...the first standing-dead of the season.
You ever have those mornings when you begin to think getting out of bed was a bad idea?
Well, the tree I had picked-out stood just behind the machine shed, and I was dead-sure it fall to the south. So I carried the saw around without a single other tool with me :bang: and... yep, the saw is pinched tight in the back cut. I ran to the shop and grabbed my scrench and a couple felling wedges... got the power head off and managed to get a wedge started so the tree did end up falling south. The exposed inner wood looks funny and on closer examination it appears quite punky. Well crap, it's only 7:00 AM and I'm already a sweaty mess... and all I've accomplished is the felling cuts on a rotten tree. I just about gave up right then and there, thinking I'd just go to the beer cooler and be done with the day.
But, I started bucking. The lower 5-feet or so was a bit punky, but bone dry instead of the normal wet. By the time I've worked 12-feet up the trunk I notice the chips coming of the saw are getting dark. So even though the morning started out in the crapper it didn't turn out to bad... I ended up with a load of perfectly seasoned, bark-less, bone-dry RED Elm. Had it all split and stacked in the basement wood room before lunch time. Which left me plenty of time to raid the beer cooler all afternoon.
You ever have those mornings when you begin to think getting out of bed was a bad idea?
Well, the tree I had picked-out stood just behind the machine shed, and I was dead-sure it fall to the south. So I carried the saw around without a single other tool with me :bang: and... yep, the saw is pinched tight in the back cut. I ran to the shop and grabbed my scrench and a couple felling wedges... got the power head off and managed to get a wedge started so the tree did end up falling south. The exposed inner wood looks funny and on closer examination it appears quite punky. Well crap, it's only 7:00 AM and I'm already a sweaty mess... and all I've accomplished is the felling cuts on a rotten tree. I just about gave up right then and there, thinking I'd just go to the beer cooler and be done with the day.
But, I started bucking. The lower 5-feet or so was a bit punky, but bone dry instead of the normal wet. By the time I've worked 12-feet up the trunk I notice the chips coming of the saw are getting dark. So even though the morning started out in the crapper it didn't turn out to bad... I ended up with a load of perfectly seasoned, bark-less, bone-dry RED Elm. Had it all split and stacked in the basement wood room before lunch time. Which left me plenty of time to raid the beer cooler all afternoon.