Skunked 2x!

[turnkey4099]

Went yesterday to harvest one small and one medium B. Locust located on one slope of a mini canyon and needed to yard them up the opposite slope:

Chose the spar tree showing - stands right on the edge of almost a cliff. 2.5 hours rigging a 2x ma tow, try to pull, cut tree in half, get maybe 8' of the top up and cut up. Try for the rest of that top = no go. Tossed everything in truck and left empty.

Today back to it. Move to another spar tree about 20' back from the edge:

A 1x ma pull brought te rest of the top to the spar tree but then I'd have to carry/toss/roll every round about 20' to the truck. Picked another spar tree and rigged up a second 2x ma -hooked to the big end and brought the rest of the top in. gonna have to do the same to every section of log - two pulls.

Cut up and took a breather to admire the success only took 40 minutes. Looked over my shoulder and saw the biggest, blackest cloud mass rolling in up canyon. I have seen those things drop an 1" of rain in less than a minute. I'm down a fairly stiff slope in the middle of a wheat field with a 2x PU! Mad scramble to toss saws, cables, chains, snatch blocks and ladder in the truck leaving the rigging and 60' of cable hanging in the first spar tree - fairly safe there as it is a remote location - go back again tomorrow or next day to continue.

Ah well, fun is fun but I put almost 3/4 tank of gas on trips out there to harvest those two trees and haven't got one stick to show for it.

Harry K

 

[Cheesecutter]

Wouldn't you be farther ahead to offer the landowner/farmer a few bucks to pull them out with a tractor? Not as much of a challenge, but more efficient I would think.

 

[turnkey4099]

Wouldn't you be farther ahead to offer the landowner/farmer a few bucks to pull them out with a tractor? Not as much of a challenge, but more efficient I would think.

Deal is that I can harvest them but only allowed one track in. Any towing other than the one spot I am in would ruin a bunch of crop. Spring wheat is up about 8" already. Besides there is fun in finessing problems. I got about 5 cord of B. Locust blow downs out of that hole last year, mostly after harvest where the pulling could be done out in the stubble.

Harry K

 

[pennsywoodburnr]

Turnkey, I know man, it sucks getting beat down by trees. Nature can suck even worse too sometimes!! Give us a couple :camera: when you get those things dropped.

 

[turnkey4099]

Turnkey, I know man, it sucks getting beat down by trees. Nature can suck even worse too sometimes!! Give us a couple :camera: when you get those things dropped.

gonna be awhile for that. Almost all of them lean out which means waiting till after harvest. I am cutting another guy in on it but I don't know how motivated he is. For sure I don't need everything there is there. Some people say I don't need any more than the about 60cord I already have stacked . 77 and I figure 60 cord = about 10 years. With no major health problems I figure I'll live a bit longer than that.

Harry K