Friends of mine had a tree go down in their yard a few nights ago. The tree came down right along the property line and the top of it grazed the neighbor's house. They live in a subdivision and he doesn't have any need (usually) for saws or firewood so he called me to see if I wanted it. Turns out it was a 16" Cherry with very few limbs. The neighbor had already cut the top and made a tiny brush pile with what he didn't cut into 12" long fireplace wood.
When I arrived straight from my job I got to work bucking a 40' pole into 20" rounds. This brought the neighbor out and he asked if I would cut above the Y at the top 5' into a few more rounds for his fireplace. No problem. Then he asked if I would mind taking the brush since he didn't have a way to dispose of it easily. Again, no problem (as long as there was room in the truck after the rounds were in.) I finished bucking while my friend loaded the rounds into his wheelbarrow, wheeled it to the street, and loaded my truck. Then I noodled a couple of chunks at the crotch to stack in the neighbor's pile a little nicer - each branch was maybe 8" so it didn't take but a minute. My friend said I could just leave the stump that that had tipped out of the ground, but after a few minutes I convinced him that I could dispose of it MUCH easier than he could. We loaded the stump together and topped it off with the tiny brush pile that was left. Basically, all I had to do was the cutting and he did all the loading - which is OK because he's a strong, young buck.
The neighbor then came over with a saw in his hand. He said that it had been his father's who had passed 5 years prior and that it had been in his garage since that time. He wasn't really fond of saws anyway and didn't see himself ever using it so he told me I could have it if I wanted it. [Here is where you picture me trying not to act too excited when saying yes.] It's not much, but maybe tomorrow I'll put some fresh gas in it and see it it's worth keeping around as a limbing saw.
So, I ended up helping a friend, left with around a 1/2 cord of straight Cherry to heat my house, didn't have to load it, and acquired a free saw. He also said that he has another similar Cherry on the other side of the yard that he's going to have a tree service drop for me later this year. Oh, and then his wife fed me dinner. Here's to hoping all your wood scrounging goes as well as that.
Obligatory photo of wood and saw:
When I arrived straight from my job I got to work bucking a 40' pole into 20" rounds. This brought the neighbor out and he asked if I would cut above the Y at the top 5' into a few more rounds for his fireplace. No problem. Then he asked if I would mind taking the brush since he didn't have a way to dispose of it easily. Again, no problem (as long as there was room in the truck after the rounds were in.) I finished bucking while my friend loaded the rounds into his wheelbarrow, wheeled it to the street, and loaded my truck. Then I noodled a couple of chunks at the crotch to stack in the neighbor's pile a little nicer - each branch was maybe 8" so it didn't take but a minute. My friend said I could just leave the stump that that had tipped out of the ground, but after a few minutes I convinced him that I could dispose of it MUCH easier than he could. We loaded the stump together and topped it off with the tiny brush pile that was left. Basically, all I had to do was the cutting and he did all the loading - which is OK because he's a strong, young buck.
The neighbor then came over with a saw in his hand.
He said that it had been his father's who had passed 5 years prior and that it had been in his garage since that time. He wasn't really fond of saws anyway and didn't see himself ever using it so he told me I could have it if I wanted it. [Here is where you picture me trying not to act too excited when saying yes.] It's not much, but maybe tomorrow I'll put some fresh gas in it and see it it's worth keeping around as a limbing saw.So, I ended up helping a friend, left with around a 1/2 cord of straight Cherry to heat my house, didn't have to load it, and acquired a free saw. He also said that he has another similar Cherry on the other side of the yard that he's going to have a tree service drop for me later this year. Oh, and then his wife fed me dinner. Here's to hoping all your wood scrounging goes as well as that.
Obligatory photo of wood and saw:
