Got out to the property a few days after Christmas for some firewood gathering at the property in north central MA. Hadn't been there in 2.5 years. Invited five good friends from school and four actually showed up. I had a particular tree in mind that I thought might have a low enough moisture content to burn this year, so that's where I headed first. The beech consisted of a clump of 3 stems, the leftward most one (in tree in the center) was the standing dead that needed to come down. So I got the face cut done. Had to do a plunge cut for the back cut and then whacked a wedge in the kerf and got ready to move as it fell. But nothing happened. So I assessed the situation and found that the stems had grown together.. Should have noticed that BEFORE i started cutting. So the trusty 021 went to work on the other side of the tree and I ended up here. Two seconds after this picture, I grabbed the saw out of the tree as it began to fall in the desired direction. Proceeded to cut it up and load if for the trip home which didn't happen until the following day. Did I mention that we spent the night? Gotta say, I need to talk to the manager about the overnight accommodations. It was chilly in the morning and with the Busch beer and Jameson the night before, NO ONE wanted to get up to start the fire in the morning. Overall a good trip to the woods as I managed to get some wood, cook some sirloin tips on the fire and spend the day/evening with good friends. Glad that we didn't plan the trip for this week!!!
It is a shame to see the beech bark disease destroy the beech trees in the northeast. The once smooth bask is now all pocked up. They get punky in spots, are horrible to split and have zero value at the mill. It is one of the predominant tees on my land in VT and it sucks.
Sorry to hear that PB. It was something that certainly was a topic of discussion when I was studying forestry. This one was not too difficult to split with the X15 and the moisture content came in at 21% after being dead for several years. It did have some rot in it as you mentioned. My lot is predominantly red oak and white pine. We did a harvest in 2009 to promote the best quality stems. I want more diversity so I don't suffer big losses should one of those species get affected by insect or disease. It's sad when a beautiful veneer log has to get turned (no pun intended) into firewood due to insects, disease or weather stress.
Stuck, that looks like a GREAT time!! Glad to see you made it home, and had some priorities to get out in the woods! As for that tree, they can be tricky but all in all, I'd say you did a good job bringing it down..... Had you gone camping this weekend, you'd have been better off camping on Mt. Everest......
Yes, Sir. The timing worked out great for this one. We got out of the woods on Sunday just prior to the big rain event. This worked out much better than my winter flounder fishing plans in early December that were cancelled due to snow and highs in the mid teens!! BRRRRR. I think it's about time that I get one of these though. Would make the nights much more bearable.
All true... Of course, if I get the tent with the wood stove, I'll have to get campinspector up near the top of the flue to do the sniff test to make sure that I'm burning seasoned wood. Thanks all..
If you want a floor under it keep your eye out for somebody rebuilding their deck. Old pressure treated wood makes for great tent platforms. The underside will be in perfect shape.
