Andy, Beate, and Tim finished clearing the dead trees from the defensible space:
There are more pictures on Flickr.
The challenge now is to keep the weeds down to avoid it from looking like this, or worse:
September 13, 2013
That’s why Andy bought this Makita heavy-duty brush cutter:
As I mentioned before, it’s designed to be operated at elevations less than 5000 feet, and the land is at almost 9,000. According to Makita it needed a part that would adapt the cutter for us. Andy took it down to an authorized service dealer in Albuquerque (100 miles away) two weeks ago, and they can’t fix it. They tried ordering the part from Makita, who said it doesn’t exist, so they tried phoning the carburetor manufacturer to see if that could be adjusted, but no luck. They phoned today to say Andy can pick up the brush cutter.
Just in case I phoned Makita’s service and support department this afternoon, but the fellow couldn’t help. He said we could try sending the cutter to Makita’s service department, with no guarantee we would have any better luck there. Or we could buy an electric version.
Andy is going to drive to Albuquerque tomorrow to pick it up and will try using it as it is. I have written to Makita about the false information included with the cutter but am not expecting much help. As usual, never a dull moment. It keeps us old folks on our toes.
June 24, 2020
wow. it looks altogether different up on the land now.
a lot of work. but worth it I’m sure.
I don’t even want to try and imagine another fire!
Unfortunately fires are a natural part of the ecosystem, so we have to be prepared.
Do Tim and Beate – have a defensible space?
No, they have a much smaller piece of land with a row of aspens right next to their little house. They love it that way and have decided not to rebuild if a fire wipes them out again.
If a fire were to destroy our house we wouldn’t rebuild. Andy says he would put a trailer up there so he could still go up every day, but rebuilding would be way too much now.
okay
I imagine that it doesn’t take long for the weeds to get out of hand. Too bad about the brush cutter. Wonder why they would say one thing on the product but then no one knows anything about it.
They make a lot of products, so it’s not completely surprising. But it is a big nuisance!
The first thing that happened when I saw the picture of the house and the shed on the Mountaintop I started to sing Born on a Mountaintop in Tennessee. Haha I do know you’re not in Tennessee but that’s what it made me think of a No-No No-No on Makita and they’re lying to you. Hope it’ll work as is
I didn’t recognize the words “Born on a mountaintop…” so I looked it up. Oh, yeah. Ballad of Davy Crockett. That brings back neat memories. 🙂
Thanks!
When you live in an area of high attitude you’d think everything they sell would work in high attitude. What a pain!
We have to buy most of our things online, in this case Amazon. So it’s not that surprising they wouldn’t think of the problem. Hopefully it will work well enough for Andy to see if it even makes sense for him.
Your place looks like paradise, Jean!! I love it!! Please keep posting pictures. Love, Andrea xoxo
Thank you! 🙂 🙂 🙂
What a rigmarole with the brush cutter. I hope you find some practical solution.
We will let you know one way or another.
That looks like a job well done, with a lot of hard work for sure.
Woos – Lightning, Misty, and Timber
Yes, they did an amazing job.
What great views you have up there.
I really would have expected better from Makita.
We were surprised at Makita too. We’ve had good luck with most of their products.