Cleaning up tops after logging

[laxin213]

Hello,

looking for some advice that I'm rather frustrated to be asking for. We just had our first child about 4 weeks ago. Already seems like I'll never have any free time again! It's great but kids are a lot of work.

I have had a contract for about 6 months (and longer in the planning stage) to have about 65 trees logged off about 3 acres of land. About 50 hard maple, rest hickory, ash and beech. They were just taken down, and the tops are left. I've got 7 acres and this land is separated by a ravine, so I can access it but I have to drive about 1 mile in a roundabout way. I have a 550xp, an ariens splitter and a gator. It's a nice firewood setup, last year I made about 22 face cords.

My question is what to do with these tops. 65 mature trees maybe 25" average diameter how many face cords is that, 50-60? For me that's I'm guessing 100 hours of cutting, splitting, and hauling it in my gator, and stacking. With the baby, both of us working, house projects, etc I don't think I have the time this summer. How long could they sit before the wood gets shot - maybe 2 years? I do have an newer insert and I burned 11 face cords (about 4 full cords) last year. I could get a dump trailer and split and sell but again it's a time thing I think. Around here delivered, split face cords go for about $85 or so. What would a firewood processor pay for something like this, tops on the ground? I don't want someone that isn't insured I'm worried about liability. I have cousins and buddies that have saws but having a bunch of people running them on my land makes me worried, if I have to ask you where your chaps are, not worth it to me.

Thoughts? It just burns me to let it rot in the ground I can't do it I wasn't raised that way to waste. Thanks

 

[Shagbark]

Time to put a firewood posse together. Ask a couple of friends for help. Send them home with a full load of wood, or full belly and some good times to remember.

 

[bikemike]

Kids are a pain. Keep ur contract on it can only bring more work. Leave bush on site as compost or chip it on the land to give nutrients back to mother earth. Sounds like you got a good set up for chainsaw gtg

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Why are tops left? Sounds like they wasted a ton of wood?
In log form, they'll last 5+ years before starting to go punky.

 

[Oldman47]

VFW, if it was harvested for saw logs a large amount of wood will be left with the tops. It is all the wood that was not straight enough for the mill. Yes, it could be as much as 1/3 of the total wood that is left behind as tops. It is great for firewood but not straight enough for the sawmill.

 

[JeffGu]

How long does it take you to cut up one of those tops? How long to split the wood? If you did one a day, that's 65 days out of a two or three year period you could spread it over. The smaller brush, most can be cut up for kindling at your leisure, or left in piles for habitat until it composts away. Or, chipped on site if you have a chipper. I'm thinking you might just be overwhelmed with everything you have going on, and the sight of all that wood.

I bet if you picked a day when you have a few hours, and cut one up... maybe split it the next day... so, a couple or three hours for a couple of days... and then a week later, when you had the time, did another one... once they started disappearing, the task might not seem quite so impossible. I don't know this, I'm only suggesting that it might be something you can do... especially if you can find a couple of guys to help, letting them take what wood they can use. I know that myself and half the people on this site would be right over there with chainsaws, trucks, trailers and hotdogs with just a word, if we lived close by.

You're right, though.. that much wood going to waste might drive me completely insane!

 

[maplegrovetom]

Tie your penis in a knot, or you'll really find out what no FREE time to cut firewood is about.

 

[Woody912]

get your hickory and beech first, they will rot quickly. Ash can stand more waiting. Maybe find a bud with a tractor to get them out to a landing for you if you have an open space available

 

[ArtB]

lax?

how old are you and you wife ?

makes a big difference in the answer - wife and I built a house and cleared 5 acres in our mid 20 with 2 kids.

a. if young, Prioritize: NO TV, no movies, eat out once a year on anniversary, etc.... 100 hour work weeks are easy at that age (caveat: my day job was at a desk, so could 'rest up' at day job). Maybe invest in a small dozer or loader, machines make life a lot easier, as woody said. Our fondest memories now are the seemingly endless work when we were young but made great by working together.

b. Now, if you are 72 YO like me and DW (you with a 40 YO wife ? -- lucky you), no way you could do it all, the getting older stuff is rewarding with grandkids but do miss the energy of past decades.
If I had a 40 YO wife, I'd plain let it compost, there are more important things in life <G> .

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

VFW, if it was harvested for saw logs a large amount of wood will be left with the tops. It is all the wood that was not straight enough for the mill. Yes, it could be as much as 1/3 of the total wood that is left behind as tops. It is great for firewood but not straight enough for the sawmill.

Odd way of doing things.

We haul tree length and then cut saw logs in the yard. The "waste" is turned into firewood.

