metalcuttr that is a great setup you have for getting firewood. Treat that man nicely! Maybe a case of beer occasionally or a night out on the town for he and his lady?
I'm sure a man with a small sawmill and the owner of a tree service would see potential differently in a pile of logs. He did say he would load my trailer up with logs if I wanted but he thought I had a larger trailer that dumped. If I had that larger trailer and a sawmill it certainly wouldn't disturb him if I was milling lumber instead of firewood. I wish I did have that setup. His Mom and Dad, who I also know, are building a modest home (their last house). I would offer to mill up some nice timbers or accent beams if they wanted it. Oh well, so much for flights of fancy!
Last year after he had given several references to home owners with downed Madrona and Locust I drew out a plaque for him and cut it out of 1/8" steel. It is my avatar now of the falling tree with the logger running one way and the upright bear the other (much nicer larger). I put it his last name under it and painted it a hammered black. His Wife told mine that they love it and have it in their entryway. I'll have to think of something else to do! Maybe a mailbox topper with a chainsaw?
Finally able to cut at the log yard. Other things kept getting in the way. One other person cutting and had his splitter there also. He had staked out a couple of Madrona logs that weren't blocked by lesser wood. Inexplicably, he also cut a bunch of alder even though there was still a lot of Madrona in the clear. I found a couple of good logs, also, and went to work. Filled the Brown Beast about 2/3 with Madrona. Then some of Maple because a friend wanted some for his smoker. Then some Oak and topped off with fir. I had gotten a late start and it started to get hot so I quit there. Still got a nice load though. There was a nice Oak log a ways back in the pile and also more Madrona but it doesn't pay to be cutting back in the pile and humping the rounds over a bunch of other logs to the trailer. To a certain extent you are at the mercy of how the logs are piled. Next time I may bring a friend (who also knows the owner) with his pickup and we could chain a few of the good logs out of the back of the pile. I got to try out my new x-27 Fiskars on the Madrona and fir rounds to big to lift Actually worked great on most of the straighter stuff but still had to sledge and wedge the gnarlies. If you see my finger in the pictures it is because I was using another finger to take the pictures because I smashed my index.
That is quite the pile of free wood! I can see where a helper would come in handy, I hope they allow it. Did you mash your finger whilst setting the wedge? A trick I use is, bang the round with a maul a few times to make a groove for the wedge. You can cut a groove with a chainsaw, too, but that may leave too wide of a channel. But you probably know all this. I hope it gets better fast, ice is a great treatment!
Thanks for the concern! This happened when I was hoisting a big heavy round of Madrona ( I should have split it in half ) onto the stack in the trailer. Caught the finger between the end corner of the round I was quickly hoisting and that of the already stacked one. I may have cussed a bit. My Wif wonders how one who is normally fairly adroit is occasionally such a klutz!
