Got home and ran up the hill this afternoon for a single load in the trailer. Was a rough day so needed some alone time cutting and hauling. Nothing beats an hour in the woods to help distract the mind. Worked on another one of the storm damaged hickory trees. Tree wasn’t too big of a diameter, maybe 9” above where it folded over from the ice. It was much longer than I thought, though. Got a good 40+ feet of 16”-18” long rounds out of it. Doesn’t look like much of a hill in the pictures but believe me, it’s enough to notice when hauling two rounds up at a time and you’re asking yourself if it’s worth it. To me, yes, definitely worth it. Hauling hickory uphill (even smaller diameter rounds) is a good workout. Happy to add some more high BTU wood to the pile. Got a 3/4 full trailer load out of the hickory and topped it off with some ash. I was sitting taking a breather after hauling the hickory and thought I heard an animal off to my left. Looked over, saw no movement but saw the ash laying there with a good stretch of it elevated off the ground. Looks like it’s been there for a long while. Wood that was off the ground is still good. Got 12 rounds out of it and left the rest to rot away and make soil. Bark peels right off the stuff I took. Lot of other EAB infested ash on that hillside I’d like to take from. More than I realized. To make things easier, I think I’ll have to cut in a little side trail in the brush at the base of the hill so I can haul it down to the ATV and not up. Really trying to avoid going off trail much but this won’t have much impact I don’t think. Especially when the ground is frozen. Figure I’ll cut a few of the ash down for firewood and then leave the majority to stand and eventually come down and rot away. Sometimes my eyes get a little large when thinking about firewood but I have to remember to keep the forest and the critters happy and healthy. Even though I’m only ever taking from standing dead trees, storm damaged trees or bug infested ash, still can’t take it all. Also - Noticed something in the hickory that I don’t recall ever seeing in hickory wood around here. Top 10 feet of the trunk before the limbs was covered in small beetle holes. Did a little digging around online and found some good info from Ohio State and Purdue about boring beetles in hickory trees in the northeast. Looks like it could be either the pin-hole borer or the painted hickory borer. Not sure exactly. Anyone with more forest eco knowledge have an idea what it could be? Didn’t see any evidence of this on any of the other hickories I bucked up last week. There is a lot of mature shagbark around here. I’d hate to see a lot of it fall to the bugs. It’s all part of the cycle I guess. Mother Nature has her own plans.
Good load. Like to see a side view of your rig....what kind of trailer? Sent from my SM-G930VL using Tapatalk
Honda Foreman with a single axle Polar Mesh trailer. 1,400 lb capacity. They sell a tandem as well. Single has performed beyond well for me. Has proven its capability in hauling wood out of hilly, rocky terrain. Here’s a few side pics:
Nice haul sir! Making firewood in any way is great stress relief IME. Nice that it was shag to boot. Hear you on the hill climb and finding more wood to cut. Im always looking in my woods when i do cut. I leave some too!
You have a nice set up and a nice looking woodlot to work in. I was thinking woodpecker as well, probably looking for the bugs that you mentioned.
Dont know if those holes were from a woodpecker or bugs, but around here a hickory on the ground doesn't last near as long as you'd think it would for as hard a wood as it is.... And they go bad all the way through, not punk on outside and hard inside like an oak.
Ive seen similar hole patterns in other wood as well. I think its woodpecker. Green red oak. On red elm In tulip (yellow) poplar
Recognizing Sapsucker Damage on your Trees Sapsucker damage is easy to identify. The holes are approximately .25 inch in diameter and are drilled (pecked) in horizontal and vertical rows. There are usually many holes close together. This is often mistaken for insect damage such as that by bark beetles or other boring insects. Insect damage will typically have fewer, smaller holes, and the holes will be randomly distributed, not in rows like sapsucker holes.
Glad I posted about this - learned something new today! Thanks all. In our sugarbush we have a few maples that have pretty obvious signs of maple boring beetles. Over these areas where the beetles are I’ve seen similar rows of holes and have always just assumed it was the beetles themselves making the the holes. Guess not!
That it is. Just annoying when they peck on the unpainted wood shingle siding...and wake you up. Sounds like a mini jackhammer.
Can't imagine why they would call it a sap sucker instead of a yellow bellied bug eater. I wonder if it really has a yellow belly or if it is a coward that runs. There's a butterfly that reaps the benefits of the sap sucker's endeavors as well.
Yes, looks like sapsucker has been there. Glad you could get some wood cutting therapy. Hope the rest of your week is better.
