Anyone else getting "The Itch"?

[Axe Man]

I have been cutting at least twice a month if not more since summer hit. I am cutting up a boxelder for a neighbor hood farmer. Hopefully he lets me cut his fence line with 56+ dead elm. I no how many I have counted them from the road I don't no how many times.


Beefie

Beefie: Do those dead elm have the bark off or falling off? Where I used to live I culled all the standing dead fence line elm as well as neighbours. The bark was mostly off and when you tapped two pieces together it sounded like baseball bats I know it's hard to split, but the stuff I was cutting was small once you got about 10 ft up from the ground ( between 3 and 10 inches ) I loved burning dead elm. Have fun!!!!

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I finally got around to emptying the remnants of last winter's gas out of my saws this past week. I won't have any room for new cutting until spring when I've burned some of what I have. I'll probably be helping a buddy cut and split after the weather cools off.. late September maybe.

I don't have any leads on anything to cut anyway.

Ian

 

[Pain Cow]

I never stopped scrounging, cutting, and maul splitting. Even on the hottest days I'll devote 20 minutes to either cutting rounds or maul splitting rounds in half. Who cares how hot it is when you're only devoting 20 minutes or so. This method has me so far ahead at this point it's rediculous.

 

[webie]

Sure I got the itch , walked out in the swamp today , 50 feet in and Now I really got the itch , Holy fricken mosquitoes , Forget that . Swamp water is a foot deep too . good thing I am way ahead .
We better hit a drought period here or I will be waiting for the middle of winter and cutting on a frozen lake .
If conditions do shape up .
Wood cutting camp should get set up labor day weekend . Most of all the equipment is ready .

 

[sunfish]

Got the itch! Chigger and tick itch that is, and only in the wood 15 minutes this morning. We have seed ticks, so small you can hardly see em, they are real bad right now.

I wont start cuttin untill late October.

 

[Art Vandelay]

It will be another 6 weeks before it cools enough to even think about breaking out the saws unless it's work related. Unfortunately, that time also coincides with Bow season.

 

[Steve NW WI]

Good to know I ain't the only one. I think the plan is to take care of yard trees for now and not fight the ticks and skeeters too much. I'll save the deep woods stuff for after a good frost. Here in WI that's probably late Sept, but could be next week LOL!

Beefie - lotsa dead standing elm around here. I'm one of the few that messes with it and gets all that good heat outta it. Everyone's heard how hard it splits and doesn't wanna deal with it. I won't argue with em..

 

[Beefie]

Beefie: Do those dead elm have the bark off or falling off? Where I used to live I culled all the standing dead fence line elm as well as neighbours. The bark was mostly off and when you tapped two pieces together it sounded like baseball bats I know it's hard to split, but the stuff I was cutting was small once you got about 10 ft up from the ground ( between 3 and 10 inches ) I loved burning dead elm. Have fun!!!!

Yup bark is off and most of the trees are lesss than 10"DBH. Last year I heated my house 2/3 of the winter with Elm.

Good to know I ain't the only one. I think the plan is to take care of yard trees for now and not fight the ticks and skeeters too much. I'll save the deep woods stuff for after a good frost. Here in WI that's probably late Sept, but could be next week LOL!

Beefie - lotsa dead standing elm around here. I'm one of the few that messes with it and gets all that good heat outta it. Everyone's heard how hard it splits and doesn't wanna deal with it. I won't argue with em..

I hear ya on messing with elm. Most people around here don't mess with it also. They just don't no the btu of elm , And I am not going to tell them:hmm3grin2orange:


Beefie

 

[Steve NW WI]

I scratched the itch a little this morning. The wood hauler has had about a 1/4 cord of apple and cherry sitting on it for a couple months, and I'm tired of mowing around it, so I hauled the splitter out and knocked 'em into cooking size. After they season, I'll probably use the buzz saw to cut em into chunks.

They're still sitting on the ground now, about 75 and muggy right now, I've done enough for today. I promise, I'll get it stacked up one night this week after work.

Now I've gotta put a new deck on the wood hauler before winter. It's got a few places where it ain't safe to step any more. I haven't decided if the bridge plank sideboards are going or staying. They're a little overkill, and almost too heavy to wrangle off and on if needed, but they're already there.

 

[Lugnutz]

I cut a bit about a month ago, but now it is just to nasty out. 90's and rain off and on. I probably should just suck it up and go cut today with lots of water on hand.
I had an interview friday and they called me back to get info for the background check, then it will be a physical!! Too good of a job to pass up but won't have much time for cutting if I get it. 7 days on 2 days off and 8-16 hours a day. I might have to buy wood, but I'm too much of a mizer for that LOL.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I hope that's not a salary job... hehe. If it's hourly, sounds like a pile of OT. My job is lucky to keep me there for 40. I burn out quick on 60 hour weeks and flat won't work any more than that.

Ian

 

[Iska3]

Not an Enjoyable Day in the Woods

We started hauling out wood about three weeks ago. The wood we cut two years ago was stacked in the woods but to save one extra step it’s never split until we haul it out. If our trails are not wide enough we use the wheeler on the old wood trailer but many times we can pull in the splitter and a trailer and load in one step. Yesterday it was 86º and humid against my better judgment we went up and pulled home another load of wood.

