A lot of great responses... I have a hard time keeping up. I greatly appreciate it.
I agree with nathon 918,
I'd drop the trees, cut off the brush and leave in woods, drag to the edge of the wood, buck up rounds and hand toss into trailer and truck since you are splitting someplace else. If you can get the truck/trailer to the tree, even better. I'd forget about the small arm wood and chuck it in the burn pile. The winch looks neat but must take way too much time.
That's another thing... I've been, for the most part, taking all wood home down to about 2.5" - 3" in diameter. I just have a hard time letting the wood go to waste.
The winch is more for bringing logs in closer for lifting than picking up logs - the jack is used for that portion. It actually doesn't go too bad if the logs are relatively lined up / staged for pickup.
Perhaps a meeting with the both of you in order to mark all the remaining trees to be removed, keeping access to the landing in mind...?
Are the adjacent RR tracks functional and if so, are they in regular or infrequent use?
Well there's a little more to the story about marking the trees. The actual owner of the property lives in NC. She only comes up every few months to visit family. Her son is who I have been dealing with. I've tried getting him to mark everything, but he seems pretty adamant about marking, clearing, then marking more. I believe his mother with walk with him and give some guidance as to what she would like to see. For free wood... I'm not going to argue too much about it.
Since I've been working there I haven't seen a train go by. There may be enough width for me to drive the 1/4 mile or so down the tracks to the back of the property - just not sure of the legality of doing that though. Also, it's a classic raised railroad bed that mounds up to the tracks... maybe 6' rise or so??? I might be able to get the truck down, but doubtful if I could get it back out. Might be able to back the tractor up the bank. I will look at it in person today after work.
I agree the others-cut it all, drag it to a staging area(s), and pile the logs. You mentioned your brother could bring a skid steer. My suggestion would be to see if your brother could set a day or 2 to help you. I'm assuming he has a heavy built trailer and truck to pull it, maybe you could rent it. You should be able to haul good sized loads on that. Load the logs with the skid steer and a grapple bucket or forks if available. You could have your tractor at home to unload. When you get to the last trailer load of wood you could go back, burn the brush, and toss the last load on by hand. You may have to call off work for a day, but you can definitely move a lot of wood in a hurry this way. Maybe your wife or a friend could run your truck/trailer to speed things up. A couple friends/helpers at this point are worth their weight in gold.
Here's how we did it a couple years ago- I stayed at the woods with the skidsteer. Between loads I bucked, staged, limbed/brushed, and burned. My buddy and my wife each hauled, 70 mile round trip every 2 hours for 14 hours straight. My step son unloaded at home with FEL.
My brother works for a landscaping company and the owner would charge him $250 + fuel (in the truck and skid steer) per day to rent it. Then I would feel obligated to pay him something as well… probably $10-$15 / hr to operate it. So I could see that coming out to $400-$500 for an 8 hour day. Probably not a bad price for the work to get done, but a bit out of my budget – I just sold my old 4 wheeler and 4’x7’ trailer to pay our propane bill.
I admire your work ethic and stick-to-it attitude for sure.
I'm only about 25 miles from you. Geneva. Top of the middle finger of the lakes. :msp_tongue:
Kinda' jammed up myself right now timewise with work and all but I'll make a few phone calls to fellow woodburners for ya'. If you'd be willing to swap wood for work I might be able to help you out, and a couple more pairs of experienced hands and eyes could make a big difference in a weekend of work. Shoot me a PM with a phone number and I'll see if I can help.
Mark
This might work as the lot is in Geneva…
All you can do is go in and cut when it is wet, go back and hump it out when dry.
Yeah… that’s what I’m doing now for the most part – but I take small loads of the ash so I can keep my fire going and that pesky propane bill down.
The homeowner will just have to be more flexible, it just has to be made clear, he wants you to speed it up, so you went in hock for a tractor (which is way cool!!), but now cant use the tractor??? Almost time to walk away from that job, but I also understand you need to recoup enough to pay for your new gear, so you cant. Or you can use the tractor but not right up to the yard and lawn? If that is the case, like the others suggest, leave the tractor there, walk in, go cut and drag, yard it up as close as possible before the no rut zone begins, then go for it when dry and get the logs home then.
Correct… I can use the tractor – just have to stay at the back half of the property.
I think the job outmatched your equipment and available time. Scavenging free wood is one thing, land clearing for someone else is an entirely different animal. The only winner in this scheme is the landowner who has avoided having to pay someone to do the work you have provided for free. There is a reason why loggers didn't want the job and your return on investment has shown why. You have learned an expensive lesson but I do admire your work ethic.
I agree on that for sure…
