What a waste

[Woodsplitter67]

While pulling wood from my neighbors property this past sunday. My friend farmer joe stopped me. Said that he had sold trees to a wood guy who makes furniture. I'v seen the guys working there a few weeks ago. Joe said that i could take what ever i want and as much as I want. Well i walked it with my son this morning to see the utter destruction this guy laid out in the fields and in the woods. There's I dont know.. countless cords of wood in piles and just left all over the place.. all oak, some maple, and i found some cherry. Theres a solid 10 to 12 acres like this. Im going to grab some as i cant help myself and sometimes my addiction gets the best of me. Its going to kill my to constantly drive past all this knowing its going to rot. Joes not going to allow anyone on the property because he doesn't want any more damage. There going to start to run the disk through the fields soon so I know i only have a month or so to get what i can. Heres some pics from today

 

[Kevin Weis]

He could sell what's down to a firewood dealer, no? That way he gets more money and it doesn't go to rot.

 

[heavy hammer]

It’s a shame what some loggers or furniture companies will do to a forest area just for a select few pieces of timber. Good luck and get all that you can.

 

[zrock]

Ya see a lot of that up here in logging country... amazes me how many people will pay for wood when all the scrap is left behind for the taking... or why don't these logging companies get a firewood processor and make a few extra $

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[weatherguy]

Looks like you got a good helper there, grab all you can, stacked and covered won't rot. You'll be saving wood.

 

[Sawset]

The oak and possibly maple will last till fall and over winter. Cherry goes a little quicker. You've got spring, fall and next spring to make quite a dent.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Looks like you got a good helper there, grab all you can, stacked and covered won't rot. You'll be saving wood.

This is my first experience with seeing these kind of guys and what is left. I have about 12 pallets here at the house im going to lay down and put as much log lenth wood that i can. I have some space at the back of my property. I'm thinking i have a few weeks before they start getting in the fields and start turning the ground over.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Spoke to the farmer as he was driving the farm field that meets the back of my property. Looks like i will be allowed to take a couple of people with me.. i have my neighbor ryan who just purchased a pre owned kubuta with 250 hours on it..
@Jan Pijpelink if your wanting any wood hit me up.. more than willing to hook you up

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Spoke to the farmer as he was driving the farm field that meets the back of my property. Looks like i will be allowed to take a couple of people with me.. i have my neighbor ryan who just purchased a pre owned kubuta with 250 hours on it..
@Jan Pijpelink if your wanting any wood hit me up.. more than willing to hook you up

Thanks @Woodsplitter67 ! I will contact you this week.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

That is a huge score, it should set you up for quite awhile but like you said you only have about a month to get some but you should be able to get some wonderful fuelwood out of that goldmine.

The furniture guys ripped through there and ***** the trees and took what they wanted, you will get some for yourself and the rest like you said will be wasted. I get the same feeling when I see trees being chipped up instead of letting someone take some for fuelwood, but at least you get a chance to take some and put it to good use. But I know what you are saying....

 

[heavy hammer]

I have scored many years of firewood from areas being timbered like this a tractor is a big help. Does he have a grapple for it? Even if you can’t get it all out, stack it up on a few logs to get it off the ground that will help a lot and save it for future processing.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I have scored many years of firewood from areas being timbered like this a tractor is a big help. Does he have a grapple for it? Even if you can’t get it all out, stack it up on a few logs to get it off the ground that will help a lot and save it for future processing.

I have a grapple bucket.. im already sitting on to much wood. I'm going to stash a bunch at the back of my property to process in the fall.. when that wood is split it will be of 2025

 

[peakbagger]

Hard to see the entire woods from the photos but it looks like classic high grading in action. If only the good timber is cut off a lot and the poor quality wood is left, the poor quality wood reproduces leading to even poorer subsequent generations. If this has happened over multiple years, sometimes the best option is start from scratch and plant better quality trees. At a minimum the woods desperately need thinning out. The best trees with a mix of desirable species should be selected and 2/3rds of what is around it should be cut and hauled out of the woods. Give it 15 to 20 years and let the selected species establish an overstory, then go in a thin some more.

I remember years ago the efforts that various agencies went through to get quality black walnut trees re-established. Years of high grading of black walnuts for furniture stock had led to crooked trees with lots of branches. They had to start crossing the best remaining specimens back for several generations to get back to a high quality tree that would yield high quality timber. Black Cherry also suffered the same issue in some areas. The problem is most folks are only looking at 5 to 10 years down the road and forests need to be looked at 50 to 100 years.

 

[heavy hammer]

Woodsplitter67 that seems like how thing have been lately the amount of firewood available. Take what you can try and save what you can for the future and what mother nature takes back there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[kversch]

Maybe you can get the farmer to leave you one spot to get threw to the wood all you need is a truck/tractors with.
The other thing you can do is buck as much of it up and pile/stack it It'll dry so and only the bottom layer will be on the ground. Might help keep some from rotting.

