ground, but it has very little access to oxygen, so it tends not to burn. This also helps to retain soil moisture and hasten the development of humus.
There are a few trees left with low dead branches within easy reach. Once I have those under control, I'll make another pass through the forest to climb individual trees to take additional dead material from as high as it goes.
louemc
New member
Sounds Great
tzrider
Write Only User
It was a fairly exciting weekend from a couple of perspectives. First, the weather was exciting, as we had thunderstorms and a massive amount of rain in a very short time frame. Secondly, despite the rain, the staircase is complete and normal people can go up into the tree house, as long as they don't mind climbing stairs with no railing.
I began work on Friday morning and worked until early afternoon when the rain and thunder began. It rained fairly hard at first, so I stopped for lunch and went back out when the rain let up. That day, I was able to complete the upper staircase and a short ladder to access the lower landing. This made it easy for the kids to come and go from the tree house as they wished; something they have been waiting for all summer.
Note that the bridge is also finished, with all ropes installed:
I began work on Friday morning and worked until early afternoon when the rain and thunder began. It rained fairly hard at first, so I stopped for lunch and went back out when the rain let up. That day, I was able to complete the upper staircase and a short ladder to access the lower landing. This made it easy for the kids to come and go from the tree house as they wished; something they have been waiting for all summer.
Note that the bridge is also finished, with all ropes installed:
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Brokenlink
Well-known member
Wow, that thing is awesome.
tzrider
Write Only User
About 20 minutes after the above picture was taken, it began raining like crazy. We rarely see rain that heavy in the area. Little did I know at the time, but there was a very large landslide across the canyon from us. It overflowed a redirected drainage, headed straight downhill (as nature intended) and inundated a home. At least one Jeep was buried, with about six inches of windshield sticking out of the mud.
The tree house fared just fine. While we didn't have the most vicious winds the area has seen, there was significant wind and it caused no harm to anything. No movement was evident in the concrete footings for the lower landing and they received a fair amount of rainwater. In the end, the rainfall seems to have helped to compact and consolidate the soil under the footings and now that I have re-buried and contoured the surrounding soil, I think the foundation for that part of the structure is good for the long haul.
The remainder of the weekend was spent alternately working on the staircase and railings and running for cover when more heavy rain came through. By Sunday, the rain had gone and it was a pleasant day. The last of the pictures were taken before I installed some of the railing, but as of this writing, the lower staircase has rails. Next weekend, I will install the upper railing and a gate at the bottom to discourage people from taking self guided tours when we aren't there.
In the meantime, here are a few more shots of the kids making me think this whole thing was worthwhile:
"Here guys, I'll close the gate and you stand on the bridge and look sad."
The tree house fared just fine. While we didn't have the most vicious winds the area has seen, there was significant wind and it caused no harm to anything. No movement was evident in the concrete footings for the lower landing and they received a fair amount of rainwater. In the end, the rainfall seems to have helped to compact and consolidate the soil under the footings and now that I have re-buried and contoured the surrounding soil, I think the foundation for that part of the structure is good for the long haul.
The remainder of the weekend was spent alternately working on the staircase and railings and running for cover when more heavy rain came through. By Sunday, the rain had gone and it was a pleasant day. The last of the pictures were taken before I installed some of the railing, but as of this writing, the lower staircase has rails. Next weekend, I will install the upper railing and a gate at the bottom to discourage people from taking self guided tours when we aren't there.
In the meantime, here are a few more shots of the kids making me think this whole thing was worthwhile:
"Here guys, I'll close the gate and you stand on the bridge and look sad."
tzrider
Write Only User
The staircase now looks like this, only the lower portion has rails that were not there when the pictures were taken.
tzrider
Write Only User
A rope ladder would separate the men from the boys with this thing.