My neighbor's logger allowed his 2 employees to each take a pick-up load of firewood per day. So both guys drove their own truck every day. This is not out of line though according to the forester. The logger buys the whole tree, not just the saw logs. Any tops left on the ground after one day is up for grabs for firewood.
Had not heard of that before. In my area the tops usually are left behind and it's good to have a clause in your contract to have them sawn down to 5' height or less. There is always literally tons of wood left at most sites. Two full-size pickup loads a day sure would add up fast on a couple week job!
That's what we did. I hate cutting in the jumbled mess that the loggers left. It slows down production and is dangerous with all the pressure points. There is so much wood there so we can be kinda picky and take the easiest stuff.
I'm not being too picky in my wood selection. Most of the wood cut during the logging project went for pulp wood, so anything relatively straight down to 4" is gone. There is a lot of wood on the ground, a lot if it still under snow. It just takes forever to accumulate a load of top wood. The loggers did not take any firewood. Also I don't have an extensive trail system through this 40 acre block.
Woody, on the bright side (of branchwood) no splitting! That does help with the sometimes meager pile of wood from a "top".
Gotcha. There are only after the sawlogs here, the rest lays where it fell. What are the terrain conditions as far as slope and moisture? Would it be worth it to rent a tracked skid steer for a weekend once the weather is better to consolidate the wood? Did the loggers make any skid trails you can use to get to the wood easier?
same here. except the ones the employees skidded out and took yes, contractor had to cut down any pile visible from the house to less than 4' I dont think we can get it all
There is moderate topography, with a stream running N/S through the property. There are a series of small ponds throughout the property as well. There are skid trails throughout the property now after the harvest. I can get around to some places with a gator or a tractor. I was trying to get a lot of my wood cutting done while the ground was frozen, but as of yesterday, mud season has officially started, so access will be extremely limited for the next month or more.
I hear you loud and clear on that. Last three logs I skidded out were out of the creek, which is shale bottom and not torn up easily. I am now out of logs at both landings after Saturdays splitting session. Plenty of wood up on the hills, but not wanting to tear up my trails and waterbars to get it out. May enlist the buggy and splitter to go after it where it lays. This method is less efficient, but will allow me to keep working. The tractor tears stuff up where the buggy will do much less damage. My mud season started last November and hasn't let up for more than a couple days at a time all winter.
