After working on some dirty logs yesterday the chains went on the grinder this morning, after that I headed to the bowl for two loads of Cherry and one load of Maple. In picture 9626 are the two Cherry I grabbed, I'm also hoping I have that lane (marked in yellow) opened up for the sleds this winter. Just up that lane is a storm damaged Maple, if it's not rotten, I plan on having it down before the end of July.
The pictures of the third load, this is the Maple. I left three chunks on the Cherry because they had some ants, the ants should be gone by Tuesday.
"the ants should be gone by Tuesday." ... gotta have rules. They have to be out so the Weds ants can move in... As usual, havin a ball lookin at your woods. Looking forward to pics on the sleds going thru there this coming winter. Is it snowing yet?
I hear we have some hot weather with possible storms coming from the Midwest. I'm not wishing for snow after last winter, we can wait. Next on the list is, the Maple and two more ice storm damaged Cherry, we'll see what August brings for weather but I better take a couple of days or more for some boating.
I've found that ants don't take kindly to eviction notices. So, I just bust up the rounds and don't leave 'em any place to live......except somewhere else. Still don't know where you get all your energy, twl.
I just hate sitting around when there's firewood down I'm hoping I can get another three cord of Cherry cut before the snow hits. I'll be putting up a picture of what I'm talking about this week, uprooted...hung up Cherry... I just gotta figure out what the best way to go at it is.
I don't know where Woods gets all that juice either. He's got so much of it I'm pretty sure he's only 25 and has a crew of 3 that work with him. Just takes all pics without them in it. Yeah... that's it...
Gotta be. I went out today to work on a white pine and only got about 1/2 done before I called it. Last 2 days all I've done is burn branches for a few hours and that got me all tuckered out. At least HE'S got enough energy to take pics so we can live vicariously.
Great pics !!! Every time I cut a Cherry tree.....I end up leaving the first two or three logs because of ants .So we split the logs with a sledge and wedge...then leave split sides up to the sun . Ants hate that !!!! But I too hate leaving a few pieces behind . Makes it seem like I didnt finish the job .
This summer I've noticed the heat drain factor more than any other summer. Can't get outa my own way. Get a cool day, and I feel normal again. So... when it's hot, I find Wood's posts, hug my air conditioner... and... I'm gooder...
It's always nice to leave the ants in the woods. That's why I always leave a log or two back in certain sp Two cups of coffee (no breakfast) I'm ready for cutting or trail clearing. Yes it is, I'm seeing lots of people who order firewood every year not have it yet for this year, our spring was real wet so that put the firewood dealers behind, I'm also hearing some of them are getting the logs chipped up so they can send it down to Fort Drum. Firewood sellers say they believe a severe timber shortage this winter has been caused partly by loggers supplying wood chips to the Fort Drum biomass facility. But officials at ReEnergy say restrictions on the wood used there shouldn’t affect the firewood supply. ReEnergy LLC’s biomass facility on Fort Drum, which opened in June, does business with about 25 loggers across Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Oneida and Onondaga counties who supply wood chips to its 60-megawatt plant, said John R. Howe, ReEnergy’s north country wood procurement manager. In addition, about 10 loggers supply wood chips to ReEnergy’s Lyonsdale plant in Lyons Falls. Mr. Howe said those clients do not use full logs to produce wood chips. He said they use only secondary wood, including limbs, boughs and other forest residue that otherwise would be discarded. A requirement from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority stipulates that loggers may not use logs that are 5 inches or more in diameter as biomass fuel, he said. Logs of that size typically are sold to sawmills or to paper manufacturers that produce pulp. Loggers then use the remaining scrap wood from trees to produce wood chips used at the Black River facility. Some firewood sellers, though, contend a number of loggers are under pressure to convert firewood logs into wood chips to meet annual quotas established by contracts with ReEnergy. They say that loggers tend to treat ReEnergy as a preferred business partner as a consequence, and that prices for logs have risen sharply because of high demand. Mr. Howe said about 10 loggers have signed five-year contracts to lease chippers from ReEnergy. They’re required to meet a 40-week production quota each year, according to the contracts. A portion of proceeds from each ton delivered to the plant goes toward the purchase of the leased wood chippers, which are paid off in full after five years. Machines are priced between $250,000 and $600,000. To participate, loggers are obliged to provide anywhere from $42,000 to $120,000 worth of wood chips each year. ReEnergy has the authority to cancel contracts with loggers and force them to return wood chippers if they fail to meet annual production quotas, Mr. Howe said. But he said he does not believe the quotas cause undue pressure for loggers to use firewood logs, rather than other tree wood, to produce wood chips. “None of the