The Deer Hunter has been working on a set of steps to get up to the raised beds we put on the bank behind the house early this spring.
He’s got the steps mostly completed, but still needs to add some finishing touches to them and smooth out the landing area at the top of the stairs.
The steps will allow us to reach three of the new beds and the blackberry bed that was already there more easily.
Once you reach the top of the steps you can walk on a flat trail back and forth between the growing areas.
He pulled out his oldest power saw to use on the project. Even though I have never used a chainsaw, its a piece of equipment we both love.
It’s a Husqvarna 51 power saw. The Deer Hunter purchased it specifically to clear the land for our house. It did a fine job on its original chore and has continued to be used over the years on all sorts of jobs.
Even though The Deer upgraded to a Husqvarna 372 XP several years ago he continues to keep the old saw because of the ties it has to the beginning of our life as a family.
Last night’s video: Why I Think Hard Work is Good for You.
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Love the steps but every single time Robin and I see them we say what fun a “certain toddler” is going to have on those summer after next!
Praying for all of you during this somewhat chaotic time in your lives.
I am a 15 year cancer survivor…did it all and I just wanted to make sure someone told you that Granny should eat with plastic forks, etc…silverware will give a metallic taste to anything she eats with it. I lived on buttered toast and buttered grits! Whatever she craves is something she needs…
Blessings to all of you and please know that if you need anything, just holler! Love and hugs….
I bought the boards for my husband to redo our back steps and he hasn’t done them yet. He does work long hrs.
I watched Matt’s vlog about splitting wood and how he chooses to do that by hand. I loved his mantra where he says, “Working hard is good for you.”
What a fine gentleman and an awesome County Boy!
Looking forward to seeing Matt’s finished step project!
I really enjoyed last night’s video. I love to see anyone split wood the old-fashioned way. It’s nice to have the modern wood splitters but there is something so rewarding about doing the work yourself. My husband is one that grew up helping his granddaddy do carpentry work by the time he was big enough to carry a hammer and those skills he learned has been with him all his life. He inherited his granddaddy’s tools when he died, and he has taken really good care of them. We also had one chainsaw for years, then he went out and bought a new one about three years ago, not the same quality as the old one. I think that is true for a lot of things these days. Matt is so right about hard work. Regardless of what the task may be, it’s a good feeling when the job is done. I’ve heard my husband also say this and my daddy when he was living said the same thing. I think us ladies could also say the very same thing. Whether it’s yard work, cooking a meal or cleaning our houses. It’s so important if you are able to do something to stay busy and try to keep moving for as long as we can. Prayers to Granny and all of the family.
Tipper, this question may be off topic, but I heard Pastor Lon talking with Robbie Lynn about having a good ” set rain”. He described it as being a light steady rain that lasted a good while. I’d never heard that term before. Have you?
My first chain saw was made by Coleman. I never knew anybody else who owned one. One feature was a built-in sharpening system. Press the button and engage the little sharpening stone. It didn’t work well and not for long. A friend taught me how to file a saw chain to perfection. I was burning wood for auxiliary heat at the time. I now use a small electric saw for light trimming. It’s all I need, and I need it less and less as time goes by.
My Dad never had a chain saw until I left home. We always used a crosscut saw . We cut winter dead fall and damaged trees for our wood needs. When I came home from college one Thanksgiving I noticed a chain saw and told him I had seen it and he told me his saw buddy had left and he needed it. I found the old cross cut saw in the basement on another visit after dad had passed away and now I have it hanging on my wall in memory of the old days of he and I in the woods cutting wood . We used a double blade ax to split wood or a sledge hammer and wedge. Though those were days of hard work they were golden to me.
I still have the first chainsaw my Daddy purchased back in the early 80’s. It’s a Stihl & it still runs. We use it occasionally to cut a tree or limb one. That chainsaw has sentimental attachment for me as well. It’s obvious Matt has taken good care of his saw. My daddy was very strict about how you take care of all your tools, and he instilled that in me. Have a blessed weekend.
I grew up hearing chainsaws. My Dad was a pulpwood producer and logger for a good bit of my childhood. He eventually spent the rest of his working days hauling the logs. Dad probably still has some of those saws in his shop.
I watched Matt splitting wood and it bought back many memories. I cut and split wood just like Matt for most of my life. For many country boys of my generation, we started doing manual labor at a very young age when we were still children. After reaching 10 years old I began to do things that required a good bit of strength. Along with working manual labor jobs all my life -38 years for Michelin Tire, I also cut pulpwood and often hand loaded it in the truck, helped haul and load square bales of hay and do do similar things all of my life. It is often said hard work won’t kill you but it can break you down and cause you to have health problems later on in life. I will soon be 70 years old and am unable to do many things. I inherited arthritis from my mother and her family, and also have several bad disc in my back causing problems with standing and walking. I drag a little stool around with me at home and will still hoe my garden and or do about anything I want to do as long as I can sit. Recently my son teased me about digging post holes with hand held post hole diggers while sitting on my stool. I just tell him you have to do what ever you have to do. For the last 15 years of my Daddy’s life I kept every stick of fire wood he burned cut and split for him. He heated with nothing but wood and I cut the trees on our own property. Wood will warm you when you cut it, when you load and unload it, split it, carry it to your house and finally burn it. At 70 years old I still have good health except for my legs and back. I was waiting to see Matt split a chunk of sweet gum, it is almost impossible to split because of the grain being twisted and matted up. Not being smart, but Matt mentioned a carburetor problem with his log splitter, the equipment dealers here warn people of using gas with ethanol in their small equipment , the carburetor will eventually look like it has Vaseline in it. Always buy the non ethanol gas to use in your chainsaws, lawnmowers, weed eaters and other similar equipment.