And yup, 100 hr weeks are cake. That's only 14 hrs a day, still leaves 10hrs for sleep and other stuff.

 

[Woody912]

Odd way of doing things.

We haul tree length and then cut saw logs in the yard. The "waste" is turned into firewood.

And yup, 100 hr weeks are cake. That's only 14 hrs a day, still leaves 10hrs for sleep and other stuff.

Apparently you are doing a lot of limbing then? Here, drop the tree cut a log or 3 and walk away mostly. In the midwest, trees pretty much grow on rough ground. Skidding a whole tree is probably a big job. I can barely get a tractor in and out of where I am cutting firewood right now

 

[HuskStihl]

Trees are a lot bigger when they're on the ground.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Apparently you are doing a lot of limbing then? Here, drop the tree cut a log or 3 and walk away mostly. In the midwest, trees pretty much grow on rough ground. Skidding a whole tree is probably a big job. I can barely get a tractor in and out of where I am cutting firewood right now

Skid the trees to the landing, delimb with stroke delimber and sort in piles, then haul out with truck.

Usually skid 7-10 trees at a time. Use 648D and 648GIII

All that's left is branches which get burned, buried or scattered in thevwoods, all depending on the landowner.

 

[92utownxh]

Don't forget to enjoy time with family. I'm speaking as someone who has 3 kids: 6 yo, 18 month old, and 6 weeks old. Sure, kids are a lot of time and work, but they're amazing. I get out at least once a week to cut and split. My wife is with the 6 week old most of the time. I take the 6 yo and 18 month old with me if I'm not running a saw or splitter. They love helping with firewood and going with me. Get a good, high quality hiking style carrier for the young one. That thing is amazing. If I don't want him on the ground I put him in that. He feeds the animals with me, milks goats, gets eggs, walks in the woods. It's about balance I guess. I work 40 hours a week in town, but still have time be with family and do what I want to do. I bring my family along. If they didn't enjoy it too it would never work. Our 18 month old loves being outside. It doesn't matter what the temperature is. He brings me his boots and snow suit all the time.

Just do what you can, don't worry about it. Have people help you if needed. Enjoy it!

 

[Philbert]

A lot depends on what you want out of it and what you want to do. Having a little get-together (GTG) is a good way to get some help. You could also try to sell the tops on CraigsList.

If you want the wood, maybe: drag the tops to a cleared area; limb off the small branches that you do not want; section the logs/limbs/branches into manageable lengths that you can haul (4 to 8 feet?); then bring those home and store them off the ground in a way so that they wont rot. Then you can cut, split, and stack them at your leisure, even when you have only a couple of hours at a time, or need to stay close to home.

You should be able to process and move several tops a day like this - more if you have help. Then you can spread the rest out over a few years if you want. Splitting on site has it's advantages, but takes more time up front.

Philbert

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Odd way of doing things.

We haul tree length and then cut saw logs in the yard. The "waste" is turned into firewood.

And yup, 100 hr weeks are cake. That's only 14 hrs a day, still leaves 10hrs for sleep and other stuff.

Hardwoods are a little different than wait you're used to. Fewer logs, a lot more canopy.

You can't skid a whole tree out when a 60' tree has a 60' spread.

 

[beentown]

How it works here is also anything smaller than mains gets left. Then I scrounge it.

 

[Woody912]

Hardwoods are a little different than wait you're used to. Fewer logs, a lot more canopy.

You can't skid a whole tree out when a 60' tree has a 60' spread.

Watched a Youtube vid the other day, had to push a buttlog with a Cat to help the skidder with one tree, minus limbs. To the OP, when I am in the acquisition mode I split each round only one time to break the bark seal, splitting to stove size occurs when I get to it. muddy days etc but when ground is dry or frozen I concentrate on just getting stuff out of the woods

 

[bitzer]

65 trees could be 15-20 thousand board feet (give or take depending on tree size). That means typically I'd take 15-20 cords pulp wood with it and i would leave 15-20 cords short firewood (non truckable wood, ugly stuff). So if they just took logs you could be looking at 30-40 cords cut out of the tops depending on how thorough.

 

[northmanlogging]

just a thought...

Buck em to stove length, stack em up in a hay pile type or just a mound and cover with some cheap tarps, should help them keep longer if you keep it dry. Split as needed later. Should get you a few extra years before things start rotting.

All this talk of skidding is probably more work then its worth, if the gator or truck can reach it, call it good enough cut and stack more or less in place, maybe keep it close to a road of some sort. Pulling logs with a pick up truck is hard on pickup trucks.