Katie and I decided to push the Easy Button, this time not employing the services of the local Staples store, but in having a local mechanical logger come in and begin clearing our woodlot out. Because of mud-season, posted roads, our softwood inventory, etc, he said he can be here next week. The plan is to start with 70 acres, complete clearcut for use as fields, and then reevaluate the remaining forest. Our decision has pretty much come down to the selling of 2 of the 3 paper mills we sell wood too. So far when a paper mill is forced to sell, they are bought up by scrappers and the mill is not just shut down, but demolished. Already our woodlot is down 1/3 in value and it is easy to see it will only plummet more. Sadly any agricultural use right now pays a lot better than what it would every get as forest. In short we want to get rid of the wood while we still can, as it really is no longer an asset, but in the way. Property Taxes are also a huge factor as they are not exactly trending downward. While we are certainly to blame because we have 4 daughters in local schools...which makes up 75% of the property taxes we pay per town (the exception being our home in New Hampshire), they have to be paid and it is a huge expense every year for us. Not being able to deduct all of any more due to the new tax laws certainly will not help. And finally there is having cancer. I just do not have the energy to log anymore, at least not as quickly as I need too. Loggers I know are in their 70"s and they can slog out 3-4 loads per week, and I am lucky to get 1 or 2 now. It makes little sense to log and have the now useless wood growing back at a faster rate than what is being harvested. Its been a nice 2 year run, but the closing of the two paper mills means we should get the wood off quickly so that I can spend my time clearing stumps and making some nice fields instead. I might not have a lot of energy, but I can sit in an excavator listening to Dokken, Styx and REO Speedwagon while pulling stumps I guess. I think things are going to look really different around here soon.
Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I hope it works out for the best. Both the land clearing, and your health. Sent from my SM-T280 using Tapatalk
Your a farmer you got to grow what pays. Sad, hopefully, this will help you into the next journey in life. Best of luck
Sorry to hear of your health problems and I hope it all works out for you and you can do what you like for many more years. At 66 getting old and having health problems is something I dont look forward to. Giving up things as we age is all part of living, I put the chains on the tractor the other day and it was harder then a couple of years ago but I need to work out a little bit more.
We have to pick our battles. Your health, and your plans for the future, are more important than logging every last tree yourself.
I have a guy coming out today to take a look at my bulldozer and see if he wants it to trailer behind him back to his house. He is a firewood'er I guess from what little I ascertained upon the phone. Seems like a great guy; definitely a bulldozer man as he has had a John Deere 350 straight and 450 before. He says he likes the 350 better. I can see that for logging; as a 450 will not tow out any more then a 350 would because trees are limited by tangling and not really by traction and power. But pushing dirt; that is where the 450 really out does a 350. But I doubt it will go home with him. It is 15 degrees out and does not want to start, so I don't think he will be overly impressed. The worst thing probably is that I am not all that eager to sell it, and I know what I have. A gently used machine with 100% tracks is pretty rare. There are a ton of 350's out there, but few that are not welded up in really good shape. Mine has a light weight pedigree: the original owner bought it to put in housing complexes and all it did was push gravel for roads. The second owner was a homeowner, and then me which I have hardly logged with it since I used a skidder until it went into the shop a few weeks ago. So lightly used and well maintained; but priced to match too.
Well I guess I was wrong. The guy liked my bulldozer and is going to buy it. He is coming back in a week or two and is going to pick it up. The logger that is cutting off my land also came over and we signed the contract on that, coming over at the start of the week to start. And so with everything in place, I guess I have finally come to that place that every retired person reaches: what to do? I can still log off and on, but I'll just use my little Kubota so it will be low key logging to say the least, and only in proper weather and seasons. Maybe it is time to switch over to working on the house, getting that ready to sell/rent and then moving over to our other home. Katie and I drew up plans for that house...then talked...and realized they were stupid plans...another big house. It is all well and good, but we are thinking now of just taking on the Tiny House Mindset and using what is already there instead of adding on. I am still looking for an excavator, but need to pay my property taxes and get my family in the other home before I get one of those.
Parting with the bulldozer must be hard, I know you love it! But it sounds like you have a good plan, selling it and your timber off now that the pulp mills are closing. Don't worry about having stuff to do, you are the kind of person who will ALWAYS find things to do. When you speak of moving to the other house, do you mean on your property in Maine, or the one in NH?
To the one across the road; my Late Grandmother's home. We talked about moving to the one in New Hampshire as that is move in ready as their is a renter in that house now. But it is making us money and katie got a job working at a bank here. That was a huge boost of confidence for her. She has not worked in the workforce for years, so to put in applications and be accepted was nice for her...55 applicants for 4 job placements. At one point the guy interviewing her asked, "How is working in a bank going to be for you; you have a home to run, four daughters and a farm." Katie said, "Well it will be like a vacation at first!". I guess this will make me a "Kept Man".
Keep us posted on the process of going from woodland into farm fields...I have a good bit of acreage I would love to turn into useable field but everytime I walk through it I just cant imagine how its possible! Seems so daunting turning a rocky forest into a smooth grass field... Whereabouts in Maine are you located?
Oh I was laughed at. Her good friend and her were talking and laughing about me being a kept man now, and how I would have to do all the housework in an apron and stuff. Now this logger stopped them before they got all Caitlyn Jenner and stuff...before it got out of control. Jeesh...a man sells his bulldozer, that does not mean he lost all his "family jewels" does it? Of course for Katie it will be an improvement in working conditions. She gets so sexually harassed at her current job that she cannot wait to leave. Her current supervisor cannot keep his hands off her, makes lewd statements, and is not shy about innuendo! (For those that do not know, Katie is a stay-at-home Mom, so that "Supervisor" is me...her husband!!)
