Just a little sumpin sumpin for the"Big snow-in" Tuesday. Well Midwinter your mention of a possible snow storm Tuesday got me motivated to do a local side of the road scrounging because with snow on the ground who knows when I will get my next opportunity. Anyway in this set you can see how I conceal my baby in the carriage haha! I wound up working different parts of the main road parking on corner streets and crossing with the wagon to haul my branches, load the cargo and move my car to the next corner etc... So here you can see how things progressed without showing everything cause it gets repetitive. In one area you can see an old fallen mulberry tree that has been there since I have been visiting this location. I never attempted to touch it because of having not enough saw power, plus it's gnarly and dangerous. It at least dates back to the time I tried scrounging with a pruning bow saw (boy was that an exercise in futility and a real wake up call!) Anyway as you can see I started cutting up the ancient lower branch. It was so dry I thought the friction might start a fire haha! I'm probably not going to mess with it further since it's too close to the roadway and highly visible as well. The last picture is the end result cargo, but you may want to avert your eyes Molly, it's far from the pretty stuff you got today. It's a mix of Maple, Oak, Ailanthus, Sycamore, and Mulberry. I was going to buck it up further after getting it home, but daylight was running out and I need to make dinner. Maybe tomorrow after work I'll get to it.
That looks like great dry stuff, as Little Caesars says it's HOT and it's READY! My oak may be more photogenic, but it's young and immature. It takes some bravery to go collecting as you do out in public. Although, people who approach me at the dump usually want to help me lift something. You might go after the mulberry on a drizzly Easter Sunday type of day. Great you stocked up, we're bound to get snow and ice at some point!
Well I got home from work an hour ago and was able to css my Sunday scrounge. I'm now ready for the snow and the coming days. My Saturday scrounge is already in the house and I've been burning that which should last me another day before I need to tap this pile. It's not readily evident looking at my handy work, but I do have my masters degree in Fine Art. This is a view of both sides
Yeah it's dry. Actually about 85% of the wood was dry and what you see is the dry stuff. I put the wet pieces in my next year wood pile. Sometime a long dry branch will have parts that were touching the ground and those sections are wet. And Yes I am burning hand to mouth, but I do still have about 2 seasoned cords left in my covered shelters. That is my emergency wood, but I am hoping I can get through this winter not needing to deplete the bank too much. It's my sad attempt at the three year plan lol!
Might as well clean up the neighborhood! The oak at the dump entrance is still there. I'll probably revisit it next weekend. We're down for 6 inches of snow, but it sounds like it will melt off pretty quick.
Yeah, if it's still there I would definitely go for it again. If someone was holding claim to it they had plenty opportunity.
You Car Hoarders are getting me cranked up. We had a power outage about 3 weeks ago. A tree blew down and took the line out. That was about 300 yards down the road from me. The power company cut the tree up into about 6 foot lengths and moved it to the ditch line. Maybe I will take the mini down there and drag a few home. Been sitting there for over 2 weeks and I guess nobody wants it.
Yes, and I love when they leave wood in 6ft lengths. If wood around here is cut to 16" logs it doesn't sit more than 15 minutes before someone takes it. No one knows what to do with the long stuff or its just too heavy for them. That's where the stealthy saw gives you the edge.
Long stuff that close is no problem. I will just take a sling and drag it home. I live in a very rural area and a lot of blow down wood sits by the roadside. I have been eyeballing a blow down that has been cut up by the small town, perhaps 600 people, near me. Maybe knock on the door and ask if they would like me to make it disappear.
Nice looking little grab HolsatiaRedneck! Looks to be black locust which I assume to be pretty rare in your parts. Were you near a creek or wetlands?
I ran into my fellow scrounger Marcel at the dump today. He's 80-something. He's lusting after the oak outside the dump gates, too. I told him about my new saw, and he suggested teaming up. I said I'd be there early Sunday morning, if he wants to meet me. There's some meltage going on today, but the area is partially shaded and there's still a lot of snow. I think tomorrow late afternoon, when it's in the 50's, I'm going to stop by and see what I can crib off the ground before the refreeze.
Company always helps with morale and hopefully as a team you'll be able to do a "hit and run" a little faster. However If I were him I would fear more what you mean by early Sunday morning. I bet your idea of early is not mine. I've come to the conclusion after I dropped so many plans for an early morning score that I am just not a morning person. I seem to do better late afternoon most times. I think 8:30 - 9ish is about as early as it gets for me, but I've seen you post where you already returned from your trips and further bucked and stacked in your yard by that time. Meanwhile...
I'll be a little bolder this Sunday, probably make a couple trips, so I'll be around for awhile. I'll cut up some skinnier pieces for him. His electric saw battery runs out almost immediately.
