Had to get this Catalpa stem out of my in laws yard. Didn't want to mill on site because I've never done it and know I'm going to learn slowly, so I wanted to take it home. 385xp got some run, sporting a 32" bar.
You just gave a visual demo of why I am not allowed to put trailer hitch on my wife Forrester So I gave it new brake pads all way around and oil change she has a oil dissappearin problem.. no hitch I can't drive it!
I sold my old truck and recently upgraded to this trailer. For a pretty heavy load it towed great and stopped well too. I believe in the tow rating, so I'm limited to about 1 ton after subtracting the weight of the trailer. I can live with that for a while until I start "needing" a truck again.
I used a forester XT to tow my 5x10 for wood use for a few years. Worked very well. The best part was the AWD on loose ground towing a heavy load uphill in the back yard.
My parents have a huge catalpa in their front yard. I hated that tree - it was always dropping something on the lawn at all times of the year and a lot of the time I had to rake under it before I could mow. But I just read recently that in terms of rot resistance, US Forest Products Service lists catalpa as "resistant" to decay, in the same category as black cherry, walnut, and white oaks. Being the lightest hardwood in that category, it has me very intrigued. I'm looking forward to pics of the boards! I've heard it's something of an ash lookalike.
Bad pic, but I parbuckled the logs. One chain anchored to trailer on both side corners and made a "V" down the ramp. Roll big boy with can't hook to gate over the "V". The next chain grabbed the bottom notch of the "V" threw over log and used the come-a-long as a poor man's winch. Surprisingly easy once I was lined up to the log. I was going to buy a winch and cable setup but I wanted to rough it and be frugal.
Whoa, nice pic! Yes that side loading method is better as you can get a longer log, but I went up the gate from the back. Clever old logger trick back when they used horses... and stuff...
Shawn Curry I read the same about Catalpa and rot resistance. The wood is beautiful when wet, you can get a glimpse in the butt shot (wait, what??) of the tree after it was freshly felled. Should be fun and you know I will post some pics no matter how hacked up I make the boards.
