I forgot how heavy white oak is!!!

[lobsta1]

Just before dark on Sunday I spotted a CL ad for free oak in my city. Called the guy & he said it was still available. Said I would be there in 15 minutes. He had a double trunk oak that split at ground level & one stem came down. He had some young guys come in to take everything away. They dropped the other trunk & then took most of the easy stuff & never came back. The guy said only if I took everything, I could have it. I said I would be there on Mon.

Most of the trunks were in the 3' diameter. Even after halving the rounds, I couldn't lift them straight into the truck. Made a step with a round & then lifted to there & then up to the bed. The problem was the wood was at the bottom of about a 30 degree slope. Slide the wood all the way forward & had to be careful it didn't start sliding back down. Heck, I was sliding back down when I was trying to push the pieces forward. Have a cap on the bed which added to the difficulty maneuvering the pieces on top of each other. By the end I was quartering the big rounds. I'm only 5'6" & 61 years young. I find my batteries tend to run down a little quicker than when I was of a more tender age.

When I ordered my Ranger, I had Ford put in a special order heavy duty suspension. Definitely needed it with this stuff. Ended up with 5 3/4 truck loads. In recent years almost all my wood has been delivered to me by the city. The city workers take all the smaller stuff & drop the trunks in my yard next to my splitter. Mostly ash & maple & a good number in the 3' > 4' diameter range. Some of the crotch sections are 5' diameter. Even as big as they are, I don't have to really do the lifting that the oak required for me to get it home. Not complaining since free is an excellent price. Over the next few weeks when I have time, I'll get it all split & stacked under a lean to shelter. Hopefully it will be ready by Feb. 2011. I cut most of the rounds short & I'll split them on the smaller side.
Al

P.S. Here is my shed. 8'x8'x18'

 

[Duetech]

Sounds like you not only got a great score but a free white oak weights 101 refresher course. I'm 58 and been stacking wet elm and I think my batteries are about the same as yours.

 

[Ratman]

lobsta1,

I have 2 Rangers, one of which I swapped out the leaf springs with a '99 Explorer (same eye to eye) that gave me another leaf and another 1/4 ton load capacity.
Also, I live close in southerm NH and will work for wood.

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

Wheeew! nice score, I've lifted and rolled many a heavy rounds around. Hard work pays off and makes you wanna beat your chest like a silverback gorilla.
Thats Red Oak, not White....eitherway thats some wicked sweet stove chow.

WoodButcher

 

[smokinj]

heaviest rounds I have delt with

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Wheeew! nice score, I've lifted and rolled many a heavy rounds around. Hard work pays off and makes you wanna beat your chest like a silverback gorilla.
Thats Red Oak, not White....eitherway thats some wicked sweet stove chow.

WoodButcher

Love your new website by the way - I wonder - are white and red oak that similar in color when the light (due to the snow) isn't so blue. I have some oak that some days I would swear it's red, others, I'm not so sure.....

 

[CTburning]

I agree that the wood looks more like red oak than white just by the bark alone. I have lots of both on my property and have been told the red takes a little longer to season. Either way I would get it split asap if you want to burn it next year. Good job with the heavy lifting. I'm a lot bigger than you and half your age and I'm tired just looking at all that wood!

 

[lobsta1]

WB,
After seeing your foto, have to agree with you. I thought it was white as the wood had so little red tinge to it. Like you say, it is great stove chow.
Al

 

[Flatbedford]

Oak is heavy all right, but I say well worth the extra work when it comes to the easy splitting and excellent heat.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Hey lobsta1, those batteries do keep running on low a lot faster from this point on but we still get the job done!

After fighting those blocks, now you should head to the hardware or order online a good cant hook. When you get some big logs, just take along a couple of planks and just roll those logs up the plank onto the truck. And rolling along that ground with a cant hook is a piece of cake.

Another thing about a good cant hook is when felling a tree and cutting up the butt end, you can cut part way through and stop. Roll the log, using the cant hook and then finish the cut. No more hitting the ground with the chain.

They aren't all that expensive but worth their weight in gold when needed.

btw, nice find!

 

[Flatbedford]

Hey lobsta1, those batteries do keep running on low a lot faster from this point on but we still get the job done!

After fighting those blocks, now you should head to the hardware or order online a good cant hook. When you get some big logs, just take along a couple of planks and just roll those logs up the plank onto the truck. And rolling along that ground with a cant hook is a piece of cake.

Another thing about a good cant hook is when felling a tree and cutting up the butt end, you can cut part way through and stop. Roll the log, using the cant hook and then finish the cut. No more hitting the ground with the chain.

They aren't all that expensive but worth their weight in gold when needed.

btw, nice find!

What he said. Remember, Work smart, not hard. Or at least not as hard.

 

[billb3]

By the bark (and at that age) it looks like red oak to me, too.

At a hundred years old white oak barks is rather white.
Easist way to tell which is which is by the leaves.

Too many kinds of red oak. Even in eastern Ma.
Lotsa dead kind around right now.

 

[84Buckeye]

My back reminds me just how heavy Oak is... Processing some Red Oak tops now..
After one full truck load I'm done!!

 

[lobsta1]

I found an old Peavey head out in my garage. Ordered a new handle for it & basically found out it is useless. The mouth just doesn't have a wide enough opening to use on anything that is a decent size. I very, very rarely hit the dirt. I do use a couple of wedges on almost all the trunks I cut up. Cut most of the way & then put in a couple of wedges. Cut some more & hit the wedges in. The rounds usually split right off the tiny piece of bark left on the bottom. If I can't cut all the way through with a 20" bar, then I doubt if I would be able to roll them anyways. Like I said, most of what I cut are the tree trunks that are to big for the city workers to take for themselves. For less than $100 though, I may still end up getting a Logrite cant hook. What I do use a lot is this two wheeler from Northern Tool that I got on sale for $79 with free shipping.
Al
two wheeler