First mowing of the season

First mowing

I mowed a lot of the place, but some wasn't in need (back toward the mountain) and some was too wet.  The cub cadet really moved though.  Blades nice and sharp and was able to go everywhere on those hills!

The orchard really needed it.  Was too tall in many places.

Much of the black walnut area was "field" grass so it was a challenge.  It will get easier as the grass comes under control.

Lots of field grass here too.  

I don't plan on mowing all these areas forever, only as long as the trees are too small to fight with the grass!

New tool sharpener attachment

The "wide blade" attachment for my worksharp came in last week so I got to try it out over the weekend.  Overall it is well made and seems to keep the tool in good alignment (possibly  even better than the "under the disk" default method)!  Also, it is  nice in that it comes with some templates for determining the bevel angles and for setting the bevel angles.  The basic worksharp only allows for between 20-35 degrees (if I recall).   The only problem I have noticed so far is kind of unavoidable:  big blades take longer to sharpen!

Look at all those angles!  15 to 60 degrees!  The big planer blade I was doing was a 15 degree bevel so this capability really helped.

Saw-milling 

I continued to work on milling up the old tree trunks laying in front of the barn.  I don't really need the lumber right now, but those logs are rotting and in the way! Also, I could really use more wood chips for mulch for all the new trees.

I was surprised to find a decent sized locust log in the pile.  It milled into some nice boards and some good wood stakes.  It had degraded a bit, but not near as bad as many of the oak logs.  Most of the oak that I have milled this past weekend had the sap wood all rotted out.  I was able to get some 5x5's out of them, but little else.  Oak is not great for fence/arbor posts, so I ordered some copper napthenate solution to treat them with.  I wish I had more decent sized locust trees!

Locust boards from 4(?) year old log!

I thought about using this locust log to make a post, but the pattern of insect damage really didnt work in my favor.  

I brought the rough sawn boards over to the shop to clean them up with the 19" bandsaw.  I have a carbide tipped blade on it and it goes through this lumber like butter!  

Pretty Spring Flowers

We stopped by Mom's place for a visit.  Her flowers were really out in force!