Tornadoes & Firewood

[Dalmatian90]

Recently had a bit of a twister pass through Massachusetts about 20 miles as the crow flies north of me.

I know SwampYankee's been moaning all spring about the lack of log-length firewood since the loggers first were snowed out then were mudded out of the woods since January well into May.

Wonder if this fixes that situation?

That scare totals 39 miles...the part in Monson/Brimfield is a good 20 miles long x 1/2 mile wide of devastation from what was a strong EF-3 in that section. Miraculously only three deaths, saw in the paper today there's been 5,000 property insurance claims already filed...probably around 100 homes destroyed and 400 more heavily damaged, the balance being folks who lost shingles or had trees on roofs situations.

Random Thoughts I've had:

1) There's no general prohibition on moving firewood in CT & MA, outside of the Asian Longhorn Beetle zone around Worcester (which is just off the top right corner of the photo)

2) NY's firewood rules allow it to be moved 50 miles within that state. I'm 22 miles by road from Southbridge, so much of the damage zone would be within 50 road miles ... yeah, while I'm not NY it complies with the spirit of that rule to keep the wood from moving too far to fast.

(NY's rule hurts guys in Western CT...you can move wood 50 miles in NY, but you can't import a mile and a half from CT into NY...schmucks.)

3) A lot of the wood is probably cheap and easy for logging trucks to access -- clearing roads and house lots.

4) If you go into the woods though, oh man it's gotta be a bloody mess. An excavator with a claw is probably your safest bet for making some semblance of order. Next to that someone's gonna have fun with a skidder and cable.

Anyway, I'm probably just babbling. Maybe the thought of that much firewood just makes my mind go to mush.

Hate the thought of 20" trees going into tub grinders

Isn't worth the time and gas for me to make little 1/4 cord loads in my Ranger that distance, but I wonder if I'll be seeing cheap log loads of firewood down here?

Anyone have experience with firewood supply after a twister?

 

[upsnake]

Nothing to due with firewood, but how the heck is the house standing?

 

[avalancher]

I have no idea how things are going to play out up there in MA, but around here the logging industry showed no interest whatsoever in the timber that came down from the tornado in our area back in April. Most of the timber ended up being so tangled together, dropped in among barb wire fences etc that none of the crews in our area wanted to touch it. If it wasn't hauled off for firewood it was piled and burned outside of town. It was kinda sick watching piles of good wood going up in smoke....tons upon tons of white and red oak, pecan, hickory, you name it.

 

[D&B Mack]

"My name is Brian, but my neighbors call me 'Lucky'." :smile2:

 

[Swamp Yankee]

Got feelers out

A lot of that wood is only 10 to 15 miles away.

From what I understand in a lot of areas the logs are useless as the trees twisted and split which means no chance a saw log operation is going to move in. That type of mess is also a major death trap and not for the inexperienced. Some of the firewood operations that are running old Timberjacks or other small skidders may be the best bet.

Another problem is right of ways and access. Even if you get permission to cut, the only way in is through an adjoining property and if they say no, you're SOL. Other problems include brush removal and management and the simple fact that wood won't be seasoned for another year.

This is similar to the ice damage around Spencer a few years ago. If you drive through that area there are thousands on cords of wood laying around rotting away because no one is allowed to get to it. Heck there are still houses with brush piles in the front yard that were never disposed.

See what develops

Take Care

 

[Iron man]

I put up an ad stating Id remove wood for free.Its a mess up there so don't want to get caught up in any sort of problems for some fire wood.Besides Stafford is just 10 miles from me and I have an arrangement with a guy that has 35 acres so I have no wood shortages.

 

[r&r]

I managed a sale of a tornado damaged area back in April its still on going.
About 150 acres flat on the ground.
Logger is using a chainsaw crew to come along and cut the root balls off then skidding like normal chipping tops and using the feller buncher on the broken stems which are mostly pine the hardwoods mostly blew over.
I was really lucky that I could sell it and not have to pay for clean up.
Came across a 40" Northern Red Oak yesterday with 2 1/2 clear logs makes me want to cry. Aleast it won't lay there and rot now.

 

[mdavlee]

What area are you in r&r? I seen out in eastern va some companies come in and salvaged all they could after they had a tornado.

 

[Philbert]

The focus for the homeowners, insurance companies, and emergency managers is to get the downed timber cleared ASAP so that they can get back on with their lives. For the most part, they don't really care what happens to the downed trees, as long as it does not violate some environmental laws, or create a new hazard (e.g. out of control fire), or violate quarantines as you noted.

Much of it will get tub ground into mulch or for disposal. A lot will be disposed of in controlled burns. No reason much of it could not be used for pulp, particle board, biomass burners, or firewood, depending on the species. A lot of people would be happy to let you have as much as you want.

Like anything else, they would want to make sure that you know what you are doing and not going to get hurt, hurt others, or cause problems. They are concerned about scams after a disaster. They also will prefer to get it all cleaned up, fast, versus someone picking and choosing logs, and taking their time cutting and splitting on their property, so the ability to move logs to a staging area would be optimal.

