They say what doesn't kill you will make you stronger ...?

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Pat53

Pat53

Minister of Fire
Aug 21, 2010
613
UP Mich
I'm not sure if thats true, but my wife thinks I'm either crazy, extremely bored or have a death wish...maybe all 3 !!

I've got about 25 big aspen between me and my neighbor that I have wanted to get rid of for a while now, but didn't really want to them for firewood. So I did an inventory of what I had on my 11 acres and and decided I had probably just enough to make a truck load (22 cords). I decided if I was going to do it I had to make $50/hr cash or forget it. called my cousin Jeff who has an Iron Mule (forwarder) and asked if he was using it. he said no, he had just went thru the engine and was about to put it back in. he said come and get it in a couple weeks. great guy, lets me use it for free. Sooo, now I needed to find someone to sell it to. called a freind who is a logger and he said he would buy it all roadside for $80/cord. I figured I could cut and stack at least 1 cord/hour, so I put an edge on the Husky 460, took about a 32nd off the rakers and started last Thursday. As of today I have about 9 cords down. Been averaging about 1.5 cords/hour, better than I thought I could.

Gonna cut down about 10 cords of big white birch too, a local company here that makes paint paddles, yardsticks, etc. is paying $140/cord , so I might as well as long as I have the Mule here.

Lots more pics to follow... if I survive it .....LOL

Pat
 

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flyingcow said:
having that Iron Mule is a great deal. You would think you could find a feller buncher and do it right. :)
Click to expand...

LOL, yeah that would be nice, but I'll have to settle for the old fashioned way..... chain saw, measuring stick and a pickeroon.
 
Way to go get it!
 
flyingcow said:
You would think you could find a feller buncher and do it right. :)
Click to expand...
LOL Ja, one feller buncher can do more than a bunch of fellers.

A few years ago my neighbour bought an old mainline skidder and proceeded to log the property accross the road from me. He sold the Birch, Aspen, and Poplar to the local mills. I asked him to set aside any Ash he came across and that I would buy it for firewood. What I ended up with was more Elm than Ash.
 
If I have the strength and fortitude when I'm done with the aspen and birch, I have some big red pine that needs thinning too. My wifes cousin Steve has a Wood Mizer and can mill some boards for me. he works cheap too. Thinkin' about building a huge 24' X 48' woodshed.

Pat
 
You've got your work cut out for you Pat. Keep us updated with pics. Where's the snow? :(
 
wishlist said:
You've got your work cut out for you Pat. Keep us updated with pics. Where's the snow? :(
Click to expand...

I will indeed keep the pics coming. yeah, I hope I haven't bit off more than I can chew. When I was 35 it would be no problem, but at 55 its not so easy any more.

Snow ? Whats that, ain't much around here...LOL 2" on the ground. Normally have at least 16" by now. None in sight either, but it sure makes it nice workin' in the woods. I'm hoping to get the mule here in a week or so, cause with my luck we'll get 2' of snow in a storm and bury all my piles. I'd have to go out and mark them all beforehand.

Pat
 
Looks great Pat

Is that the best way to sell logs by selling it to a logger? I have been trying to find out how to sell my logs if I cut them myself. I have been told I need a contract with a mill to just call a trucker to haul them to the mill. I have a 120 acres in Pickford (eastern UP) with a lot of mature popple that I want to start thinning. I am laid off and want to do it my self as I don't want to clear or block cut it. I want to set it up so I take 1 out of every 3 mature trees and work my way around the property every 10 years or so.

With that in mind I just got a skidsteer with a grapple bucket to load my log wagon and have wheel loader to unload with at my yard area.

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Thanks Billy
 
Cowboy Billy said:
Looks great Pat

Is that the best way to sell logs by selling it to a logger? I have been trying to find out how to sell my logs if I cut them myself. I have been told I need a contract with a mill to just call a trucker to haul them to the mill. I have a 120 acres in Pickford (eastern UP) with a lot of mature popple that I want to start thinning. I am laid off and want to do it my self as I don't want to clear or block cut it. I want to set it up so I take 1 out of every 3 mature trees and work my way around the property every 10 years or so.

With that in mind I just got a skidsteer with a grapple bucket to load my log wagon and have wheel loader to unload with at my yard area.

409448_2214170088725_1681757389_1515164_748096930_n.jpg


40671_1295033790892_1681757389_568234_5945588_n.jpg


Thanks Billy
Click to expand...

Hi Billy, If you have a lot of big aspen sawlogs, you should be able to sell direct to a log buyer or sawmill. But they will usually only take them down to about 10" on the small end, and they need to be good clean and straight logs. Then you end up with a lot of smaller stuff, and you usually need a full truckload ( 20+ cords) before anyone will buy it roadside, unless you can find someone who will take less than that. Yes, to sell to a paper mill you need to find a logger who has a contract. You might want to just look in the phone book and make a few calls. Someone should be able to help you out. But check around to find the best price, you'll find a big difference in quotes for your wood.

I have some nice ones here, but most of them have rotten hearts and are not real straight, basically just junk pulpwood, so this stuff will go to the mill.

