Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

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I have the "horse" model too, from back before they cheapoed them! It's our second one, as we have always had gardens and we completely wore the first one out, so I bought this one. (I wish we had bought a BCS instead)

Anyway, the second one is still in near new condition as we haven't used it for years, it just sits in the loft in the barn. Those things are waaaay too much work! lol If fact, I was just saying the other day, that I should get it down and sell it!

I moved on up to a Howard rotavator years ago...and I've made a pile of money with it doing custom tilling... It's easily paid for itself a couple times over... :)

SR
 
lots of viewing to catch up on this thread - Nice to see all the great photos - looks like some SOME VERY NICE SCROUNGING !

Gutting and renovating a property over the coming weeks so I'll be sparse here for a while.
- - -
Usually the only surprises one encounters here when scrounging wood is spotting a Bobcat nearby or having a cougar examine you for a potential meal while you're working with the saw (the young males are often hungry and pretty fearless). No poisonous snakes not many ticks on the coast mountains and no nasty plants except devils club but it's rare and easy to deal with ...

.
 
I think I ran into a better one than the electric company taking down the trees for us and chipping the brush.
One of my customers had a bunch of ash trees taken down last year and cut firewood size.
She asked me to haul them off so I went over there and her husband let me use his tractor and log splitter too.
Only thing,one of the horses BamBam is kind of playful and will swipe your hat when your not paying attention.
He also likes to nip at your shirt sleeves to mess with you.
A friend needed some wood too so we decided to work together on it.
We estimated the pile to be 8 cord we took a truck and 5x10 trailer out and couldn't hardly tell any was gone.
Then we noticed about a 100-
.150 foot long stack 3 ft high along the back fence too.
I offered to get some diesel for the tractor and he said he was going to get some.
She wants my boys like to visit the property to ride the horses.
I got a good feeling on this one hope we stay in touch for a long while.
She also mentioned there were a bunch more ash that need taken down I might get some logs to mill too.
I'm grateful things are going pretty good and will say a good word for her.
Chad
 
chads said:
I think I ran into a better one than the electric company taking down the trees for us and chipping the brush.
One of my customers had a bunch of ash trees taken down last year and cut firewood size.
She asked me to haul them off so I went over there and her husband let me use his tractor and log splitter too.
Only thing,one of the horses BamBam is kind of playful and will swipe your hat when your not paying attention.
He also likes to nip at your shirt sleeves to mess with you.
A friend needed some wood too so we decided to work together on it.
We estimated the pile to be 8 cord we took a truck and 5x10 trailer out and couldn't hardly tell any was gone.
Then we noticed about a 100-
.150 foot long stack 3 ft high along the back fence too.
I offered to get some diesel for the tractor and he said he was going to get some.
She wants my boys like to visit the property to ride the horses.
I got a good feeling on this one hope we stay in touch for a long while.
She also mentioned there were a bunch more ash that need taken down I might get some logs to mill too.
I'm grateful things are going pretty good and will say a good word for her.
Chad
Click to expand...

Wow, that is an amazing score! I guess they burn wood too ( because they have a splitter) but just have so much it is up for grabs.
 
I have about 500-800 bf of milled ash that was killed by the eab. they concentrate on the layer just under the bark.
Might make a funny looking live edge but other than that nice lumber.
One of them had some staining since it sat dead for a while but still useable.
Ohio lifted the county to county transport ban since it is in all counties now.
Not sure on the state to state at this point but I think it is prohibited.
Not a big deal for me since I am in the center of the state.
The mother of the lady who gave me the wood dropped off a lemon meringue pie today.
Must be my day.
Chad
 
IMG-20140511-00431.jpg
That's my 6 foot tall 15 year old standing to the side of this load I happened to come across about a mile from the house as we were driving to the store yesterday. I want to say THANK YOU to everyone that keeps reminding the rest of us that the #1 rule in scrounging is "DON'T be afraid to ask!"

We first drove by and I made the statement "That's a nice load of elm, but I bet they already have plans for it." To which my son said "You'll never know for sure without asking though." It was little more than a rhetorical response from him, as he's heard me say the same so often, but it prompted me to make a u-turn and go back to ask. Long story short, I got in touch with the owner of the landscaping company that was doing the cutting and he said "I have a friend and my brother-in-law that both wanted it, but they're busy so knock yourself out and take all you want." He even said to not worry about cleaning up, as he'd take care of that after it was all gone!

Unfortunately, after fighting with my saw for an hour and not being able to get it started and running out of time before my wife returns home from a weekend getaway with her girlfriends, I called him and said thanks, but I'm out of luck. Turns out his shop is located about a mile in the other direction, but hidden behind his home, so I didn't even know it existed. He invited me to stop by and showed me an area where he drops logs, etc. after cutting and said I could come by anytime I want wood and take whatever I want. FINALLY! I HAVE A WOOD GUY!!! There was some elm, maple and pine there but I had to pass, being without a working saw at the moment. We walked around his shop for awhile (wow, he has some cool stuff!) and then he invited me into the house and we sat with his wife, daughter-in-law and grandkids with their dog falling in love with my lap. lol What a great day!

Had I not stopped and asked, I'd have never met this incredibly nice gentleman and his family, or found a great source for wood, for as long as it will last.

It never hurts to ask!
 
