Logging American Blk. Cherry

[Sawyer Rob]

Some time ago i noticed that the wind had blown over three blk. cherry trees in my woodlot, and today was the day i decided to get them out. I had a couple friends over to help me cut and skid the logs out, and then they would saw out all the firewood for their out door wood stove..

I got started by hooking up my log hauling running geat,

And i loaded the long chains and everything else i was going to need, on the back of the tractor,

Once we got out there, as you can see, the tree's were back in a bit,

So, we got started, by sawing a trail in, and sawing the tops off the blown over tree's, into firewood,

Until we got in, to where the tree's were, and here they are,

I trimmed all the limbs off the first tree, skidded it out whole, and then cut the logs out, loading them onto the running gear,

Then i did the same thing to the second and third tree's, here's the second tree skidded out, ready to have the log sawn out of it,

Three of the logs are pretty nice!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Here's six of the "nine" logs, i got out of the three tree's, three on the trailor,

And, three eight footers on the forks, I had to leave the last three logs for another trip.

This is what the root balls look like with the tree's removed,

Then it was time to load the pu and trailor with all the firewood we cut,

Well, that's it for "todays" adventure! I hope you liked the picture show,

Rob

 

[forestryworks]

thanks for sharing

 

[Circle B MN]

Looks like a real good time....

 

[excess650]

WHEW!....for a minute ther I thought it was ALL going to be cut into firewood.

I have a crotch cherry slab made into a coffee table, and am working on another. Some cherry, particualrly when its clear can lack character. The two slabs I have have a deep orange color with red streaks, a few knots, and fiddleback. As much as I like walnut, these are better. Maybe I'll get a picture or two and post tomorrow.

 

[lmbeachy]

We don't see cherry like that in Delaware, in here it is all short crooked stuff. I have a bunch to cut but not much of it is 8ft. Some of it is about 4 to 5 ft. Looks good Rob, thanks for sharing. Lester

 

[Can8ianTimber]

We don't see cherry like that in Delaware, in here it is all short crooked stuff. I have a bunch to cut but not much of it is 8ft. Some of it is about 4 to 5 ft. Looks good Rob, thanks for sharing. Lester

Same thing here in Oregon. Our cherry sucks. I see the cherry you guys cut and get cherry envy.

Looking forward to some lumber pictures of that cherry soon.

 

[Mike1974]

We had a really bad wind storm here last year ... 90 MPH gusts. I've been spending the last several weeks harvesting wind-thrown cherry from my lot.

I have at least 6 24"+ diameter trees, lots of long straights, and a few interesting crotches/character pieces. I've only gotten to milling one cant, and the grain is nice. I'm sick with cherry - lots of big stuff.

Had a chainsaw party with five buddies, and my daughter's been helping too ... I have some nice pics and will get them up soon.

I'm thinking the Cherry will become a whole bedroom set. For now ... I have to stop and collect firewood for the winter ... then back to harvesting lumber!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

As i had a helper today, i figured it was a good time to mill the three bigger logs, so we loaded the first one on the bunks,

and got started by opening the face that i thought would give the "highest grade" lumber, then taking a couple 5/4 flitches off too,

Then we turned it and took a few more 5/4 flitches,

When i took my first cut in this log, i misjudged the taper and milled the slab off too thick, so we threw it back on the bunks along side the cant,

and milled them both at the same time,

With that done, we rolled the second log on the bunks,

And started milling it the same way i did the first log,

Except, i put all the flitches back on against the cant, and edged them,

 

[Sawyer Rob]

From time to time i need some thicker lumber, so i like to leave the last board on the mill deck "thicker",

Next, it was time to load the biggest and nicest log of the three,

This log didn't have a lot of taper and was decent in size too,

When i opened it up, it did look pretty nice, but to be honest, none of these three logs put out a lot of clear lumber.

So we turned it, and kept milling,

The 5/4 lumber coming off this cant, was a decent width,

Then we loaded all the flitches, and edged them while i milled a board off the cant,

And here's the "tally" from the three logs,

 

[Sawyer Rob]

And here i am with the whole load, headed to "sticker" it so it can air dry,

Well, that's it for this time,

Rob