Scrounging gone wrong - Not mine
- Thread starter reddogrunner
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
Thread revival time, plus I am bored so here is a reply,I do cleanup other scrounges that hacks loot and leave. I got ticked at one home owner big time. I went to scrounge and the owner told me that because we did not know each other I had to take the brush 1st. It was a large maple so I did as he asked and took the brush 1st. When I got back that day he let someone else take all the good woodHis answer was 1st come 1st to take it. I told him off big time. Later on I thought I should have brought back his brush and put it behind his car. 1st come last served.
I scrounge wood when its convenient. Now the problem with my method is the tree owners dont always play by the rules. As referenced above. My biggest problem is I dont like having to buck a tree into little pieces, and then carry it and load on a truck or trailer one piece at a time. For that reason, I am very selective as to what wood I will accept, and what wood I will leave for the next guy. Not a firewood snob, but work just makes me sweat. I hate handleing wood more than necessary, for that reason, I prefer to get my wood in log lengths. I cant pickup logs by hand so equipment to load, has to be on site. I use a dump trailer to haul on so i can dump the logs at home and process at my convenience. My trailer will usually hold all of one pretty good size tree, so I get all or most of the wood in one trip. Small limbs, I saw ten ft long or longer if possible, if I have to get rid of the brush, this turns the limbs into usable firewood and helps fill the trailer, and eliminates a good bit of brush. Now around here, if you can reduce the amount of brush into a small pile, the owneres will usually just turn the brush into firepit wood, or make a small brush pile and burn it themselfs. Might not be able to get away with that if the tree is in a row of houses, inside a city limit, but out here in the country, its usually no problem. I have made a return trip or two and loaded the brush on my trailer and hauled it home and dumped it down in the woods, but not often. At anyrate, the firewood goes first and I finish the brush after the firewood is dumped next to my wood pile. I miss getting a lot of possible scrounges because there wasnt any easy way to get the wood loaded, but it doesnt take but 4 or 5 good size trees to last me a winter burning season.
Johnny Yooper
ArboristSite Operative
I've been scrounging heavily since I got an OWB 13 years ago; I do a lot of asking and score about half the time; one memorable scrounge involved a yard in town where the owner cut about 6 or 8 large trees, 30+ inch dia. basswood, silver maple and white ash; not the highest on the btu scale but it was very handy, back the truck trailer up close, cut and load; homeowner hauled the choice logs to a local mill and the rest was laying in the yard, huge mess, looked like a bomb went off; he had several people ask to take what remained but I was very persistent and he ultimately said ok to me with the condition that I would also have to haul all the brush away; I replied that I would even rake the yard when I was done, we shook on it and after 9 trailer loads of firewood I went back for three more loads of brush and one more trip back filled up the trailer with all the stuff I raked up; he was happy, I was happy; I even got a bunch of fresh eggs from his hobby farm and I returned the favor with a bottle of maple syrup. Another scrounge occurred at a co-worker's house: 40+ inch dia. silver maple taken down plus 20 inch ash, told him to have the tree service drop 'em and leave 'em as I'll take it all; he thought I was nuts as his yard looked like a bomb area with limbs, logs, brush all over, huge mess, but I said I'd take care of it; the maple was a challenge with my 18 and 20 inch saws, but even the largest tree starts with the first cut; the next door neighbor saw our efforts and offered me several trees that he had taken down as well, so an extra score. Then, just last month, I asked to take a 43 inch maple that came down in a storm, tree service removed it from the homeowner's roof and took everything 12 inches and smaller, in the back yard with no access so wheelbarrowed it all to the driveway to load the trailer; 8 trailer loads there. My approach to every scrounge opportunity is simple: be up front, honest, courteous; if they are reluctant, I offer to take brush, rake the yard, whatever, I give them my number if they want to think it over; if they agree to you snagging the wood, treat their property like your own, keep your word, follow through with exactly what you said you were going to do. Word of mouth is powerful, I've gotten calls to come take trees down or clean up downed trees and take the wood from people I don't know or barely know; took one down just today for someone that I removed a tree from their yard two years ago. Word travels fast, good or bad; make it be good.
you were dealing with a wise ass homeowner,, that probably already promised the good wood to someone else..he watched when you took the brush,, then called said friend.........(edit) the reason I said this,,its exactly what the town I live in did to me...............4 huge trees of hard maple...and a certain council person didn't like me,,and pulled this off,,for a "friend" of his...turd..I do cleanup other scrounges that hacks loot and leave. I got ticked at one home owner big time. I went to scrounge and the owner told me that because we did not know each other I had to take the brush 1st. It was a large maple so I did as he asked and took the brush 1st. When I got back that day he let someone else take all the good wood
bikemike
loud pipes save lives
Guy that lives near my house. Nice guy so again I feel bad posting it.
