Power company is going overtime cutting down trees in my hood. Must be a budget they need to dwindle down. They’re actually on the fifth pass in the same area. Anyway Saturday I drove around, lucked out and found two homeowners with large amounts of logs in their yards. Got permission from both. Was home for lunch feeling great about the pending Sunday score. Later that day I drove down again and wouldn’t ya know,,,,the beautiful logs had all disappeared. Turns out some guy has a big tractor in the neighborhood and a fetish for wood. Heard I was coming and grabbed up the beauties quick. Sunday I head down and he’s still at work. I don’t mind sharing or losing,,,just ticked me off that I asked for permission and he’s just running around the neighborhood grabbing everything he can, nice stuff first. So I grabbed a load and drove home. Engine light comes on in the truck again. Transmission goes into limp mode. Now I’m fried. Just got that truck out of the shop for the second time in a month. Tinkered with it, couldn’t make it spit up any codes. This morning I went out and it still has a light on but it’s not in limp mode. Put the trailer back on and grabbed another load. Tomorrow back to the shop for diagnostics. Picking up the scraps. This is the second house. I grabbed two short, fat logs. That long stem is 18.5 feet long. It’s the base that was under those short fat ones. Purty darn big by my standards. Decided to leave it for now. Couldn’t fit it on with the short stubbies, tractor probably can’t move it I’ll hit that at a later date.
Thats happened to me before. Seems you literally have to go back immediately before you lose. Still some decent wood Joe. Sucks about the truck. Maybe next one will be a Ford? I was chatting with the mechanic today at my Disney cut and he will look at my truck Wednesday as I think a bearing is going somewhere. I've been expecting it to DIE any day now but it still keeps going!
We're gonna have to keep tabs on birch at Joe's place. Maybe report him for firewood abuse if they sit too long.
In my humble opinion, permission ≠ possession. Perhaps when you get permission you could offer a small consideration that would gain you possession and support a claim to the wood should someone else take them before you do. If you pay $20-$50 and put a no trespassing sign or private property on the wood (and maybe add a trail camera for evidence), you would at least have a claim against someone to assert that your private property was stolen. Just a thought. Sucks to see the good stuff get gobbled up so quickly.
I would have gone back but this weekend was a little different,,,,woman came to visit Saturday instead of Friday. I’ll blame this all on her LOL I’m wondering if this is where the other big logs disappeared too? It’s not far away, certainly within tractor distance. Odd thing is this guy lives in a 70’s subdivision with a half acre lot. Good size tractor with forks and a log winch on the back. I’d like to see what’s in the back of his house Definitely hoarder material. Engine bearing, wheel bearing, muffler bearing? You certainly got your work out of that truck. I would be hard pressed to buy another dodge. Reading last night about the tranny in mine “one of the worst unreliable flawed transmissions ever made”. damm I thought I might be on the upswing with the third set of exhaust manifolds, three times a charm, NOT.
Im thinking its a wheel bearing as it sounds like a pebble or twig is stuck in the tire and it makes the thup, thup thup which goes faster as I accelerate. Rather annoying. He had a simple way to find out which wheel it is and can fix it while im cutting there. Going back on Wednesday so he'll diagnose. Our Murano has gone through two trannies (not Caitlyn Gender) since we've owned it (ten years next April) and it doesn't get a lot of miles. Id never buy another. She picked it out.
Ahhh it’s all those 16-24” perfectly straight no branch red oak logs 10-16’ long that get me all a flutter. Perfect size, perfect wood. It’s what my splitter likes to eat and I’ve learned not to argue with the splitter Must’ve been around 10 of those perfect logs gone.
I don’t disagree but that would take too much of the sport out of it. I’m starting to wonder why I’m asking for permission,,,,,,,,just kidding. This is really the first time I’ve ever asked for permission besides my aunt and uncle, don’t think they count. Usually I find scores on deserted stretches of road, they usually sit for months on end so I know no one wants it. These were in a residential neighborhood so that’s a little different, permission is necessary when snagging wood in front of someone’s house IMO. Darn rude any other way.
Making me feel like a slacker. I’m going to have to get out and cut some wood now. Nice score for sure.
Almost sounds like my truck this summer. You know I’m deaf as a post but I was hearing this odd clinking noise from the front right occasionally. Or so I thought I was hearing something,,,, One day I apply the brakes coming to a red light, truck jerks to the right for a split second. No idea what it was but had to be a brake issue and it can’t be good. Limped it home and took a look. The dust/splash shield that protects the rotor had rusted off and instead of falling into the road it went in between the rim and rotor, spun around who knows how many times and finally came to rest in between the pads and rotor. That was the jerk. Off to NAPA to buy new pads, rotor and ABS line. It decided to chop through that too.
I thought of you this morning. Across the street from NAPA there’s a small old tiny ranch house set way back from the main drag. Looks like three massive red oaks were taken down. I know you like the big ones These are primo specimens of huge red oaks. What started life as tall straight forest trees when that house was built,,,,probably in the 50’ 60’s. Now they are the tallest, no branch red oaks I know of. There’s still some left but they dropped three I’d say. Everything chopped up and gone except for the logs. I’m Gonna find out who owns that house
Nice. I still look for monsters but they just aren’t close enough when I do find em. Case in point; I won’t quit though. Hopefully yours pans out. I’d love to see 25+ splits per round size wood. Dang it, now I’m going to have to miss work tomorrow to get some trigger time.
Wow, such incredible scores. I was thinking it would be warranted to put out a sign like BuzzsawBrad used to use that indicates the wood is unavailable (because YOU 'own' it). That's a bummer to lose those large logs. That tractor guy is making me mad lol.
jo191145 - once you get the OK to remove wood, put some yellow don't cross tape around, on, through the pile. It'll make any other scroungers move along, hopefully
Great idea. You could even get some printed with your name and contact details. This is a UK company, but I'm sure there will be similar printers in America. Barrier Tape - The Custom Printed Tape Experts
Not a bad idea. Historically speaking it just was never needed around here. We must have a new hoarder in town. I’ll have to keep my eye on this scurrilous unscrupulous dude LOL. Should stop again and shake his hand, say hello. I actually have used a sign before,,,back around 2016 when I first began roadside scrounging and learned the unwritten rules. On my own property even. Eversource came through and cut a bunch of nice healthy oaks and left the dead ones standing. I still think, back then roadside scores were rare, they cut those trees for a friend that owned a sawmill or something. It just made no sense. So I painted up a sign and stuck it on there. IIRC Brad saw that sign the first time he visited and asked what it’s for
