Work Done In 2020

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Dropped a little pin oak yesterday.

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Good stuff. My most challenging specie to get seasoned. It really takes full sun and wind, in no more than 2 split wide elevated stacks. Might just be my location. Dunno.
Don't hurt yourself loading it up. Heavy heavy!
 
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I would definitely use a tractor to aid lifting or noodle them with a saw.
 
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A little more topsoil work after cutting the grass this afternoon, nothing to crazy, will finish the other half tomorrow. I did manage to sheet the quick attach handle for the front fel on the tractor, channel locks and a pipe wrench got me through, but I’m mad at myself, totally my fault that it broke
 
I did fell two more ash today and then bucked up the trees, I also made sure the gully was opened back up for walking.
 

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If it wasn't for almost 3 hours I took off so we could go get a certain item, this two face cord stack would be done but I'll finish it tomorrow and then get the next row ready.

Attached are some pictures of where I split in the gully and the stack of ash.
 

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Didn't take any pictures but dropped five trees, cut them into four-foot sections and hauled them home. They were up a steep ATV trail and it was about a half-mile round trip back and forth. Got five trailer loads out of them so was pleased. One standing dead beech (no punk); two standing dead ash (small amount of punk); one maple (top dead but good wood and the bottom was good with no punk); and one live beech that had the top sheared off when the maple came down. I also dropped a good size beech that was downslope. I plan on trying out the new capstan winch tomorrow on that one. Unfortunately the black flies have arrived in force.
 
I was going through my woods and noticed a few ash that were still alive this past couple of years that are now dead and some nice sized walnuts (I think) are dead as well. Now with the weather changing I'll have time to drop them and start on my wood log stacks.
 
The stack I had started yesterday is almost finished (forgot to take the picture) but I split what was left in the gully, that almost finished that stack. Since I had one ash down up top, I decided to run the splitter up and split the bucked up rounds.

The first two pictures are from the gully where I split the ash, 0396 is up top, 0397 & 0398 are the rounds split, 0399 is a bunch of dead pine I hopefully clean up so I can put in a new trail this summer and 0400 is some of what's left.
 

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Played around with the new capstan winch today pulling a beech I had cut yesterday about 100' up a slope. The capstan gives me access to wood I would otherwise have had to pass up but it is definitely a lot of work. Still, got quite a bit of decent beech out of it and had fun in the woods (despite the black flies). The big pile of 4-footers behind the trailer in last pic is the stuff I had cut yesterday.
 

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Planted bulbs in the rock garden, seeded the top dressed soil, now just being a sprinkler jockey, I also mixed starter fertilizer into the dirt, hopefully it will grow faster and stronger so I don’t have babysit it with the sprinkler so much.
 
Today I finished off the stack from yesterday with some Ash from up top and then stacked another face cord of Ash which also came from up top.

Picture 0404 is some Ash from up top, 0405 is the stack I started yesterday and finished today, the rest of the pictures are the next face cord I stacked and some pictures coming down from up top.

I have one more Ash down on the backhill that should give us another face for a total of 12 in this area, since I started cutting Ash we have 26 face cord, we heat from the basement so I'm hoping it will give us enough heat that the upstairs will be toasty, if not we have the Pellet Stove in the opposite corner, this past heating season we burned 53 bags.
 

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Today I finished off the stack from yesterday with some Ash from up top and then stacked another face cord of Ash which also came from up top.

Picture 0404 is some Ash from up top, 0405 is the stack I started yesterday and finished today, the rest of the pictures are the next face cord I stacked and some pictures coming down from up top.

I have one more Ash down on the backhill that should give us another face for a total of 12 in this area, since I started cutting Ash we have 26 face cord, we heat from the basement so I'm hoping it will give us enough heat that the upstairs will be toasty, if not we have the Pellet Stove in the opposite corner, this past heating season we burned 53 bags.
I see a lot of you use those stakes at the end of your stack. How far do you drive them into the ground? I definitely need something like that but I always thought the force would knock them down.
 
