First noticed this tree last September,it was barely alive - Very few tiny brownish leaves while everything else around it had big green healthy foliage. Looked at the tree 3 weeks ago & it was done - not a single leaf on it. Dropped it this morning,at 1045AM it was 80 degrees with 90% humidity & practically calm winds....20" diameter at base,65 feet from butt to tip of uppermost twig.Almost 40 feet to the main fork.Should get 1 1/2 pickup loads,maybe a wee bit more.Will return soon as I can to buck it,haul it in & start splitting.Might get a few turning blocks out of the first 2-3 feet of the butt end.
Generally a year,though I still have almost 2 cords of dead Hickory that was cut from summer 2010 to summer 2012.Its there when I need it or need extra cash,whatever comes first.
No matter the wood I save everything down to about 1" diameter.Oak,Hickory,Black Cherry etc for outdoor cooking & kindling indoors.Remainder is piled neatly nearby where ever I happen to be working for wildlife cover.
Love shagbark-- smells like syrup! Speaking of, I need to make shagbark syrup. Then ribs sometime soon, smoked with the bark used for the syrup. Yum!
I was gonna say, don't have to take a sauna after cutting in that humidity! OK, when you say 'snag' you mean a dead tree, not something that's fallen and is hung up. When you mentioned getting these snags, I thought "Man, it must be thick in there for all these trees to be hanging on him and not making it to the ground when they fall..." Love the Shagbark, and that one is rock-solid no doubt since it hasn't been dead too long. I've got a dead one to get, if I can keep it from falling into the pond...
Started cleaning it up yesterday,now that the JD 110 is fixed (new points/condenser) & working great again.Hauled 4 loads out,did a little mowing also.Should get between 3-4 more loads before its done.Hopefully next week or so.Everything that's left is 12 to 20 diameter.
That stuff makes real good smoking wood. That's all I've used for the past year. But i really like hickory. Nothing tastes better to me. Great firewood too.
For the past couple years Black Cherry has been my go-to & new fav for smoking either beef,pork or poultry.Even like it a little more than Apple or Mulberry.But am going to smoke some ribs over Hickory tomorrow,havent used that wood for almost 2 years,even though I always keep a small supply on hand.All the branches 1" to 2" diameter are saved for the smoker & weber kettle.Plus any scraps/trimmings from cutting any woodworking stock such as blanks for any lathe work etc.
