Actually it was Asplundh-had a maple in the yard, near the hotwire-I knew they were planning to cut it. My grandfather planted it in 1956-kinda sad but it was dead standing from other years "topping" (aka killing) for the same reason---I figured it was time and instead of pruning again and delaying the inevitable, why not let them do it-so a 59 yo tree cut, bucked to length in my pile wasnt the worst thing...
papadave I agree sir-I have one of those 56 maples untouched by human hands in front of my house and its 4x that size-I call it "the most beautiful maple in all the land"---the others have all been hacked over the years unfortunately---figured grandpa would be comforted knowing it was heating my home...hated to see it go, but it was time...they noodled it too-couldnt beat the deal=free on AEP
I gotta get up there and see this place of yours with my own peepers- sounds like a great deal of family history there- kinda hungry for that, as most of my family is detracted and spread out from my hometown... Took my wife there (Wading River, NY on L.I. last year- tough on my oldish heart).
Eric VW You better treasure them all sir-I have little to no family, so I revel in what I do and often visit the memories myself-you can see part of the untouched maple in front of the house-gonna say its prob 50-60' dia.-People say all the time "you better get that tree trimmed, its gonna rot your shingles" ...To which I say " those shingles can be replaced...that tree, (and the memories), cannot...Plus it gets me closer to the metal roof like the woodshed, and the tree-cooled front porch is a great place for a beer in the heat of summer--so rot your ash off....
And once that roof of yours is metal, definitely no more rot! It hurts me when I hear folks have "little to no family," so I feel for ya- I'm sure you're dealing with it fine, I'm just sayin. My wife's dad & and stepmom & her mom and stepdad live 30 minutes from here- I love 'em all pretty good, but I miss my family pretty bad some times....
Eric VW You're a lucky man, don't ever take it for granted-family is family, even "drunk uncle"-They are all we have and blood is not thicker than water-friends become family too---that keeps me going... Horkn I just think you're first class-thank you for mentioning my grandfather-he was first class too-taught me most everything I am---you guys be safe and have fun
Yes sir!!! I love my whole family, and we're all on good terms, except for my brother(only sibling) who dropped out of the game about 7 years ago(which REALLY hurt, and still does), but it was his choice to disown the rest of us. I'm just soooo far away from them, logistically. No different from many folks. Sorry for the hi-jack, Ashwatcher.
Horkn -my condolences sir-I lost mine @ 17-he had 3 daughters, so I was like his only son-he loved watching me play baseball-he was a mans man-4th grade education and achieved above average success for his time-family was his greatest claim to fame though...and for that I am most proud...and Eric VW -he's your only brother-time can heal all wounds...do your part to make it right...the rest is up to him
Oh Ashwatcher, I've been on it... We re-established at least texting/emails, with one outta the way phone call a month or so ago.... It still hits me hard tho, 'cos we would talk every day or every three days for YEARS! Then one day in Nov of '08.... Done. It hurt as much as the day MY grandpa passed. Again, I'm sorry for carrying on... Now I can't see the screen. Til next time, ol' buddy.... Hey, more pics soon?!
Pics tomorrow my friend-God speed to all-hey, the wood fairy saved me a day in 90 degree heat-just gonna run the splitter one day this weekend-let's stuff that shed...then go find some nice ash...love me some ash...
Perfect "Canadian flag" shaped leaf - looks like some nice hard/sugar maple to me! You're racking up the primo btus! White oak, hickory, and sugar maple in a week? That's quite the trifecta!!!!
Nice score in nice weather. Hope you got to have some of the cutting fun . Well, you'll have fun of splitting & stacking
Man this maple aint working out very well---even noodled its a splittin mess-hope it gets better or it gets pallet stacked up the field...pics later
Yeah my first load of sugar maple i brought to the house for 15/16 wood was not clean splitting either. It stacked well though, with a bit more work to keep it somewhat tidy stacked.
Yea Yard trees are notorious for knots & twists & making lots of "uglies". But it's BTUs, sounding a little bit "wood snobish" LOL I'm the same now that I primarily cut in a wood cutting area, I choose the best I can find & have a big pile of uglies for the fire pit
