# Cutting/Splitting for a Children's Camp



## svk (Jun 13, 2014)

Despite heavy rains for most of the afternoon, I set up a work area under a tarp and got some wood split for a children's camp.

Norway pine, hard maple, and oak split very nicely as a whole. Then I found the devil tree, a chunk of very seasoned elm. The 10" diameter tree was basically unsplittable. We bucked it short so they can burn it whole.

One of the female camp counselors wanted to try splitting after watching us so we gave her a chunk of the elm (he he he).  The axe stuck fast on the first hit and she kind of blankly stared at it. We came clean about elm and she split some regular wood for us.

No speed records but bucked and split about two cords for them. They run 8 fire rings almost every night so it will go. I'll split the other couple of cords next time I get out here. I'll bring my saw also as the 211 is a nice limbing saw but a bit light for bucking hardwood.


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## WVhunter (Jun 13, 2014)

Nice job, great to help out those kids!


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## svk (Jun 13, 2014)

Some cherry.


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## svk (Jun 13, 2014)

It was fun to get into real hardwoods. There's a ton of dying/dead standing on the camp property although some has PI on it. 

Maybe if there are any others in eastern Upstate NY who want to have a cutting day we could do it sometime when I'm back up here.


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## zogger (Jun 14, 2014)

Big fun!!
Devil wood...good campfire wood....skerry......


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## pennsywoodburnr (Jun 14, 2014)

Good on you for helping those kids out man.


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## CTYank (Jun 14, 2014)

svk said:


> It was fun to get into real hardwoods. There's a ton of dying/dead standing on the camp property although some has PI on it.
> 
> Maybe if there are any others in eastern Upstate NY who want to have a cutting day we could do it sometime when I'm back up here.



If you can get there from MN, well ...
I'm only a couple hours away, S of Albany, and have a few saws that need regular exercise. (You know how that is?) With a wee bit of heads-up, and absent another monsoon, you could pencil me in. Even better, if it's possible to set up a little tent nearby, you could have a two-fer, and another photog.

The heads-up is partly so I can pre-dose with PI de-sensitizer- "Oral Ivy". A week will do nicely, as would napalm on the PI.  Not enough time for Agent Orange.

PS: that dead red wood looks like some long-dead chestnut oak we see around here- only heartwood.


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## svk (Jun 14, 2014)

CTYank said:


> If you can get there from MN, well ...
> I'm only a couple hours away, S of Albany, and have a few saws that need regular exercise. (You know how that is?) With a wee bit of heads-up, and absent another monsoon, you could pencil me in. Even better, if it's possible to set up a little tent nearby, you could have a two-fer, and another photog.
> 
> The heads-up is partly so I can pre-dose with PI de-sensitizer- "Oral Ivy". A week will do nicely, as would napalm on the PI.  Not enough time for Agent Orange.
> ...




Thanks CT, I'll be back up in late July and will let you let you know as I'm preparing schedule, we may be able to get together.


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## svk (Jun 15, 2014)

Oops forgot to mention a small amount of black birch, another first for me.


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## CTYank (Jun 16, 2014)

svk said:


> Oops forgot to mention a small amount of black birch, another first for me.



Black birch will make you work, but it's well worth it IMHO. One of the very best.


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## svk (Jun 17, 2014)

Put up about another cord for them this afternoon. Slow going as the chunks of logs we were cutting up were irregular lengths and a big pile of small stuff to cut.


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## svk (Jun 17, 2014)

Getting my revenge on the elm


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## svk (Jun 18, 2014)

Put up one more cord today. Chestnut and white oak, ash, and maple were on the menu for this batch. Ended up doing 4 cords over three half days. Ran out of wood to cut save for what was buried under dimensional lumber scraps. Can get that next time. The main campfire should have about two years worth of fires for now.


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## woodbooga (Jun 18, 2014)

svk said:


> Not sure what wood this was. Very red (especially when wet) and waterlogged. No bark.
> View attachment 354877



Definitely a red oak variety. I have lots of this stuff in my pile. Prolly red, but perhaps scarlet or scrub.

Don't let that rot kid you. That's good burning - with an outer jacket of kindling to get the party started. Oak rots outside-in, leaving good solid heartwood. Cherry too. Maples rot inside out often and have less shelflife.

My kid is dying and got into one of these camps - we all went and had a week together without pondering meds, mortality and the like. I spied the wood piles and wondered what kind of good samaratin made the camp fires possible. Thanks.


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## svk (Jun 19, 2014)

woodbooga said:


> My kid is dying and got into one of these camps - we all went and had a week together without pondering meds, mortality and the like. I spied the wood piles and wondered what kind of good samaratin made the camp fires possible. Thanks.



I can only imagine the stress you and your family must be under with this. I agree, time at a camp really can take the stress away. I wish your family the very best.


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## woodbooga (Jun 19, 2014)

svk said:


> I can only imagine the stress you and your family must be under with this. I agree, time at a camp really can take the stress away. I wish your family the very best.



