Standing deadwood - conclusion

[ourmoneypit]

Well, we ended up cutting down about 7 of the birch trees. Each one got a few good whacks with the sledge first. Branches had, by and large, already fallen off. Some sort of pest, we're told. Tops were mostly punky, but the trunks were mostly sound. With those, and two poplars (courtesy of last year's beavers) that we had retrieved and stored up off the ground over the winter, we ended up with 2 cords of stovelengths.

We took our time, planned our cuts and all went well. Except for the d**n flies. Black, horse, deer, they were all represented in good numbers, with mosquitoes thrown in for variety. Now we know why folks do their woodchores in the spring, before the bugs. 'Nother lesson learned.

Thanks for the tips, folks.

 

[jpl1nh]

Congrads, glad you're still here to tell us about it. :cheese: Seriously, if you are aware of the hazards and pay atttention to what you're doing, you'll be fine, if you have any blood left in you after the flies finish feasting! That is a nice thing about the cold weather, plus we get to use our stoves.

 

[derecskey]

I spent this evening dropping about 4 or 5 standing deadwood sassafras, most of which didn't have many branches at all. Just have to pick your battles. I chose to leave a few that I didn't feel comfortable with. Height, number of branches, length of time since death of tree, are all factors. Also, don't fight the lean, and watch out from above!

 

[Tfin]

Ben's 100 will take right care of the bugs! ;-)

 

[savageactor7]

I hear Birch is a good burning wood so that is a good score. Avon skin so soft is a good bug repellent ...just keep it out of your eyes cause it burns worse than the commercial bug spay. The reason I like it like it is that it covers up my man stink so well...just towel dry off your sweat and you're good to go.

 

[Risser09]

I know it sucks, but we wear nothing less than long pants, long sleeves, gloves and hats whenever we're working outside in Sullivan County, PA. Better to sweat and feel crappy than to get bitten all over and feel crappy for a couple weeks (read: horseflies, deer ticks, ants, mosquitoes). Heavy use of bug repellent around the neck, ears, ankles and wrists helps a lot too. Make sure all clothing tucks into another as well.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

When birch dies, it does usually die from the top. If you can get them down without branches falling on your noggin you are good to go. It also does not take much or long for them to dry, even without splitting, but still best to split.

I hate that skin-so-soft and it has never worked for us. Besides, it stinks so I think it tends to draw bugs rather than repel them. The only thing we found that really works is the ThermaCell units. Greatest thing since sliced bread.

 

[Henz]

I have been doing the same thing! keep forgetting to bring my moisture meter though to check the fresh cuts! I ahve gotten 1.5 cord out of downed/dead standing trees so far and still have some rounds left and one really big beach tree. I mean this thing is probably close to 30" on the base! I should get close to 3/4 cord out of it alone I would say

 

[burntime]

You guys are gonna laugh but I read vitamin B12 taken for 2 weeks and skeeters leave you alone. It does help a lot (I take it now), the other thing that helps is...don't laugh...bounce dryer sheets on your collar. We put them on our lab. I figure what the heck and tried it on the little guys...it helps! So now you can be healthy and spring fresh all day while cutting wood :cheese:

 

[Carl]

You guys are gonna laugh but I read vitamin B12 taken for 2 weeks and skeeters leave you alone. It does help a lot (I take it now), the other thing that helps is...don't laugh...bounce dryer sheets on your collar. We put them on our lab. I figure what the heck and tried it on the little guys...it helps! So now you can be healthy and spring fresh all day while cutting wood :cheese:

ROTF: A bald headed man on my mail route puts the dryer sheets inside his mesh hat to repel the mosquetos. I just grinned at him.

Myself, I eat lots of garlic which helps repel them and anyone-thing else.

Not posting much this week due to being on a dial up connection at our place on Beaver Island.

 

[Eric Johnson]

I've found a running chainsaw to be a good bug repellent. And that's a 346XP with the catalytic converter.

Cutting dead trees can kill you pretty quick. One thing to watch is that the top of the tree you're cutting doesn't break as the tree is going down, and fall on you. They don't call them "widowmakers" for nothing.

Another, related hazard is flying debris when you drop one dead tree into another one. You can't predict, nor anticipate, the amount of crap flying around in the air and its trajectory.

For these reasons, I wouldn't go around banging on dead trees with a sledge hammer, and I'd be very careful trying to drive a wedge.