Help on most efficient way to do this job.

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OH_Varmntr

Burner of stored sunlight
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Wouldn't really call it a job, as I'm doing it for free. Being paid in all the wood I want. :rock: And there's probably 5 to 6 years of firewood along the ditches. Maybe more.

Friend of mine has a 210 acre farm that's currently in CRP. They want the ditchbanks cleared of all trees so they can dredge them and run tile when the CRP expires.

They have an excavator with a claw bucket and will pile up the trees once I have them on the ground.

Here's where I'm unsure of how I will proceed. Once it's all piled up, do I process what I can on-site (cut/split), or do I haul logs home and process them at the house?

If I haul it home, I'm losing out one travel time (~45 minute round trip). If I do it on-site, I have to haul all my gear up there (quad, splitter, etc...). I've got a 16' trailer and my truck and can load the truck and trailer up as much as I want without too much worries.

I figure I can move the most wood if I process on-site but I don't have a ton of man power so it will be time consuming to split/stack then restack when I get home.

I've also thought of just loading logs on the trailer then unloading them at the house and leave them logs for awhile. That will get the fields cleared faster.

How would you guys do it? There's abot 3/4 of a mile of ditchbanks, trees ranging from a few inches up to about 24" across. Nothing too huge.
 
Do they intend to clear the stumps after you are done? If so they should use the excavator to push over the bigger trees, makes it easier to get the stumps out. As for the wood, load the logs on your trailer an take them home. Gets the site cleared faster.
 
I would leave it in logs, the largest I could haul and deal with processing it at home in my yard. It will clear the fields faster and keep the landowner happy also you get to be around home more.
 
You are gonna be over time humping just to get the trees felled, and the logs home and unloaded. And them boys on that farm will most likely want the trees outta the way as fast as possible, so they can get to work. The more you are hanging out processing in the field, the slower all this other stuff happens.

So, if you have the space to stack up the logs at home (and how will you handle them?) I'd say get them home, process at your leisure then.

And then there is access, is this year round, or grab it while you can? Trees at the far edge of mud city, or five feet deep snow, or on the other side of planted row crops are sorta only still theoretical firewood...at home, they are lot closer to a usable product.

edit: BTW..Score! You just got handed a goldmine!
 
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Do they intend to clear the stumps after you are done?

Yes, they will be digging the stumps out. I'm going to cut them about a foot off the ground.

They will not be there with their equipment while I'm cutting, only after I get everything on the ground.

So it looks as if I'll be hauling logs them processing them at home. I have to wait until we get a good hard freeze before I can get the truck/trailer back there. I'm using the quad and cart to go back to start cutting this weekend.
 
I'm with zogger on this. This could be a great deal or it could be a nightmare if there is a deadline for you to finish the project. I have no idea how many trees this involves, what their size is, and the terrain, but I'm leaning more towards nightmare without knowing more about it.
 
You are gonna be over time humping just to get the trees felled, and the logs home and unloaded. And them boys on that farm will most likely want the trees outta the way as fast as possible, so they can get to work. The more you are hanging out processing in the field, the slower all this other stuff happens.

So, if you have the space to stack up the logs at home (and how will you handle them?) I'd say get them home, process at your leisure then.

And then there is access, is this year round, or grab it while you can? Trees at the far edge of mud city, or five feet deep snow, or on the other side of planted row crops are sorta only still theoretical firewood...at home, they are lot closer to a usable product.
That makes a lot of sense, thank you.

edit: BTW..Score! You just got handed a goldmine!

I have no equipment to handle them once we unload them at the house. Just manual labor. I have plenty of space to store the logs.

I have unlimited access to the land.
 
I'm with zogger on this. This could be a great deal or it could be a nightmare if there is a deadline for you to finish the project. I have no idea how many trees this involves, what their size is, and the terrain, but I'm leaning more towards nightmare without knowing more about it.

Worse case scenario is this.

If I do everything I can to get what I can and there's still timber standing, theyll doze it all and burn it and I'll lose out on the firewood.

So it's pretty much everything I want, I can get. And hopefully I can get it all before they want to start tiling (I think 2013).

Edited: I also wanted to add, I'm going to start cutting this weekend and probably won't move any logs until the ground is dried out next spring.

My main focus now is getting all the wood on the ground.
 
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If they were going to have an excavater there with a thumb maybe you could have them load the trailer. Do you have any friends with trailers also/
 
I'm not exactly sure when they're going to have their equipment up there.

I've got a good friend with a big gooseneck. I've been really wanting a 16' dump trailer...
 
Been down this road before.

