I made an overnight stay at The Lot this past weekend, September 8 – 9. There was quite a bit to do for such as short stay and all I set out to do, I am glad to say, was accomplished.
I started by moving the chipper. It had been sitting in the middle of the path and pointing uphill but needed to be backed off the path and positioned so that I could get to it with the ATV in preparation for the next move.
Chipper in old location on the path
Chipper moved and large pile of chips to be spread on walkways
The move was interesting as I had to use the ATV’s winch, some chain, some wheel blocks, and my manual puller to get this job done.
Basically I had to un-block the wheels and let the chipper roll backwards using the winch line to control the descent. (A wider area in the path, big enough to turn and park the chipper, was behind and downhill of the current location.) Now and then I had to use a wheel block to get the unit to move a bit left or right. Pivoting on one wheel, I used the manual puller and chain to winch the chipper off the path until I could get past it with the ATV and trailer. (Should have taken photos of this process but did not.) Got the job done! Wheels are chocked so the chipper won’t ‘escape’ it’s current location.
Moving the chipper closer to the remaining brush piles is on the agenda for the next trip along with more chipping. I will be able to move the chipper using the ATV since the slope is downhill, no more using the winch. I hope.
Last 2 piles of brush to chip on west side of path
Other jobs finished included loading up the last load of firewood and putting a load of ‘burn pit’ wood in the bed of the truck. The Aspen Grove is really starting to look good; chipping the last brush piles will finish it off.
Current view of west side of path
Previous wood and brush on west side of path
Note the pine stump in the foreground in both above photos, a before-and-after comparison.
Here is a shot of the trailer and ATV on the path after I moved the chipper out of the way. I was loading up some burn pit wood to put in the back of the truck for disposal. Logs stacked to the left of the path (east side) became part of the last load of firewood.
ATV + trailer + firewood+ burn pit wood + chipper + chips all in one photo
Last load of firewood plus junk wood in bed of truck
I did some work on the east side of the path as well. This resulted in more stacks of chipper wood which we may or may not get to on our next trip.
Brush piles on east side of the path
Finishing the east side will be my starting task for next year. There is some firewood to salvage and a few standing dead trees to take down but the final push should not take more than a day or two.
There was more color in the aspen this last trip; next weekend (up on Saturday, home on Monday) will be a good weekend to be in the high country – colors should be getting close to peak intensity. Chipping and spreading chips will be the primary jobs activities but we will take some time just to enjoy the fall colors and cooler temperatures this time of year offers.
Fall colors beginning to appear at The Lot
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents Worth:
This coming weekend will be my last at Sanderling for the season. I’m hoping there will be full fall color to enjoy, in addition to hauling and spreading wood chips.
Back in the high desert, I’ve been working on a retirement house mortgage pre-approval process. It will soon be time to register for Social Security. All paperwork to process my pension, due to begin in November, has been submitted. Time to renew my CO driver’s license too – I may try their on-line process this year.
Felicity plans to attend the Jane Austen Festival in Bath, England this weekend. Her costume made the trip from Colorado to the UK in plenty of time. We anticipate some interesting photos forthwith.
Happy Trails.