Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[ning]

I figured that the thick hinge was deliberate since he was going to pull it over, wanted to reduce the likelihood of the tree going over on its own. Figured it's that or tannerite...

 

[John_Mc]

Glad I'm not the only one! I actually try to look up when cutting, since that's what two different tree pro's have both told me I should be doing, but it's a pretty difficult skill to master. I also feel vulnerable when I first glance up after checking what I'm cutting. Like you said, if something's already on its way down at that point, you're catching it in the face!

There are definitely two very different schools of thought on this. I do hear from pros who say to look up. I also hear from instructors (who are also professional loggers) in both Vermont's LEAP program (VT Logger Education to Advance Professionalism) and several Game of Logging instructors that their focus is on the cut and watching the movement at the stump. On the other hand, both of these organizations are not promoting techniques which require you to stay at the stump once the tree starts moving. You are looking for motion to start, and then you are getting out of there. (Not remaining at the stump is something that OSHA and the insurance companies also push strongly.)

 

[fruitcakesa]

Looks like your doing a thinning maybe ?? Looks good !!

gg

Yes, following my FMP which calls for a regeneration cut. I’m doing a modified RC, cutting all the smaller trees and poorer quality bigger stuff to get down to about 18 to 20 foot crown spacing.

 

[Jstpssng]

Yes, following my FMP which calls for a regeneration cut. I’m doing a modified RC, cutting all the smaller trees and poorer quality bigger stuff to get down to about 18 to 20 foot crown spacing.

It looks pretty straight! Around here "straight hemlock" is a bit of an oxymoron. That will be nice on your mill. Call me a wimp but I would much rather saw smaller logs than wrestle with something which my tractor can barely lift.

Like the log on my mill now...

 

[Jstpssng]

Well, it is good smoker wood.

That it is. A few years ago I was pruning one of my trees on Easter Sunday, while a roast was in the brine waiting to become ham. After sawing off a good sized limb I realized it would be a good candidate for the smoker. Rather than soaking dry chips I used that instead, and had an excellent Easter dinner.

 

[WinterDeere]

That it is. A few years ago I was pruning one of my trees on Easter Sunday, while a roast was in the brine waiting to become ham. After sawing off a good sized limb I realized it would be a good candidate for the smoker. Rather than soaking dry chips I used that instead, and had an excellent Easter dinner.

... and for the same reasons that fish or crabs you caught yourself taste better than anything you can buy in a store, that limb probably made all the difference!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I had a very busy day today; I was back on the job but this time I was pulling "mostly" firewood logs out of a pile, cutting the stumps off them, and stacking both in piles of their own.

Some of the logs were pretty long and straight,

and then there were the stumps to deal with, like these,

SR

 

[arrow]

We often find oaks hollowed out and full of carpenter ants, as well. I don't think the carpenter ants are doing the damage, I think they're just opportunists who move in, after the decay has already taken hold.

I used to carry a small pump sprayer, one-hand job the size of a 1 gallon milk jug with a fixed nozzle instead of the usual hose and wand, and keep it loaded with ant spray for when I'd cut into a round that was loaded with ants. But in recent years I've taken to just splitting them open and leaving them lay out in the processing area, for the birds to do their thing. Didn't want the stuff I was spraying on the ants to kill some hungry birds.

Carpenter ants are moisture hunters.
They’ll burrow into areas of a tree that are subject to moisture collection such as branch bough intersections or beetle and insect holes or bird pecks or condominent splits.
Once this chain of destruction occurs, the tree will lose more of its defensive abilities as these ant burrows become more and more pervasive leading to more moisture avenues that entertain fungus, rot and disease that eventually, ends the tree.

 

[arrow]

There are definitely two very different schools of thought on this. I do hear from pros who say to look up. I also hear from instructors (who are also professional loggers) in both Vermont's LEAP program (VT Logger Education to Advance Professionalism) and several Game of Logging instructors that their focus is on the cut and watching the movement at the stump. On the other hand, both of these organizations are not promoting techniques which require you to stay at the stump once the tree starts moving. You are looking for motion to start, and then you are getting out of there. (Not remaining at the stump is something that OSHA and the insurance companies also push strongly.)

In the years I’ve done this (60) it depended on the tree. A full health tree was never a problem though l had little trust for ash. They seemed to split away if they felt like it. The trees l looked up toward were boughs directly over my head and especially dead ones.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Don't procrastinate on repairs you know you will need to do. I know this but still it happens ??? Late last winter I jammed a top link hose into a severe bend. The outside layer of the hose cracked in several places and exposed metal. It didn't leak - yet. Plan was to get thru winter and fix it during mud season. Plenty of time then. It didn't happen. Yesterday, with long waited for great working conditions in the woods, I went around to the back of the tractor to winch in a tree and saw a lower lift arm covered with oil. A steady heavy drip from the hose. So now I can't fix it on my own time it has to be done now. You all know about this. Luckily I had an old hose I saved that only has a very slow drip. Usable until new hoses are procured - like today.

gg