Lumber!

That's what our neighbor said to yell when you're falling a tree. That way, everyone knows and hope that they're wise enough to be out of the way of the tree.

And I did fall a tree! I didn't understand him at first. But thinking about it now, I have to shout

Lumber!

Our Homestead and Science Project

Two days ago, our neighbor came over to help us. We need to clear a line on our front yard so we can start on our deer fence.

We have a lot of cedar and black oak trees in the way so our neighbor and my dad got their chainsaws out. We are going to cut trees and thin them.

Our homestead is a forest and we are living close to the road. Our front yard also looks like a jungle. The trees and shrubs are thick and we like them that way. Then the neighbors and anyone driving past our house can't see through our front yard easily.

But soon it will be cleaned up and cleared. Then we'll plant more trees or if not, the trees will grow themselves. There's a lot of little trees coming out anyway.

_{That's me in our neighbor's Ranger. The winch cable is hooked close to the driver side for easy access.}

How Did I Do It?

Here comes the science part and it's waaay to cool!

Our neighbor cut the cedar tree with a chainsaw. Then it started leaning towards the Ranger so he stopped and asked me to operate the winch on the Ranger.

A winch!

It's the coolest thing for me right now.

What's a Winch?

It's a tool with a cable or rope, when you crank it one way it makes the cord tight. When you crank it the other way it loosens the cable.

With a winch, you can you can use it to pull things with. As the cable gets tighter and tighter, the winch pulls. Then you have to loosen it to undo the cable or to pull it out of the winch and hook the cable to what you need to pull.

I hope I am describing it to you well enough. I know what a winch looks like, but I need to learn how to explain it. I'm learning too and if I can't communicate, I can't teach and learn.

_{This is a crank yourself winch on a boat.
The image is from Wikipedia. Mom forgot to take a picture of the Ranger's winch.}

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And here's a picture of the front of the Ranger where the winch cable comes out. The winch on the Ranger is electric so you can't just pull the cable out.

Our neighbor explained that when he got stuck, the water almost covered the hood and the winch was out front. He had to reach from the driver seat over the hood to get to the hook. From then on, he leaves the cable close to him and hooked like it is on the picture.

Cool Winch Version - With Pulley

Check this one out at https://patents.google.com/patent/US6138992A/en

_{This image is from the patent to explain the Winch-Pulley mount}

It's another awesome version of the winch. The pulley out front makes it to where you can use the winch and pull yourself out from any direction. The picture tells you that if you got stuck and the only strong thing you can hook the winch to is a tree behind you, then you can do that.

There are many more cool winches out there. Which type are you using?

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winch
https://patents.google.com/patent/US6138992A/en