Our goal is to cut trails through the dying oaks and make our way to the Ash swamps. This load of oak was pulled out with the 500. Later we finished off the load with wood that is kept up closer to the road.

I wasn't sure if the 500 would pull the load down this trail so we gave it a try. Had to put it in 4 wheel at the end but we made it out.

Another load to stack! The bad part was the heat and the bugs. Even the wife said that she couldn't remember a load of wood being so much work.

 

[webie]

Yup bark is off and most of the trees are lesss than 10"DBH. Last year I heated my house 2/3 of the winter with Elm.


I hear ya on messing with elm. Most people around here don't mess with it also. They just don't no the btu of elm , And I am not going to tell them:hmm3grin2orange:


Beefie

I got hit here at my house 2-3 years back I had 41 dead elms to take down , and I see another died this year . You do need to take them down fairly quick they dont seem to last long once they die . Beefy I dont think we are just to far apart I am just south of Chilton .
Really wet here right now boy I sure hope this rain stops . I have a few yard trees to take and a 1/4 mile road to cut back but none of it will yield much wood .

I dont have any problem with takeing elm either although some of it is pretty ugly to pile once the splitter rips through it .

 

[Iska3]

Once we get out of the woods, we'll top off most loads but this load was still a bit on the heavy side to pull home in that heat.

We use the Honda to pull home the wood. The property is only 35 miles north so the honda is easier on gas and the trailer makes it nice. No loading up in to the truck and many times we can pull this trailer right in to the woods.

Once it's stack in the pile, it seems like it's wasn't all that bad and the work is worth while.

 

[Lugnutz]

I hope that's not a salary job... hehe. If it's hourly, sounds like a pile of OT. My job is lucky to keep me there for 40. I burn out quick on 60 hour weeks and flat won't work any more than that.

Ian

OT by the truck load! I'll burn out but it will be after I get caught up and and hopefully I can hang in there until I get a solar power set up running !!

 

[Circle B MN]

Those are some good looking pics Iska... Yesterday I cleaned the chimney in the shop. This afternoon I went up on the roof of the barn and set a new top section and cap. Not sure if it was the heat or the hieght, but I was a lil woozy coming down. Take it easy out there, still a lil time before the snow....

16' sidewalls, probably 20' to the peak. Ladder set in the bed of the truck. Couple of Coors to get me off the top rung. All set for winter

 

[GrizzlyAdams86]

The only 2-stroke I've run since the 4th of July is the FS 76 trimmer. I have been waiting to tear into all the (mostly oak) tops from the logging across the road and finish cleaning up all the odds-n-ends at the landings. Not much for storm damage. But some weather we got about 2 weeks ago knocked most of the top out of one the last big healthy elm trees over at a friends place. But the last month or so it's ether too hot, too rainy or muddy, the bugs, or just having no time. After Labor day I'll start gearing up for winter again.

 

[MN Ripper]

I thought I'd get more action this year from turning storm damage into firewood this summer but the worst of the storms seem to miss us so the saws haven't done much of anything but collect dust. I'll get another truckload of logs in the fall again. That should help my "itch".

With all the rain this summer my new trimmer has seen its fair share of field grass duty around new tree seedlings. So at least I have something to keep me busy!

 

[Iska3]

Took home another load today No more itch for me...

Those are some good looking pics Iska... Yesterday I cleaned the chimney in the shop. This afternoon I went up on the roof of the barn and set a new top section and cap. Not sure if it was the heat or the hieght, but I was a lil woozy coming down. Take it easy out there, still a lil time before the snow....

16' sidewalls, probably 20' to the peak. Ladder set in the bed of the truck. Couple of Coors to get me off the top rung. All set for winter

I think the wife has a boyfriend and she's trying to get rid of me. Woke up this morning and she wanted to go up to the property and bring home another load of wood. Turns out the trail was still wet in some of the lower spots so we split up some of the bigger chunks on the wood line. That oak sat out there for two years now and still wet inside. The bigger stuff split like elm. By the time we filled the trailer it was 89º 1) No fun splitting wood when it's in the upper 80's 2) Best to split them big rounds when it's fresh cut or frozen 3) It's not fun bending over with them bigger rounds. 4) If it's larger than 18" in dia, I'm leaving it for her boyfriend.. I hope the fool is hung with a strong back and a weak mind..

 

[Circle B MN]

I think the wife has a boyfriend and she's trying to get rid of me. Woke up this morning and she wanted to go up to the property and bring home another load of wood. Turns out the trail was still wet in some of the lower spots so we split up some of the bigger chunks on the wood line. That oak sat out there for two years now and still wet inside. The bigger stuff split like elm. By the time we filled the trailer it was 89º 1) No fun splitting wood when it's in the upper 80's 2) Best to split them big rounds when it's fresh cut or frozen 3) It's not fun bending over with them bigger rounds. 4) If it's larger than 18" in dia, I'm leaving it for her boyfriend.. I hope the fool is hung with a strong back and a weak mind..