Moving the logs is the first choice. IF you can , rent a skidloader for a day with forks or grapple so you can stage the logs and maybe call some loggers/larger tree services and find out what they'd want to move a load of logs for you with a 10cord capable truck. Just a suggestion. Depending on species/quality they may work a deal with you for grade logs.

Second is to cut rounds and maximize your trips. This is very labor/time intensive but keeps the pieces manageable on both ends without further expense for equipment.

Having a truck or trailer that dumps would make this go a lot easier for you when doing it solo.
 
Sounds like you have a plan of how to cut and process. The only suggestion I would have is if there are sections of the property that have trees that stay and trees that go -- make sure they are clearly marked. You would not want to fell the commemorative tree planted for their first born, etc.

Good score -- and good luck. :cheers:
 
Yes, they will be digging the stumps out. I'm going to cut them about a foot off the ground.

They will not be there with their equipment while I'm cutting, only after I get everything on the ground.

So it looks as if I'll be hauling logs them processing them at home. I have to wait until we get a good hard freeze before I can get the truck/trailer back there. I'm using the quad and cart to go back to start cutting this weekend.

I cleared quite a few fence rows and you might want to check with them on stump size. Most everyone I've dealt with wants about 4 ft. mainly so so can see them and have something to pull on. The people I've worked with would be seriously PO'd if I did it that short. One other plus with 4 ft is you don't have to worry about getting into fence that is buried in the wood.

I personally can't stand doing logs in a pile as you end up going through so many more chains from sharpening. Do what you gotta do if you can't make the deadline though. Here is a 3/4 mile long one we did a while back. We even windrow the brush as it makes burning a breeze and easier to get all the cut wood when fit.

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I am also going to recommend double checking stump hieght. The push/pull folks prefer a tall stump and get all kinds of bent if the stumps are short.

3'-4' from ground is typical.
 
Thanks for the advice. I made certain to ask how high they would like the stumps and was told whatever was easiest for me. They've definately got the equipment to get most any stump out of the ground. Most likely they'll dig them out with the excavator.

The owners also have a Freightliner flatbed truck and several other heavy trucks. I'm sure if it came down to it we could haul some serious wood over the course of a weekend or two. But with their schedules, it would be left up to me the majority of the time.

We're heading that way Friday afternoon, so I'll take some pics and show ya what I'm in for.
 
I'd go with logs too. Proceesing on site means double handling processed wood. You usually only want to do that if you're getting paid to deliver it the second time

What type of woods are you getting?
 
It was a while back when I last visited and I wasn't really there to decipher species. There's all kinds of everything on those ditchbanks.
 
Normally these ditches and fence rows don't have the best of woods. Unless you get into locust. But free is free. If you can drive right up to the logs, that kind of free is even better.
 
Wouldn't really call it a job, as I'm doing it for free. Being paid in all the wood I want. :rock: And there's probably 5 to 6 years of firewood along the ditches. Maybe more.

Friend of mine has a 210 acre farm that's currently in CRP. They want the ditchbanks cleared of all trees so they can dredge them and run tile when the CRP expires.

They have an excavator with a claw bucket and will pile up the trees once I have them on the ground.

Here's where I'm unsure of how I will proceed. Once it's all piled up, do I process what I can on-site (cut/split), or do I haul logs home and process them at the house?

If I haul it home, I'm losing out one travel time (~45 minute round trip). If I do it on-site, I have to haul all my gear up there (quad, splitter, etc...). I've got a 16' trailer and my truck and can load the truck and trailer up as much as I want without too much worries.

I figure I can move the most wood if I process on-site but I don't have a ton of man power so it will be time consuming to split/stack then restack when I get home.

I've also thought of just loading logs on the trailer then unloading them at the house and leave them logs for awhile. That will get the fields cleared faster.

How would you guys do it? There's abot 3/4 of a mile of ditchbanks, trees ranging from a few inches up to about 24" across. Nothing too huge.

You can have logger move them with a simi tractor trailer. Much cheaper than you making a bunch of trips.
 
From an efficiency standpoint, cutting to length right there will get you more wood in a shorter time period. I have done it both ways and they each have their perks. As someone stated earlier, cutting logs from a pile is not fun and is harder on the back than having it out in the open. You also have to shut the saw off and move the cut pieces from the pile so you can get to the logs on the bottom.
If possible find two people to work for you each day you get the chance to work. You go one day ahead and cut what you can. Then on the next day you have your two guys load while you start cutting. When the truck is full, one guy drives it where it needs to go, the other guy moves wood around as needed. I did this in the spring and cut/moved 15 cords in a 7 hour day + the few hours I cut in advance the day before. It helps when you only have to transport the wood 5-8 miles too.
 
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