The wood lot

[Green Acres Homestead]

Since my last thread, I've finished cutting my wood for next year, about 4 cords. I'm going to wait till frost sets in the woods, then I'll go up with the cord saw, and splitter and stack my wood on pallets.

So you cut it and hauled it to a landing 4 foot length then you buzz saw and sit it?

 

[jimmysisson]

I cut my trees 10' sticks in the woodlot about 1/2 mi uphill from the house. Pile brush (cut small to rot quicker) and winch logs to where I can grapple them onto my trailer. My sticks are usually 4-24" diameter, so I don't like moving them by hand. Cut 5 cord/year, small operation.

Once down off the hill, I park the trailer (built adj. legs to hold it level) and offload sticks into a pile with the grapple. Then buck to 20" stove size with chain saw and split. My splitter has a log lift so I can manage the big diameters.

My family comes out to help stack, the part that's hardest on my back. Stack covered with tin roofing one year, then into the shed for winter.

The bucking is the weak link here but my stuff is mostly too large for a cordwood saw, that's what we call a buzz saw in New England. I used to own one and liked it but couldn't use it here.

I do love the November woods.

Jim

 

[mx842]

Once you love this work you will always love it. You build up an endurance to the flies, heat, cold. Etc. My father worked in the woods until he was 85 years old because he build up the endurance his entire life. I worked in the office for 28 years and I can say working in the woods on your own property is the most enjoyable job there is. Just be careful. I worked beside my father for 2 years before he let me go on my own. It can be danagerous.

10/4 on once you love this kind of work you will always love it but the bush is always dangerous. I started out helping my dad when I was 8 or 9 years old. We had 5 ac of heavily wooded land across the creek from our house that he wanted to clear out so he could put a garden in. The clearing for him was work but he had to do the work before he could do what was fun for him. To me the clearing was the fun part as I already hated picking beans. Come to think about it, I still do.LOL

I don't know how he ever got anything done because I was all over the place and he was always having to keep an eye on me especially when it was about time for the tree to topple over cause I always wanted to ride one down as it came crashing to the ground. Then he had to keep me in sight when he was cutting off the stump because sometimes they would fall back into the hole and those big holes were such wonderful and adventurous places to explore. The holes would be filled with wood and brush from the tree and he would let it sit that way for a few weeks for the wood to dry out a little. Just enough time for me and my buddy's to tunnel under as they made great forts for us to play army men. He would always leave a long piece of the tree on the stump so it would stay up right until he filled the hole with the wood and he had to go poke the pile to run all of the kids out before letting the stump fall over. It's a wonder any of us survived but now I know how I learned to do some of the stuff I now do especially some of the things I had to do while building my barn.LOL

He didn't have any fancy equipment but he did have an old chainsaw, a few axes, mauls, steel wedges, miles of chain and cable and a couple of those ratchet chain hoist. Oh and he had a big ladder he used to get up into those big trees to tie a chain to then he would slowly pull them over with the chain hoist. I always wanted to pull the handle on the hoist but he always kept me away from the hoist because it was really dangerous work and he didn't want me to get hurt.

One day as he had one of the trees just at the point it was about to fall he yelled over to me and said, come over here boy I need some help pulling on this handle. Man! that was music to my ears and I jumped at the chance to bring one of these giant oak trees to it's knees. When I got there he said, It's a good thing you were near by cause I couldn't pull this thing anymore, daddy's just plum tuckered out. I grabbed that handle and gave it a mighty yank and the handle didn't move an inch, not one click did I get out of the hoist. He let me jerk and yank on the handle for a little while and finally he said, Hey!! wait a minute the handle lock has somehow moved to the lock position, here let me help you out. There was no lock on the handle he just told me that so he could get his hand on the handle and then he said all right now give it a great big pull and just like magic the handle started to move and those links of chain started clicking through the hoist and I didn't even notice he had his hand on the handle all I knew I was in control of this powerful piece of equipment that could topple a giant oak tree and the one at the other end of this chain had met it's fate.

All of a sudden, slack fell in the chain and at that point I think I could have ripped a few links of chain through the hoist single handedly but the hoist fell to the ground and as I looked up this giant of a tree was free falling to the ground. As it crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar and the wind and dust that was kicked up by the tree top striking the ground hit me in the face....... I was hooked forever.

