Bagged a nice load of white oak this morning and then loaded up some hickory and added to my parent's woodpile. Have about three cords of all white oak and hickory for them to hopefully last this coming winter. I pointed out the thermostat on the wall once to them and how to use it, but they prefer firewood. A little taste of summer today in Middle TN. Hate getting up early to beat the heat, but just have to suck it up if I want the woodyard to grow.
This is my Woodyard as of yesterday. https://youtu.be/AAqXRtwnoMs The logger runs a big firewood processing operation and sells to the general public and re-sellers like me. He also does big time business with barrel makers with his white oak. All the white oak is graded for barrel making. I get lucky enough to buy some of the logs that get rejected for various reasons--mineral staining, splitting, hollow trunks etc.
I probably cut 80% or so of what I have at the moment. Not as profitable buying wood when I can cut white oak and hickory all day long for free from my property and surrounding landowners. A close-by friend had about 40 acres clearcut last year and another 25 acres selectively cut. Spent almost nine months cleaning up the remnants. 70 mph winds from a storm last month downed dozens of big mature oaks and hickories on his property. So that is getting my full attention at the moment. Supposedly timbering leaves the remaining trees vulnerable to high winds for a few years. Bad for him, good for me.
Some of the white oak soldiers I left behind this morning. At least two dozen trees down in a 150’ radius and all close to a nice drivable trail.
Yup, photo file too big, just shrink it a lil, bam, photo upload no problemo. Can't remember what the max file size is...maybe Eric VW the photog knows...?
Had an early morning hickory delivery in Nashville this morning so messed up my cutting plan and way to hot and muggy to cut this afternoon. So stopped by my local loggers woodyard and bought a load of hickory. One out and one back in. Usually 3/4s of the load has to be re-split; then I have to stack it and wait six months for it to season. Most of his logs are stored for awhile before they get processed, so not too heavy in moisture.
Little embarrassing to admit, but $195 is the difference between what I sell it for. His face cords are very generous, so probably in the $210 range. When too muddy to access my cutting spots, I'll buy three loads a day which is close to 4 face cords.
