A couple weeks ago I noticed a red oak had fallen over. It wasn't that large, only 14inch diameter at the stump. Spent one day brushing it out and piling up the limb wood and this morning I finished bucking the trunk. It was around 70 outside when I started today and around 85 before lunch. Supposed to hit 95 later today. I will work on getting the rounds out of the woods another day when it isn't so hot. Looks like it fell because of rot in the base. I did get the limb wood cut up with some going to the outside stack and the rest to the 'to be split pile'. At least it isn't too far from my processing area
It looks like it should be easy splittingI wonder why it was rotten at the stump. Not close to standing water.
wildwest It got up to 96 today. Beat the old record of 94 set back in 1934. Humidity was low today, in the 30% range. Still happy I did not have to go outside and work this afternoon.
Maybe I will get some of that wood hauled out of the woods next week when it won't be quite as hot. Working only in the mornings.
Most times it is carpenter ants. Be very happy you didn't have to drop that tree. Let Mother Nature do those jobs.
On our walk in the woods this morning I was showing my wife the stump I left after cutting up the RO that had fallen. Then I noticed a lot of brush next to the stump. It hadn't been there when I was doing the cutting last week so I walked up to the stump, I was wearing shorts and sandals so I following the path where the trunk laid that I had cut up. Another RO tree or large branch came down sometime in the past couple of days. I will have to get it one of these upcoming mornings when it is a bit cooler, What I saw, it only looked like 6-8 inches in diameter. Cutting on a hillside is never fun but at least the wood will be going downhill. Pics when I work it up.
I got the rounds out of the woods and ready to be split. Some of them I had to split to make them light enough for this old guy to move them. Wood on the left side of the pile is what I moved there this morning, about 28 rounds. It was hot and humid when I was out there. Staying inside this afternoon with temps in the 90's with high dew points. Wife walked past it and said it smelled nice.
They will be split when I have a more comfortable day I would like to get them split by the end of the month. I have a row of empty pallets ready to be filled My guess is this oak will be burned 4-5 years from now. It should sit outside for a couple years first.
Woke up to low dew points this morning so I went into the woods to check out the big branch/tree that had come down. I found it was the top half of a tree that had broken off. I got a start on brushing it out and cutting some chucks to throw down the hill. My guess is the hill I am working on is 25 to 30 degree slope. Taking it slow and easy with this score. What bare ground there is is extremely dry. Not much more than 75 yards from the processing area but uphill quite a ways. Wood is bigger diameter than I first thought.
Low dew points again this morning so I continued cutting up the larger limb wood. I tried to get it cut in lengths of multiples of 16 inches. I got it off the steepest part of the hill before lunch and got it bucked after lunch. That is enough for one day for this 73yo. Maybe tomorrow I will get the rounds stacked. I still have a good length of the trunk to buck up that had broken off. The spar is still standing. It will be a while before this is all taken care of.
buZZsaw BRAD no sense hauling around a heavy saw when a lighter one will work. However, the trunk still on the ground and the spar still standing will need attention from my 029. If I can get out there while the dew points are still low, I should be able to get it all down, both on the ground and down the hill.
I finished cutting up the last of the trunk that was on the ground and I dropped the standing spar and got a start on blocking it up. Saw ran out of gas and so did I. I will keep working on it another day. There is lots of dirt in the trunk. I might have to do some chain sharpening. I measure the stump after dropping the spar and it was 18 X 22 inches. 16" bar on the 029 did just find.