It seems the older tools of any kind last longer with proper care. Matt takes good care of his tools because he has learned this throughout his years. Tipper you know this too, not just with tools, but with your favorite baking pans as well. We get attached to items that work well for us. They bring back good memories and with continued great care will hopefully be beneficial to those we leave them to when we are no longer on this earth.
“Husky’s” and Stihl’s are good chainsaws. I used them many years cleaning up trees fallen across roads and keeping right-of ways cut back. Sure beat using an axe back in the day.
My father and brothers always had a chainsaw. My father worked in the logging industry all his life. I think he had sap in his veins. I watched him repair and sharpen chains and listen to him “talk” to them when they weren’t working. I’m amazed that there never was any injuries, I suppose that was because they were very good at handling them. I only remember one time that Dad got to close to his shin. But chewing
tobacco and handkerchief worked until
he got home. Healed up just fine.
You all are in my prayers.
I’ve been meaning to ask this question for a while. Does Matt have access to non-ethanol gas for his power equipment? That could be the problem with his log splitter.
I made the mistake of believing the expurts when they said “oh, it’ll run just fine on the same gas you put in your car!” No, it won’t! I threw two powersaws away because I couldn’t keep them running before I learnt my lesson.
Papaw- He does 🙂 he made the same mistake!
Please share some pictures of your raised beds with us. I want to show them to my “chainsaw carpenter”!
Yep, craftsmen and craftswomen (which includes homekitchen chefs) develop attachments to their tools such as you have for your favorite Rada knife. That is so much better than the modern ‘not made to be fixed, just throw it away’. I can imagine what the Deer Hunter’s steps are going to look like. Hope you send a picture. Not only are they going to be great for safely going up and down, they will be nice resting places and a place to sit buckets, bags, plants etc when working. Y’all have been steadily making a ‘house place’ into a ‘homeplace’ into a ‘homestead’; still carrying out the original assignment in creation “to dress it and to keep it”. [By the way, why do “steps” outside become “stairs” when inside?]
We built our home 44 years ago. My father’s Homelite chainsaw was used for much of the clearing but it finally wore out years ago. I do still have a Plumb hammer that I bought for building what is still our home. That old hammer has driven many a nail,
I know very little about chain saws but I sure would like to have an electric one! There is something I do know about and it’s the word LOVE. From what I’ve seen of Matt’s videos he’s not afraid of hard work, provides wood for a warm house, deer meat for food, loves his girls, but most of his love for Tipper in helping her with the channel, keeping the home fires burning because her plate is full now. That’s not only a hard working man, but a man with respect and LOVE for his wife.
My post is “straight from the heart.”
I fully relate to Matt’s connection with particular tools. In some cases it’s just a tool that has served its purpose well for a long time. In other cases, like this one, it is a testamental link to a particular job or time. I’ve wondered if folks in the artistic realm – painters, sculptors and particularly carvers – don’t have a similar relationship to brushes, chisels and knives. Of course knives are a tool of the common man, and provide the same sort of connection.
Don, I think you’re right about those connections to “faithful” tools and items both functional and familiar. After my Mother passed away at age 92, her then grown grandson asked if he might have her ice cream scoop. He fondly remembered coming in hot and sweaty from playing outside, and watching her scoop up that “cold delicious goodness” for him! He still enjoys using it.
Though I am now a retiree living in an apartment, the sounds of chainsaws remain a familiar sound in northern Michigan, where woods remains a primary heat source and necessity. Cutting trees, splitting wood, and making boards is a part of life and its sounds. For me, it’s a comforting sound, readying for winter and building chores.
I enjoyed Matt’s video last night. My dad always had his favorite brand of tools. He was a carpenter and a tool cutter for GM. Like Matt, his hands were calloused from hard work. There was nothing he could not fix so it was rare to have anyone come to our house to repair. My husband too will always try to repair first before as Andy Griffith said in the freezer episode “call the man, just call the man”. lol.
For many years in my area these three brands were the most popular with the pulpwooders and loggers. They were Poulan (Poland), McCullough, and Homelite. The ones cutting pulpwood would most often have a bow blade (circular bar) rather than a straight blade. These could be dangerous because of kickbacks if it was not used properly. Now except for Poulan these companies have went out of business and the Poulan saws are cheap nonprofessional saws. Husqvarna and Sthil have taken over and considered to be the best. Most of us say Huskyvarna. When you look at the logging equipment of today, I don’t think a chainsaw or power saw as Tipper called it gets used a whole lot. Spell check is having a fit with some of these names and words. Still praying for Granny and her family.
God bless you and your family Tipper, God bless Katie and the new guy coming to the world, God bless Granny Louzine and all your family in Jesus name ❤️✝️