[bburgess]

Scott,

Thanks for clearing that up about the 3120. I thought either you guys in the Rocky Mountains had access to exotic saws, or I really had missed something. It looks like a beast of a saw, but it would have to be at 120 cc’s. The only problem I’ve heard out of them is the clutch not holding up very well. I understand it’s the same clutch used in the 395. It looks like Husqvarna would have beefed it up a little for that much more power.

Keep up the good work,

Ben

[bburgess]

While Kentucky is not usually associated with maple syrup, some thirty odd years ago my dad became interested in it. For as long as I can remember we’ve been tapping trees and boiling down syrup. I don’t think we get near the yield that the northern states enjoy, but it still turns out some fine stuff. We just make enough for ourselves and a few good friends.

I put in 40 taps today and the trees were running better than normal. In about eight hours I had brought in 51 gallons of water. For a small operation like ours, it keeps me hopping.

Hope everyone has a fun and productive season.

Ben

[bburgess]

Hey Scott,

I’ve never heard of a Husky 3152. Did you mean 3120, or is there another saw that I’m not aware of?

Thanks,

Ben

[bburgess]

George,

While you may have overloaded your jack, if it is of Chinese manufacturing then the jack itself may be the reason it slowly quit. I’ve purchased a few things from Harbor Freight and other such companies, and a lot of their equipment will be duds to start with. This may not be the case, but I thought I’d throw it out there. It sounds like the seal just blew. You should be able to rebuild it.

I really enjoyed your pictures.

Keep up the good work,

Ben

[bburgess]

George,

That price sounds too high. If I remember correctly, the treadmill alone is somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000.00. I will double check, and see if I can come up with some more info. Although, the best way to find out would be to give the Weavers a call at the phone number that Jason gave. They would be very happy to talk to you. I’m not sure if they have any literature about them, but they put on a great demonstration last year at the Southern Draft Animal Days. They’ll be there again this year. If you’re able to make it down, it would be worth your time.

Ben

[bburgess]

I don’t have any experience using one, but I have watched them operate on several occasions. I’ve been pretty impressed by the way they work. I really like the treadmill powered log splitter that Jason has on consignment from them right now. It’s a very simple mechanism that should hold up for many years of work. I live about 20 minutes from the guys at Athens enterprise, and they are very nice people to talk to. Jason should be able to tell you more about it, or give you their contact information.

Good luck,

Ben

[bburgess]

If you’re working a horse in the woods, there’s not a great deal of time for them to eat. Just a few leaves now and then shouldn’t hurt anything. But in the case like mine, where the tree falls in their pasture overnight, they can gorge themselves on the leaves before anyone knows what has happened.

Just like the black cherry, it’s supposedly only the wilted leaves that can kill them, but there were no wilted leaves on this tree that I found. I did look very close.

Ben

[bburgess]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you guys know that I received word today from the vet that the autopsy results were conclusive. It was 100% definite that red maple poisoning killed my horses.

This might be a good time to check your pastures and cut out any trees that look suspect. Also, please pass this information along to others that may not know. There’s no need for this to happen to anyone else.

Ben

[bburgess]

Hey guys,

I’m the one that lost the horses that Jason is referring to. I’ll give you a brief summary of what transpired. Sometime Saturday night or early Sunday morning a red maple tree blew down in their pasture and we noticed one of the horses didn’t feel good. At first we thought he had caught a cold, so we took them both to the barn. A little later, the second one starting sweating and looked uncomfortable. We called a vet and he said that it was probably just a bad belly ache from eating too many of the leaves, but that it couldn’t hurt them since the leaves were still green. He said to just give them all the water they wanted and some hay if they wanted to eat. By 10:15 Sunday night one horse looked completely better, and the other was much improved. Dad checked on them at midnight, and said they both looked good then.

Monday morning brought bad news. The second horse was weak as water and was pissing blood. He was up and down in the stall. We had to help him load in the trailer and took him to the vet as quick as we could get there. The first horse was still looking 100% when we left, but right after we got to the vet’s, mom called saying he was doing the same thing. So we rushed back to get him. They put them both on IV’s to flush out the toxins, and because they had lost so much blood they were preparing to give them a transfusion once the toxins were out.

To make a long story short, by 5:00 p.m. both horses were gone. They died within 5 minutes of each other. The vet is baffled as well as the specialist in Lexington that he had conferred with. As some of you have already said, green leaves were not supposed to do this. The blood work results did not satisfy them, so they’re doing an autopsy to confirm. The vet said that the symptoms were exactly like red maple poisoning, and since nothing else had changed in their pasture I can’t think that it’s anything else.

I bought these horses in Utah. My wife thought that maybe since they hadn’t grown up around any maple trees, they didn’t have any resistance to it. I don’t know…but the whole ordeal has been a crushing blow on all of us. I’ll keep you posted on the final word, but hopefully this won’t happen to any one else.

Ben

[bburgess]

Mark,

My wife and I went down for both days. We had a great time. Since this was the first time I have ever been to anything like this, I don’t have anything to compare it to. There were quite a few vendors with a lot of equipment set up and demonstrated. They had two ground drive forecarts (small and large) that I thought were pretty impressive.
Some of the highlights for me was the walking plow demonstration given by Farmer Brown, and Wendell Berry speaking Saturday evening.
I spent most of my time in the woods watching the HHFF boys do their thing. Just a great bunch of guys and some incredible horses.
Hats off to Mr. Rutledge and everyone that made this event possible!

Ben

[bburgess]

Hey Jason,

I’m sure that you’re right on that tree being hollow. There are probably 8-10 big trees like these two that I have pictures of, and they are all in a state of decline. Probably if they were not so close in proximity to where the old home place was then my mother wouldn’t be so sentimental. Since the house and buildings are no longer there, these trees are the only thing left that she can remember it by. Now, there are a few big white oaks that appear to still be doing good.
I have been to your website many times, and I admire the work that you guys do. I think I have read everything on it several times. I keep going back hoping to find something new to read. Working in the woods has always been something that I enjoy doing and learning about. I hope someday to get some animals to add to that equation.

Keep up the good work!

Ben

[bburgess]

Apparently the pictures didn’t post. Please be patient. On preview post everything looked good, but when I sent the post there were no pictures. Sorry for the tease…I’ll keep trying.

Ben

[bburgess]

Hey lancek,

As far as I know we’re not related, but you never know.

Thanks for the welcome Carl.

Ben

[Author]

Posts