I remembered the story of David and the giant and this was my giant and for a moment I felt what he must have felt when he brought his giant to his knees. The smile on my face was so big it hurt my face and I think it would have stayed like that for like three days; but reality set in as I heard my dad saying over and over let go of the handle....let go of the handle! Even he couldn't remove the cold hard grip I had on that monster of a machine that could topple trees. I finally let go and I had peed my pants from all the excitement then I had to go take a quick dip in the creek so everything was wet and not just the front of my shorts.LOL But even that cold creek water couldn't take that smile off my face.

My dads gone now but I can still see him, go one on one with some of the biggest trees in the woods just like it was yesterday and I can still taste those snap beans and potatoes seasoned with a big old ham bone that he grew in that garden. Thanks to the OP for making this post which gave me the chance to reflect on times past, I needed that but I still hate pickin them beans.LOL

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

10/4 on once you love this kind of work you will always love it but the bush is always dangerous. I started out helping my dad when I was 8 or 9 years old. We had 5 ac of heavily wooded land across the creek from our house that he wanted to clear out so he could put a garden in. The clearing for him was work but he had to do the work before he could do what was fun for him. To me the clearing was the fun part as I already hated picking beans. Come to think about it, I still do.LOL I don't know how he ever got anything done because I was all over the place and he was always having to keep an eye on me especially when it was about time for the tree to topple over cause I always wanted to ride one down as it came crashing to the ground. Then he had to keep me in sight when he was cutting off the stump because sometimes they would fall back into the hole and those big holes were such wonderful and adventurous places to explore. The holes would be filled with wood and brush from the tree and he would let it sit that way for a few weeks for the wood to dry out a little. Just enough time for me and my buddy's to tunnel under as they made great forts for us to play army men. He would always leave a long piece of the tree on the stump so it would stay up right until he filled the hole with the wood and he had to go poke the pile to run all of the kids out before letting the stump fall over. It's a wonder any of us survived but now I know how I learned to do some of the stuff I now do especially some of the things I had to do while building my barn.LOL He didn't have any fancy equipment but he did have an old chainsaw, a few axes, mauls, steel wedges, miles of chain and cable and a couple of those ratchet chain hoist. Oh and he had a big ladder he used to get up into those big trees to tie a chain to then he would slowly pull them over with the chain hoist. I always wanted to pull the handle on the hoist but he always kept me away from the hoist because it was really dangerous work and he didn't want me to get hurt. One day as he had one of the trees just at the point it was about to fall he yelled over to me and said, come over here boy I need some help pulling on this handle. Man! that was music to my ears and I jumped at the chance to bring one of these giant oak trees to it's knees. When I got there he said, It's a good thing you were near by cause I couldn't pull this thing anymore, daddy's just plum tuckered out. I grabbed that handle and gave it a mighty yank and the handle didn't move an inch, not one click did I get out of the hoist. He let me jerk and yank on the handle for a little while and finally he said, Hey!! wait a minute the handle lock has somehow moved to the lock position, here let me help you out. There was no lock on the handle he just told me that so he could get his hand on the handle and then he said all right now give it a great big pull and just like magic the handle started to move and those links of chain started clicking through the hoist and I didn't even notice he had his hand on the handle all I knew I was in control of this powerful piece of equipment that could topple a giant oak tree and the one at the other end of this chain had met it's fate. All of a sudden, slack fell in the chain and at that point I think I could have ripped a few links of chain through the hoist single handedly but the hoist fell to the ground and as I looked up this giant of a tree was free falling to the ground. As it crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar and the wind and dust that was kicked up by the tree top striking the ground hit me in the face....... I was hooked forever. I remembered the story of David and the giant and this was my giant and for a moment I felt what he must have felt when he brought his giant to his knees. The smile on my face was so big it hurt my face and I think it would have stayed like that for like three days; but reality set in as I heard my dad saying over and over let go of the handle....let go of the handle! Even he couldn't remove the cold hard grip I had on that monster of a machine that could topple trees. I finally let go and I had peed my pants from all the excitement then I had to go take a quick dip in the creek so everything was wet and not just the front of my shorts.LOL But even that cold creek water couldn't take that smile off my face. My dads gone now but I can still see him, go one on one with some of the biggest trees in the woods just like it was yesterday and I can still taste those snap beans and potatoes seasoned with a big old ham bone that he grew in that garden. Thanks to the OP for making this post which gave me the chance to reflect on times past, I needed that but I still hate pickin them beans.LOL

Nicely written. It brought many memories of days in the woods with my father. Like the first day he got the chain part way into the log then called me over to run the saw the rest of the way through. He seem to be surprised how well I did and man I was proud of myself. He gave me many hours of his time teaching me about safety and working in the woods. Finally I was 14 and on Christmas school break he bought me my own oegon power saw. It had a manual oiler. We spend many days working in the woods beside each other.

