Going scouting tomorrow

I've been considering getting a county firewood permit this year. I did some checking with the county forester and he gave me a couple of nice sections to check out before I pp..pp...pay for a permit (only $8/cord though). He rattled off about 4 sections with wind damage from earlier this summer, permits allow only cutting down wood, no standing.

I wasn't giving this serious thought until a friend mentioned his brother needed to find a spot to cut as well. I told him what I knew about the permits and how most of it is on the other end of the county. He offered the use of his 1 ton and big trailer. We should be able to grab 3+ cords at a time with 2 trucks and trailer, makes the 65 mile round trip not so bad.

The sections he pointed me toward are about 1500 acres all together, with roads on 1 or 2 sides, so lots of walking and running logging roads to see what's in there. I deer hunt up there as well, so it'll be a dual purpose scouting trip.

I'll have some pics to add before the end of the weekend.

which county? I'm in iron, its $5 total for up to ten cords, down only, slash piles on closed timber sale tracts. nobody has counted my cords. not much down, and what is down is usually punky. i do okay in the tops piles, and when i see a logger i try to get a price on pulp wood delivered. i just paid $87/cord for the most beautiful 9 cord load of hard maple. I'll season that til next year and sell it, now the logger pulls me a few tops over where I can get at them easier on weekends. no charge.

doobie57z said:

which county? I'm in iron, its $5 total for up to ten cords, down only, slash piles on closed timber sale tracts. nobody has counted my cords. not much down, and what is down is usually punky. i do okay in the tops piles, and when i see a logger i try to get a price on pulp wood delivered. i just paid $87/cord for the most beautiful 9 cord load of hard maple. I'll season that til next year and sell it, now the logger pulls me a few tops over where I can get at them easier on weekends. no charge.

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Polk county, clear across the state, and a bit south of ya. Burnett county to the north of me has pretty much the same deal as we do from talking to Grandpatractor, who cuts right north of the county line from where I'm looking at. 10 cord limit here as well, and personal use only.

I went on my scouting run today. It turned into a full day of wandering the woods, with an extra break staring under the hood of the old Chevy 1/2 mile from the nearest road with no cell service. Technically, the old girl let me down, but I got her back running again without help. It turns out I had a loose wire on the starter solenoid. Kind of a beyotch to tighten with just a leatherman, but got it done.

I found plenty of blowdowns to cut up, all oak and some really nice stuff, straight, tall and 12-20" diameter. Here's some pics:











I found only one other cutter's setup out there. I was a little surprised he left his splitter out there, but I don't know where they were hauling to, might have just been down the road a bit. Next time I'm up there I'll have to do a drive by and see if they're still cutting, maybe BS a bit.



Otherwise, the only signs of anyone cutting were opening up fire lanes.

I spent quite a bit of time running up and down fire trails looking for good spots, here's a view out the windshield:



I'm gonna go up Monday and buy a tag for 4 cords and see how it goes. I think I can cut a truckload pretty easy before work in the morning, should be able to cut and load in an hour (longbox pickup, hoping to get 2/3~3/4 cord per load stacked). If all goes smoothly, I'll buy a permit to get the full 10 cords (6 more). I'm doubtful about getting a truck and gooseneck trailer around in a lot of those spots, very soft loose sand, but there are a couple spots it might work close to a fire lane. Maybe haul pickup loads during the week and go for a big load on weekends.

It'll be costing about $30 in fuel per load, and an hour and a half round trip, closer to two in some areas. From the closest spot to the furthest is 11 miles difference 1 way. I don't really need the wood, but mixing some of this nice stuff in with the hodgepodge of species I cut on the farm will keep some of my oak in the woods longer.

sweet. nothing like that over near me on county land.

Real nice area Steve!

Yup, pretty nice up there, and good deer hunting too. My buddy's hunting shack is a couple miles from where I'll be cutting, and I know a few other guys with deer shacks in the area too. I saw a few deer today, but they were camera shy, need to keep the cam in my hands instead of my pocket LOL.

Sneaking thru regrowth like the stuff in the pic from the cab is usually productive, but ya gotta be real patient and move s-l-o-w, then look and look some more before making another move.

Oh, yeah, firewood. Got distracted there for a minute. Im planning what I'm bringing along already. Don't want to lose the space in the box by bringing the big box o stuff, so I'm thinkin the 7300 and 420 in the cab with a couple spare chains, cant hook, gas, oil, and a log chain just in case in back. Traveling light, but heavy enough that it's not a wasted trip if something goes wrong.

Update: I went up to get a permit yesterday, only to find out that the county forester is out all week. I guess that means I can spend more time getting my firewood odds and ends cleaned up here first. I've got about a cord yet that needs splitting, and the weather is finally cooperative for ventures like that.

Wood and deer....good combo Steve!

now for pictures of a deer or wood in the back of the truck :msp_tongue:

Garmins dad said:

now for pictures of a deer or wood in the back of the truck :msp_tongue:

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Should see some pics tomorrow night. I finally caught that sneaky forester in his office this morning. I had some questions on stipulations on the permit that I needed cleared up before I got one, and he's been harder to find than a friend that owes ya money.

All is straight now, and I have a 5 cord permit and my firewood tools loaded for a morning outing. Planning on being out of the house by 9 (I don't get home from work till midnight), and back with a load by 1pm. Weather should be in the 40s and cloudy tomorrow morning, good working weather.

We'll see how this goes, if it works as well as I hope, will buy the other 5 cords allowed per year as well.

Got a nice load on the truck at home, but I'm stuck at work for 6 more hours. Look for a new thread with pics around midnight