Here's what's left from the first 3 trees. There was a tree where my pickup is (try not to get jealous of my ride folks). This leaves 1 more tree over past the west brush pile and a few good locust logs on the end of that wild brush pile. Those logs are what I'm getting tomorrow and then I hope to get the last tree out of there Monday. That'll all but finish this area other than the wild brush pile. I need some semi chisel chain for that. That pile has a lot of dirt on those logs.
Are you completely on the bump stop the entire drive? I’m guessing you have to be. That’s a lot of weight!
I'm not because I have Hellwigs on it. If I didn't have those, it would be. It really doesn't ride too bad, all things considered. Those things are worth it if a guys hauls big loads. I probably don't go but 40 mph either when I'm loaded like that. I have to haul products for work every week. So this pickup has hauled it's share of heavy loads. It's a good ole pickup.
I've not messed with gum, because there is none around here, but some HL is way worse to split than the even the stringiest elm. BL has all been easy to split in comparison to HL.
If you look at the passenger side picture of load 6, and zoom in on the springs, you can see the Hellwigs putting in work.
Those old square sides ( as well as other trucks back then) are pretty simple trucks. A simpler time I guess. No airbags abs, probably no AC either.
QUOTE="Horkn, post: 1415689, member: 2062"]Those old square sides ( as well as other techs back then) are pretty simple trucks. A simpler time I guess. No airbags abs, probably no AC either.[/QUOTE] My Grandpa ordered this truck in 1979. It used to have A/C, but only because he ordered it that way. That's the reason I keep driving it, it's simplicity. I like bring able to diagnose and fix this if I need to. I also don't like having to pay 75 bucks or more, just to have a computer hooked up to my vehicle to read codes. My other pickup is a 1985 C10 Silverado, with a 6.2 diesel.
Of course AC... 2-55 ... 2 windows down at 55... But the bigger AC package was with the butterfly push open windows....My first truck was passed from Aunt/Uncle Farm truck to my Dad through my brother then me... 1977 Chevy w/ the 350 and quad jet carb... When you stepped on the gas you could almost see the fuel gauge go down with it... Great Truck... Oh the memories...
I had those forced induction vent windows on our '80 bronco. Also on the bronco II 's I had. I loved those vent windows.
Well, here's the last load for a bit. I got a late start, and only got one hauled. I had a second picture I thought, but it must not have took.
Kinda crazy.............wood. This load was 2 logs. One just shy of 3 ft and the other about 18". This is what the outside looks like and the outer inch, or so, is brittle and rotten. One would think "that's been dead for a decade or so, so it's got to be seasoned." Then a guy cuts into it and gets these moisture readings. It's amazing to me how much moisture it holds in log form. I would've thought this stuff would easily be ready to burn right away, but it's not really even close. I see so many people cut up dead standing stuff and burn it right away and I have to wonder, how much of that is really ready? What is the actual moisture readings on those dead standing trees? Maybe locust just holds it more, not sure. Mr. Roger figured these were rotten all the way through and I didn't think they would be, but I had no idea they would be like this.
It’s safe to assume every single large round will be full of water, no matter how long it’s been dead/down. That’s been my experience with oak, sugar maple that started to spalt, even elm that had been dead a couple years.
So would you say that's going to be the same for dead standing trees? I have a moisture meter, but honestly rarely do I use it, because I know stuff will be sitting a couple years before I burn it anyway. I even tested some other locust pieces I've had laying around off a tree since May, that were dead and only about 8 to 10 inches in diameter and when I split those a couple weeks ago, they were even mid to high 20's percentage wise. I guess I've never really paid attention, because I never needed to. Just found it interesting.
I think for dead standing, usually the bottom third of the trunk stays sopping wet. The tree will continue to wick up moisture from the ground, or at the very least not release it back into the soil. The higher up you go, the drier it should get. Of course this depends on the species, if the bark stays on, etc. I have yet to cut a dead standing tree and go straight to the stove with it, no matter what part of the tree the wood came from. What I can say for sure is that dead wood dries exponentially faster than green cut, of the same species.
It totally depends regarding dead standing. Elm, you can take dead standing with the bark off and drying like that for years, and take anything but the bottom 8 feet or so of the tree and they are all ready to burn, under 20%, and many times much less than that.
That makes sense. I always assumed once the bark was off, things should start to dry fairly quick. Then again, maybe it's more because of it being locust. I'll have to try to remember to maybe take a reading every few days or so, to see how fast this dries. These logs were about 10' long, give or take. The outside of these logs looked like crap and the inside is perfect. Then the last 2 big chunks out there, off another tree (can be seen a load or 2 back), looked OK on the outside, but the center was hollow and rotten. All I know is, I'm glad these 2 logs turned out as good as they are.
I'm going to have to start paying attention to it more, when I come across dead standing stuff. Thanks for the info!