Thanks for all you do. She has cystic fibrosis. Avg. life a generation ago was 18 - now up to 37!!! Fundraising for a cure is key on a macro level. But for us on a family scale...having awesome experiences at camps like this gives us all the juice to persevere. 

Thank you. Families will make memories by the fires your labor have kindled. 

In so many cases those permanent memories will live beyond the children whose faces will be made rosy-cheeked by the warmth of a temporary blaze.

By creating these kinds of memories, in your own small way, you have touched the future.


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## mr.finn (Jun 20, 2014)

That picture of the dead wood with no bark looks an awful lot like cherry to me.


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## svk (Jun 20, 2014)

mr.finn said:


> That picture of the dead wood with no bark looks an awful lot like cherry to me.


It was very red, all the way through. Got into some bigger pieces too. Dense and somewhat difficult to split, but not all that bad.


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## CTYank (Jun 20, 2014)

I dropped some long-dead vertical snags of the stuff recently at a park nearby. I can only guess that they'd been there so long (right next to trails, yet) that they'd become invisible. Had to make felling cuts 5-6' from the ground and drop them out that way. Sounded like dry bones at each drop. All the sapwood was long gone. I didn't want to read about them in the news.

Chestnut oak is a white oak, also, FWIW. Tends to favor dry rocky ridges, for some ID help. Should be excellent firewood.


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## svk (Jun 20, 2014)

If you look at the last picture you can see a pile of the red noodles from a crotch I didn't split. If that helps ID....


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## svk (Feb 14, 2015)

Heading to camp this week for round three of tree work. Last summer we dropped ~25 trees and made about 8 cords of firewood. There's still about two dozen dying/dead trees, primarily red oak, white ash, and sugar maple. I didn't have room to bring my saw so we'll be putting my friend's MS211 to task. Most of the remaining trees are from 16-30" dbh so I'll start small and work larger until I run out of time. Then come summer maybe I can convince @MechanicMatt and @MustangMike to bring up their flock of 70+ cc beasts to drop the bigger trees.


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## mr.finn (Feb 14, 2015)

Wish I was closer to help out. Looks like you are making some nice piles as is!! Keep at it.


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## svk (Feb 14, 2015)

mr.finn said:


> Wish I was closer to help out. Looks like you are making some nice piles as is!! Keep at it.


Where are you at in Mass?


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## 1project2many (Feb 14, 2015)

svk said:


> Despite heavy rains for most of the afternoon, I set up a work area under a tarp and got some wood split for a children's camp.





woodbooga said:


> My kid is dying and got into one of these camps - we all went and had a week together without pondering meds, mortality and the like. I spied the wood piles and wondered what kind of good samaratin made the camp fires possible. Thanks.



The company I work for has a camp as well. It's used year round. I'm going to contact the director and see what they use for heat. Thanks for the idea.


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## svk (Feb 14, 2015)

mr.finn said:


> That picture of the dead wood with no bark looks an awful lot like cherry to me.


You were right. Lots of black cherry on the property.


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## stumpy75 (Feb 14, 2015)

svk said:


> If you look at the last picture you can see a pile of the red noodles from a crotch I didn't split. If that helps ID....



Looks like juniper to me...


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## svk (Feb 14, 2015)

Drove nonstop 21 hours from MN and rolled into rural Albany this afternoon. After all of the drama about extreme winter in the NE I was quite surprised to see that there was only 14-16" of snow on the ground. 

We identified a good number of sugar maple, oak, and black cherry that will be coming down on Monday.


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## 1project2many (Feb 15, 2015)

They're lucky out there. We're getting 8-12 more inches right now. The trick with the nor'easter is that the storm gets trapped or slowed at the coast and as it sits, it swirls over the Atlantic to pick up moisture and bring it back to land. So the folks inland get noticeably less snow. Looks like the storm they're talking coming through Tuesday - Wednesday won't amount to much.

Get some rest!


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## MechanicMatt (Feb 15, 2015)

Down in the bottom of Jersey for my 7 year old nephews Birthday Party. Have fun and be safe up there Steve


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## svk (Feb 15, 2015)

Woke up to about 7" of new snow. Just got done cooking cheesy corned beef hash omelets and watching the snow fall. Today is a day of rest, tomorrow we shall cut.

Told my buddy we needed winter weight bar oil. He came home with a gallon of Stihl blue. I'm curious how much that ran him.


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## stihlguy (Feb 15, 2015)

My son brought me a gallon of blue(14.95)ouch-and he didn't even ask to be reimbursed. Just curious, where is the camp located? I am on the NY-Pa border between Binghamton and Elmira,NY.


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## svk (Feb 15, 2015)

stihlguy said:


> My son brought me a gallon of blue(14.95)ouch-and he didn't even ask to be reimbursed. Just curious, where is the camp located? I am on the NY-Pa border between Binghamton and Elmira,NY.


Just east of Albany. 

I covered Binghamton and Elmira for work when we used to live up here, neat area with lots of history. 

Anytime we travel back this way with a trailer I will take the southern tier expressway to save the on the extra tolls from 90.


