Another great day of woodcutting (with pics!)

[unclemoustache]

I pity everyone who isn't in the Midwest right now - simply perfect weather! Had a nice shagbark hickory fall on an old shed in a farmer's woods, and an ash tree a little further back.

Kids loved driving the lawn tractor! The older ones all took turns driving.

Some kids weren't very helpful, but had a good time anyway. That's my older brother there - he's in the Navy, just finished a tour in Spain, now he's about to head back down to FL. First time in my life I ever outworked him! He's been doing too many rectal exams I guess. I'd rather be playing with chainsaws.

The wood's a bit on the heavy side, and the tractor is a bit on the light side.

Off-load to the splitter, then into the big trailer (even though it's only 14 feet).

 

[unclemoustache]

Second daughter driving us to lunch. The farmer has an old homesite (no more home) where he built a pond, picnic area, and vollyball net. It's a great place to go!!

The kids really enjoy the pond, and all 7 of them can get on the paddleboat! (Yes, I know they're without lifejackets, but they were locked up and most of them can swim.)

Unloading...

Comes to about 1 1/4 cords. A nice start. Actually this is the fairly green wood - I'll burn this later in the winter. I've got about 2 cords of seasoned stuff that will be burned first.

 

[unclemoustache]

Forgot to mention - we're going to do it all again in the morning! Wohoo!:chainsawguy:

 

[Deprime]

Looks like a good time! I fondly remember helping Dad with the firewood when I was little. Some of my fondest memories from childhood. I laughed out loud when I saw the pic with the tractor and overloaded trailer.

 

[possumtrapper]

Thanks for these photos and words which me and my 2 year old boy greatly enjoyed. This is the America we know and love. All the best from NZ and we'll look forward to your next post.

 

[Ambull]

Got some great little loggers there. Nice pics.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Great pics, thanks for sharing...

That's my older brother there - he's in the Navy, just finished a tour in Spain, now he's about to head back down to FL. First time in my life I ever outworked him! He's been doing too many rectal exams I guess.

Just remember when they're on the boat they don't really have too far to run, or too much "hard work"* to be done. They don't carry much around like the boys on the ground do (where would they take it to, the other end of the boat?). So take it easy on him, somebody has to serve on the boats...

*I realize that they do, indeed, work on the boat, but by hard work I mean carrying packs, lots of heavy lifting, digging holes etc.

 

[beerman6]

Looks like a good time! I fondly remember helping Dad with the firewood when I was little. Some of my fondest memories from childhood. I laughed out loud when I saw the pic with the tractor and overloaded trailer.

:agree2:

 

[Nuzzy]

Love the kid pics!! I'm really hoping my soon to be born daughter takes a liking to tractors

 

[gpsman007]

Hang 10

Never seen a cub do that before

 

[woodbooga]

Great pix unc'!

I don't take the kid into the woods, but he always comes a-running when I back into the yard with a bed full of rounds. I unload and he rolls them down the incline to a (somewhat) flat area. He likes to use fallen-off bark as ramps and jumps and loves it when they get squished enroute to the mountain o' rounds. He especially likes it when the occasional round goes airborne upon hitting another at the base of the pile.

Our little 20 month old princess likes to get into the act too. She can load the splits into the wheelbarrow. But not too full - she seemingly always leaves enough room for her to catch a ride.

 

[Truck4]

Great pics, my son is the same when it comes to working with the firewood, he tries alittle to hard sometimes and I have to remind him to watch out when Im running the saw, he still wants to know when he can start cutting instead of pileing, stacking, etc. I have let him run the smaller one a time or two but he is comeing around

 

[Banacanin]

Very cool!

 

[o8f150]

I pity everyone who isn't in the Midwest right now - simply perfect weather! Had a nice shagbark hickory fall on an old shed in a farmer's woods, and an ash tree a little further back.

Kids loved driving the lawn tractor! The older ones all took turns driving.

Some kids weren't very helpful, but had a good time anyway. That's my older brother there - he's in the Navy, just finished a tour in Spain, now he's about to head back down to FL. First time in my life I ever outworked him! He's been doing too many rectal exams I guess. I'd rather be playing with chainsaws.

The wood's a bit on the heavy side, and the tractor is a bit on the light side.

Off-load to the splitter, then into the big trailer (even though it's only 14 feet).

looks like fun especially involving the kids,,that makes it best time to work in the wood,,,,looks like they was having a good tiime,,,,you need to cut the tail weight on the trailor,you can't get traction with the mower that way
that looks like an echo in the first pic,

 

[unclemoustache]

Well, Day Two is complete. We got about 1 1/2 cords this time. Had a great day again. Brother and neighbor were rather sore, so I called up a young man (also named Josh) who came out for the day. He was a great help. I let him use my 'junk saw' - the old Poulan with the safety chain. I decided it was a great idea to keep such a saw on hand - it actually starts all right, and it's a great saw to let others borrow. I told him there were a few rules to remember about operating a chain saw:
Rule 1 is to not cut yourself.
Rules 2 through 74 are to never let the chain touch any dirt or metal.
Rules 75 through 113 are not to cut yourself.
Rules 114 through 258 are not that important - just cut the darn wood for pete's sake.

The kids sure liked running that tractor! That was definately their favorite part, but they were also great workers. Cecily (the girl in the pic driving the tractor) is also the best log-splitter operator. She runs the handle while the adults manage the wood. I think she reads minds, because she knows exactly how far to go forward, when to go backward, how far, when to start forward again, etc. She's amazing.

The farmer who let me cut is a great guy. He had a maple tree with some dead branches and a deadfall lodged up high, so I brought along some new climbing gear and got them down. Just a little something to tell him 'thanks.' (I'll have the wife bake him a pie also.) I was using the Unicender tool for the first time - a fabulous little doo-dad. Very pleased with it, especially coupled with a foot ascender.

So, that was our double-day woodcutting experience. Got nearly 3 cords, and had a great time with the family. When my brother's family gets here, we'll do it all again!! I'll have some more pics for you then.

 

[discounthunter]

looks like a good couple of days. i think a good day of work brings families closer. my kids really enjoy when the tree hits the ground, when the bonfire of limbs goes up and when we sit in the living room with a nice fire blazing. the mostly skip the in between parts,lol

 

[4seasons]

I love pic #4. Done that with a 4 wheeler once. Most of the time I see the other problem with using a yard tractor, cant keep the front on the ground to turn. I guess when your driving the tractor all that weight from your huge mustache keeps the tires on the dirt.

 

[duramaxsp33d]

"most of them can swim"

ahahahahaha

 

[WoodchuckPaddy]

"most of them can swim"

ahahahahaha

 

[Iska3]

Always nice to see the family out together. I spent many a day out in the woods when the kids were little like that. When the wife moved here from NJ, the grandkids taught her how to find a good branch for roasting hot dogs over an open cam fire. My son still likes to come up and help his Old Dad when he can. Gott'a give you a lot of credit. Those kids will never forget the good times you spend with them. All of them had smiles on their faces.

Way to Go Dad!!