This year has been chaotic to say the least, and I lost several months to being down hard for medical reasons (non-Covid). With that being said, the last scrounges I did were in late May and the first week of June, and those were done with the tractor (tree-crew hook-ups down the road). So it was nice to finally be able to get out and scrounge some wood again. I had been eyeballing this silver maple for a while, since it was a leaner, and it finally came down this summer. The trunk was about 50+-feet before the crown so plenty of good healthy wood for the taking. It was only about 100 feet from the truck with about a 10 foot drop to the road. I used the 362 to cut it into 48 and 32-inch sections and drug them to the road for loading. I'll probably go back later this afternoon or tomorrow to get some of the smaller pieces from the crown as well as a small beech that this tree took down when it fell (the beech isn't that large however I go for beech like buZZsaw BRAD goes for black locust). This maple was part of a four-tree cluster and the other three are leaning as well, so maybe in a year or two the others will come down (national forest so you can only take dead and down). This year has been another reminder why it is so nice to be at least a couple years ahead on firewood (beyond letting the splits season there is always the possibility of unforeseen circumstances that prevent being able to scrounge/process firewood).
Weather looks perfect! I have seen your stack pics.. pretty so I was curious about the round length difference I saw in the truck! One thing I’ve learned is your stacks can’t be as perfect as yours if all your rounds are not cut to exactly the same length.
I couldn't have asked for a better day to be out in the woods scrounging! Definitely blessed to live where I am and have access to this area for scrounging (this spot was only a few miles from the house). Beautiful weather so wanted to take advantage of it! Hard to believe today that snow is on the horizon (the road where I'm scrounging gets shut down for the winter). I try to get as close to 16" as I can so the round/log variations I usually cut are 16/32/48-inches depending on how heavy they are to get to the truck. And you're right, cribbed stacks twelve feet long and over four feet high tend to get tippy when the splits are different sizes.
Went back out to take a look at what was left in the crown of the silver maple and got a few pieces. The beech turned out to be punky so wasn't worth any effort. I did spot a fresh white birch blowdown when I was driving back in so focused on that instead. A bit more more work for this one, but the trunk was again over 50 feet and there was no punk at all so worth it in my book. Between the two trees it was a good day for scrounging firewood, the weather was perfect, the views were great, and other than the chainsaw, the only thing I could hear was the rushing river down below on the other side of the road. All in all I couldn't have asked for a better day.
That has always been one of my favorite locations. Back in '89, when I was home on leave before shipping out for another tour in Okinawa, I was doing some truck camping and had pulled up this road early in the morning. I hadn't been on the road in years and I pulled over on the side somewhere, took out a squad stove and cooked some bacon, eggs, and coffee on the tailgate of the truck. I remember thinking how awesome it would be to have a house here (obviously can't because it's in the middle of the national forest). Who would have thought that 20 years later I would have a house just a few miles away. Lots of good memories there.
Good to get back in the saddle That silver maple is in a forest? I know, I know…trees grow in forests. It’s just that I only see them in urban settings.
Ive never had to drug a tree to get it to go on the truck. Usually they go on their own! All kidding aside. Nice to hear you are back to your old, well, former self. Good to see you on the hunt for wood again. Great cutting weather too!
Eh...drug...dragged...semantics I did try to cajole them into getting to the truck themselves but that didn't work. I wouldn't say that I'm back to to being as well as before this latest relapse but doing much better than the last few months. Definitely felt good to be in the woods again...drugging trees and all...
Thats interesting. As grandgourmand stated ive never seen one "in the wild". Very popular yard tree in theses parts. I just sold off the last of what SM i had on hand and wish i could get more. None on the radar either.