He lets me cut as much as I want for my firepit but I kind of need to take whatever is on his list so I've hauled out full loads of boxelder too. This was a multi leader oak that partially broke off higher up and he somehow got it cut down. Assuming there must have been compression on the wood and he just kept eating until he got through.
DSW
Addicted to ArboristSite
Yeah, no hate here. How well someone can run a saw doesn't affect how I think of them.
My best buddies couldn't sharpen a chain if their life depended on it. My other good buddies would have to forgive me for not being able to write a line of code if mine depended on it.
I was just curious the idea behind it.
My best buddies couldn't sharpen a chain if their life depended on it. My other good buddies would have to forgive me for not being able to write a line of code if mine depended on it.
I was just curious the idea behind it.
i would of took the brush backI do cleanup other scrounges that hacks loot and leave. I got ticked at one home owner big time. I went to scrounge and the owner told me that because we did not know each other I had to take the brush 1st. It was a large maple so I did as he asked and took the brush 1st. When I got back that day he let someone else take all the good wood
as he new you were taking all the wood
Yep. I clean up in the immediate area where I am working. My buddy objected that I am 'trying to make a park'. I have a good list from several farmers to give recommendations when I am out on scrounging searches.
I lucked into several good finds by checking on sites that had been "worked" but left in a mess.
One good scrounge that I had asked about came to me some 5 years after I asked and got told "maybe later". Got a call from the landowner that I could cut all the black locust, some 6 fair sized trees.
Little Al
Addicted to ArboristSite
Little Al
Addicted to ArboristSite
Am I reading your post correctly ? you only want to cut wood to log length at source but you can't lift to load & require loading/handling equpt do you supply this & or are you relying on the wood owner to provide ? your description is a bit unclear ,
I gotta turn my scrounging card in. I cut on 3 properties, in the woods, don't clean up anything. I do cut extra wood for one properties hired hand, but he's my BIL, and runs the loader. Dad retired in 1986 and made $800,000 that year. I offically went to work For UPS, and kept my license, doing side work almost every weekend for years. I'm 62 now and have a big Oak to top out, put a tag line in and throw the log through the woods, $800. I just have mind meltdown thinking of doing hard work for free. Just joking with you guys. Gotta get out the door, heading for my pre op physical. Get my new knee Tuesday.
Or like these? I did these... errr... picked these up from a Craigslist scrounge earlier this year (ok, @svk you can give me the business here for accusing you of cutting the first example.
) Found one while I was splitting this week, then another and another - must be at least 6 that all look similar. I'm not quite sure what they were going for on the cuts - testing chains, bad cutting angle, bar too small, artistic interpretation?? I can't figure any advantage.
Nope, it's fine, just been sitting in a pile outside. It *is* pine so most people wouldn't use it just for that. It will go through the OWB with no problem.
Mold/mildew are actually considered microorganisms
I am not physically able to tote rounds out of the woods and load on a truck or trailer. I usually gets trees that have been cut to clear a new house site or driveway, and it usually only a few smaller trees. The grading contractor usually had some sort of equipment on site. I try to work it out to where they can load my trailer for me. I have passed on some really good wood simply because I couldnt carry the wood by hand and I aint splitting by hand in the woods.. Once the logs are home, I can dump in a pile and take the tractor and fel to move the wood around for easy bucking. I can scoop the rounds in the bucket and lift them to the splitter which has a boom and place the heavy rounds on the beam. I back my dump trailer up to the splitter and let the splits just pile up on the trailer. I then back the trailer up to the stacks and stack off the trailer. I can and have taken the tractor to load my trailer, but unless its going to be more than one load, it usually isnt worth the effort. I also have a hyd winch on the tractor and can skid out trees I cant drive to. Skid them out, buck into 10ft lenghts, turn around and load on trailer and haul home. I have rounded up the steel to make a boom/winch to mount on the front of my dump trailer, I just havent gotten around to building the boom. Once built, it will make some of the wood I usually pass on, a lot easier to get.
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
The wood ticks around here usually get into log decks and cut out the middle, leaving the ends behind.
Never could figure how why that's done.. plus why they think a deck of logs would be for the taking even.
Never could figure how why that's done.. plus why they think a deck of logs would be for the taking even.
