The other day I added my 2 cents worth on Sixbears blog on electric chainsaws. I love mine . Now a gas chainsaw has a place but in most cases an electric is better. Sunday I have to go finish getting an oak tree out of a mans yard and will use my gas saw but its because of I haven't sharpened my electric.
An electric saw is quieter its lighter and always runs . I keep a 1500 watt inverter in my truck and if I am cutting wood I have my truck there for hauling and to power the saw. It can be operated of f a battery recharged by solar if need be at a retreat. Beats using a bucking saw ( I have an old dull one) and is faster.
If you have used a gas chainsaw you know they tend to quit at the worst time. They are not dependable , I have rebuilt carbonator's on them its no fun. Then you have to have fuel for them that is mixed you also tend to foul plugs often. The biggest advantage is there portable and have more power than the electric.
If you plan on heating with wood someday I would advise both just because, but if I could have only one it would be an electric.
Its to hot to think so he is a mindless post.
This new food trailer is going to be my last venture in business . Now while its to hot to work on the trailer I have been looking and trying at many different food items to sell out of it . The basics of meat and 2 veggies are a no brainer due to this area having a large 60 plus population. But that is a lunch only crowd and has to be 6.99 price point. I need to decide on a tween menu for the 16 to 23 group and a menu for to go dinners for folks to take home after work for a family.
All I have come up with for the tweens is a fried assortment of
Chicken fingers 3, cheese sticks 4, mushrooms 8, loaded hushpuppies and fries.
Chicken Casa Dias large . Skillet personal pizza
The reason I need kiddy food is where I will be sitting is 1/2 a mile from a high and middle school . Lots of kids and moms will pass daily.
For the take home dinners I have to come up with dinners for 4 or 5 that is under 20$ and a cost point of 7 to 8.
For the last 4 years I have made it on BBQ only the new stand has to have more. I will keep searching the build is the easy part now I have to develop a menu to draw them in . Thinking about doing hot legs (same as hot wings but with legs)
No update on the new build when the heat index is almost 110 this old boy ain't working!!!! I am at the lake that's where everyone should be its 20 degrees cooler plus I have water and beer there . I came home for tonight to do the BBQ and make a large sale that was pre ordered . I will set up for a short while Saturday before I head back to the lake.
My wife and her sister are having a girls weekend. Then me and the wife will take 2 days us time. I think my wife is trying to make up for refusing to take my dream trip . I wanted to be in Mesa Verde Colorado this weekend . Arches and Canyon land next week. then on to Bryce canyon the north rim and a week in las Vegas before Death valley, Sequoia and Yosemite .
I had this trip planed for my slow time of the year but it was a desert trip in the summer which is why my wife refused. She didn't want to take the squatty trailer because of the heat and no bathroom in it .
I wrote this Saturday to post later when I was at the lake but seems while I was home the wifi at the campground got struck by lightning so now I am home.
It has been 2 years since I wrote about my standy trailer . It had a very short life after it was built. It wobbled badly going down the road in fact it was never camped in . I tried changing how the weight was distributed ,tires, checked the springs. Nothing worked it was a failure. But it looked great and had a good set up for camping .
I finnaly had to admit it was just to tall for its length. I couldn't bring myself to just let it go. So I made it a squatty like the old grasshopper teardrops of the 70s.
As you can see all I did was remove one of the side panels and reshaped the ends . I added a storage box to the nose put in a cem toilet a fridge and sink . Now it pulls like a dream at any speed . I replaced the cushions with memory foam the bed is a full Queen. last summer my brother used it for 2 weeks in Florida and me and the wife spent 4 days down there in it after him. The air will run you out. But you have to use an easy-up awning and cook out side no big deal .
I love it ,I get 18 mpg with my jeep and the convertible pulling it. Stable as it can be. The one problem is MY WIFE HATES IT she refuses to camp in it . Since we got the big camper she wont go in this one . The Fun Finder is nice but my truck gets 9 mpg and it is a pain for short trips of less than a week.
What she wants to travel
What I want to travel in.
