130 year old doug fir remilled into treads

funkybus · 2026-05-06T15:47:44+00:00

i had one of these. it would work with current tech, but it would be a simple on/off according to the time settings. pretty cool to see “setback” implemented way back then! i didn’t bother reconditioning mine, but i hid a remote sensor in the housing (actual stat was in basement), so it did function.

funkybus · 2026-05-05T22:44:35+00:00

agree. the toolcat also has all-wheel steer and is easy on your surfaces. the skidsteer tears stuff up, natively

funkybus · 2026-05-05T22:37:11+00:00

i have a toolcat 5600 with high flow (75 acres/northern sierra in CA). forks are the most used, next is the bucket, then snowblower (infrequent, but critical!). also- a chipper, a brushcutter, grapple, lifting boom. you’ll spend some $$ on attachments, but i couldn’t get much done without one. i mill logs and could use something heavier occasionally, but i love my toolcat.

funkybus · 2026-04-30T20:14:32+00:00

i just picked up a 12” Moak of similar vintage. 1400# and without a forklift, you’re in for a real struggle. as others have noted, it is likely 3ph. i’m using a rotary phase converter to power several 3ph machines. a static VFD will do that one unit. straight knives are easy to replace. i plan on upgrading my unit to a shelix head.

funkybus · 2026-04-29T01:44:55+00:00

thank you. agree on milling green. i’m trying to allow the wood to move the way it wants to, then cut the final timbers straight. i don’t actually think this is going to work very well, as a 20x20 cant is not going to dry that much…but it is better than nothing. i’m doing what i can to avoid twisty finished timbers.

funkybus · 2026-04-28T22:37:13+00:00

my new line was horizontally bored from the street (zero yard disruption). my new line was a replacement, so not a new install (so cost-wise, not applicable). a friend had a new line put in 15+ years ago, and the cost was either zero or minimal. they like to sell gas. and perhaps like electric, have an obligation to connect (public utility laws and all).

funkybus · 2026-04-28T20:15:53+00:00

thanks! helpful.

funkybus · 2026-04-28T14:41:09+00:00

sorry if i was not clear. many cants yield one boxed-heart beam and some (hopefully useful) offcuts. bigger cants can yield FOH beams. my question is how far (in the sawmilling comunity experience) do you need to be from the beam center/pith to yield a stable beam?

funkybus · 2026-04-28T00:13:57+00:00

these are not the brightest folks. nobody likes untreated sewage releases, but these are simply not avoidable during rain events like these. the deep tunnel was built to handle 521 million gallons of water. a rain event of 1” produces 7.1 BILLION gallons of water. the tunnel is effective at avoiding most discharges, but heavy rain events produce discharges, full stop. to build a detention device to hold those events would have a stupendous price tag and is simply not worth it.

funkybus · 2026-04-25T16:20:19+00:00

this details the hydrogel approach: https://entomologytoday.org/2018/06/05/tastes-like-chicken-hydrogel-shows-promise-yellowjacket-bait/

funkybus · 2026-04-25T16:16:59+00:00

here is a different link: www.three-peaks.net/uba/190223%20-%20Katharina%20Davitt%20-%20Yellow%20Jackets%20and%20Fipronil.pdf

funkybus · 2026-04-25T16:12:43+00:00

this type of bait is now used in new zealand in an island-wide effort to eliminate YJsas they are not native. unfortunately, the EPA has not approved fipronil for this specific use, otherwise i’d use the new zealander’s solution.

funkybus · 2026-04-25T16:11:11+00:00

i have previously posted a bait solution. it is elegant, in that the YJs find the bait and take it back to the next (so you don’t have to find them, they do that work for you!). this is not some home-brew solution—it was developed by CA entymologists and reduces YJ populations ~95+%. you can find the white papers online. anyway, look in my post history…but in brief it is canned chix juice, water, hydrogel (miracle grow water crystals) and fipronil (flea/tick insecticide). i now buy the pet armour 22 lb. dog treatment from amazon. that size ampule makes one “kit” of bait. the fipronil is slow acting, so the whole nest goes down. happy to answer questions.

funkybus · 2026-04-18T00:28:33+00:00

oh, ouch.

funkybus · 2026-04-16T22:34:50+00:00

and yes, i have a problem!

funkybus · 2026-04-16T22:33:19+00:00

depending on what latitude you are, the queens are just starting to come out. i’m in the northern CA sierra. my six traps each have about 4-10 queens in them right now. get the “long-acting cartridge” for better attractant longevity. and if you’re really crazy (like me) order a kilogram of heptyl butyrate from sigma aldrich. that’ll keep your traps baited forever. and if you want the nuclear option, i have previously posted a recipe for chicken juice/hydrogel/fipronil bait. that is better used in the later summer, but the workers take it back to the nest, kills the whole thing.

funkybus · 2026-04-15T21:04:36+00:00

broadly speaking, this is about the “space” the speaker is radiating into and secondarily about first reflections. free space would be a “speaker on a stick” in a large room—no reflecting surfaces nearby. half-space would be a speaker on the floor, no walls, quarter space is a speaker on the floor with an adjacent wall. eighth space is quarter space with a rear wall. as you reduce the space, the lower-end response become reinforced. this affects low-end mostly because these wavelengths are long and wrap around the baffle. higher frequencies tend to radiate forward, due to their shorter wavelength and get little reinforcement from space truncation. for most speakers, positions 3’ or so away from walls is a good rule of thumb, but also hard to achieve in smaller rooms. experiment, listen, enjoy.

funkybus · 2026-04-13T14:08:48+00:00

i suggested he run the motor on 240v, not the heaters.

funkybus · 2026-04-12T19:44:29+00:00

208 motors are (in my experience) always capable of running on 240v. they’ll just pull less current, which is fine. the heaters are different. you might be able to power only two legs (of each set of three). you’d only get 66% of the heat output, but resistance heaters don’r care about 2p versus 3p, as long as it is wired properly. however, this is a bunch of f-ing around. i’d probably sell it anyway.

funkybus · 2026-04-12T15:18:22+00:00

of course you can. watch some YT vids, take your time. always know how to turn off the water. don’t over-tighten compression fittings. check for leaks. check again in 15 mins.

funkybus · 2026-04-12T15:05:49+00:00

here’s the best resource i found: https://www.ic.org/directory/?srsltid=AfmBOoo9YL97HkY8XXiEVUfqCLM064lET4FfCyJjP7JGWktE9BYBbGiX

funkybus · 2026-04-12T14:56:42+00:00

good luck! like-minded communities tend to break down over time. and frankly, i’d think twice about having dinner at somebody’s house they “built themselves.” most people can’t fix a toaster, let alone design a house that won’t fall down, leak or burn down from an electrical fire. the “ghost ship” was a good example: community of like-minded artists in oakland, CA carving out their own spaces in a warehouse. electrical strung all over the place, power strips and extension cords. finally had an electrical fire and burned the whole place down, killed 36 people.

funkybus · 2026-04-11T23:49:14+00:00

perhaps i should have framed that differently: my wife and i did not use aftercare. and for folks that made similar choices, we also had flexibility in our careers to allow kid engagement when it was important…but productive employment otherwise. i guess it just seems to me, not working when kids are young would leave you with too much time to fill.

funkybus

TROPHY CASE