I have often thought about the idea of bringing in a large firewood processor to these areas so the homeowners would at least have some firewood to sell, even though they lost all of their trees.

Philbert

 

[Circle B MN]

I would certainly think the market for firewood in that area just got rather poor. More supply than demand.

 

[r&r]

What area are you in r&r? I seen out in eastern va some companies come in and salvaged all they could after they had a tornado.

I'm in southside va north of raliegh. I had a number of contractors come in that following week offering to "clean up" for a price they couldn't believe the timber was sold already. No other loggers showed interest.

 

[slowp]

Shovel log it. Looks like flat ground.

 

[Philbert]

I would certainly think the market for firewood in that area just got rather poor. More supply than demand.

Tornadoes usually hit a limited area, and some people would never think of cutting their own firewood. I think that is why the OP saw an opportunity - if he can store it or haul it he has his supply side covered.

Shovel log it. Looks like flat ground.

Please help us flat landers with the term or method 'shovel logging'.

thanks

Philbert

 

[Dalmatian90]

Please help us flat landers with the term or method 'shovel logging'.

Excavator with a grapple on the end instead of a bucket.

It keeps picking up and piling till it gets the logs somewhere a truck or forwarder can deal with them.

 

[Curlycherry1]

I've cut tornado damaged wood for firewood and I would never do it again. Lots of logs are split and you don't know it until you cut in and your saw binds, instantly. It is a jumbled mess so it is like trying to pick apart pick-up-sticks. The safest log to cut first may be the one that is 20-50' away and so you have to crawl through a jumbled mess to get to it. Often there are uprighted trees which have their root balls attached and those are a mess in their own right. There is stress all over the place, not just trees laying on top of each other, but one tree pushed into several others sideways. So the stress is not up or down, it is horizontal. So you start cutting and the tree split towards you and can take you out. I had that happen 4-5 times on me in the contract I was cleaning up and it freaked me out.

About the only way to deal with tornado damage is a guy in a loader/forwarder and another with a saw making the cuts. Loader holds the tree and or picks it up from the pile and the cutter tops it and cuts the stump off if necessary and then the loader gets it out of the way. Even that is dangerous as hell because a cutter is way to close to a loader. It was what we ended up doing and it worked, but as I said, I would not touch tornado damaged woods again.

 

[leon]

toomuch wood for the GEICO wood chuck crew

OH, the pain!!!!
All that kindling wood for the dry kiln
and plenty of fuel for the kiln to fire it.:mad-tongue::after_boom::chainsawguy:

 

[olyman]

I have no idea how things are going to play out up there in MA, but around here the logging industry showed no interest whatsoever in the timber that came down from the tornado in our area back in April. Most of the timber ended up being so tangled together, dropped in among barb wire fences etc that none of the crews in our area wanted to touch it. If it wasn't hauled off for firewood it was piled and burned outside of town. It was kinda sick watching piles of good wood going up in smoke....tons upon tons of white and red oak, pecan, hickory, you name it.

THAT, makes a grown man cry,no?????? sheesh!!!!!!!!!

 

[Philbert]

Just a note - I have worked on a number of volunteer tornado clean up crews, and don't personally have a problem with firewood scavengers taking what they can. I would rather see it used than wasted.

But if you pull up with a truck and trailer to haul away a bunch of free wood, and it is obvious that it was stacked there by volunteers, rather than a paid outfit, offer to lend a hand for a bit in exchange for your bounty.

I have actually run into some picky scroungers who don't get that the disaster victim is our key client.

Philbert

 

[LFEngineering]

Well first off I'd like to say that I'm one of the lucky ones. That EF-3 tornado passed 400 yds behind my house, I was just getting home from work when it rolled though. I mean we have severe thunderstorms and the occasional small tornado that touches down, knocks some guys shed down & he's on the news that night. NOT one that runs 45 miles though the mountains surrounding the pioneer valley with out slowing down. Not to make light of it, but at least people in the Midwest have warning systems, emergency plans & most of the time can see 'em coming. It was less then 1/4 mile away on the backside of the mountain and I NEVER KNEW IT WAS COMING.

Anyway back to the firewood & storm debris. My uncle runs one of the largest logging outfits in our area, naturally they were overwhelmed with cleanup work from FIMA & local municipalities. Thankfully within days trucks from as far away as Quebec, Ohio & Michigan arrived. They worked for weeks, clearing roads. Most of that debris got hauled the local logging company's to get ground, chipped & stored.

It's been almost 6 months since the tornado & I'd say that 80% of the blow-down hasn't been touched. People cleaned up what they could, but no one has money to pay for large cleanups & even if they did the logging company's are booked solid.

The sad part is; just as chip / debris piles started to disappear we got hit with 12" of wet & sticky snow on Halloween weekend leaving us with even more downed trees.

Needless to say I'm glad I got a wood stove, a pickup truck & a chainsaw. I've helped friends & family clean up from both storms. I'm not even 1/2 way though the cleanup and I've stockpiled enough wood to heat my house for the next 2 years.

When life gives you lemons.... You gotta make lemon aid, then find the tree, cut it down & burn it.

 

[Dalmatian90]

Thanks for update LFE!