jamesp
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Nov 7, 2015 12:04:47 GMT -5
70 foot tall bamboo, cut it and yelled timber whilst looking down on it. It fell on a 5 foot tall trailer not 10 feet away and the cut end was catapulted straight up and in my face-ouch. Never knew what hit me. Did not take long to figure it out after the stars went away. How stupid was that James ??  Getting a shipment of 80 fire pit bowls in next week and needed some stickers to set them on so they would not rust at ground contact. 45 footers and 30 footers, more to get and heavier than you might think:  |
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Post by adam on Nov 7, 2015 12:07:45 GMT -5
Some nice bamboo...
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,611
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Post by jamesp on Nov 7, 2015 12:27:30 GMT -5
Bamboo will swallow the farm up one day Adam. Fall has arrived and the evergreen bamboo is still green. |
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Post by mohs on Nov 7, 2015 13:07:16 GMT -5
some day's your the bamboo and some day's the bamboo gets you
Owwww!
sorry that happened James !
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Post by beefjello on Nov 7, 2015 13:34:02 GMT -5
Ouch! Glad you didn't lose an eye there.
Would that fit the definition of getting bamboozled?
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Intheswamp
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Member since September 2015
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Post by Intheswamp on Nov 7, 2015 16:32:58 GMT -5
That was close, Jim. I'm glad you're (more or less) ok!!!
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Post by captbob on Nov 7, 2015 16:38:07 GMT -5
Chicks dig scars
broken nose might have got ya some
glad you're okay!
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Post by orrum on Nov 7, 2015 16:57:38 GMT -5
LOL Captn Bob!
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Post by rockpickerforever on Nov 7, 2015 17:48:44 GMT -5
Now, that all depends on how/by whom they were inflicted. Self stupidity don't count. James, as an engineer, didn't you take some basic physics at school? What's that pesky little law? Oh, yeah, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." You big dufous! In all seriousness, I'm glad you're okay, big brudder. (Probably won't even leave a scar...) |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 7, 2015 19:22:11 GMT -5
When I cut the one next to it I watched the whip action(from afar).
It had a nice acceleration. Seemed to have more speed than what was anticipated.
Like a perfect storm.
On the ground, micro second later in my face.
Very cautious timbering, lots of experience. Not my style.
Too old to get any captbob, and rarely get it given.
I was a dufous Jean.
To drag logs with a chain you double wrap and hook the chain on the second wrap. Start pulling and it cinches tighter.
Not w/bamboo, it is too slick. Hard to get a lasso of any sort on a bundle. Kept coming loose.
That is timber bamboo, granted it is hollow. But the wall thickness is 3/4" at the base, and near a 1/2" at 40 feet up. A heavy duty one.
Thinking a giant bow and bamboo arrow, might out do the pumpkin chunkers.
The movie people called and want to see it. They look for green back drop in the brown GA winters. Fingers crossed.
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Post by Pat on Nov 7, 2015 20:23:45 GMT -5
Ooooooh! Bet that hurt. Take care.
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Post by nowyo on Nov 7, 2015 22:21:47 GMT -5
Happens quick, doesn't it? Get healed up there.
Russ
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 7, 2015 22:37:14 GMT -5
Thanks you guys. Nose a sensitive spot.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2015 23:13:13 GMT -5
When I cut the one next to it I watched the whip action(from afar). Too old to get any captbob, and rarely get it . You aint much older than me. I hope you aint broken. |
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quartz
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breakin' rocks in the hot sun
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Post by quartz on Nov 7, 2015 23:35:43 GMT -5
You are fortunate to still have both eyes intact, get healed up and next time plan ahead.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 8, 2015 7:04:30 GMT -5
Lulled into a sense of false security from cutting so much small bamboo. It is light weight and harmless.
This stuff heavy, hit that fulcrum and turned into a weapon LOL.
I be sore today.
I had cut and piled about 100 of these poles last month and they are all piled in 20 foot lengths to burn. Giant stack.
Will burn one evening when the deer hunters are here this week.
These thick poles explode loud. The sound makes your ears ring. Sound felt in chest.
Georgia a big timber state. Timber industry leads in occupational accidents.
Snags and whipping logs freed with the chain saw or freed with heavy equipment are the main cause.
Those guys hate bamboo groves. Avoid them, they say leave it standing. Stops heavy equipment.
Another invasive plant, a vine called Wisteria is avoided. A 2 inch vine will stop a piece of heavy equipment in it's tracks.
It takes over prime timber and ties it together like steel cables. And kudzu is no slouch, it is like nylon ropes and will wrap your mower like a rope would.
Kudzu will wrap on to the PTO shaft and gets reeled in. Takes an hour to cut it off. PTO shaft covered in a 12 inch spool of rubber vine in seconds.
All three of them killable by doing a surface burn. They don't like fire at their base. Pines resilient to surface burns. Hardwoods sensitive.
