We had some familly over for an afternoon at the beach & a BBQ yesterday. I'd loaded up the grill with burgers & dags when I heard a chainsaw start-up very near-by. Being the wood-nut that I am I climbed up on the fence to have a look. In the empty lot kitty-corner to me I see a guy holding (just with his hands) a bull-rope tied halfway up a tree (~40' x 14" diam?) that's leaning pretty good toward my neighbor's yard & pool. Oh, and it was rather windy out & not in the right direction.
I jump down & herd all the kids inside since it was tall enough to reach my yard if it went that way, then get back to grilling with one eye on that treetop as the saw runs for a rather long time. As soon as the top starts to move at a right angle to where I saw the "rope-puller" I think "there goes his fence". Sure enough I jump-up again & see the top laying in my neighbors pool with the upper trunk over a section of smashed wooden fence.
Turns out another neighbor had been clearing trees out of a lot he owns behind his house all day & my next-door neighbor asked if he'd take this one out as well since it's always dropping leaves in his pool. He was actually the guy on the rope so didn't get too upset about the damage. I joked that he now had all of the leaves in his pool, but he figured it's easier to get them out just once more... Sorry no pics, I was rather busy with hosting at the time.
So once I'm done grill duty I walk over to see if I can take any wood off their hands. The owner tells me I can have it all. Sweet!
Oops, I should have I.D'd all the trees first. I think I just scored myself 5-6 mid-sized (12-18") Cottonwoods lieing amongst a heavy ground cover of Poison Ivy. I guess my pride on this easy score rests on this one question:
Is there any chance that sopping-wet Cottonwood would be ready to burn by around March if I cut & split it now & get it stacked?
I need shoulder-season wood for this year, but I suspect I just comitted to using valuable lawn-space to storing this stuff for 18+ months. No big deal, but I could've dried some oak by that time.
I jump down & herd all the kids inside since it was tall enough to reach my yard if it went that way, then get back to grilling with one eye on that treetop as the saw runs for a rather long time. As soon as the top starts to move at a right angle to where I saw the "rope-puller" I think "there goes his fence". Sure enough I jump-up again & see the top laying in my neighbors pool with the upper trunk over a section of smashed wooden fence.
Turns out another neighbor had been clearing trees out of a lot he owns behind his house all day & my next-door neighbor asked if he'd take this one out as well since it's always dropping leaves in his pool. He was actually the guy on the rope so didn't get too upset about the damage. I joked that he now had all of the leaves in his pool, but he figured it's easier to get them out just once more... Sorry no pics, I was rather busy with hosting at the time.
So once I'm done grill duty I walk over to see if I can take any wood off their hands. The owner tells me I can have it all. Sweet!
Oops, I should have I.D'd all the trees first. I think I just scored myself 5-6 mid-sized (12-18") Cottonwoods lieing amongst a heavy ground cover of Poison Ivy. I guess my pride on this easy score rests on this one question:
Is there any chance that sopping-wet Cottonwood would be ready to burn by around March if I cut & split it now & get it stacked?
I need shoulder-season wood for this year, but I suspect I just comitted to using valuable lawn-space to storing this stuff for 18+ months. No big deal, but I could've dried some oak by that time.