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## svk (Feb 15, 2015)

@MechanicMatt maybe we can catch up this summer. If not here perhaps down south as I'd love to see your uncle's cabin too.


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## svk (Feb 16, 2015)

Dropped 17 trees this afternoon at the children's camp including several black cherry, 4 unknown (see separate ID thread), 2 white ash, a red oak, and a black birch. Bucked most of them but a couple of the cherry were pretty laced with PI so I'll let them lay for a year before bucking. Those cherry wood chips sure smell good!

Black birch and mystery trees.


Black cherry in foreground and ash in background.


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## svk (Feb 17, 2015)

Well, no itchiness today. I had accidentally severed a couple PI vines yesterday but the bar was in the snow so I *hoped* that I would be ok. I also washed my outerwear last night.


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## svk (Feb 19, 2015)

Time to hit it again tomorrow afternoon. One big red oak is coming down and I've got to buck a few of the trees that I dropped the other day but didn't have time to get to.


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## maine (Feb 19, 2015)

Looking great! 
May I ask you why you are so willing to help out a camp hundreds of miles away?
Not that I am putting down any volunteer work whatsoever, as I try to help out others, but why so far away?

Anyways, keep on paying it forward you are doing a wonderful service to so many people.

Wish there were more like you.


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## svk (Feb 19, 2015)

maine said:


> Looking great!
> May I ask you why you are so willing to help out a camp hundreds of miles away?
> Not that I am putting down any volunteer work whatsoever, as I try to help out others, but why so far away?
> 
> ...


This is where my kids went when we lived here. We come back a couple times per year so they can go to winter and summer camp. Many of the staff have become friends and I believe they do a great job introducing the younger generation to the outdoors. My kids get plenty of exposure on their own but a lot of the people who come here are from less fortunate/troubled homes and are able to attend thanks to their excellent scholarship program.


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## maine (Feb 20, 2015)

svk said:


> This is where my kids went when we lived here. We come back a couple times per year so they can go to winter and summer camp. Many of the staff have become friends and I believe they do a great job introducing the younger generation to the outdoors. My kids get plenty of exposure on their own but a lot of the people who come here are from less fortunate/troubled homes and are able to attend thanks to their excellent scholarship program.



keep up the good work.
you are the man dude.
we are losing people like you and i wish i was able to help out.
i try to do whatever i can around here, but without a drivers license i am very limited.

after reading about all you are doing it is giving me a push to try to do the same in regards to trying to help with wood heat.

If anyone is in the midcoast maine area and would like free trees please message me. I have access to around 200 acres and would be willing to help. I have all the machines needed to C/S/S. Many are needed to come down this spring and i would rather give to a good cause than to sell.


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## svk (Feb 20, 2015)

Dropped two good sized sugar maple and a red oak this afternoon. Finished bucking the trees I dropped earlier this week as well. Final tally was 21 trees felled for the camp this week. 

Dropped right where I wanted it, safely short of the fence.


Same tree looking downhill. About 16" DBH


Maple #2, the trunk was solid but the top was pretty rotten.


Stump from #2. Gave this little saw a workout today!


Surprised to see so much core rot in this red oak. This one landed with a most satisfying "whonk" as there is about a 8' drop off in front of me.


First hit with my buddy's new Fiskars, a one shot kill. 


Split everything up to the main trunk which will be used for a campfire bench.


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## svk (Feb 21, 2015)

After a week of record cold we are heading home in a few minutes. It's now 19 degrees and supposed to be 36 tomorrow. Despite the weather, we got a lot done for the camp which makes me feel good.


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## svk (Jul 23, 2015)

Back up for another round of cutting at the camp tomorrow. @MustangMike has generously offered to come up and help plus I get to try out a few of his awesome saws. I've flagged another 32 dying/dead trees for removal, mostly sugar maple with a few ash, cherry, and other species mixed in.

I was somehow able to lose my roll of bright pink flagging tape in the woods. I'm sure it will show come fall when the vegetation dies down.


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## svk (Jul 25, 2015)

Yesterday @MustangMike showed up with his very excellent stable of saws and we put a hurting on the dead and dying trees around camp. To my count, 33 trees came down with several of them over 20".

As @the GOAT says, the 362 C-M *is *awesome (especially when modded by Randy) but I personally liked Mike's 044 even better. And that square filed chain made short work of even the hard maple we were cutting.

Sorry I'm a little short on pics but we were working pretty hard all day and I forgot to take more. I'm heading over there later this morning to do some work with the pole saw on their hiking trails. 

Many thanks to Mike for his help!!!

Mike's @Mastermind 044



Started the morning with this big red elm, about 28" DBH.



Finished off with this big hard maple. Here's Mike doing the honors.


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## svk (Jul 25, 2015)

Pole saw work this morning. One whoopsie so far. First chain I've ever broken.


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## svk (Jul 25, 2015)

Did about 4 hours of work with the pole saw and chainsaw on the camps hiking trails today. Pole saw really worked slick to dismantle a large three-pronged red maple that had hung up across the trail.