Wednesday I went and got the deck lumber for the new trailer. I decided to use 1/2in. OSB on 2x3s instead of 2x4s cost and weight .The OSB was 8.00each and 2x3s 2.15 each . So far I have spent 130.00 $ in lumber and hardware . I paid 8.49 for a pound of sure gripe 3inch screws with torx head . Great screws but damn pricey . I will not use any nails due to its a mobile tiny house. Here is what I have got done so far.
Not bad considering it has been 95 plus everyday .All I have been able to stand has been 2 hours in the morning and an hour in the evenings. The deck is 8 foot 3 inches wide and 19 feet long. That's almost 160 square feet .
Next will be tires since my truck needs new tires soon I will keep my old ones for the camper and have new ones put on the truck. After that I will lay vinyl flooring before the walls go up.
Here is the old trailer frame. I don't have a picture of it before I took it apart . It was a 1969 little Gem deluxe 20 ft. I gave 250$ for it about 8 years ago and have used it as storage after pulling a 20 inch stove/oven 3 sinks and a hot water heater from it. I am using the stove and have the sinks and water heater stored.
I saved the bottom pan as it is aluminum and would cost a fortune to replace . The tires will have to be replaced and the frame painted but I will do that later. Here is a web pic of what the camper looked like.
If it had looked this good mine would never have been destroyed but mine wasn't even good for a storage shed any more.
This year the 4th was un believable . Saturday I had 24 pork butts and 12 slabs of ribs sell in less than 2 hours. I had to stay up most the night to be ready by 10 o clock . The total for 3 days was a staggering 60 butts and 42 slabs of ribs. If I could have done 20 more of each they would have been gone to. With my setup as one man I was at my max to do GOOD BBQ . Yes I could have done more it I had took short cuts but I have a reputation and wont compromise . In the last year I have read a lot of BBQ books and know more now. There is a lot of different ways to cook great BBQ but the one thing all have in common is time and love of the end product. One line in BIG BOB GIBBSONS book rings true to a real pitman "what's the fire telling you" A fire talks to a pitman .
I spent this morning stripping the old deck off a camper frame and will post pictures of it tomorrow . This is going to be my BBQ trailer next year .I bought it 7 or 8 years ago for a storage building till a roof leak got to bad .Now its down to the frame and going to be rebuilt as a tiny house /cabin to sell and cook out of. It will take 2 months to get it done and cost 1500 to 2000 to finish but it will be a LEGAL full service kitchen capable of any type of food.
I had planned on a 6 week trip out west to all the national parks but my wife refuses to go. This build was going to take place next year and I as going to return to full time work but looks like I will move it up a year. The new trailer will be built for a complete breakfast lunch and dinner menu with propane stoves ovens fryers and smoker I already have on hand.
It will be very busy for a few weeks but I will be posting pictures of the build as I move forward .
A few months back my son was told to vacate the acre lot he had got on a tax sale it was going to be reclaimed and sold. So we packed up and he has been in the field next door since april. HE never got any money so last week he called the tax office to find out when he would get a check.He should have almost 400$ due back.
Now his call got kicked to the revenue commissioner of the county. Seems the man who "owned it" and sold it didn't own but half, he had borrowed with it as collateral his EX wife owned half. He sold the connecting lot that he didn't own at all to the same couple. Needless to say now he has warrants out for fraud. His Ex wife cant be contacted, the lender doesn't want a half share in the property.
So my son's claim is still intact and will become his on November 1st. Unless ex-wife clear up his mess (ha ha) to the tune of 5000 $ .
I am happy my son will get this place but I have to wonder what his Nabors will act like as it was her family that was cheated.
They were not very nice, it was we are buying it you have 5 days to clear out . I tried to tell them he didn't own but half and wasn't the owner of the other lot . Both her and her husband said they knew what they were doing. A QUIT CLAIM DEED transfers one parties ownership to another person his was basically none and that's what they payed him for. The fraud was the other lot next door as he had NO rights to.
Next week we are going to ride up and see what has been done on the property we know they had it cleared and was talking about backfilling it . It would be nice if the place is backfilled and graded.
P.S. BBQ for the 4th started today sold 12 butts 11 ribs and 24 sandwiches . The next 3 days may kill me working :).
