2 Cords Yr Seasoned Oak, Hauled Uphill, With Rattlesnakes!

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Mr A

Mr A

Minister of Fire
Nov 18, 2011
600
N. California
I got a call this morning from one of the free Craigslist ads I responded to. Oak cut in big rounds, on the downhill side of the street. No pics yet,going in the morning. Homeowner tells me rattlesnakes are often seen in the area, not news for the area, but high grass also. Town called El Dorado Hills, homes are built on steep hillsides. I plan on building a sled out of plywood, and hauling rounds up the hill with a rope.
 
Hmmmm, I would check the state of the rounds first. When I lived in southern Oregon I found that Oregon white oak and CA black oak (really a type of red oak) both rot pretty fast once they are on the ground. I do not know why that is, but that is what I have noticed. If it is blue oak (which is really a white oak) it is like OR white oak. If it is tanoak the tannins should keep the bugs and rot away and the wood is good and desne. If it is canyon oak, that is a type of live oak and worth the effort as well.
 
Not sure what it is yet. Oaks in this valley are called blue, live, and valley oaks. They all look the same to me, but the blues do have a bluish green coloring in the canopy. Much of the wood that has been sitting on the ground a while turns punkly, and much of it is nice and dry, ready to burn. It does make for more of a mess to clean up once you start cleaning out the good stuff. Half a log is still better than no log, and it is free!
 
Well, as long as you know that then all is well and good! I got a load of stale cherry this fall (also free on CL) and half of it was punky, but it burned nicely and got me through November. It was buggy though. Carpenter ants and termites are not what you wanna bring home. I stored it separate from my other wood and burned it first.
 
Mr A said:
Oak cut in big rounds... I plan on building a sled out of plywood, and hauling rounds up the hill with a rope.
Click to expand...
I didn't build a sled but last Fall I tried to roll some big White Oak rounds up a not-too-steep hill. I found that it was easier to just sledge & wedge them down to a size that I could pick up and put in a wheelbarrow. With another human hooked up like a draft horse to the tow-strap loop on the axle of the wheelbarrow, it wasn't too bad. If your slope is too steep, you may have to split 'em down and carry them up one at a time. Just keep reminding yourself how great that Oak is going to burn and what a good cardio workout you're getting. >>

The dead Oak I've been getting, down or standing, will sometimes have the sapwood decomposing to a degree, but the heartwood lasts a long time. If the sapwood is still pretty solid, I'll lop it off along with some heart and give it to my BIL, who burns a couple of old stoves. I keep the real clean wood for the cat stoves I'm supplying. If the sapwood is pretty far gone I will chop it off to salvage the heartwood, even though it's a pain in the butt to do that. I think that saving some of this dead Oak will allow me to burn it next Winter. It started at mid-twenties moisture and was stacked last July. I believe it will be below 18% by this fall...
 
Rattlesnake for lunch and wood for the winter. Thank you Craigs list.
 
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Just be careful out there. If I were you, I would establish a main 'path' and get the wood out on that same path every haul. That way, you can see what's in front of ya...
 

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I want to hear how you are going to get those rattlesnakes to help you pull those rounds up the hillside. Giddyap little doggies, get hauling!
 
Rattlesnakes are actually a pretty rare sight. In all the years I lived in CA from Tahoe to Monterey, Mendocino to San Diego (for about 40 years), hiking, off-roading and camping all over the state, and working outdoors for much of that time, I saw one rattler. One. And that was on a hiking trip between Carmel Valley and Big Sur in a very remote area called Pine Valley. Black widow and recluse spiders are far more common and far more likely to be a problem. As is poison oak. I was hiking here last week in the Columbia Gorge and noticed tons of poison oak growing into and along the trails. I tried to warn people about it, but they mostly ignored me.
 
Oh yah, a winch would be a good idea too. A truck bumper mounted one would work well. I have done the split and haul up hill thing, as well as the wheel barrow thing. Last year I got two loads of doug fir from a couple that had dropped two firs in their back yard. I bucked them with a chainsaw and hauled them out by hand on a slippery slope. Not the easiest wood to get, but it was free.
 
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