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## VW Splitter (Jul 25, 2015)

we cut and split for a local baptist kid camp every year here in TN. We usely have 15 to 20 people cutten and splitten, with 3 splitters going.You can make a lot of fire wood with that many people working at it. They do go thru a lot of fire wood don't they.


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## zogger (Jul 25, 2015)

svk said:


> Pole saw work this morning. One whoopsie so far. First chain I've ever broken.
> 
> View attachment 437693



Ooops!

I had a misfortune with a brand new husky bar today, didn't even make it one tank and the sprocket tip jammed. Took me 1/2 an hour to unjam it, relube it, work it back and forth until the chain sorta turned, then ran it hard not in the cut. It worked then, but still sucked. Cheap laminated bar, but brand new. I see why guys with ported 346s go for like a sugihara or something, that saw deserves something better.


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## svk (Jul 25, 2015)

I jammed the second chain and tweaked it in that maple snag. Quick fix with two pliers to get it true again.


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## svk (Jul 25, 2015)

VW Splitter said:


> we cut and split for a local baptist kid camp every year here in TN. We usely have 15 to 20 people cutten and splitten, with 3 splitters going.You can make a lot of fire wood with that many people working at it. They do go thru a lot of fire wood don't they.


We've got a lot of wood on the ground now (easily over 10 cords). One of the male counselors keeps the supply sufficient for the campfires but we really need to rent a hydro and get a work crew out there and get the rest done. After two summers of cutting we finally aren't looking at dead crowns any longer. I've personally cut/been with the person cutting for about 80 of the trees that have come down.


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## BGE541 (Jul 25, 2015)

Sorry to derail but will this be used this year or next? Our Church has 22 acres of tall pines and they want to do some firewood with them, I offered to lay them but didn't know what time frame would be needed before they burn.

Thanks and keep up the good work.


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## svk (Jul 25, 2015)

BGE541 said:


> Sorry to derail but will this be used this year or next? Our Church has 22 acres of tall pines and they want to do some firewood with them, I offered to lay them but didn't know what time frame would be needed before they burn.
> 
> Thanks and keep up the good work.


Will be used for 2017 and beyond.


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## Oliver1655 (Jul 26, 2015)

Charity cuts are always fun to do, in spite of the weather at times. 

The distances folks will travel to help others for free can be amazing. It is not uncommon for folks to travel 2-4 hours each way several times a year. 

There are a lot of great folks on this site with huge hearts!


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## svk (Feb 15, 2016)

Weather pending I'll be back at it tomorrow. Going to be a lot of noodling to get all of those big rounds down to size (scroll up a few posts to see the wood we are working with). 

One of the trees we cut this summer was a big white ash suffering from eab. I whacked one 20" round that @MustangMike anf I cut last summer 9 times with the fiskars tonight and it didn't even consider cracking. I'll noodle those halfway and see if they become less stubborn.


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## svk (Feb 16, 2016)

Working through rain (it warmed up to 54 here) I got a lot of bucking done. Still need to noodle the bigger rounds but now the main area of trees has been reduced to rounds. Mostly hard maple with one big red elm too. Found some gravel with the 2186 in the crotch of the elm but still cuts ok. 

Really impressed with the 562. Using cheap Rotary brand chain (which cuts really nice but stretches a lot) it really rips through the hardwood.


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## zogger (Feb 16, 2016)

More big fun!


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## svk (Feb 18, 2016)

Going to hit it once more tomorrow. Hope to get the rest of the bucking done and stump all of the trees close to the road as well.


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## Saddle Mander (Feb 19, 2016)

I'd love to be up there for many reasons. But NJ is a long way away...


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## svk (Feb 19, 2016)

Today was a great day to be cutting. And as I had lots of nice hardwood waiting I took advantage of it by putting in three and a half more hours of trigger time. Ironically I used the same amount of fuel as I did in over five hours on Tuesday because I wasn't fighting branches and weather. 

Started off with a nice American elm and two big black cherries. Amazingly they were very solid despite being dead and having bark falling off before I cut them. These trees have been on the ground for a year due to being infested with PI. The pi I did encounter on them was very crunchy and broke off nicely when scraped with the saw bar so hopefully it was sitting long enough to neutralize the oils. So far so good for me. 

Took down some widow makers around the property (one was a little scary) to make sure they wouldn't be falling on campers. 

Finally finished up by stumping and noodling the big pieces at the main cutting area. 

Total for two cutting sessions was 7 tanks of fuel through the 562 and one through the 2186. The 562/20" will significantly outcut the 2186/28" until you get into bar buried wood with the smaller saw then the cubes make the difference. 

Did I mention the 562 really rips? It does.


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## Oldman47 (Feb 20, 2016)

svk said:


> Today was a great day to be cutting. And as I had lots of nice hardwood waiting I took advantage of it by putting in three and a half more hours of trigger time. Ironically I used the same amount of fuel as I did in over five hours on Tuesday because I wasn't fighting branches and weather.
> 
> Started off with a nice American elm and two big black cherries. Amazingly they were very solid despite being dead and having bark falling off before I cut them. These trees have been on the ground for a year due to being infested with PI. The pi I did encounter on them was very crunchy and broke off nicely when scraped with the saw bar so hopefully it was sitting long enough to neutralize the oils. So far so good for me.
> 
> ...


