Well it may be two and a half months late but had a great first day of cutting today. First tree down and marked for Bucking. Second tree ready to buck Third down and ready to load Fourth dropped along side the trail and ready to load Last load back at the barn. All four dead standing red oak with no bark. This winter was the worst I can remember in my 60 years. Hope to get caught up fast .
Looking good! I still have yet to hit the woods myself. BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! Hoping to get out next weekend both days for a few hours. Had a relatively warm winter here in cheese land and it got me into the 3 year plan with the left overs! I haven't been to anxious to get out there since I cranked out 12-13 cord last year between myself and leaving some for payment for others! I do have an itchy throttle finger now though!
Great pics How long does it take to season the dead standing oak there? I hear red oak, (even dead standing) takes over a year after split & stacked. ?
I know what you mean I am over the three year mark and sold and bartered some last year. But I still get the itch to get out and c/s/s come Feb. so felt great to finally be out in the woods yesterday .
Dave I know many here will say it can't happen but I cut some dead standing red oak that half of it is ready to burn and the rest good to go after a summer. I test the ends of my bucks from the trunk up with a m/m till I hit 20-23% and separate before splitting. This only takes a few seconds and lets me know how the wood started out. I cut only standing dead unless we get some blow downs and only the oaks with no bark. We have hundreds of standing dead so I can be fussy about what I cut. The others can and will stand till ready. Am very lucky to have found this little piece of heaven to build our house on.
Looks like a productive day in the woods!! Finally did some yard work yesterday, it's been one heck of a winter here in NE.
This weekend was the first good day we have had here on the south coast in well over two months. Snow finally melted away last week but I still have some small piles in the driveway. The rain the last two weeks has made it almost impossible to get out on the lawn or in the woods till Sat. Now it will get hot real fast you watch and make it tough in the woods. I had thought about trading up to a bigger tractor but the BX works out great in our forest as it is over grown and a bigger unit would not get to the places I go with the BX. And it's in the back yard so I get home afternoons and will cut 2-3 trees and bring them out to split and stack so don't need the larger horsepower or size.
I really like cuttting oak. Burns great and has a nice smell when bucking. Sorta reminds me of silage.
I've got some from last fall, so I'll know soon how well it burns. ETA: I should have pulled it from the stacks yesterday, since it's been raining all morning and I don't top cover.
