Passing of the Punkin' Popple

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So there is a winters work. Should be close to 24 cords. Hopefully I can be there for some pictures when the log truck comes.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!

 

 

 

We are supposed to get 3 1/2" of rain, or 10" of snow, in the next 4 days, depending on temperatures. Junior and I scrambled up in the woods after supper to clean up the last of the logs, before we become swamp loggers!

 

He grabbed the pulp wood,

 

 

 

I loaded the rest of the bolts,

 

 

 

And we made one last trip home, for awhile anyways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, we got everything piled, just at dark, in the rain. Can't see it in the picture too good, but the bolts are on the left, and the pulp wood is on the right.

 

 

 

We need 12 cords of each to make a load. One load to the paper mill, and another to the sawmill. I think we need a couple more loads of good bolts just to be safe, but that's up to the saw man. Once it dries up again, the logging should be a lot easier. Plus, the trucker told me to hold on to the wood until June, when the mills empty out and the price may go up. That's about when the yard dries up anyways , so should work out perfect.

 

Sure was a blast working on this all winter. Time spent with kids, and family, and dog, and tractors, is time well spent.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

We were grabbing logs two at a time, but we just weren't getting the clearance I had imagined. My hook and loop and snatchblock and swivel all add up and take too much space.

 

 

 

 

Then I had an epiphany right out there in the snowbank. Put the high pulley back on and back up we went.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boy, that sucks em up nice and tight. We string chains under the log and release the winch a bit so it doesn't get jarred when going through the woods.

 

 

 

 

 

And then, to really put the day over the top, Uncle Eric showed up and brought Carter the single shot 20 gauge that both he and I have learned to shoot with. Suffice it to say, all logging operations ceased once that was brought out. Carter has never shot  a shotgun before, so I just wanted him to pop a few off to see how it felt. We were standing so close that the wad punched a hole in the target! He says it kicks a lot, but he wants to shoot it again. Maybe we will grab a slip on recoil pad for him, that single shot is pretty light.

 

 

 

 

And who was watching us while eating supper across the road? More deer in one spot than I have seen in several years of hunting. Kind of neat to watch them once they yard up for the winter.

 

 

 

Authors note: That field WAS soybeans and WAS combined with a green machine. The deer have been eating in that same field for several weeks now.

 

Thanks for looking!

Regards,

 Chris

 

Went up after work one night and skidded some whole trees across the field, up into the yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not a huge fan of skidding whole trees. It's tough in the woods, it's too easy to get frustrated when they won't move and jerk on them. It can be hard on the tractor, but when we drop them in the field and just skid them up to the yard, it isn't too bad.  It does eliminate having to load and unload them, you can just pick them up and throw them on the pile.

 

So, spent a Sunday morning cutting and piling...

 

 

 

The smaller ones are actually easier to flip onto the trailer, back up to the pile, and flip them end for end onto the pile.

 

 

 

 

Some of the bigger ones still require the tractor.

 

 

 

 

So, got the yard cleaned up, all logs put away, and drug a new batch up into the yard to do it all over again. The saw man came and cut them up during the week, and junior and I headed up for a day of fun working outside again.

 

 

Ahhhhh, the joys of teaching a kid to back up a trailer. Actually didn't take him too long and he got the hang of it.

 

 

 

Went around and knocked everything loose with a splitting maul.

 

 

 

 

Then we sort the sticks. Bolts stay up here, the pulpwood goes in the lower pile.

 

 

 

 

Now, to get the logs up on the pile. I made this handy attachment to bolt onto the arch. It is just a pulley mounted up high, with some loops to tie back to. Should give us the lift we need to make the pile higher. Also got a handy electric winch with remote control! Just runs on a truck battery, in the box of the gator for now. If we are going to use it a lot, may have to mount a battery box on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a video of how it works, unloading the wagon.

 

 

 

 

Of course, no day is complete if junior can't drive a tractor. Told him if anything goes wrong, to throw the hand clutch forward or shut the switch off, plus he was pulling logs across the field in second gear so I just walked along next to him.

 

 

 

 

 

So, another batch cleaned up. For all the work we are doing, the pile sure doesn't seem to be getting any bigger. But, we were in a bad batch of wood, it was mostly dozy, so a lot of it went on the pulp pile. Luckily, big brother went to a new spot and found some of the largest, straightest trees we have come to yet. Some of them are so big, I'm not sure the farm crane will lift them. We will get to try the log arch out yet!

 

Here is a question for you fellows. The new spot is across the creek and at the other end of an alfalfa field. Pa said we can't drive on the field cause it will crush the plants and kill them. There is 6" of snow on the field, and aren't they dormant now anyways? Its a little late now, I have been driving the trails after every snowfall to keep them open. And its a good thing too, cause if you fall off the trail, you start spinning and play hell to get back up on it!

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

 

 

 

they aren't the bushy windbreak type, they are "crown eucs" with 6 or 7 trunks growing from a single root system.  The trunks are 100' + and mostly straight as an arrow.

they were originally intended to be processed into railroad ties till the growers discovered their unfortunate tendency to twist as they dried out (over 2 years).

great for fencepost or pole barn use tho... if you are patient enough to wait out the curing cycle.

anyway... why I am mentioning it here is that I was considering a portable sawmill.

thought it would be fun to make my own lumber.

but... once again these proved to be the wrong trees for the purpose due to their instability in any but the full round uncut form.

would that work for popple?

there's a wide variety of prices, kinds, kits and plans available on the net.

saw one inexpensive bandsaw kit that was designed for those who can weld.

like most, the saw head travelled on tracks along a stationary log.

wish I could use that, but I am limited to posts and firewood with my twisty eucs.

 

Any straight, solid log 8" in diameter and larger qualifies as a "bolt".  They make them into boards or posts, I guess.

 

The rest is pulpwood that goes to the paper mill, at around $80/cord.

 

The problem we are running into is, the logs are either 7 1/2" and perfect, or 8" and dozy in the middle. Good bolts are hard to come by.

 

Trucking is about $20/cord.

 

Think about it. The wood buyer sets the price, the trucker gets his cut, and we get whats left. Who do you think is going to get the short end of the stick, every time?

 

So, I have decided to give up on the money making prospect, and just have fun working with my machines and my family. So far so good.