Ash Wednesday

[bsruther]

Dropped two standing dead Ash trees today, at a neighbor's place, down the road. This is the second time I've gotten wood from him and hopefully not the last. One tree was 22" diameter, at the base, the other was 18". I should get at least two cords from these trees, maybe more and that makes me very happy.
I have a bunch of short videos of them being felled and dragged away which are kind of interesting since we did it in a sort of unconventional manner, but I don't have editing software to stitch them together.


That's most of the smaller tree in the trailer.

 

[USMC80]

Best wood out there IMO. Nice score!

 

[bsruther]

Dropping trees scares the crap out of me, so it's really nice to have someone give it that final little nudge. Was really nice to have all the logs held up with forks while I cut them into pieces. He said he'll come back tomorrow with his tractor bucket and put the big rounds in the trailer for me.

 

[Ansky]

It's saying the video is private.

 

[avalondouglas]

Great score! Looks like your video is private, so I couldn't view it.

 

[bsruther]

Fixed

 

[avalondouglas]

Nice and clean!

 

[Woody Stover]

Nice score, love that Ash. Two cords might be a little high, judging from what I cut here. But if they were field trees, maybe they filled out more than the woods trees I usually get. My 5x8 trailer hold about half a cord, FWIW.

 

[bsruther]

This trailer is 6X10.

 

[Gasifier]

Nice work bsruther. I get a lot of white ash where I am. Nice neighbor to have.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Because it bothers you dropping trees, the tractor help works good for you. However, you might consider the next time to have the tractor there and just up against the tree. Not pushing the tree at all but he'd have a fork on each side of the tree. So you notch the tree then make the back cut a couple inches higher than the bottom of your notch. Cut it until only a couple inches are holding and that tree should drop right where you want it....providing you've notched it in the right place. This is a great way to learn that you can indeed drop trees and the experience will benefit you for life.

One little hitch on the tractor. Dragging the trees with that tractor is really easy work. The bad part is that there is dirt going into the bark of the tree as it is being dragged across the field. Yes, the sod will help some but dirt will still get in there. This is the worst situation for your saw chain. Prepare to sharpen often when skidding this way. So you have another opportunity here in perfecting your sharpening skills. Another thing that can serve you for life.

 

[bsruther]

Because it bothers you dropping trees, the tractor help works good for you. However, you might consider the next time to have the tractor there and just up against the tree. Not pushing the tree at all but he'd have a fork on each side of the tree. So you notch the tree then make the back cut a couple inches higher than the bottom of your notch. Cut it until only a couple inches are holding and that tree should drop right where you want it....providing you've notched it in the right place. This is a great way to learn that you can indeed drop trees and the experience will benefit you for life.

One little hitch on the tractor. Dragging the trees with that tractor is really easy work. The bad part is that there is dirt going into the bark of the tree as it is being dragged across the field. Yes, the sod will help some but dirt will still get in there. This is the worst situation for your saw chain. Prepare to sharpen often when skidding this way. So you have another opportunity here in perfecting your sharpening skills. Another thing that can serve you for life.

I get what you're saying and that's a good idea to use the tractor as sort of a safety net. I have a lot of smaller Ash trees on my property that I'll be practicing on in the spring, so that should help me to feel more at ease. The EAB has hit this state with a vengeance and I'm hoping to get as many free trees as I can, before I have to take mine.
If you listen, when he's dragging that first tree across the ditch, you can hear loggers on that hill in the distance cutting all the Ash trees out.

I hate dirt filled wood myself, but I also like having a nice level area to process on. That big fat piece he drug away had all the big trunks cut off just for that reason. We were afraid his yard was going to look like a plowed field.
Surprisingly. there's hardly any dirt on the trees.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We feel your pain. We had hundreds of white ash and all died. We're still cutting.

To lessen the dirt problems, one thing you can do is use a wire brush and just brush where the chain will go. Or you can also use an axe to chop that part off. Some even use power washers but it has to be close to a water supply for that.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Love the ash. No negatives to ash. Great score too!

 

[bsruther]

Well, except for about four big rounds, this is what I got from the two trees. It's actually more than I thought I'd get. The temps have been in the mid 80s all week and these trees were not a lot of fun to cut up and load in that heat, but being a wood hoarder made helped me to overcome. The wife says the wall of wood looks great too.

Ok, so I'm up there today, cutting up the last of the wood and the guy that gave it to me comes out to talk. And I say to him "so Jimmy I've been seeing a lot of that logged wood from across the road dumped on a lot of peoples property around here, what's up with that". He says "oh, yeah, the guy that owns that property says they have more wood than they know what to do with and they've been giving it away". I told him that I'd take as much wood as they'd give me, so he got the guys number for me.

If this pans out, I'll be in log heaven.

 

[Whitepine2]

You need to be careful when pushing like that the bottom can break away and the top can come back over the tractor,it's best to push as high as possible and check things out before doing this. ASK MY HOW I KNOW!

 

[PSYS]

That is an awesome score!

 

[Flatbedford]

Darn near cheating when you have a tractor to help.

 

[bsruther]

Darn near cheating when you have a tractor to help.

If that's cheating, I've been cheating for years. The guy in the tractor has given me cords and cords of wood from his own property. Probably the best friend I've ever had and it's not because he gives me wood and provides the use of his tractor, he's got the biggest heart of anyone I've known.

I'm sure I could've done it without his help, although it would've been much more difficult, but back in march he lost a foot in a bizarre accident and using his tractor is one of the only things that can make him feel useful again.