I would go back year after year even if it starts to rot some you will find good wood in there for 2-3 years befor you see it rot to total junk.

 

[moresnow]

Get what you can home in log length. Maybe stack a bunch more at the current location for future cutting when you have seasonal access. Just a idea. Shame to waste it. Good luck!

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Maybe you can get the farmer to leave you one spot to get threw to the wood all you need is a truck/tractors with.
The other thing you can do is buck as much as possible.

Thats not happening. He made it clear that once the fields are planted the wood is off limits. I'm not going to be pushy about it. He's kind enough to allow me and a couple of people on the property to take the wood.

He doesn't want the wood cut to rounds, only log lenth to cut down the ammount of traffic

This is not the first time he has allowed me to score wood on there property and I'm not going to take advantage of the situation. I'm happy that there is trust between us and that I will have all of there wood for the foreseeable future.

 

[firefighterjake]

I suspect I don't even need to say this Woodsplitter . . . but treat this guy like gold, respect what he asks you to do, leave the sight better than how you found it (even if it means more work or getting less wood by stacking brush in a pile or scattering it about -- whichever he prefers and perhaps send him a gift certificate to a nearby restaurant or pizza place.

 

[Toomb]

Thats not happening. He made it clear that once the fields are planted the wood is off limits. I'm not going to be pushy about it. He's kind enough to allow me and a couple of people on the property to take the wood.

He doesn't want the wood cut to rounds, only log lenth to cut down the ammount of traffic

This is not the first time he has allowed me to score wood on there property and I'm not going to take advantage of the situation. I'm happy that there is trust between us and that I will have all of there wood for the foreseeable future.

That wood will be there next winter....no rush.

 

[Medic21]

I get 99% of my firewood following logging since I haul a lot of the wood to the mills for them. This is normal. Your lucky when you can be the first person and cherry pick what you want.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

My new buddy @Woodsplitter67 and his son John took me to this place this morning. We have been cutting wood for a few hours. Thanks John!

 

[Woody Stover]

The oak and possibly maple will last till fall and over winter. Cherry goes a little quicker.

Oak and Cherry sapwood rot quick but the heartwood will last a long, long time. I've found it in the woods with the sapwood all gone but the heart is still good wood.

 

[Sawset]

Oak and Cherry sapwood rot quick but the heartwood will last a long, long time. I've found it in the woods with the sapwood all gone but the heart is still good wood.

There is a lot of oak wilt here. But I'm determined not to cut them till they fall over, or are guaranteed safe to cut. It sure is tempting, but every time I think about it I think how life is now, and how life could change so fast. So many branches that have mostly sapwood, that rot so quick and get weak. The larger parts are sound, but the thinner stuff can kill you. Like being hit with a baseball bat. Some 4-5 years on, trunk and main limbs are good, inch or so of decay, yet limbs 6" and over gone or reduced to half. Cherry, is kind of lite to begin with. I've left it out a couple years, and finally come by and grab it, mushrooms and all. Didn't seem to lighten it much, and was still certainly good stuff to season and use. Most of the wood here is good, down quick, and brought in. Some though is just too dangerous.

 

[Woody Stover]

There is a lot of oak wilt here.

I think that's maybe what's going on here..? At any rate, the Red Oak family are the ones that seem to be dying most often, so that's what I end up with mostly. Great wood that starts easy enough yet burns fairly long. I'm way behind, though, and a lot of what I get has punked sapwood. I usually end up trimming it off with a hatchet if it's loose, but boy that is a time-comsuming PITA.

Cherry, is kind of lite to begin with. I've left it out a couple years, and finally come by and grab it, mushrooms and all.

I've found Cherry logs lying in the woods, all sapwood gone, and the heart was rock-solid, very rot-resistant wood. I love me some o' dat Cherry, great mid-output wood and the smell when you burn it can't be beat.
So you can have a good laff, here's some Cherry I got a couple years ago. Of course, I never got around to stacking it, and the 'shrooms took over. Hatchet time.

 

[Sawset]

I think that's maybe what's going on here..? At any rate, the Red Oak family are the ones that seem to be dying most often, so that's what I end up with mostly. Great wood that starts easy enough yet burns fairly long. I'm way behind, though, and a lot of what I get has punked sapwood. I usually end up trimming it off with a hatchet if it's loose, but boy that is a time-comsuming PITA.
I've found Cherry logs lying in the woods, all sapwood gone, and the heart was rock-solid, very rot-resistant wood. I love me some o' dat Cherry, great mid-output wood and the smell when you burn it can't be beat.
So you can have a good laff, here's some Cherry I got a couple years ago. Of course, I never got around to stacking it, and the 'shrooms took over. Hatchet time.
View attachment 241379

Sometimes I forget just where I've gotten things from after seasoning several years. Boy not those shroom splits though. Know right where they were. Always something, crops going in or not off yet, wet, snow, frost not out, summer bug heaven. There's some out there now, but just got 2" rain snunder showers with a foot of snow under it. It'll get done - in due time.