Cutting tree trunks and branches, and salt feeder

Today I finished (I think) cutting the tree trunks and branches this year.  Earlier I mentioned cutting the branches off the dead tree in the middle pasture.  I cut off a few lower branches on trees here and there in the pastures when one low dead branch would catch my eye.   Then the big cutting I did was the broken off tree trunk in the south pasture.  I wanted to get that tree cut to make harrowing easier next year.

By now the cattle had eaten all the needles off this downed tree.  I cut off the branches and then cut up the tree trunk.

I then went to the SW part of the south pasture as I had chainsaw gas left and there were three downed trees that had fallen so many years ago and were off the ground due to their lower branches.  Time to cut them up.  But wait... what do I see.  A newly fallen tree.  This was a tree that had died in the past - I don't remember when.  It stood among other trees and its side branches were small and short for such a tall tree.  So I forgot about this tree.   But since it just fell, and would impact my harrowing next year, I need to cut it.

I had half the tree cut when it got too dark to cut safely anymore.   Then I had to wait a few days as the next day it began to rain.  Today there was no rain and I went out and finished cutting this tree.

Here is one of fallen trees I had planned on cutting up.  The fallen tree initially was long enough that it went past the trees on the very left.  I had trimmed some of the tree last year, and now I was able to trim some more of the tree up to where it had fallen on another tree.  Then I ran out of gas for my chainsaw.  So I am done for the year unless I later change my mind.

My earlier chainsaw cutting went slower than expected before I got to the tree trunk cutting.  My chainsaw chain had stretched and I needed a new chain.   Getting a new chain went around between Amazon then Walmart then Lowes.  The chain I got at Walmart said it would fit the model of chainsaw I have, but it didn't, and I had to take the chain back to Walmart.  Once I got a new chain then the chainsaw had trouble starting and running.  At one point I couldn't start the chainsaw.  Before taking the chainsaw to a repair shop I had my neighbor Curtis look at it.   The chainsaw started for him.  Of course. Now, today, the chainsaw won't keep running when it idles and I have to restart it.   An issue to solve in the future.

When walking out to cut trees in the SW part of the south pasture I saw what looked to be fresh pocket gopher mounds.  When my chainsaw work was done I set a trap for the pocket gopher.  Now to see if I am correct and a new pocket gopher moved in this area where I had trapped a pocket gopher earlier this Fall.

I also noticed the wooder salt feeder was tipped over in the middle pasture.  Why the cattle like to tip this salt feeder... who knows?  I had metal posts around the feeder but several posts were also knocked over.   Then I discovered that one of the feeder's legs was broken off.

 

I fixed the feeder's leg.  Then moved the feeder further away from the tree - but still under it - and then pounded in a few more steel posts around the feeder.  Now to see if this holds the feeder in place.