Sawmill bonanza.

[Fred Wright]

Life was good Saturday morning. Got to the mill early and took advantage of the bounty of oak and ash available.

The front wheel isn't stuck, just normal sit rep out there in that pigged up lot. In 4x4 she climbs out and over.

Got over half a load in one spot, picked through a lot of nuisance wood ~ poplar, soft maple and the like at first. Took a break and hiked over to the other end for recon. Found a mother lode of big honkin' oak slabs. Drove over and loaded all the pickup could carry. Had to leave much of it behind, sadly.

This is gravy firewooding, my friends. All ya need is a truck, a pair of gloves and a hookaroon. Well, that and a strong back. The bull work is already done for you. Most slabs need to be split and a few are too long. Nothing that a saw and splitter or ax can't manage.

A couple hours and I was done. If I had help it could prob'ly be wrapped in less time. If. If a frog had wings...

Ran a few errands after leaving... I love to show off my scrounges. Picked up some provisions, salad fixings and steaks and a case of lager then headed for home and hearth.

With the beer chillin' in the Frigidaire and provisions safely in the SheWolf's competent hands, the other half of the workday began ~ unloading, splitting (when needed) and stacking. Turned out to be more wood than I'd anticipated. Filled the stack up to where the existing wood resides. Figure four more loads ought to be a wrap.

 

[English BoB]

Did you have to pay for the load ?

bob

 

[Fred Wright]

Did you have to pay for the load ?

bob

Yup, $20.00 for a 6-foot pickup bed.

 

[warno]

That truck looks awfully nice to be playing in the mud. Glad to see you're not afraid to use your truck for a truck.

Good score too.

 

[English BoB]

Yup, $20.00 for a 6-foot pickup bed.

What a deal

bob

Yup, $20.00 for a 6-foot pickup bed.

 

[TheAardvark]

Yup, $20.00 for a 6-foot pickup bed.

Thats a sweet deal.

 

[toddnic]

WOW! What I would give to have type of a setup. Just backup the truck and start loading

 

[mwhitnee]

I have to so some more research on sawmills in my area!! Making me jealous...

 

[Soundchasm]

I don't work quickly anymore!! I'd want to savor that a little anyways.

 

[heavy hammer]

Awesome, at least tell us that it not just right down the road from your house. Does it even take much splitting to make it stove size ready?

 

[billb3]

Nice meaty slabs.

Years ago I'd get slabs like those long ones in the last pic bundled up dropped off in my yard from a custom pallet maker. All Oak but an awful lot of bark. Nothing big like those.

 

[Fred Wright]

Awesome, at least tell us that it not just right down the road from your house. Does it even take much splitting to make it stove size ready?

Wish I could... The mill is a couple minutes drive down the road. The bigger slabs, can get 5 or 6 stove-size splits from them. This trip was a fluke, have never seen this many large oak slabs out there before. Most times I gotta pick through tons of the stuff to find enough oak and ash to make a load.

 

[heavy hammer]

Hey luck of the draw, at least this time it worked out. Nice truck!

 

[AmbDrvr253]

Cannot argue with 20 for that......(jealous)

 

[Fred Wright]

Got another load Saturday, another oak bonanza. Not much ash available this time around but there were plenty of big honkin' oak slabs to be had. Got a bunch of little stuff, too... good for starting fires. It was all in one spot on the piles.

Figure two or three more loads ought to wrap it for the season. I need to get the saw out and lop off these long ones.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Can you reveal where the mill is Fred. I understand if you don't want a stampede horning in on your score. I'm pretty local.

 

[HisTreeNut]

Nice score & +1 on the nice truck. There is a mill or two not far from me. Will have to check them out.

 

[drz1050]

Most of the mills around here chip up all of their slab wood & sell to paper mills.... one gives it away for free, but it's a softwood mill, and I've never seen stuff nearly that chunky there. Vast majority of the slabs are <4" wide, lots of bark. I don't mean to complain, as it's free, just jealous of yours.