I live in "yard tree" country and am always jealous of you folks with your telephone pole straight trees. One of these days I will get a nice big chunk of woods to call my own.
We lucked out on getting the property I do most of the cutting on, the man who sold it to us lived next door and he wanted to spend the rest of his life knowing that it wouldn't get logged off while he was still living and there wouldn't be any hunting camps on it during his life, I did that part of the agreement on a handshake which we lived up to, he passed on in 2016 and we closed on the deal at the end of December 2006.

He also had an offer of $25000.00 more than what he ask us for but wasn't interested for reasons I won't post.

My MIL introduced me to him years back and we became friends about a year after that, his father owned most of the land along the river in our part of the town and made his money from working in the woods we own and he always had venison.

I hope you get your chance at some property, I see land up this way being bought up, clear cut and then the sand goes.
 
I see a lot of you use those stakes at the end of your stack. How far do you drive them into the ground? I definitely need something like that but I always thought the force would knock them down.
If I have six foot t-post, close to two feet which will give me a four foot high stack, we have sand here so that makes it easy pounding it in.
 
I see a lot of you use those stakes at the end of your stack. How far do you drive them into the ground? I definitely need something like that but I always thought the force would knock them down.
I put mine in about a foot or so, I then make a stack about half way up, tie a rope from stake to stake, stack the rest of the wood on top of the rope, the weight of the wood against the uneven top force the rope to get real tight and it sucks the T posts inward.
 
We lucked out on getting the property I do most of the cutting on, the man who sold it to us lived next door and he wanted to spend the rest of his life knowing that it wouldn't get logged off while he was still living and there wouldn't be any hunting camps on it during his life, I did that part of the agreement on a handshake which we lived up to, he passed on in 2016 and we closed on the deal at the end of December 2006.

He also had an offer of $25000.00 more than what he ask us for but wasn't interested for reasons I won't post.

My MIL introduced me to him years back and we became friends about a year after that, his father owned most of the land along the river in our part of the town and made his money from working in the woods we own and he always had venison.

I hope you get your chance at some property, I see land up this way being bought up, clear cut and then the sand goes.
Working on saving for some. Dont think its too far off. Decent country here, but not as beautiful as your neck of the woods.
 
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Working on saving for some. Dont think its too far off. Decent country here, but not as beautiful as your neck of the woods.
I'm talking to one of my financial broker friends right now, originally my plans as of 2 weeks ago was to refi the house, I'm ten years into the 30 year loan, I got a quote for refi to drop it down to a 10 year fixed at 3% fixed, no points and only have to pay an extra $125 a month because I've been making a lot of extra principal payments, then a piece of property (150 acres) went up for sale for $350k, farm assessed w/ a small older house (needs a lot of repair, maybe a knock down rebuild) and a few out buildings for tools / machinery. Totally de-railed my plans here because I know in NJ at least, this is a once in a lifetime deal, for me its worth looking into, and I don't want to see the property bought by a developer, its needs to stay woods / hills.
 
I'm talking to one of my financial broker friends right now, originally my plans as of 2 weeks ago was to refi the house, I'm ten years into the 30 year loan, I got a quote for refi to drop it down to a 10 year fixed at 3% fixed, no points and only have to pay an extra $125 a month because I've been making a lot of extra principal payments, then a piece of property (150 acres) went up for sale for $350k, farm assessed w/ a small older house (needs a lot of repair, maybe a knock down rebuild) and a few out buildings for tools / machinery. Totally de-railed my plans here because I know in NJ at least, this is a once in a lifetime deal, for me its worth looking into, and I don't want to see the property bought by a developer, its needs to stay woods / hills.
Did that same refi last year. I am looking in the 100 acre range. Don't think I will be happy with less than 50.
 
Working on saving for some. Dont think its too far off. Decent country here, but not as beautiful as your neck of the woods.
When I started this firewood gathering after we purchased the land, it was fun but the hills can take a toll on the old frame.

Our house lot didn't have any trails so everything here we did but the 136 acre lot I do most of the cutting on had trails wide enough for a truck, I just take care of them.

A 100 acre lot will keep you busy but the woods is a nice place to work. I always enjoy listening or seeing the Owls.
 
This was the last Ash I had felled on the backhill, I took two loads of the bigger rounds underneath a Pine tree for some shade when I split the rounds. I'll get the stacking area ready (one face cord) and then start splitting this week.

The other pictures are of a sundog, it had better color than what the picture shows.
 

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