Conundrum, what would you do?

[c5rulz]

I normally process about 25 cord but sometimes a little more. The stack is 150' long, 4 rows deep and 4'4" tall on pallets. This year I am about on track and have 110' of the 150' ranked in rounds to be split for when the snow gets deeper.

So............

The Country Club I belong to is taking out about 100 ash trees and I know the Superintendent and have dibs on the wood which will be bucked into 8' 4" logs and will be dumped on level ground next to the maintenance shop. I normally only take Red & White Oak and Hickory. This will be so easy and will be clean wood, not cable skidded and within 5 miles of my house.

Then........... Yesterday I met a landowner who had his land logged last year and he wants these pesky cull logs GONE! Even said he would help with his skid steer. The are very dirty and frozen right now. There is at least 10 cord I can have. But he alluded to the aprox 700 tops in the woods too. I don't have a means of dealing with the stuff in the woods but he does. He's a nice guy I did business with back in my working days.

Part of pile of dirty logs

This is a work truck after all:

 

[ArtB]

Learned a long time ago to get while the getting is good. May be a day when you wished you had that wood as backup.

Leave the dirty stuff in the rain for a season to clean it off.

 

[c5rulz]

Learned a long time ago to get while the getting is good. May be a day when you wished you had that wood as backup.

Leave the dirty stuff in the rain for a season to clean it off.

Pretty much my sentiments on scrounging.

It is a year old, all the dirt from the logs on top are now on the log below.

 

[rancher2]

If you have the room and time I would take all you can get. Not having to deal with brush is a win win.

 

[U&A]

Tell your friend the truth.

I would tell him You have some ash you want to get first. After that, you can help him with his wood but you will need time.

If you were not making a living off the wood i would say help your friend first. But this is a business for you. Take the easy clean stuff first. And ash will be well seasoned in a year.



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[hanniedog]

Take the ash first then work on the other stuff.

 

[Polish hammer]

Get the ash... Maybe rent or hire out a processor for it just to get it done and out of the way the get the dirty stuff still be time n money ahead

 

[c5rulz]

Tell your friend the truth.

I would tell him You have some ash you want to get first. After that, you can help him with his wood but you will need time.

If you were not making a living off the wood i would say help your friend first. But this is a business for you. Take the easy clean stuff first. And ash will be well seasoned in a year.



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Take the ash first then work on the other stuff.

Get the ash... Maybe rent or hire out a processor for it just to get it done and out of the way the get the dirty stuff still be time n money ahead

Well I am kind of a wood snob, I normally only due Red & White Oak. I've never tried to sell Ash before. Thinking maybe about doing both, but the Ash will not bring as much $$ in the market around here.

 

[Deleted member 117362]

Mainly red oak suffering from wilt around here. Neighbor likes mixing ash with oak, says it burns cleaner. Have to agree with him, I tend his owb when he is working out of town and seems ash from his owb is much finer than my owb. If it's free, it's me! Take care and be safe no matter what you decide.

 

[Deleted member 116684]

I wish I had this conundrum!
Which stack of wood makes more, neighbors or the clubs, given processing time?

 

[c5rulz]

I wish I had this conundrum!
Which stack of wood makes more, neighbors or the clubs, given processing time?

Processing time is the same and that is why in the past I only do oak. When my logger buddies are in town they load my trailer with the forwarder and that is a ton quicker. All I have to do is cut on the trailer and roll off. Also keeps all the mess on the trailer.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Conundrum! I like that word.
Frozen dirt is a pain I'm dealing with too. Sharpening a lot just to take advantage of the weather.
Rain today...

Sounds like there are three things to prioritize.
The country club; the land owners logs; the land owners tops.
Country club: 100 ash trees. Ash. Pile.
Logs: 10 cord. Species? Dirt. Pile. Wants it gone.
Tops: 700 tops. Species? Processing.
Does hiring a log truck help or not? Or renting a tractor and grapple for a weekend to move logs?
With the landowner wanting it gone, and you having four saws, I'd cut up the dirt into rounds, split later, with the tops in mind.
That's assuming the Country club can wait.
You may want to clarify what getting the tops involves, such as clean up etc., or just cutting.
It may be time to buy some equipment with grapple.

 

[c5rulz]

I normally very seldom deal with tops and due to the terrain around here it would be impossible. The only viable option is with a 4WD tractor, ice chains and a logging winch and I am not going to do that. My normal mainstay is log cut offs left behind after commercial logging ceases. One site can generally last a year. All of this would be oak and premium hardwoods and is on level ground.

The landowner thing has a more relaxed time frame and can probably go into next year. He has a tracked skid steer and a grapple too but that limits efficiency compared to driving up to a pile of logs and chucking in truck/trailer.

The tops are not important to me or him, but they are there. It is a shame but one normally does what is most expedient. I bought an ATV and have a small trailer but I find it is a toy when it comes to making serious amounts of firewood.


As far as the dirt, I am used to that all cable skidded logs have some degree, this is just worse than normal. Ice on the logs is surprisingly bad too. I just broke out a couple loops of semi chisel which I really don't like.

 

[Oldmaple]

I wish I had enough Ash to burn all winter on it. You can have my Oak. Ash is 23.6 million btu/cord, Oak is 24.0 million btu/cord. Pretty close. Ash dries better and splits easier. I know, you're in the firewood business and Oak sells because people don't know any better. I'd take the easiest stuff to get at and process if you can sell it.

 

[c5rulz]

I wish I had enough Ash to burn all winter on it. You can have my Oak. Ash is 23.6 million btu/cord, Oak is 24.0 million btu/cord. Pretty close. Ash dries better and splits easier. I know, you're in the firewood business and Oak sells because people don't know any better. I'd take the easiest stuff to get at and process if you can sell it.

I understand what you are saying and agree with you. I knew this ash deal was coming all Summer. I asked current clients what their preference was and without fail, all wanted oak. Chances are to sell the Ash, it would have to be discounted $40/cord based on my experience with the local market. Campfire people don't care. Actually for campfires black walnut has been very popular. It smells good and burns with a nice blue flame.