And I did too. There was a standing pine where the storm took out the upper part. It was still good on the outside as well. I noticed the beetles attack the softer outer wood and I guess later on something else gets the heart wood. I think there is some more salvaged wood and this is just in the front property. I have not been down to the little valley yet where several more pines went down in the storm.
Bad news is the pines down in the little valley are all but gone. All the water from the property and from some of the surrounding properties drain into the little valley and where the pines that fell were located stays very wet. I wish I had a saw at the time but nothing to do about it now. I did manage to find one and got some wood from it.
I am not sure; it has been rather warm here this week. Yesterday I was soaking wet with sweat just from cutting. Certainly no need for a fire.
Yes. The stuff on the bottom that is dark is a small sweet gum I cut two years ago and stacked in the woods and never hauled out. I cut it to clear for a road but have never gotten the road cut in. My goal is to try and have easy access to the different areas; some old logging roads need clearing.
I have the same problem here. By the time I go back to using access roads some have grown back into saplings and need to be cleared. But it is also because of this that I learned how valuable a bulldozer can be. Back in the 1950's my Grandfather did a lot of logging with a bulldozer and while those old logging roads grew back up into saplings, they were still smooth and flat. This was really nice on side hills where it would be cut in on the high side and placed on the low side to level out the road. I am not saying you need a bulldozer, I started logging with a 1958 Ford tractor myself and wish I had never sold it. Good memories with that tractor for sure. They did not have many gears, but they were geared so perfect they really did not need to be. I got different logging stuff now, but I think in life it is important to remember where a person started. For me I was 15 years old, had an old 028 Stihl and cut 4 foot pulpwood that was hand piled onto a trailer. Of course being 15, I had to put the biggest butt rounds high onto the pile to show how tough I was. I now got a bad back from that stupidity!
It appears that I have aggravated the muscle again in my right chest. I guess this is one of those things that never completely heal once hurt or I need to do some exercises or something. I did gather one load today but notice the muscle was quite sore. I could sneeze but it did hurt. I decided to put off gathering the wood in the front of the property until tomorrow and see how I feel then. I have been pushing pretty hard this past week.
A few years ago I worked to clear the upper road so I could use it. There was a lot of greenbriar vines and other vines and I used some long handled shears above my head. After doing it for a few hours, I really overworked the muscle on my right chest. I could not even take deep breaths without being in intense pain and humans have to do that every so many breaths (I don't think they know why) I spent a few nights in agony and without sleep until it eased off. It was a little sore again last year and now it has returned.