Felt like a wood burning "elder statesman" the other day!

[PA. Woodsman]

Saturday I was up at the local compost site, it is either a goldmine or a bust up there as far as what wood you can get, but right now it is a goldmine, lots of good sized to big logs laying up there for the taking, so Saturday morning I went up with the saw and although I am loaded with wood I took some, you never know, I feel like the guy at an all you can eat buffet that is so full he might explode but when asked "do you want some more?" he says "oh....alright...why not?" lol! But as I was done and loading the saw up this young guy pulled up with his pickup, watched a bit, and said "you've got the right idea", so we got to talking, nice young guy, interested in listening to me as I told him "get ahead and stay ahead" and he understood and we talked a bit and he said he was going to go home and get his saw and come back and I told him he should get it because we see the tub grinder sitting in the back so who knows how long we have before they grind it into mulch, so he was "inspired" to get some and was very polite in saying "thanks, take care..." and he was making room in his pickup to take some home so I asked if he wanted me to cut it into smaller rounds but he politely said "no, but thank you!" and as I was leaving saw him lifting some good sized logs into his truck, oh to be young again lol! But I stopped and asked the borough worker how long before they grind it up and he said "about a month...we're really busy right now", so I drove over and told the young guy that but also "if that's true...that could change!" and went home thinking that was so nice to talk to a young fella who was interested in listening and talk firewood with me!

A few homes down when going home I saw my neighbor out who also works for the borough and we started talking about the wood at the site, and he asked me "did you ever talk to this young guy right down the alley here? He has wood split, and I think he's out now", so I drove right down the alley a bit and got engaged in another conversation with yet another young guy who also was eager to talk about firewood and was super polite, so I was really happy Saturday, I told my wife how great I thought it was to be able to talk with these young guys who were into wood and who actually wanted to listen and ask questions and who were super respectful of the "old man" here and maybe I inspired them and instilled in them to "get ahead and stay ahead", really made me feel good about that!

I also told her "I saw myself in them but about 25 years ago"......

 

[Zack R]

I'm in my late 30's and just recently got interested in the wood stove / firewood / chainsaw hobby (3 years ago) and have already learned a lot from the elders before me. My friends/neighbors are guys that worked in the forest during the 1970's, ran firewood businesses, etc.... they are all around 70+ now and retired but have a lot of great tips and advice. Even though they are financially successful and living comfortably they still almost cant' stand the idea of purchasing firewood so they instead spend money on splitters and such to make processing it themselves easier.

Much of the advice I've received is to not thrash your body when its young or you'll pay for it later. The other major piece of advice is to not start a firewood business, once it becomes work then its no longer fun.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I cruised through the compost site Monday morning before work to see how much wood was left, it looked like that young guy came up and cut some but not a lot. I also saw some ornamental Cherry or some other fruit wood there but left it for someone if they needed it, and right around the corner there were 10 good sized rounds of White Birch already cut to my size 18", it was starting to get a little pith inside but not much and I knew if I kept it inside the garage it would be fine and not rot, so I loaded it into the truck, looked skyward towards the Heavens and smiled and said "thank you!" lol!

That was Monday morning, this morning I went through again, they are open Mondays half day, Wednesday and Saturday 7:30-7:30 and 7:30-4:00 respectively, and the fruit wood was still there so that went into the old Bronco, and as I drove past the pile which is still huge now there are about 8 good sized log lengths of Honeylocust......

Like I said it's either a goldmine up there or very little, right now it is a GOLDMINE!

 

[ZZ Tom]

I cruised through the compost site Monday morning before work to see how much wood was left, it looked like that young guy came up and cut some but not a lot. I also saw some ornamental Cherry or some other fruit wood there but left it for someone if they needed it, and right around the corner there were 10 good sized rounds of White Birch already cut to my size 18", it was starting to get a little pith inside but not much and I knew if I kept it inside the garage it would be fine and not rot, so I loaded it into the truck, looked skyward towards the Heavens and smiled and said "thank you!" lol!

That was Monday morning, this morning I went through again, they are open Mondays half day, Wednesday and Saturday 7:30-7:30 and 7:30-4:00 respectively, and the fruit wood was still there so that went into the old Bronco, and as I drove past the pile which is still huge now there are about 8 good sized log lengths of Honeylocust......

Like I said it's either a goldmine up there or very little, right now it is a GOLDMINE!

I would have dumped the fruit wood and grabbed the honey locust.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I would have dumped the fruit wood and grabbed the honey locust.

The fruit wood was in log lengths that I could load into my Bronco before work, I would need a saw for the Honey Locust but I have a feeling I'll find myself up there Saturday morning to get some!