loggers I deal with are putting logs through a chipper — that would be foolish on their part,” Mr. Howe said. “And if they had to do that to meet their annual allowance, we’d change their requirement.” Mill operators beg to differ. Burrville Power Equipment, which sells firewood throughout the year at its Route 12 location, has a major problem this season. Owner Thomas P. Maguire said the wood supply at the business is down about 75 percent from last year because of the shortage. He blamed the shortage on ReEnergy. “Normally I would have 2,000 cords of wood this time of year, but right now I only have 500,” said Mr. Maguire, who added that firewood demand has surged in December and January because of the extremely cold weather. “I’m going to guess we’ve sold about 20 percent more chopped firewood than normal.” Customers who previously bought timber from loggers to split on their own are now deciding to buy chopped firewood instead, Mr. Maguire said, because they have faced an extended wait for delivery. “Normally, when homeowners call loggers for wood, they can get it in two to three weeks,” he said. “But they’re not getting it for two to three months this season.” Town of LeRay resident Paul R. Slater, who heats his home on County Route 50 with a wood stove during the winter, expects to see the availability of firewood and scrap wood decrease because of the ReEnergy plant. “ReEnergy has claimed they use just the tops of trees that no one wants, but that’s exactly what people like me use,” Mr. Slater said. “We go into the woods and take that stuff up, and right down to the size of a silver dollar we burn it. A lot of guys like me are wood pickers, and I know guys who go to the wood dumps in towns after storms and will go cut it up. You will see people lose those avenues with more competition, and it’s raising the price of wood with the extra demand.” In the aftermath of the ice storm in late December, highway officials from Jefferson County, villages and towns met to talk about having ReEnergy get involved in using fallen tree limbs and other debris as fuel for its plant. Philip A. Clement, owner of Phil’s Firewood and Burrville Sawmill in Watertown, said he has lost three logging clients during the past year who are now supplying wood chips to ReEnergy. The sawmill buys timber to make pallets sold to local manufacturers, including New York Air Brake and Knowlton Technologies. Though the amount of firewood sold to homeowners has tripled this season due to extremely cold weather, he said, restocking that wood has been a challenge. “I could show you right now loggers who are grinding whole trees, not just the tops like they claim, and that’s caused a lot of problems,” he said. “These loggers make agreement with ReEnergy, and when they rent these wood chippers, they have to meet a quota.” To illustrate that problem, Mr. Clement offered a hypothetical example. He said a logging company might need to deliver 20 tractor-trailer loads during a week to ReEnergy to meet its production quota, while five loads might be scheduled to be delivered to his sawmill the same week. “If they’re running short, they’ll bring all the loads to ReEnergy,” he said. “It drives my prices up, so I have to go out and find loggers farther away to do business with. One logger I used to do business with sold his truck and now only does wood chips.” Last year, the price per tractor-trailer load of logs bought by Mr. Clement ranged from $1,200 to $1,300. It’s ranged from $1,500 to $2,000 this year. To compensate for that increase, the price per cord of firewood has been increased from $65 to $70. To make matters more difficult for sawmills, the price of diesel fuel needed to operate machinery has climbed this winter, Mr. Clement said. At the General Store on Bradley Street, the price per gallon rose from $4.09 on Jan. 23 to $4.55 on Thursday. But unlike others, Mr. Clement doesn’t believe the business climate for firewood sellers will worsen much more than it has this season. “Demand should still be high, because prices for fuel oil and propane has gone up while firewood hasn’t gone up as much,” he said.
"Last year, the price per tractor-trailer load of logs bought by Mr. Clement ranged from $1,200 to $1,300. It’s ranged from $1,500 to $2,000 this year. To compensate for that increase, the price per cord of firewood has been increased from $65 to $70." That doesn't even make sense. At $70 a cord the truck would have to hold close to 30 cords just to break even.
Just getting them one at a time, 5 or 6 more before August rolls around will make me a happy camper. I'll be getting 2 or 3 of those this week, if mother nature lets me. My fall work is the bigger (for me) Sugar Maple that's down on the hill up top, I'll be cleaning up the trail in that area so I can get the Rhino closer. Before hunting season my other job will be making sure the trails are sled ready.
It sure is, we're at the end of July already.......we've had a good summer up this way so it would be nice if it continues.
Good job cut the h*ll out of it. I will hammer down round oct until the grass starts growing. I got the cheapest cell phone mone will buy lol that why no pictures from me.
I'm still on Tracfone. I'll be starting on some damaged Cherry come Thursday, I plan on having 3 done by Sunday if not before. You can never have enough wood, last winter was tough on all of our wood inventory. Once winter hits we plan on riding the sleds even more than last year.