Well done on your effort. Cutting stacking etc. looks like a real PITA to me with all the overgrown ground cover you are working in.


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## svk (Feb 20, 2016)

There was a decent amount of PI and lots of wild roses in this cutting area. It's the thickest brush on the whole property and fortunately the camp director is getting a youth group to haul all of this out so I don't have to.


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## svk (Feb 20, 2016)

30 hours since cutting and no reaction. Guess I avoided Mr Ivy again.


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## amberg (Feb 21, 2016)

I hope you are good to go. 30 hours is good. the wife can only go couple minutes.


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## svk (Feb 21, 2016)

I try to be really careful but you never know. 

The stumps of those infested trees are nasty now. The PI vines have literally encircled the whole stump and are reaching upward for something to climb.


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## svk (Feb 21, 2016)

One last picture before this thread will more or less go dormant until summer. 

Here is the campfire area at camp. Top is last year's polar vortex winter in upstate NY. Lower is yesterday, exactly one year later. 

Ironically the ultimate low temp of -11 was reached on this trip. However last year we had over a foot of fresh snow (on top of already sizeable accumulation) versus mild temps for most of this trip. When we left yesterday it was 63 degrees.


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## VW Splitter (Feb 21, 2016)

great pictures. Looks like a lot of sawing going on. I like the sound of the youth group hauling it out. Who is splitting?


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## svk (Feb 21, 2016)

VW Splitter said:


> great pictures. Looks like a lot of sawing going on. I like the sound of the youth group hauling it out. Who is splitting?


Not sure. Probably the director during off season or some of the male counselors. Most of the manageable rounds have already been hand split so the bigger and nasty stuff is left for a rental splitter. I certainly wouldn't want to tackle a couple cords worth of elm and cherry. And bigger sugar maple isn't a treat to hand split either. 

When I'm there I do the work that others cannot, i.e. felling and bucking. For insurance purposes the director is the only camp employee that can run a saw and he's very much a noob when it comes to saws. He's plenty able to get a windfall tree off the road but not so familiar with safe felling techniques.


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## svk (Feb 16, 2017)

Well I'll be back at it next week. There's still several cords from what I've cut in years past in need of splitting and judging from previous experience the other volunteers probably split all of the small stuff so I'll be working the bigger rounds of ash and red elm. 




The camp director just sent me this picture. The low part of the pile is about 4 feet high and the pile is about 40 feet long. So I'll have plenty to work on.


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## svk (Feb 19, 2017)

Put a few hours out at the pile today. The snow has been melting which is good as much of the pile has been frozen in.

Shared in the splitting tool thread as well that I'm very happy with the Fiskars Isocore for the larger/tougher species of rounds. A lot of the sugar maple and red Elm rounds were busting on the first hit.







Worked at the small log pile till I ran out of wood that wasn't frozen in. Ma nature can loosen up the rest for me now.



The camp saw is a MS211. It's a decent little saw but since I was here last someone ran it without bar oil and the bar rails are worn beyond use. Luckily we have a spare bar (and chain) that @spike60 graciously donated to the camp.



I'll give the pile an afternoon of sun before I tackle it again. Maybe try to rustle up some kids to stack what I've split so far.

One of the last things I cut was a black cherry log and must have gotten some sawdust in my nose as that's all I can smell right now. Could be worse lol.


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## svk (Feb 19, 2017)

Ooh, much better!


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## zogger (Feb 19, 2017)

svk said:


> Ooh, much better!
> 
> View attachment 559272



Well done! Where are the kids? No teenagers there to help out with axe and maul work?

I started in on the remaining oakzilla pile today (maybe 3.5 cord left)..my hand is still stinging. Dang that's some gnarly stuff.. I think I am going to pop for the isocore pure sledgehammer next, and get like a half a dozen same size shape new wedges, and put good edges on them. That's really the only way to deal with huge and twisty by hand.


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## svk (Feb 19, 2017)

The kids went skiing today with the wife. 

The rest of me feels better but boy my legs are sore now!


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## svk (Feb 20, 2017)

Two more tanks through the 211 this morning between noodling and working the log pile. 

Rocked one chain before I got the log roller out of the shed. 

My arms and upper back are pretty sore from the heavyweight match yesterday with the maul so I'm starting off the day with some saw work. The oak I cut this morning will be easier to split so I'll probably swing the X27 for a while instead.


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## svk (Feb 20, 2017)

As a whole work is going slow but continuing to make splits.





The camp director showed me a half dozen hazard trees he'd like dropped while I'm here. Here's the two biggest leaners.


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## svk (Feb 20, 2017)

A little more splitting and noodling today. Forgot to take more pics.


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## svk (Feb 21, 2017)

Took today off from splitting. Lots of sore muscles that I hadn't worked in a while but feeling much better tonight than I did this morning. I'll hit it again in the morning. 

