Dogtrot at Hightop

[Redoverfarm]

Ahhhh real furniture.That's a nice piece.Is it stamped 1908?

Yes it is made well.  One of the characteristics I looked at before bidding.  All the minor surface defects can be fixed.  Some people would just pass on it because it didn't look pristine or user ready.  For the price and a few hours it will almost be like new for a fraction of what it might be worth. But I have never been know to sell any antiques anyway. I would rather pass them down to my children.  There is just something about furniture of yesteryear in comparison to the modern furniture that attracts me.  There is partial markings on the chest but nothing to date.  The date on the mirror is stamped and appears to be original.  Maybe it will last another 100 years.  

[Redoverfarm]

Thought I would post a picture of the finished chest that I did the last few days.  Came across some more small pine trees for railings at the cabin.  The State Road was straightening a turn and they had to remove several before cutting the bank back.  So I will take the trailer up this afternoon and grab what I can.  Free for the taking.  I believe I have enough small pickets but I lacked a couple of long rails for the stairs. 

[Sassy]

Looks beautiful, Red! 

[Redoverfarm]

Well I was able to break away and go back on the mountain the last couple mornings.  Seem as if Spring is finally on its way.  Little brisk at 20-25F the last three mornings but good working weather.  I posted earlier that I picked up some more Pine poles that the State Road was cutting to make way for a new road.  I got about 16 - 16' which ranges from 2" diameter to 5-6".  I needed some long rail material to go along with the pickets that I got last year.  Now I believe I have enough to do everything that I need to and then some. Furniture .  

So the last couple mornings I peeled the poles.  Here is a couple pictures.





And here is a video of the process.  I sure that it is not as exciting as chasing cows   .  In fact if I had a camera when I was chasing them I would have probably gotten frustrated and threw the camera at them.


http://www.youtube.com/user/redoverfarm1

[MountainDon]

A video of chasing cows would not be as informative, John. That can be a most frustrating experience when they don't really want to go where you want them to.

[Texas Tornado]

Nice video!!

[Sassy]

Your way looks a lot simpler than what I had to do!  Thanks for sharing.  Most of the logs I did were probably 12in to 18in or more.  Hope I don't have to do anymore 

[astidham]

Thanks for sharing.
I wondered how you do that.

[Redoverfarm]

Yes Sassy I had to do about 10 of those big ones some years ago. Not real sure but I think I would rather do the large diameter ones rather than the small ones if it wasn't for the "heave ho".  Just guessing I would say that I have done about 50+ of the smaller ones which range from 4' to 16'.  Hoping that I will have enough as I have about 82 feet of railings (rails and pickets) to do in various places throughout the cabin. Pretty labor intensive but I think the end results will be worth it. 

[glenn kangiser]

Nice informational video, John.  I like your stand you made to work on.  Looks like it helps.  

I think your draw knife is a bit heavier than the ones I have.  Looks like that may be an advantage.

All of this new information and instruction makes me want to go out and get me some new logs for making railings and other uses and have my wife get started peeling the bark off of them.....

....about the cows.... I think the wood may be more fun... at least it doesn't have a tiny brain of its own that has contrary thoughts like cows do.... [ouch]

[Redoverfarm]

Thanks Glenn.  Yes if you recall I wore out the other one that I had.  Not that I did personally but it was on it's last leg when I acquired it.  I was able to pick up two good ones at an estate auction. In fact the one pictured was new and hardly looks as if it had been used.  It has folding handles which is good to save the edge as well as a safety feature so I don't lose too many fingers.   Good ones are hard to find.  I am sure they are still made but at a $$$ . These should last me out.

[glenn kangiser]

I have two of them.   The old one is hanging on one of my girders..... and you are right..... the good one is hard to find....

[bigcountry]

Redoverfarm....Your work and craftsmanship is awesome...I have enjoyed reading through your post but I have a question regarding the use of timber. Is pine the best wood to use for supports and railings and other such things? I have no access to pine, but i will be cutting down a lot of maple in 8 to 12 inch diameter range. Possibly a couple black and red oak of the same size.

[Redoverfarm]

Redoverfarm....Your work and craftsmanship is awesome...I have enjoyed reading through your post but I have a question regarding the use of timber. Is pine the best wood to use for supports and railings and other such things? I have no access to pine, but i will be cutting down a lot of maple in 8 to 12 inch diameter range. Possibly a couple black and red oak of the same size.

I chose Locust for the porch support post being that it is naturally preserved against rot and bugs more so than other species.  For the railings pine is easy to work with and light weight.  Probably most are made of spruce and some cedar but those were not readily available to me.  I guess that you could utilize the species (hardwood) available to you for but it will be heavy for railings and pickets and a little harder to work with.  The railings would be in the neighborhood of 5-6" and the pickets will be 2-3" in diameter.  The porch support post are approximatrely 10-12" diameter.  Thanks for the comment.

[Redoverfarm]

Although it may appear that the Dogtrot project has been abandoned it has just been hit and miss lately.  Several small projects in between my parents relocation.  Just to let you know that I have not just been idiling by here is what I have done.  Finally made the last trip to my parents house and removed the last remaining possessions which were unloaded into a new 12 X 16 storage building a friend of mine constructed for them.  I would have rathered stick built the building at a considerable savings but time was of the essence.