 

[bag of hammers]

Got the sister to your truck (GMC Sierra). 85k and broken clip leafs, tranny issues (torque converter), bad front drive axles, cv joints, etc. Light use, never had more than 800lb in the bed, small utility trailer, pavement only (most of my firewood comes off my property or curbside local lumberyard). Been a GM guy for over 30 years, scratching my head this time around. Sorry for the rant, I probably got a Monday morning unit, just really disappointed (my '93 with 270k gave me no real grief for over 16 years). You definitely got a great firewood score there.

 

[Grateful11]

Got the sister to your truck (GMC Sierra). 85k and broken clip leafs, tranny issues (torque converter), bad front drive axles, cv joints, etc. Light use, never had more than 800lb in the bed, small utility trailer, pavement only (most of my firewood comes off my property or curbside local lumberyard). Been a GM guy for over 30 years, scratching my head this time around. Sorry for the rant, I probably got a Monday morning unit, just really disappointed (my '93 with 270k gave me no real grief for over 16 years). You definitely got a great firewood score there.

We must've gotten one of those Monday trucks in '94, a Chevy 1500, stayed in the shop more than on the road. Then again you couldn't pry our '02 Tahoe Z71 from our hands, 95K miles no major repairs.

 

[bag of hammers]

We must've gotten one of those Monday trucks in '94, a Chevy 1500, stayed in the shop more than on the road. Then again you couldn't pry our '02 Tahoe Z71 from our hands, 95K miles no major repairs.

Yeah, some great GM vehicles in the family here too. I took my '93 everywhere, hunting, fishing, on and off road, never abused it but wasnt afraid to use it for what it was intended, and it always treated me well, sold it with over 270k and the 305 still purred like it was new, never a tranny issue, suspension solid all around. Body was going, but lots of similar older trucks around, kinda wish I hadn't traded "up" to the '09, instead dropped some $ on some body work and mechanical and drove it a couple more years. But there were some good deals on the lot, or so I thought. And I don't get the chance to scoop a new ride very often so I bit. If warranties didn't time out, I'd be a bit less frustrated, but after 5 years the drivetrain coverage expired, I was SOL even tho I only had 85k (just over 50k miles) on it.

 

[Fred Wright]

Best running trucks I've ever owned. My first was an '84 S-10 2.8 that was about half worn out when I got it. Hauled firewood, trailers, furniture, sound equipment. A decade later I'd pretty much finished wearing it out. Put over 200k on it, a clutch and other assorted sundries before finally trading up for a '93 Astro cargo van in '01. Ran the heck out of that 'til a year ago. 275k on the odometer and it was still kicking.

Yep... I like my bowties.

 

[bag of hammers]

Had an S10 way back too (handed down from parents) - only trouble with it was cold winter starts (god bless the block heater). Passed it on to my BIL, then went to his brother, then got wrapped around a hydro pole. Never got to see how long it would run but it served quite a few folks over the years while it lived. Good little truck. Dammit Fred you're talking me into liking GM again ....

 

[HisTreeNut]

Had an S10 way back too (handed down from parents) - only trouble with it was cold winter starts (god bless the block heater). Passed it on to my BIL, then went to his brother, then got wrapped around a hydro pole. Never got to see how long it would run but it served quite a few folks over the years while it lived. Good little truck. Dammit Fred you're talking me into liking GM again ....

Nothing wrong with GM..my Popster retired after 34 years working at one of the engine plants. Two of my siblings are retired from GM also. You can like GM again.
.

 

[Fred Wright]

Was a Ford man for many years... the S-10 kinda fell into my lap. The wife's nephew was under pressure to pay off some debt and offered it to me for a sweet price. The durability got me hooked and I've been with GM ever since.

I remember when we were kids growing up. Our father wouldn't own anything but GM. Said he'd tried 'em all over the years. New, used, indifferent. He worked part time for a local GM dealership and liked his Chevys and Olds.

He drove home a new Olds 442 one evening, handed me the keys and said here, take it for a drive. I was around 16 or so, had a 60-ish Ford sedan with the 200 straight six. You remember those, basic frumpy old lady cars on the Andy Griffith Show. Good for driving to school and back, barely enough power to pull a string out of a cat's arse.

Had never driven a muscle car before. I started that 442, put in reverse, stepped on the gas and smoked the tires right there in the driveway.

Pop was standing on the stoop, bent over laughing. I put it in park, shut off the ignition and said there ain't no way I'm taking this thing out on the road.