Almost an Ash Score

[Mr A]

Here was a CL post titled "Free Tree" This is about 8' high, and 3-1/2' across. I get there and they tell me they want it cut once at ground level, and load it up and go! WTF! I have an 18" saw and I'm sure I could have harvested it, but not in one cut. Language barrier, ignorance, I don't know. I had planned on taking a v-cut chunk out of it, then cutting across, then trying to chunk out some stump for them. I have never felled a tree, but doubt it could be cut as close as they wanted in one cut, much less hauled off as such. I expect I
will be seeing this post for a while. Making it worse was the family all gathered around close to watch, each having a different idea of how I should cut it, and chattering about in their language. In the end, grandma points and says go. I never got to touch it with my saw.

 

[richg]

Here was a CL post titled "Free Tree" This is about 8' high, and 3-1/2' across. I get there and they tell me they want it cut once at ground level, and load it up and go! WTF! I have an 18" saw and I'm sure I could have harvested it, but not in one cut. Language barrier, ignorance, I don't know. I had planned on taking a v-cut chunk out of it, then cutting across, then trying to chunk out some stump for them. I have never felled a tree, but doubt it could be cut as close as they wanted in one cut, much less hauled off as such. I expect I
will be seeing this post for a while. Making it worse was the family all gathered around close to watch, each having a different idea of how I should cut it, and chattering about in their language. In the end, grandma points and says go. I never got to touch it with my saw.



View attachment 67660

Ah, the joys of scrouning. Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. I had a pseudo similar experience....craigslist ad, says he's got 1.5 cords of freshly-downed ash cut into 18 inch rounds. Not too far from me....ooooh boy, I hook up the trailer and drive over. Freshly downed....it's dark and has some wood ears growing on it. all the rounds have been lying in mud and are caked. I asked him when it was cut down...."I think it was last fall, I've only lived in the house for four months". I would up taking it, but it was the first wood that I ever had to power wash. A week or so ago, another craigslist ad is for "lots of great firewood, cut into 18 inch chunks. Tree came down in the Halloween snowstorm". I get there, and there's a pile of rotten old pine. Meanwhile, my property is filthy with arrow-straight white ash, white and black birch and some hickory.

 

[bogydave]

Better have a few extra chains too. Whoever cuts into that tree is very likely to hit some metal.
Might be good you had to pass on it.
Gonna cost them $$ to get it done "their way" + $20 per ruined chain!

 

[ScotO]

Yeah, that sounds like a great deal.......ten "bosses" all telling you to do it this way and that way....all while you make $0.00/hour and like bogydave said chances are high that pig has metal all through it. That has NIGHTMARE written all over it!

 

[Flamestead]

If that trunk were in my woods, even without the threat of hardware disease, it would have been left on the ground where it dropped. Life is too short for wrestling with trunks like that (unless we had one of those huge Timberwolf splitters we saw here on the forum earlier this year!).

Still, I can imagine this adds another layer to the possibilities as you drive to the next one and are thinking "I wonder what what this one will be like"? Maybe if you keep this up long enough there is a book to be written (do we still write books, or just have half a season of a reality TV show?).

Anyway, I think both you and Grandma did well, and both came away with an interesting cultural experience!

 

[JoeyD]

You mean to say you couldn't just back up to the tree and lay it down into your truck or trailer?

Well they got what they paid for, nothing for nothing.

 

[woodsmaster]

I wouldn't touch that thing for less than $500.00

 

[DexterDay]

All points above are correct. Would you have "wasted" at least one or two chains?? Yep..... Would that twisted, gnarly, crotchy tree been a PITA to split....???? NO F#©%!^€ doubt....

You should be glad you passed. Those 2 reasons alone would have me running. Thats not counting the 5 other "boses" and 10 spectators that where there.

Im sure that posting will be put up for months until its flagged so many times that he pays someone to remove it..