Had to laugh about this part: I kept finding spruce and pine rounds in the pile on top of the rounds that I've been cutting for camp. Which was strange because I've done all of the tree work here for the last three years. And every round was a different length, some were upwards of 30" and some were under 10". I asked the camp director what's up with the extra wood and he told me a guy with a tree service had offered to drop wood and he told him no thanks but the guy must have dropped them anyhow. I chuckled because I knew it had to be a tree service being the complete lack of consistency of length lol.


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## svk (Feb 24, 2017)

Dropped 9 leaning trees that were threatening activity areas at the camp. 

Bore cut the first maple and it fell perfectly. 




Second tree was actually a black birch. Was surprised to smell wintergreen when I started cutting as I had only briefly glanced at it earlier and thought it was a cherry. Boy that stuff is heavy!!!




The biggest Elm came down very slowly. I had to cut in a couple extra times and nearly cut the hinge clean off to get it onto the ground completely. Amazing how those fibers stick together!




The Aspen came down easily and fell exactly where I wanted them. 



Even a 211 looks bad azz in late afternoon sun lol. 



Shattered all temp records around here today.


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## benp (Feb 25, 2017)

Looks good Steve!!!!

I was going to say I would be ticked if you were across the lake doing this and not let me know.

Then I saw the temps. You're definitely not here.

ETA - Just imagine how mambo the Jonsered would of looked in that shadow.


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## svk (Jun 23, 2017)

Rolled into town this afternoon to about 90 degrees and high humidity. It's clouded over and cooled off to a more comfortable temp now. 

Will be back at it tomorrow dropping problem trees around the camp.


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## svk (Jun 23, 2017)

A couple victims.

First tree appears to be loaded with creeper, the second with PI. I may just chop the ivy out of the way of the falling cut and drop that one and deal with it next time after the now dead PI has time to decompose.


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## svk (Jun 24, 2017)

Four dead "DED" elms on the ground this morning. I'm always amazed how tough elm wood is and how you nearly need to cut through the hinge to get them to tip. 





Since we are already overwhelmed with wood the only part of this that I bucked for processing was the part that dropped across the trail in picture 2.


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## svk (Feb 17, 2018)

Going to be back at it this week providing we can make it through "winter storm Noah". Pretty silly that every snowfall these days warrants a winter storm named after it but whatever. 

The pile we put up two years ago is slowly dwindling and I'll get after it again. At least going off memory, the only stuff left was big ash and sugar maple rounds. Although a tree service does drop stuff off periodically so you never know what oddly cut garbage wood might be on top of the pile lol.


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## svk (Feb 18, 2018)

40 and sunny today. Supposed to be 69 by Wednesday


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## svk (Feb 21, 2018)

No falling but a decent amount of bucking of previously cut wood and a little splitting today. It's about 70 today with a nice breeze so I'm out here in a tshirt and light pants.

Sugar maple



Black birch and American elm.



Aspen and elm



Working away at the log pile


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## svk (Feb 21, 2018)

Re-noodling some white ash that was originally cut by @MustangMike. I sure could have used one of his saws today as the MS211 here isn't at its best when noodling!


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## MustangMike (Feb 21, 2018)

So busy in Tax Season I almost don't have time to read this!


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## James Miller (Feb 22, 2018)

svk said:


> Re-noodling some white ash that was originally cut by @MustangMike. I sure could have used one of his saws today as the MS211 here isn't at its best when noodling!
> 
> View attachment 634727


Could they use a bigger saw? My 3400 was ment to go to a coworker who no longer has a wood burner. I'd have to get with farmer Steve and get the oiler figured out but I'll send it on my dime if they need a bigger camp saw. Saw, 20" bar and pair of chains.


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## svk (Feb 22, 2018)

They sure could! That would be awesome.


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## svk (Feb 22, 2018)

Had big plans to burn off all of the garbage wood from the to-be-split pile but a couple inches of wet sloppy snow fell this afternoon. Looks beautiful now but was white out conditions an hour ago.


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## svk (Feb 23, 2018)

A wet, sloppy, rainy mess here today so no work completed. Guess we will get back at it in the summer.


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## VW Splitter (Feb 24, 2018)

Almost 70 degrees on Wednesday and Snow on Thursday! Sounds like some of the weather we get here in Tennessee. 
How much wood does the camp go through each year?


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## svk (Feb 25, 2018)

Probably a couple of cords. We put a lot of trees on the ground in 2014-2016 and are still working through those rounds. Every woodshed is full of mostly full and there's probably five or so cords of rounds waiting to be split. And a local tree service drops a pickup load or so of rounds every so often as well.

Before I started cutting there were standing dead everywhere. We've got them mostly down although a few more ash trees are in decline from EAB and a couple big sugar maples from root compaction.


