Fred Wright
Addicted to ArboristSite
Yeah, like anyone really cares, lol. But I'm a' gonna post it anyhow. 
Had a busy day Saturday. For some reason I had the presence of mind to take the camera along. Went to the mill for a load of wood early in the morning. There's been no rain all week and the ground wasn't bad at all. Soft and still lotsa ruts but hardly no mud or standing water.
That front wheel isn't stuck. It's the normal sit rep out there at the ol' sawmill grounds. I've seen ground pushed up over a foot high in front of the tires. In 4X4 she climbs out of it. Bouncing over the ruts and banging over pieces of slab wood in the ground. The front bumper even dragged the ground when I backed up to the piles. Off-roading at its best.
This is gravy firewooding. All ya need is a truck, a pair of gloves and a hookaroon. The bull work is already done for you. Dropping trees, cutting off the tops and limbs, loading and transporting 'em to the sawmill.
The mill saws 'em into timber, cuts the tailings into stove-length slabs and dumps it in a pile. All I gotta do is back up to the pile, pick out what I want and stack it in the bed for $20.00 a load. Granted, most of it has to be split but we've got a hydro splitter on site to manage that. Back up to the wood pile, pull it off the truck, split (if needed) and stack. Yep, it's gravy. And it's saving us some serious money in heating costs.
There was a bonanza of oak and ash on the dump piles. Didn't even have to go to the conveyor pile. I couldn't believe it. Backed up and scrounged over half a load.
With that area mined out I moseyed over to the other end of the dump for a recon mission. It was big honkin' oak slabs galore, even bigger than I'd already gotten. Big slabs make big stacks and I wanted all I could carry. Drove the buggy over there, backed up to the pile and finished my load.
It pained me to have to leave all that oak behind but I'd loaded the truck as high as I dared. Have gotta get some lumber to make stake sides for hauling wood. The truck can carry the load; problem is it can't be loaded much above the bed without stake sides. Long, thinner slabs stood vertical will hold a higher load. Thankfully I don't have far to go with it.
The banded slab bundles are poplar. They were out there last week, too. Not sure what they're destined for but I hadn't seen 'em out there until recently. There's plenty of it on the piles. It's a nuisance; just gets in the way of my oak scrounging.
Something I found odd... I was the only one out there getting wood. Usually there are several folks out loading up on a Saturday morning; they come and go. Not today. Maybe they've stopped getting wood because spring is near and firewood sales are slowing. A lot of the sawmill scroungers are there to get wood to sell.
With the truck loaded, I bounced my way back out to the pavement. Headed to the meat market for some T-bone steaks to put on the grill and cooked pig ears for the pudder dogs. We haven't had a good steak in a long time. Then it was on to the local Mennonite store. Picked up some lettuce for my lunch and salad fixings for the SheWolf.
Stopped by the liquor store for a case of lager and headed for home. Ya know, I just love showing off my slab wood loads. Like to run a few errands after leaving the sawmill. I'm not much to look at. Haven't shaved in a few days. But I thank the good Lord that I am able to get out and about. Just another curious old man in mechanic's clothes, dusty and dirty from loading wood, moving slowly around the store.
Got home and backed up to the woodpile. Put the beer in the fridge, salad fixings and steaks were left in the SheWolf's capable hands. Then proceeded to get busy on the second half of the day's work ~ unloading, splitting and stacking. Had more wood than I'd thought, it almost filled what room I had. Am guessing we need maybe 4 more loads to complete it.
Had a busy day Saturday. For some reason I had the presence of mind to take the camera along. Went to the mill for a load of wood early in the morning. There's been no rain all week and the ground wasn't bad at all. Soft and still lotsa ruts but hardly no mud or standing water.
That front wheel isn't stuck. It's the normal sit rep out there at the ol' sawmill grounds. I've seen ground pushed up over a foot high in front of the tires. In 4X4 she climbs out of it. Bouncing over the ruts and banging over pieces of slab wood in the ground. The front bumper even dragged the ground when I backed up to the piles. Off-roading at its best.
This is gravy firewooding. All ya need is a truck, a pair of gloves and a hookaroon. The bull work is already done for you. Dropping trees, cutting off the tops and limbs, loading and transporting 'em to the sawmill.
The mill saws 'em into timber, cuts the tailings into stove-length slabs and dumps it in a pile. All I gotta do is back up to the pile, pick out what I want and stack it in the bed for $20.00 a load. Granted, most of it has to be split but we've got a hydro splitter on site to manage that. Back up to the wood pile, pull it off the truck, split (if needed) and stack. Yep, it's gravy. And it's saving us some serious money in heating costs.
There was a bonanza of oak and ash on the dump piles. Didn't even have to go to the conveyor pile. I couldn't believe it. Backed up and scrounged over half a load.
With that area mined out I moseyed over to the other end of the dump for a recon mission. It was big honkin' oak slabs galore, even bigger than I'd already gotten. Big slabs make big stacks and I wanted all I could carry. Drove the buggy over there, backed up to the pile and finished my load.
It pained me to have to leave all that oak behind but I'd loaded the truck as high as I dared. Have gotta get some lumber to make stake sides for hauling wood. The truck can carry the load; problem is it can't be loaded much above the bed without stake sides. Long, thinner slabs stood vertical will hold a higher load. Thankfully I don't have far to go with it.
The banded slab bundles are poplar. They were out there last week, too. Not sure what they're destined for but I hadn't seen 'em out there until recently. There's plenty of it on the piles. It's a nuisance; just gets in the way of my oak scrounging.
Something I found odd... I was the only one out there getting wood. Usually there are several folks out loading up on a Saturday morning; they come and go. Not today. Maybe they've stopped getting wood because spring is near and firewood sales are slowing. A lot of the sawmill scroungers are there to get wood to sell.
With the truck loaded, I bounced my way back out to the pavement. Headed to the meat market for some T-bone steaks to put on the grill and cooked pig ears for the pudder dogs. We haven't had a good steak in a long time. Then it was on to the local Mennonite store. Picked up some lettuce for my lunch and salad fixings for the SheWolf.
Stopped by the liquor store for a case of lager and headed for home. Ya know, I just love showing off my slab wood loads. Like to run a few errands after leaving the sawmill. I'm not much to look at. Haven't shaved in a few days. But I thank the good Lord that I am able to get out and about. Just another curious old man in mechanic's clothes, dusty and dirty from loading wood, moving slowly around the store.
Got home and backed up to the woodpile. Put the beer in the fridge, salad fixings and steaks were left in the SheWolf's capable hands. Then proceeded to get busy on the second half of the day's work ~ unloading, splitting and stacking. Had more wood than I'd thought, it almost filled what room I had. Am guessing we need maybe 4 more loads to complete it.
