Didn't make it out until today. Beautiful, sunny, 50° day to be in the woods. My back is screaming at me, but I got some work done, so it's all gooder. Went in to take a look at the Maple that broke last year that I had already tried to drop. Did another back cut above my screw up, and down it went.......just like Dennis and a couple others said. For a tree that is basically dead, there sure was a lot of water/sap. Started a close to the ground cut.....didn't want to leave any wood behind. First load......I didn't think I could get the tractor/trailer back there, so this was my solution....for the first load. Then, I got the brilliant idea to just go for it and drive the whole thing back there......worked great, even though there wasn't much room to turn around w/o unhitching the trailer.
This is the double trunk Maple that went down back there very close to the other one, but a little more swampy. Look close and you can see a cut I made. There's 2 trunks behind that for another 30-40', plus all the smaller branches. Lots of work to get this, but now I know I can get the tractor back there, it'll be easier. I only took 4 16" rounds from the top trunk, just to see what it would do........acted like a spring board once released. Close-up of the same thing. I'm guesstimating about 30-35 cu.ft. so far. This is 2 loads in a 17 cu.ft. trailer. One more similar load should be about 1/3 cord. Should be close to a cord when done with these trees.
Nice Maple! I always like maple for how quickly it dries and the nice flames it gives off. Lots of small branches to deal with but also lots of small rounds that don't need to be split. Your wood stacks are awesome! Kinda reminds me of this guy, but then again, I'm a little like this guy too.
Good days work Glad you can drive to the area, saves lots of wheel barrel driving Your stacks are growing Did some hauling wood today, I put on my back brace, sure helps
Except it's not s/s yet. The plan is to get all that Maple from here, then make a trip to sis-in-law's for more, then start on down/dead Oak in her woods. Forgot to mention that I got the "blade" pinched in the tree. It hung up in a bunch of small Spruce when it went over. I saw it coming, but couldn't pull the saw fast enough. The homeylite fixed that.
That 2nd saw in the back pocket can be handy. Nice pics & wood. Makes all the dif when you can get the trailer next to the wood doesn't it?
Yep, no kidding. That first load never made it all the way back to the trail in the wheelbarrow. Too many ups and downs, and my lungs were ever so slightly burning. I figured that was a good time to reevaluate the situation. That tractor still amazes me.
Nice Papadave. What's it like living in God's country. We had 190 acres of hard woods between Atlanta and Lewiston years ago. The best times of my life were up there at the cabin, running through those woods, hunting mushrooms and deer, and a few partridge. Last time I was up I stopped along some of the dirt roads and grabbed some rocks to decorate around the house just remind me of those days and up there.
Had to laugh, more at myself though. I get visions of grander of days gone by & try to do things I could do 20 years ago & not even notice the effort. My ATV allows me to still go moose hunting & fire wood processing. Still get a good work out & ibuprofen is my friend LOL Nice you have the tractor to keep your wood processing going at a reasonable pace. A loaded wheel barrel in the woods is tough , no mater your age
Funny you mention Partridge....saw one this afternoon crossing our road right by the driveway. Going reeeaalll slow, then took off. Took me a couple years to get enough, but I gathered large stones from neighboring roads to make our firepit.