BillNole said:
View attachment 349793
That's my 6 foot tall 15 year old standing to the side of this load I happened to come across about a mile from the house as we were driving to the store yesterday. I want to say THANK YOU to everyone that keeps reminding the rest of us that the #1 rule in scrounging is "DON'T be afraid to ask!"

We first drove by and I made the statement "That's a nice load of elm, but I bet they already have plans for it." To which my son said "You'll never know for sure without asking though." It was little more than a rhetorical response from him, as he's heard me say the same so often, but it prompted me to make a u-turn and go back to ask. Long story short, I got in touch with the owner of the landscaping company that was doing the cutting and he said "I have a friend and my brother-in-law that both wanted it, but they're busy so knock yourself out and take all you want." He even said to not worry about cleaning up, as he'd take care of that after it was all gone!

Unfortunately, after fighting with my saw for an hour and not being able to get it started and running out of time before my wife returns home from a weekend getaway with her girlfriends, I called him and said thanks, but I'm out of luck. Turns out his shop is located about a mile in the other direction, but hidden behind his home, so I didn't even know it existed. He invited me to stop by and showed me an area where he drops logs, etc. after cutting and said I could come by anytime I want wood and take whatever I want. FINALLY! I HAVE A WOOD GUY!!! There was some elm, maple and pine there but I had to pass, being without a working saw at the moment. We walked around his shop for awhile (wow, he has some cool stuff!) and then he invited me into the house and we sat with his wife, daughter-in-law and grandkids with their dog falling in love with my lap. lol What a great day!

Had I not stopped and asked, I'd have never met this incredibly nice gentleman and his family, or found a great source for wood, for as long as it will last.

It never hurts to ask!
Click to expand...
Sounds like you need a spare saw.. even if its not the best.. but a spare none the less.. You have been blessed with that deal of a life time.
 
dancan said:
Only one saw ..... You like living in the edge LOL
Click to expand...

I used to have another, but I gave it to a buddy that was without. Everytime I come across a deal that makes me consider the second saw, some other greater priority wins out. I even considered for a moment, running down to HD to rent one of their Makita's for half a day, just to try it out and finish this score, but I'm not desperate enough for that. lol
 
Really nice score Bill. It would be worth your while to find a way to chunk that wood up into manageable pieces, and get it moved. The faster you have scrounged wood in your possession, the less chance you have of losing it, either from the owner changing his mind, or giving it to someone else. JMO
 
mainewoods said:
Really nice score Bill. It would be worth your while to find a way to chunk that wood up into manageable pieces, and get it moved. The faster you have scrounged wood in your possession, the less chance you have of losing it, either from the owner changing his mind, or giving it to someone else. JMO
Click to expand...

I've had all of next year's wood stacked since last year, so I'm not too concerned about it at the moment. It seems almost every year that I tend to go through a "dry-spell" during which I don't come across any wood for awhile, but then I almost always get lucky at some point.

I've already accepted that I won't get this load. The picture showing my son next to the stack was taken when he and I went back to see if there was anything we could fit in the truck without cutting, after I'd given up on the saw. No luck. Almost all of the logs are about 12 feet long and they guy doing the cutting was just about to begin bringing 2 foot long sections of the main trunk around. They were so big, he had to cut them down to avoid his skidder tearing up the yard too much.
 
Understood. I missed the part where you passed on the score. Good to always be ahead on your wood though. This is just one of the reasons why.
 
BillNole said:
View attachment 349793
That's my 6 foot tall 15 year old standing to the side of this load I happened to come across about a mile from the house as we were driving to the store yesterday. I want to say THANK YOU to everyone that keeps reminding the rest of us that the #1 rule in scrounging is "DON'T be afraid to ask!"

We first drove by and I made the statement "That's a nice load of elm, but I bet they already have plans for it." To which my son said "You'll never know for sure without asking though." It was little more than a rhetorical response from him, as he's heard me say the same so often, but it prompted me to make a u-turn and go back to ask. Long story short, I got in touch with the owner of the landscaping company that was doing the cutting and he said "I have a friend and my brother-in-law that both wanted it, but they're busy so knock yourself out and take all you want." He even said to not worry about cleaning up, as he'd take care of that after it was all gone!

Unfortunately, after fighting with my saw for an hour and not being able to get it started and running out of time before my wife returns home from a weekend getaway with her girlfriends, I called him and said thanks, but I'm out of luck. Turns out his shop is located about a mile in the other direction, but hidden behind his home, so I didn't even know it existed. He invited me to stop by and showed me an area where he drops logs, etc. after cutting and said I could come by anytime I want wood and take whatever I want. FINALLY! I HAVE A WOOD GUY!!! There was some elm, maple and pine there but I had to pass, being without a working saw at the moment. We walked around his shop for awhile (wow, he has some cool stuff!) and then he invited me into the house and we sat with his wife, daughter-in-law and grandkids with their dog falling in love with my lap. lol What a great day!

Had I not stopped and asked, I'd have never met this incredibly nice gentleman and his family, or found a great source for wood, for as long as it will last.

It never hurts to ask!
Click to expand...

Sounds to me that your saw broke down at the right time. You found a source of (unlimited, free) wood and didn't need to process hard to split elm when I would guess there are higher btu, easier to split species at his shop. Nice!
 

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