Let me know if you want any help. I'm only 1.5 hrs away. If SWMBO is cool with it, I could swing by. However, I spent 8 hrs helping another friend clean up some blow downs today, so she may need some of my time.
Go get 'em!! Glad you got some tractor to help you move the stuff to cut later. Yeah, get all the locust you can as hackberry isn't even 20 mbtu per cord. Hackberry isn't bad per the charts, but the locust is 20-25% better for the same amount of work
There you go!! you're on your way to the three year plan now man ! use the two tractors get some more help and drag it all out of there in big pieces, cut it up later
Your willingness to get it done quick may lead you to more wood in the future with him. Id say your set
Doesn't get much better than that! Locust that size should be a dream to work with. With that much wood, you might think about saving some nice straight locust branches to stack things on. I have some locust poles at the bottom of my log pile, to keep the rest of it off the ground. Congrats! Have fun and take lots of pics!
Not gonna tackle this yet but there's a lot of smaller ones with rootballs. What's the best way to break the pressure?
That appears to be supported off of the ground by some of the branches. I'd want to take some of the weight off of it first - probably start near the top of the tree, and remove stuff that's not touching the ground. When you start into the trunk or the branches supporting it, is where you can get the bar pinched really bad if you're not careful. I like to use a notch in the compression side of the wood (the top of that one), then a back cut behind it. You can relieve the pressure in a very controlled manner that way, just be ready to step back when it starts moving. I'd probably go about the middle of the trunk, to keep a little distance from the branches, in case it pivots on them on the way down. You want to try to predict which way it will pivot, and stand on the other side when you're finishing your cut. Stay safe, and have fun!
Got another small locust bucked up and loaded. Not sure what this is but I have the trunk in rounds now for my buddy to grab. Probably another 10 trees just like this plus the massive ones.
That big one... Will give a whole lotta of wood. Like Shawn Curry said. Take the weight off. Watch the roll. If you can get some of that weight off. Make sure you have wedges handy... Then I'd start making you length marks on the big chunk probably four or five marks. Cut from the top about 1/3 way down across all them. The find the best get out of there path. Then start your under cuts across them probably 1/3 (what looks safe). Think Lincoln Logs. Then find the best joint to make your final path through cut. You may end up chaining up to them to free them at the end. But you'll have them separated from the root ball. Good luck!
That's the way I think, I like it a win, win for both. He saves the burning time and all you have to do is get rid of the stumps. Throw him a hundred dollar bill and I'll bet he goes for it.
Good plan !! Limb & skid the trunks out of his way Takes some of the pressure off & makes it easier for him. A steady pace is a much safer pace. No need push it & over work when you get tired !!! Pictures ???
That one should be really easy. You can tackle it several ways. With this one, I'd be tempted to start at the root ball. Cut that off first then don't have to worry what it might go later. I simply cut the far side as far as I can reach from over the top then cut top down. Keep a sharp eye on the kerf. Any movement and the saw comes out quickly. This way you don't have to cut a wedge nor do you have to use a wedge in the kerf. Then the final cut is from underneath. Cutting in this manner will actually decrease your cutting time and actually make it easier to do. That is always appreciated. Because of the brush piled there we can't see for sure what is behind it so hard to give advice. But you can't go wrong by cutting some of that top off either. Good luck.
Well I'm done for the day. Never tackled the 2 massive ones because I felt I would have been a little over my skis..lol.. I pulled 1.5 trailer loads and my buddy pulled one truck bed heaped and this massive load on his wagon..lol.. I have some more already cut that I can grab tomorrow if I can physically move..lol.. Was hoping to get more than I did today, but everything I loaded was cut at 18" and straight. Was a great day!
