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Firewood and Dog Sitting Round 3
We picked the second hottest day so far this year to start getting firewood ready for the winter. The first hottest day was the day we cut them down. We must be cracked. Or have very bad timing. We still have about 3 cords left from last year, but that’s not enough to get us through the winter. We usually use about 5 – 6 cords a year but its always nice to have extra. We started by cutting up the small parts of the rock maple we cut down a few weeks ago. The one large log from the base of the tree will go on the mill later.
Making sawdust -
Getting Out the Ash Logs
With one large ash tree cut and hauled to the road, we spent another afternoon doing the same with an even bigger ash tree. This one was located just down from the first. This time we decided to try a slightly different approach.
Cutting the second ash tree -
Sustainably Harvesting White Ash Trees
A new client reached out to us this past week looking for special cuts of white ash. They were looking for some 3 inch thick, 12 inch wide, 6ft long pieces. I believe he said he is planning to make shaving horses. I have no ash in the yard, so it was off to the woods to see what we could find.
Close up of white ash tree bark. -
Hemlock and Pine Logs Arrived
Why is it Jim is never home when an order of logs or something of that nature arrives? Not sure, but he missed all the excitement. We weren’t expecting them so soon, but sure enough, here they are.
Unloading the first 1/2 -
Spruce Logs to Build Kiln Shed
We spent Saturday this past weekend getting spruce logs to mill into 2 x 4 stud lumber to build the kiln shed. For these ones we had to travel to Piedmont, which is about a 45 minute drive. We headed out at 9am for the first load. Jim had asked Darrell for about three cords and he only wanted logs larger than 8 inches across. I know you must be thinking, why didn’t we just go cut logs ourselves. Well, time is the number one factor. Ain’t nobody got time for that, well…apparently Darrell does.
Darrell loading the spruce logs. -
Sugar Maple Cookies
I milled some of the smaller sugar maple limbs for live edge slabs. The limbs had a curve to them, so I cut them live edge to get the most I could from the limbs. The limbs were about 9-10 inches wide. (This post original aired Jul 07 2017 but has been updated (see bottom) as of Feb 15 2018.)
live edge sugar maple slabs. -
Operation: Pine Tree Removal
One of our spring jobs is crossed of the old to-do list, in winter no less. We were asked by my Aunt across the lake to take down five pine trees in the spring. They stood about 40 feet tall and were located quite close to her house. After the last wind storm, lots of branches broke off making a mess on her lawn. Most living branches were about 20 or more feet up. The rest were gone. This is what we started with.
Before…pine trees -
Expansion continues
The weather is holding at decent temperatures for working outdoors. When I said we hoped to have the ground leveled out before winter I thought it was a pipe dream. Here is where we left off…
In-progress -
Workyard expansion
Never thought I would say this but we started expanding the work yard today. Going inwards on each side of the road about 30-40 ft. For now it will be a place to put flitches and rejects off the mill. Afterwards it’ll be space for a couple 10×20 sheds. Its a sloped hill, so dirt removed from the left side will be used to fill in the right side.
Scraps ready to chip. -
Sugar maple live edge planks
Today I set about to slab the remaining trunk portion of this big ol’ sugar maple tree. This is not the stump. The trunk at the stump is well, still on the stump. It was cut this high off of the ground to safely fell the tree.
sugar maple cut at breast height
