The neighbor on the other side of the tree line from me has lived there probably 20 years and I would talk to him once or twice a year, typically when doing fall cleanup. I noticed a few years ago he bought some wood and told me it was for a fireplace. So this summer he had had a pro drop a big dead sugar maple, it was hollow near the base and I would not touch it. He also had a big dead cherry tree and a dead ash dropped. So while I was mowing I heard him splitting and had a nice chat and more formal intro. As the weeks went on I witnessed him getting better at splitting and also had bought the FISKARS splitting maul. He had a bunch of knotty pieces that were too big and tuff to spot so I mentioned noodling them, he said I could have any of the chunks I want. Today we were both home so I grabbed the saw and got started. I got mostly cherry but also a few pieces of sugar maple and 1 or 2 pieces of ash.
A win for you and a win for your neighbor. Similar thing happened to me a few weeks ago with a holm oak that my neighbors cut down: they got a clean yard and I got a lot of hardwood, it's the best feeling to help out and have it be benefitial to both parties (and getting firewood)
