What to do with fallen trees.

[CurlyDave]

Any tips for stacking and delivering the wood? I have a pickup truck and a horse trailer now but it seems like a lot of work to load and unload them. I will be on the lookout for a older cheap dump truck but I am not counting on it.

While a dump truck is best, and a dump trailer is less expensive, but still in the few thousand range, the very best tool for loading and unloading a truck with firewood is a common garden hoe.

You can both push and pull with a hoe, and it eliminates climbing into the bed of the truck completely.

I first hunted with my current group about 3 years ago, and they all laughed at me when I brought a hoe. Before the season opened, we went & got firewood. They quit laughing when they saw how easy it was to stack the wood in the truck and then pull it out back in camp.

 

[DennisArrow]

Here in N. Georgia, we are losing old growth red oak at a tremendous rate. Currently, I have at least 7 standing with 4 down needing splitting before rot starts.
Several problems:
We already have 3 cords split and we usually go through 2. So for this winter why do more?

The pulp guys tell me I need to PAY THEM cause the price is down so much.

Getting somebody to get off their dead behinds and yes, use my 35 ton splitter is to much work for them even if they can sell it.

Split it and let folks come and get it has had no response from Craig's list or an ad in the Atlanta paper..........

What to do???..........

Making lumber out of it is not an option. Powder post beetles are in every log that has been brought down. If by chance you use this as lumber in your barn, or heaven forbid some furniture and cabinets, you will end up with them spreading throughout the structure. They devour oak at a tremendous rate. Do you have them?.......In your woodpile, do you have little piles of very fine sawdust? If you look, do you have a small hole about the size of a pinhead right next to it?................Powder post beetles..............great firewood; but not lumber. The ONLY way to get rid of them is TRUE kiln drying or expensive chamber fumigation...........Dennis

 

[AaronP]

I have more wood than I know what to do with, you guys can come get some from my place for free, but they're uncut downed trees, hundreds of them.

 

[Pilot]

I'm not sure I understand what Arrow is saying about how to cut the trees down, but if my understanding is correct, what he is saying is very dangerous.

See: How to Fell a Tree Using a Chainsaw for the basics.

Trees with decay can be unpredictable and are more dangerous than sound trees.

If you don't know what you are doing, get someone who does know to drop the trees. Then get your saw handling experience by cutting them up after they are down.

A couple notes on bucking: Pay attention to how the log is supported. If you are cutting between 2 support points, as you cut downward, the upper parts of the log will come together and pinch the bar & the bar will be stuck. Get a plastic wedge from a saw shop (actually get 2 or 3) and when you have cut a little more than a bar's width thru the log, jam the wedges in at the top of the cut and they'll prevent the sides of the cut from coming together. Another way is to watch the top of the cut and when it barely starts to move, pull the saw out and finish the cut from the bottom, being careful to keep the chain out of the dirt.

Don't let your face get in line with the bar. If the bar kicks up, you can get a very nasty face cut. Modern saws have kickback safety devices, but you never know...

Watch for how the log might roll when the pieces come apart.

Watch for branches that support the down logs--when you cut them off, the log can roll or drop suddenly. As you cut the branches, note how they are supported also, as cutting from the wrong side can pinch & trap your bar.

All my felling experience is with Doug firs, larch and lodgepole pine up to 100 ft. tall, or small hardwoods up to 10 inches in diameter. Hardwoods with wide spreading crowns like oaks are more difficult to fall safely than conifers because it is harder to judge which side the weight is on and therefore which direction it wants to fall. Then when you add the complication of decay, it makes it more dangerous for the novice.

We all make mistakes. The important thing is to avoid serious mistakes. Consider the consequences of a mistake when falling a 20" diameter tree. Is the benefit really worth the risk? I really urge you to get some experienced help.