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Intheswamp
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Post by Intheswamp on Nov 8, 2015 8:09:11 GMT -5
Jim, you've dealt with kudzu? I've never known it to be killed by surface burning...fire will knock it down for a while but it's got a LOT of energy stored down in those deep, deep roots. Of course, it could be some areas are different. Some people state that multiple years of close grazing by livestock will eventually kill it. But, I've seen stands that were grazed heavily for years until it looked like nice pasture suddenly become a kudzu jungle a couple of years after the livestock were taken off of it. Fall spraying with some toxic herbicides while the plant is bringing nutrients down into the big tuber/roots is about the best bet on getting rid of it. Kudzu has some delicious smelling flowers...kind of a grape smell, very nice. Jellies are made from the blooms. But, now a tiny little bug called the "kudzu bug" has shown up and actually eats on the kudzu plants (doesn't really hurt the plants, though  ). The bug looks like a tiny shield/stink bug....and it stinks. And...it makes those delicious smelling blooms...STINK. Ah well, so much for all of that. Yeah, kudzu is bad news...I've got a little bit myself, anybody want a sprig...seeds?  Something else about kudzu is that it makes fantastic hay and compost...those deep roots are excellent at bringing hidden minerals up out of the ground. The world record tomato plant was grown in kudzu compost, if I'm not mistaken. My father's blood pressure used to rise when he'd talk about the soil conservation department promoting planting kudzu to control erosion in the area. He would talk about toting buckets of water to carefully water the tiny sprigs that the conservation office supplied the landowners and farmers with. Thank you Mr. Government!! I didn't know that wisteria was that big of a problem, but I can see how it could be...I've seen some pretty large stands of it, but nothing to compare to kudzu. I may do a burn this winter and see if I can get my "crop" back under control....<sigh> |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Nov 8, 2015 9:11:15 GMT -5
Yes, only temporary Ed. At least it will do a top kill and allow you to apply herbicide at ground level for years to come.
Livestock/goats for 3-4 years may kill it for good, may.
I have been spraying the same kudzu for years at ground level. It has large goiters in the ground that keep sending it up LOL.
At least the top kill keeps it from making a mess and proliferating so fast.
You mention growing in it's compost. Here SW of Atlanta is the most unpopulated area close to the city.
Come Sept when the marijuana is ready for harvest helicopters are constantly flying over looking for crops.
Many grown in old kudzu stands where the soil is super rich. It is a giant bean plant and nitrogen fixes the soil.
An old five acre patch on next door property. I plow and cut it. Soil black, a deer magnet. 15 foot blackberries, mercy.
Conservation had a good idea. If kept to large fields it does make nutritious browse and way builds soil. They underestimated it's tree climbing ability.
Always wanted a machine with a tapered pole about 20 feet long that spun with high torque.
Stick it in the kudzu and wind up bales that could be slid off the pole.
Fresh hay daily. Ever got caught in a patch of it ? I think a 1/4 inch vine has about 100 pounds tensile strength.
You can tell the deer eat it, come August there is a serious browse line about 5 feet off the ground.
Those rascals run through it like greased lightning.
Sorry you have said crop. A constant source of fear that it will spread further ?
My problem is the neighbors do not help me fight it at the property lines.
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Intheswamp
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Post by Intheswamp on Nov 8, 2015 9:36:20 GMT -5
<chuckle> I gotta laugh or I'd cry!
Yes, sounds like you've dealt with it a bit. Those "goiters" could live through a nuclear bomb, I think. Kudzu and cockroaches...that'll be what crawls over the land when nothing else does.
Deer indeed love kudzu patches....grazing and bedding. How many fawns have you come upon in a kudzu patch...kinda like a nursery area sometimes.
Oh, we get the helicopters over my way, too...I think a lot of it is federal grant money being burned, er, used. Of course, for some reason we get the occasional escaped prisoner around here that warrants a $100,000 search for some crackhead. Yep, kudzu compost is good growing medium.
No, conservation didn't have a good idea. Just like other exotic things that have been brought into the country, it has turned into a nightmare. Not enough research on kudzu before they starting sending it over in shiploads from Japan. The Japanese are still laughing at us.
There was a guy around here that was actually growing kudzu and bailing it. He had a nice flat field to work with. I can't remember who it was, but haven't heard anyone mention someone bailing it recnelty....I hope the kudzu didn't get'im.
No fear that the kudzu will spread...knowledge that it *will* spread.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,611
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Post by jamesp on Nov 8, 2015 9:44:03 GMT -5
20 years ago I began planting about 30 types of bamboo. Some were ugly or the leaves kept freezing off of them. So now I am slowly eliminating the bad bamboo and letting the pretty stuff take it over. Once a grove is established it will spread rapidly in full size canes. In this case the fine yellow bamboo(Robert Young) is being persuaded to spread by clearing a forward path for it. Two reasons, I like it and the film industry likes it. So the motive.(and no mowing required) It is a war. Cut the old bamboo(or trees) down and let the new bamboo dominate. Trimming offending new spring growth with a brush cutter for a couple of years. This particular grove is being persuaded to grow to the right side in the video. But a much larger area is being cleared behind it, just trees, much easier to cut away than an old bamboo grove. To the right is north, it spreads much slower to the north. But fast enough. Behind the grove is southerly, it will spread rapidly in that direction once the trees are removed and the sun warms the soil. So this is a 'cultured growth'. easy and low maintenance once the trees and old bamboo have been removed and burned. Once established all competitive plants are toast. And a carpet of bamboo leaves form under it. Burn piles kept way ahead of the target grove so as not to singe it. Should it draw a pay check from the film industry I will call on the contractors w/heavy equipment to do the work. Meantime it is all elbows and aholes  . |
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). The bug looks like a tiny shield/stink bug....and it stinks. And...it makes those delicious smelling blooms...STINK. 
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