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## VW Splitter (Feb 25, 2018)

Do you get much help cutting for the camp?
i have cut & mostly split for a Christian camp near Johnson City TN a couple of times. They will have 20 + people cutting & splitting when I've been there. It is amazing how much firewood can be produced in a weekend with a crew like that. 2 large splitters, Bobcat with a grapple bucket, and a mini ex with a thumb bucket.They have a tree service that unloads on them. They heat several buildings with 4 outdoor wood burners so they go thru a lot of wood.


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## svk (Feb 25, 2018)

I've had a couple guys come out over the years but it's mostly just me myself and I. @MustangMike showed up with his big saws a couple years ago and was a HUGE help getting the bigger trees on the ground. My kids helped load the smaller rounds and haul brush when needed. 

A few of the male counselors will split wood off and on.


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## svk (Jun 30, 2018)

Had a heck of a drive out here but made it. I drove through the night until 7 am then let the wife drive. 

The wood pile is still here as it’s mostly uglies/unsplittable pieces that the camp counselors don’t want to/know how to split. Slow going with the Fiskars, maul, sledge, and noodling with MS211. But someone has to do it. 




45 minutes worth of work


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## svk (Jun 30, 2018)

Oh and did I mention a lot of it is elm


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## svk (Jun 30, 2018)

Had to put a halt to splitting to clean things up. There’s so much punky **** mixed in with the good wood that I built a fire to burn all of the crap. Some of the rounds that are so crazy shaped or too short are going in too as it’s not worth even doing the noodle/split rotation with them. 

Once I get all of the newly split wood stacked I’ll reload the bonfire. It’s getting pretty big now and I don’t need to get too crazy lol. 

Before 



Current 



Fire


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## svk (Jun 30, 2018)

It’s over 90 now and I’ve been working for 5.5 hours. Time for a swim soon


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## svk (Jun 30, 2018)

Still making progress but the human is running out of gas.


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## svk (Jun 30, 2018)

Here’s where the day ended. 

I cannot take credit for the creative stacking on the left. I pulled all of the rotten stuff away from the front and that held so I left it there lol.


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## svk (Jul 1, 2018)

Too darn hot/humid to work today. Only about 5 degrees warmer than yesterday but humidity is through the roof.


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## svk (Jul 2, 2018)

Weather pending we are going to rent a splitter for Wednesday and bang out the rest of the pile. If anyone is in the Albany NY area and wants to take a ride over, get in touch.


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## svk (Jul 3, 2018)

This makes the sweat worth it. 4 of my 5 kids are in that group.


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## svk (Jul 3, 2018)

Splitter is reserved for the morning. Supposed to be an overnight low of 67 and “only” will be 85 at noon with a daily high of 88. I have a couple quarts of Gatorade and a bunch of water ready to go.


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## Erik B (Jul 3, 2018)

@svk Start early and be done by noon


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## svk (Jul 4, 2018)

Didn’t get started till 9:15. Here’s the start and progress photo at 10:00 water break. Some gnarly stuff.


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## svk (Jul 4, 2018)

Making progress now. Only about half of the remaining pile is solid, the other stuff goes in a bonfire. Should have this pile wrapped in another half hour.


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## svk (Jul 4, 2018)

Got it all done by 1:45. The main pile is in this pic and we also split smaller piles at 3 other spots on the property. Only a couple cords but the solid pieces of elm, ash, maple, oak, and cherry fought us all the way. It’s a relief to have all of this done as this pile has been more or less the same size for about 4 years.

The first two pics are all of the trash left over that’s going to be burned.


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## svk (Jul 5, 2018)

@MustangMike remember that last large sugar maple you dropped when you helped me cut, the one up by the teepee that was full of nails? That was the last tree on the list to split but when I started bucking it yesterday it was already punky. I guess it was three years ago when you cut it and it was already standing dead then so not a surprise that it was punky. Oh well, at least we can just roll it down the hill into the ditch. It was well over 20” diameter so would have been a pain to split those rounds anyhow.


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## MustangMike (Jul 5, 2018)

Too bad, can't leave em in the shade for that long.


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## svk (Jul 6, 2018)

Back at it again. Much prefer the 75 degree temps today!!! 

As it ended up the big maple log was only punky on the butt so we turned the rest into rounds to be used as campfire stools and I noodled/split the couple of crotch pieces. 

The log was about 25’ long along the bare area on the hillside. 



This little guy has done much more than what is expected out of a 35 cc saw! Soon to have a donated big brother though. 



May make a cutting board out of this slice.


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## svk (Jul 6, 2018)

Filled up the pit again with trash wood. As soon as the wind lets up I’ll light it up. 

According to the volume of 1/2 sphere, there’s about a cord and a half of wood in here. (9’ diameter pit)


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## svk (Jul 6, 2018)

Raked several wheelbarrow loads of splitter trash and leaves from the wood shed area. Starting to look presentable. Still have to clean up the log drop area.


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## svk (Jul 6, 2018)

Wish I had a hog to roast in here 



This is all I have left to burn/rake


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## svk (Jul 6, 2018)

Well this huge project has concluded. Here’s a pic from last Saturday and this evening for comparison. 

I figured we split about three cords and burned another 5 cords of punky wood. Lots of time untangling the mess and raking leaves/splitter trash. 





