Roamed the land today

As many of you know, I have access to 160 acres. Most of which is 10-20yr old poplar. We've slowly been cutting ATV trails through the land. Until I found this board, I didn't think I'd have much ability to get decent wood out of there for decades until after the oaks matured.

Well, today I took the ATV through the foot+ of snow (that was a bit challenging) to see what was out there. I found many dead standing red oaks, and many more that have been snapped in half. Those ones are smaller than the standing dead ones though. I also saw a lot of big branches that broke and were on the ground, as well as oaks that probably fell years ago. I am guessing there is still good wood left in them considering our dry sandy soil.

In my one short little ride today, I probably saw enough available red oak to get me through a couple years. I probably missed a ton too as I was doing my best to not get stuck. There are lots and lots of woods left to search, so I'm optimistic I'll have plenty of red oak to burn. I would have taken pictures, but I was happier to keep the ATV moving than stationary

Sadly I won't be able to explore it much more until we get some warm temps as we are supposed to get another foot+ of snow tomorrow.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, rub it in.
That's great you found Oak. GIBIR, and it should be a teensy bit dry already.
I'll be doing the same at my SIL's this year.....again. Going for at least another years worth of Oak.

It can be tough going without some chains on the back tires, wait until the snow clears, you'll have more than two years on the ground.

Haha, sorry. I didn't mean to rub it in at all. At first look, it looks like horrendous firewood property as it was previously timber property that wasn't replanted. So the poplar went nuts. Thankfully they left a few small 1-2 acre oak groves here and there.

Make a few runs on the ATV to pack the trail & get to cutting
Got a Trailer or sled to haul the rounds back home?
or Maybe skid the logs home .
Prime time cutting time is now . Hurry before the bugs come out

Pictures are welcome here LOL

I was hoping to pack a trail down, but we are getting another 16"+ today/tonight. We already have 6" or so since morning. I'm not sure I'd make it very far out there any more. I used to do a lot of snowmobiling, back when my parents owned them. I'm too cheap to buy a sled that might be useful once every 5 years it seems these days. My father really has the itch to buy tracks for his Polaris Ranger. If he does this winter, I'm totally stealing it for a weekend

If you can get through, cut a 4-6' log maybe 8-10" diameter and pull that (sideways) behind the atv. That will help with the trail. Go over is several times. Might as well have some fun while preparing.

On the other hand, it is very nice of you to take that snow rather than sending it down here. We are expecting rain.

I don't know about the rest of you but I for one am tired of hearing all the people complain about "too much wood"! Nice going and be real careful out there. You are gonna love that oak.

I tried to take my shortcut between my parent's place and ours on the ATV today on a trail I was riding a day or two ago. I made it through, only because I'm a stubborn bastard. I had to constantly go back and forth. That was a stretch of maybe 200'. I think I'm outta luck until we get some warm weather to knock the depth down a bit. Two and a half feet of snow is a bit tough to push your way through

No doubt about it Shane. That is too much snow.

2-1/2 feet is time for a snowmachine
It'll melt

I agree! You should buy me one!