A tear comes to my eye as I write this. He left us his home in cape Breton. 10 kids one adopted and many friends spend many fun hours in this house. It was home to anybody who wanted to come in. I am the executor and I had to have a contractor come and tear down the old home stead today. The town wanted it down. It was not rotted but needed paint and was mostly empty for 10 years. A hard day indeed.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Had anybody used a carry all for hauling wood. I have a 47 hp kubota. I was thinking instead of pulling a trailer I would have better traction by using a carry all and load up the front forks.

Questions
1. Does the extra weight produce flat tires.
2. 1/2 cord is 3000 pounds so I could put 2000 lbs on the carry all and 1000 on the forks. Any problems with doing this

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Had anybody used a carry all for hauling wood. I have a 47 hp kubota. I was thinking instead of pulling a trailer I would have better traction by using a carry all and load up the front forks.

Questions
1. Does the extra weight produce flat tires.
2. 1/2 cord is 3000 pounds so I could put 2000 lbs on the carry all and 1000 on the forks. Any problems with doing this

My grandfather does this exclusively (well the carry all part). He hauls firewood out with his 2wd Massey Ferguson 135 and does fine.

 

[cartod]

**** you guys! It must be dusty in here. Great stories.

 

[milkman636]

Great stories. Around age 10 I started cutting wood with my dad. We' d burn around 4 full cords a year. There was a lot of soft ground in and around our woods and the water table was usually less than 18" below the surface. When the ground would freeze in the winter it is was wood cutting season. We cut our buts off every weekend we could to make sure that that we had heat. Some winters would be really wet and we couldn't get our full hauls, so we always tried to finish the winter with a couple years worth of wood in the bank.

Our equipment consisted of an old Ford tractor with trailer, a couple of well used saws with 20" bars, an axe, a couple splitting mauls, a sledge hammer, and a bunch of wedges. We would fell, and buck in the woods. The stuff that was too big to carry was split in the woods by hand, the rest we'd stack and split during the evenings through the week up by the house using the porch light to see what we were doing. The wood always split easiest when it was cold out.

My dad is 82 now and there is now a gas line in front of his place. So all that old equipment is idle now. I quit heating with wood when I sold our last house in 2006, but I still enjoy felling trees. I have 4 boys that are too young for a saw, but they still love to watch me knock down trees. The last couple years I have started to cut a few more down to expand my garden area and have been giving the wood to one of the neighbors that still heats with it. They stand in awe and cheer when the tree crashes to the ground. I now understand what my father must have felt when he used to take me in the woods.

I've always loved my dad, but it is amazing how your appreciation grows as you walk farther down the road of life.

 

[Lloyd_E]

I use a 3 sided pallet base built carrier-all on the rear and one on the forks. It equals about 2/3 of a full cord per tractor load. All green wood - no issues.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Great stories. Around age 10 I started cutting wood with my dad. We' d burn around 4 full cords a year. There was a lot of soft ground in and around our woods and the water table was usually less than 18" below the surface. When the ground would freeze in the winter it is was wood cutting season. We cut our buts off every weekend we could to make sure that that we had heat. Some winters would be really wet and we couldn't get our full hauls, so we always tried to finish the winter with a couple years worth of wood in the bank. Our equipment consisted of an old Ford tractor with trailer, a couple of well used saws with 20" bars, an axe, a couple splitting mauls, a sledge hammer, and a bunch of wedges. We would fell, and buck in the woods. The stuff that was too big to carry was split in the woods by hand, the rest we'd stack and split during the evenings through the week up by the house using the porch light to see what we were doing. The wood always split easiest when it was cold out. My dad is 82 now and there is now a gas line in front of his place. So all that old equipment is idle now. I quit heating with wood when I sold our last house in 2006, but I still enjoy felling trees. I have 4 boys that are too young for a saw, but they still love to watch me knock down trees. The last couple years I have started to cut a few more down to expand my garden area and have been giving the wood to one of the neighbors that still heats with it. They stand in awe and cheer when the tree crashes to the ground. I now understand what my father must have felt when he used to take me in the woods. I've always loved my dad, but it is amazing how your appreciation grows as you walk farther down the road of life.

That sounds a lot like my father and me. When he pasted away at 89 there was no regret. He had 7 boys me being the 7th son and we would mostly come home on vacation together. Up to his age of 88 we all worked in the wood pile with him. The guy could still outwork us. Very sound mind and body. Guess that is all we can ask for.