I made a list of another two dozen trees that need to be dropped the next time I’m up. Luckily most of them are smaller and only two over 20”.


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## MustangMike (Jul 6, 2018)

Doesn't sound like any fun at all!!!

Steve, you did so much great work for them, you should demand they pay you double next year!!!

Did they even buy you lunch???


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## Cowboy254 (Jul 7, 2018)

MustangMike said:


> Doesn't sound like any fun at all!!!
> 
> Steve, you did so much great work for them, you should demand they pay you double next year!!!
> 
> Did they even buy you lunch???



No fun? I don't know. I'm happy ambling around doing stuff (for non-commercial operations), as long as it's appreciated. Splitting stuff, cutting stuff, raking stuff and burning stuff is all ok. As long as it's appreciated. Lunch, half a dozen beers and a thank-you and it's worthwhile. 

As soon as I sense it is taken for granted, it's over. You've put in some hard yards there, Steve.


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## svk (Jul 7, 2018)

MustangMike said:


> Doesn't sound like any fun at all!!!
> 
> Steve, you did so much great work for them, you should demand they pay you double next year!!!
> 
> Did they even buy you lunch???


He did offer to take me to the diner but I already had my heart set on Five Guys. 

We use the cabins several nights a year, rent free. A good trade off IMO


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## svk (Jul 7, 2018)

Cowboy254 said:


> No fun? I don't know. I'm happy ambling around doing stuff (for non-commercial operations), as long as it's appreciated. Splitting stuff, cutting stuff, raking stuff and burning stuff is all ok. As long as it's appreciated. Lunch, half a dozen beers and a thank-you and it's worthwhile.
> 
> As soon as I sense it is taken for granted, it's over. You've put in some hard yards there, Steve.


I love putzing around like this. It a bit frustrating when others inadvertently make the project more difficult by dumping other stuff on the log pile but it comes with the territory. Now that the log pile is completely gone, that area will no longer be a “catch all” for junk. You’d laugh if I listed all of the stuff I discovered in that pile besides wood. 

When I started volunteering up here 5 years ago the dead tree situation was a nightmare. Dangerous dead trees everywhere around the road and cabins as there was nobody around who knew anything about running a saw. We’ve taken our well over 100 trees so now it’s just a matter of taking trees down as they die.


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## svk (Jul 7, 2018)

Didn’t plan to work today but when we went for a walk on the hiking trails I did notice a cherry fallen across the trail as well as a jack pine snag that was precariously leaning over the trail. Took the Jersey pattern axe (which has been featured a couple times in the axe thread) up there right before dark and made short work of the offending logs.

This will more or less be the end of my progress posts until February unless I’m able to do some cutting when I get out this way later this summer.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Jul 7, 2018)

svk said:


> I love putzing around like this. It a bit frustrating when others inadvertently make the project more difficult by dumping other stuff on the log pile but it comes with the territory. Now that the log pile is completely gone, that area will no longer be a “catch all” for junk. You’d laugh if I listed all of the stuff I discovered in that pile besides wood.
> 
> .



Cleaned up a spot here at the shop.
Moved about 35000lbs of metal beams, square tubing, etc. Found everything from car batteries to the "Best Christmas hits of 87" cassette.


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## svk (Jul 7, 2018)

When we were out in the woods today I kept an eye out for other species of trees. Was hoping to find a shagbark Hickory but no luck. 

So far I’ve cut the following off this property:
White birch
Black birch
Red elm
American elm
White ash
Red maple
Sugar maple
Ironwood
Mockernut Hickory
Black cherry
Aspen
Red oak
White oak
Jack pine
Norway pine (planted)
White pine

Have also observed:
Yellow birch
Chestnut oak
Pear
Cottonwood
Pin cherry
Willow
Hemlock
Highly valuable black walnut

And I’m sure there are more. Pretty diverse for a 40 acre tract. Back home I’m lucky to have 4 or 5 species of tree outside aspen.


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## MechanicMatt (Jul 19, 2018)

Nice job Steve


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## MustangMike (Jul 19, 2018)

Welcome back Matt!!!


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## MechanicMatt (Jul 19, 2018)

Just swinging by to see how the guys have been


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## svk (Oct 2, 2018)

Here’s a cool drone video of the camp. 

We’ve done extensive cutting along the roadway (left side of the video looking from the lake, right side when looking towards the lake).


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## svk (Jun 26, 2022)

Just got out here yesterday-it’s been four long (and for me, eventful) years since I’ve been out here. The camp itself has come a long way since I was here. I didn’t come out in 2019 and then the two Covid years shut things down so finally back out here now. My oldest son is now working here as a counselor, he had gone as a camper every year until Covid.

They had a tree service cut down a few of the large dead trees such as the cottonwoods near the main house. Overall, the forest is in much better shape than it had been as we as we had cut a lot of dead/dying wood for five years straight. Granted a lot of that had been hard maple that had died due to root compaction as they expanded the grounds and just a number of other dead trees and nobody had cut down for years and years.


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