Pat
 
Whacked and stacked about 5 more cords today, mostly big stuff up by the house. have about 6 big ones laying down on the ice too.

Pat
 

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Pat, that is great you can sell that stuff. Yes, it could be done faster but sometimes faster is not the best way. Also age does become a factor in time so good for you getting this done now. And it is not often one can get a picture from the UP with so little snow, especially this time of the year.
 
Nice job gettin that nasty Aspen down before it blows down. If you can work that hard more than twice a week, my hat's off to ya!
 
Yeah, not too bad for an old dude I guess. Actually I'm surprised how good I feel. Thought I'd be a lot more sore in the mornings but so far so good. The lack of snow this year is amazing. It was 40F today and what little we do have was melting! Supposed to get pretty cold by Thursday and maybe some snow but not too much expected. Got one more big aspen near my woodshed I'm going to have to winch over, it wants to go right toward my house. Should have about 14-15 cords down now. the rest of the aspen is smaller more scattered stuff so my production will drop off a bit, but I should be pretty much done by early next week. Then I start on the birch.... and then the red pine... LOL

Actually I've never had an aspen blow down around here. My neighbor to the south of me has tons of big aspen and he never has any go down either. But there are several that die every year. he always wants me to come and take them down for him after they are half rotted and useless as firewood. I politely decline the offers.
 
Thanks Pat

My cousin has a logger cutting 10 acres of cedar 10 miles from my place. When I get back to the farm I'll run over and talk to him. I'm one of those people that hates calling and much rather talk to someone in person.

Most of my popple is strait and over 10" at the top where it branches out. of course I won't know how solid it is inside until I cut it. But with the way I'll be doing it it wouldn't be any problem keeping it sorted between saw and pulp piles.


My place is about 1/8 white birch 1/4 popple and the rest spruce,balsam, pine and cedar. And its all woods other than where I made trails and openings.


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Billy
 
Sounds good, I hate calling people too, but sometime you don't have a choice. Yeah, if you have the time and the equipment to sort out the logs from the pulpwood you should make out pretty good. The only problem with just taking out a few trees here and there is that it can sometimes be difficult cutting with trees hanging up and then getting at them with the equipment.

Nice looking property you have there too.

Pat
 
Pat53 said:
I'm not sure if thats true, but my wife thinks I'm either crazy, extremely bored or have a death wish...maybe all 3 !!

I've got about 25 big aspen between me and my neighbor that I have wanted to get rid of for a while now, but didn't really want to them for firewood. So I did an inventory of what I had on my 11 acres and and decided I had probably just enough to make a truck load (22 cords). I decided if I was going to do it I had to make $50/hr cash or forget it. called my cousin Jeff who has an Iron Mule (forwarder) and asked if he was using it. he said no, he had just went thru the engine and was about to put it back in. he said come and get it in a couple weeks. great guy, lets me use it for free. Sooo, now I needed to find someone to sell it to. called a freind who is a logger and he said he would buy it all roadside for $80/cord. I figured I could cut and stack at least 1 cord/hour, so I put an edge on the Husky 460, took about a 32nd off the rakers and started last Thursday. As of today I have about 9 cords down. Been averaging about 1.5 cords/hour, better than I thought I could. Gonna cut down about 10 cords of big white birch too, a local company here that makes paint paddles, yardsticks, etc. is paying $140/cord , so I might as well as long as I have the Mule here.

Lots more pics to follow... if I survive it .....LOL

Pat
Click to expand...


I'm pleasantly surprised of the reply's........I posted about cutting 4 cords of log length and/or 22" wood and getting it home in a "day" and I was told I was full off sh!t. :lol: Good job Pat, I know it's easily done with the right equipment and a little hard work.
 
Thanks Varna. Hard work for sure, but with a super sharp saw, cutting aspen is like cutting candles, the saw rips thru them like butter, and aspen for the most part doesn't have too many branches. Added 2 more cords to the total today.

Pat
 
Thanks Pat

I want to move up there bad. If things work out hopefully I can start building a house next year. I have close to two miles of trails right now I shouldn't have much problem working 75 feet off of each side. As I put in my preimiter road I have been keeping 50 to 150 feet inside my property line. So I can cut off of both sides.

Billy
 
Well, the aspen is decked up and ready to be picked up by the trucker. He should be here tomorrow or Tuesday.

Pat
 

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Thanks, after my expenses I should get at least $1500.00 Not that much, beer money for the year ...LOL
 
I have a lot of Aspen on my 18 acres that are starting to mature. The problem is that my lot is a half mile long but just 300 feet wide and so don't have much of a buffer to the adjacent lots to the North and South. To the South, is a hayfield, so I kept a buffer of trees and built closer to the North boundary.

Some of my neighbours have harvested wood while others have not. The nearest neighbour to my West did, using a mainline skidder and left a big mess. A little further down the road, a pro logger went in with a feller/buncher and did a real nice job. If a logger ever harvests the lot adjacent to me on my North side, I will try to make a deal with him to leave a buffer of trees along the shared border and in exchange, he can harvest the equivant amount off the back half of my lot. Maybe he could set aside the Birch and Ash for me to use as firewood.
 
Nice work Pat. You can be proud.
 
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