Hard to get wood, is it worth it?

[sirbuildalot]

The town has been cutting quite a few trees on the sides of the roads lately. I've already gotten a few trailer loads worth. I notice most of the smaller stuff, and the easy to get stuff disappears quick. Anything large, down in a gully, or up on a hill stays longer. My question is, about 2 miles down the road there is a good sized oak they cut. It is 40" at the butt end and about 12' long. The problem is it sits on a hill about 7' higher than the road, and is on a sharp corner. I could buck it in place and roll the rounds (hopefully) on my trailer. Likely they'd roll clear across the road though. I also could drive the Kioti down there and load the pieces with the front grapple. Is it really worth the hassle though? I'm guessing the log is probably a half cord or so. Maybe 2/3'rds. I know the closest house's owners wont care.

 

[sundance]

It's really all a function of how hard it is to find wood in your area. Half a cord of oak I'd probably do it.

 

[VW Splitter]

Personally I like the bigger rounds, I would go for it if you can safely get them without being road kill.

 

[NSMaple1]

Only person who can answer the 'is it worth getting it' question, is the getter.

Some would drive by it & not look twice, some would be all over it.

 

[Woodcutteranon]

As I get older I have been letting "tough" wood lay. However, are you able to split it up where it is before you lug it?

 

[Knobby57]

Uggg !!! 40” oak ... your going to be doing some noodling . Last one I got like this I guy in 12” pieces and they where hard to manage with 2 people . I have a friend that would grab that up fast . He uses a rollback . Drags out and on with the winch

 

[c5rulz]

Rounds of that size will come down a hill like cannonballs endangering traffic and your parked vehicle.

 

[cuinrearview]

Is it red oak? Most oak that I've handled splits so easily I would haul the Fiskars and a 70cc saw up there and noodle it and split by hand. Straight grained, barkless heartwood from the trunk is pretty premium stuff.

That being said, if the road wasn't busy I would be just as likely to attempt rolling them down the hill onto the trailer.

 

[jrider]

If you are hard up for wood it's worth it. To me, it's not.

 

[Bobby Kirbos]

I would noodle the large log from the end, THEN buck the noodled sections off. You will no longer have a round piece of wood and the likelihood of it wanting to roll will be greatly reduced.

 

[54bogger]

If you do buck it and roll it down the hill please,please take a video of it and post it for us! lol

 

[Knobby57]

If you do buck it and roll it down the hill please,please take a video of it and post it for us! lol

 

[sirbuildalot]

Yeah....according to a log weight calculator, a 2' length of 40" diameter northern red oak weighs 1,069 lbs. Looks like I ain't rolling ****. The way the log is situated the rounds wouldn't roll down the hill, which is good, but there isn't any easy way to get a splitter to the log. The hill starts at the edge of the road and steeply goes up for a 7' rise. I'd guess the slope is around 45%. I'd have no choice but to buck and noodle in place. Never mind quarter, I'd have to half the quarters to get these onto the trailer.

I'm thinking this particular log may be more trouble than its worth.

 

[cuinrearview]

You might be surprised how easily that splits by hand

 

[Husky Man]

How common is Oak around you?

I would be tempted by it, but other than yard trees Oak just isn't common in my area, I have NEVER gotten any Oak where we cut, and Maple is pretty scarce too. We get mostly Douglas Fir and other Evergreens plus that weed known as Cottonwood , so for ME I would probably put more effort into than many. How much effort it is worth to YOU, only You can answer

Doug

 

[turnkey4099]

You might be surprised how easily that splits by hand

I for sure was. Cleaned out a farmers wood lot, lots of oak there. Tested one round with the fiskars - 2 shots and it was in half.

 

[Knobby57]

The first few feet off the stump suck to split . Usually one you crack the nut it’s easy . If you noodle in half you can swipe chunks off with your fiskers

 

[cuinrearview]

I have access to a hydraulic splitter, and use it, for everything except ash and red oak.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Yeah....according to a log weight calculator, a 2' length of 40" diameter northern red oak weighs 1,069 lbs. Looks like I ain't rolling ****. The way the log is situated the rounds wouldn't roll down the hill, which is good, but there isn't any easy way to get a splitter to the log. The hill starts at the edge of the road and steeply goes up for a 7' rise. I'd guess the slope is around 45%. I'd have no choice but to buck and noodle in place. Never mind quarter, I'd have to half the quarters to get these onto the trailer.

I'm thinking this particular log may be more trouble than its worth.

Not sure what calculator that is, but a cord of green red oak is around 5000lbs. If that log is about 1/2 a cord and is 12ft long, a 2ft length would be about 425lbs roughly.

 

[Marshy]

Rounds of that size will come down a hill like cannonballs endangering traffic and your parked vehicle. Be sure to get video.

Fixed.