I also removed all the overgrown shrubbry from in front of their house which was planted in the mid 60's.  What a difference it made. We used a backhoe to skid the building into place.  While it was there we removed the shrubs.  There was 5  dumptruck loads.




In between jobs I managed to refinish a small dresser for Dogtrot.  I only now have one remaining to bedrooms to equipt with a dresser.   You can say this one went from "rags to somewhat riches".

[Sassy]

Gee, that dresser turned out beautiful!  Everything ok at Dogtrot?  You've been busy!

[Redoverfarm]

Thanks Sassy.  Yes I went up and checked on it that evening after the storm and the large trees around the cabin were still in the upright position.

[Jens]

in the "fully upright and locked position"?

[Redoverfarm]

Recently I haven't been able to devote too much time to Dogtrot.  To start off the recent high water demolished my water gap for the second time. A real struggle on this one as it was about 30" in diameter approximately 25 feet attached to a 7'diameter root ball.  It was more than my 50 HP Duetz could handle.  So I played "Swamp Logger" and managed to seperate the tree from the root.  Here is a picture of a portion of the tree and root ball. There was also about 100 feet of fence to the right of the photograph which had to be rebuilt as well.  That was about 4 days labor that I hadn't planned on but with cattles sales nearing it was vital that it get repaired.



I did however remove the firewood that was stacked on the porch anticipating to have been used during the winter months in the stove and fireplace. With everything else going on I did't hardly hit a lick on the mountain for working at my parents house.  I did wise up some and palletized the wood, shrink wrapped and moved it off which will make restocking the porch this fall a breeze by just putting the pallets on the porch.  I think I will put all my wood on pallets for the cabin rather than moving it piece by piece in a wheel borrow.



Well my house guest arrived about the same time as last year only they relocated in stead of "two doors down" it was "two post down".  That makes me believe that the parents of last years hatch didn't survive and the new nest is the off spring of last year.  This is about the 5th or 6th year on the porch for the bird family. Anyway here are the house guest.



As if I didn't have enough to do a large oak behind my parents decided it was tired of standing for 80-100 years and decided to lay down.  The base or trunk is about 3' in diameter.  To add insult to injury my saw decided that it needed a rest as well partly through cleaning the mess up. Parts are on order.



Well back on the farm.  My son and daughter lost one of their show pigs the other night.  About 70# which was pictured in another post.  I am not quite sure what caused it's death but I sent it off to a med student locally who has been preforming autopsy's for farmers.  Hopefully I should get the results soon to determine if the other pigs are at risk or whether this was just a fluke of nature.  At any rate my son and daughter lost the $150 investment.  But as I told them that raising livestock is a gamble hopefully one that doesn't occur too often.

On a happier note. My son's 4H Forestry team took 1st place in the state competetion and the 5 team members took 2nd -5th individually.  Now onto the Nationals.  

Hopefully things will get to normal and I can finish the cabin this summer for some much needed R&R this fall.

[OlJarhead]

Thanks for the update

I wish I was at the stage you are but I know I'll get there someday.

Sounds like you've been VERY busy but then aren't you always?

[Redoverfarm]

Erik just keep chipping away and before long you will be there hopefully sooner than me. I started mine in May 2006 and there were times that I didn't think I would make it this far.  Recently it seems that for each step forward I fall two steps back.  Not with Dogtrot but on the farm and at my parents.  Time consuming projects which just eat away at my time that I would normally be working on the cabin.  I miss my right hand man (Son) being in school.  I thought I would get back into the swing of things when school was out but it looks as if he might have found a full time job this summer.  At least the pay will probably be better than working for dad. But these projects just seem more important now.  So if the lord's willing and the creek dont rise I will manage to be in by fall to enjoy the leaves turning and the first snowfall.

[ScottA]

Cool idea putting the wood on a pallet. If I had a forklift handy I might do the same thing.  Looks like you had a big mess to clean up John. Take it easy and stay safe.

[ChuckinVa]

That oak was bigger than I remember you talking about. Was all of it rotten or was there some firewood left? I guess you guys are headed to Vandelia this weekend? I need a set of forks for my little tractor like yours. Only smaller. 

[Redoverfarm]

That oak was bigger than I remember you talking about. Was all of it rotten or was there some firewood left? I guess you guys are headed to Vandelia this weekend? I need a set of forks for my little tractor like yours. Only smaller. 

The tree in the water gap was pine and the oak was at my parents.  The pine I donated to the US Goverment.     I finally got my saw back from the shop on Wednesday to the tune of $100 for a clutch, sprocket/drum.  So Thursday I jumped on the oak.  The main trunk was half rotten up to the first limb (10') and then fairly solid.  It will only be good for firewood.  I finally got it cut up and only have to split/haul.  I need a bigger bar. 20" wouldn't cut completely from either side.  I managed to finally cut the larger blocks.  Haven't had a chance to cut into the pine to see what it is like.  I will let you know.  Just guessing the sawable length is about 30-35'.

Yes we head to the Capitol in the AM.  First music set is at 12 noon and second at 2:30.  I think Steven is stoked to play with the big boys but who knows what a 16 year old boy thinks of besides girls. 

[Whitlock]

I scrolled back a few pages to get up to date on Dogtrot looks like you have been busy with other things besides Dogtrot. You sure did a nice job on that place.
As for around here.
This has been the longest,coldest,wetest winter that I can remember.
It has made a lot of extra work for us all but things are still geting done.


  Time to put more wood in the stove.


Take care,W