Premium Firewood:How Much Extra Work is it Worth?

[svk]

I'm thinking I'll nab it this fall. It's just so nice only having to fill the firebox once.

 

[066blaster]

As far as selling wood is concerned, oak is king. Mostly because it's a well known species. Everybody knows oak is good wood, even women and city folks. You say maple, hickory, beech and their not sure. I never advertise ash, I just call it mixed hardwood. People are afraid of ash now. Oak sells fast and you get a premium price for it so I will pay more for it and travel further to get. I sell to mostly city folks with fireplaces. Kinda a shame the oak gets burned just for the light it puts out.

 

[svk]

Was just thinking about this thread.

All of that wood is still back there. I went back there once with the wheeler last fall (slow going but not at all difficult).

In addition to the several cords of red/pin oak laying back there I have two more scrounge sites discovered. One is a flooded then drained beaver pond full of smaller Elm and another spot further back has a number of bur oak blowdown.

I have about 5 cords of lower grade scrounge bucked up at the cabin but that will be done by early spring. And I now have an ATV so this stuff is now all accessible.

 

[olyman]

ive burned many species of farrrwood...this year, I'm burning white oak.. iffin I had my way..thats all I would harvest and burn..damn near like locust.....which there arent near enough of those around here anymore......

 

[rarefish383]

I'm spoiled, all the forests around Western MD are Oak forests. Still, I won't bother with anything I can't get my rope and snatch blocks to. I have 300 feet of 3/4 inch, 17,000 pound bull line. Several pieces of logging chain, and a couple snatch blocks. If I can't get a straight pull on a log I'll hang a chain 8' up on a tree, then hang another, and another till I snake it out. I have flip open snatch blocks. My Ram 1500 can pull a 24"-30" log 20' long with no problem. It weighs about 6,000 pounds, my truck. I pull till it gets to the first snatch block, back up enough to let me flip the line out of the first snatch block, then put it in the next, until it's on the road. I'm also spoiled that I have 3 farms I can cut standing dead wood from so I never really have to work from the road. But, the older I get, the less I like to have to carry wood, Joe.

 

[svk]

That's a pretty slick setup Joe.

I've pulled tree length aspen with my truck but it definitely is a chore unless you are on a gravel road.

 

[rarefish383]

I've got a couple down Oaks to skid out, I'll try to shoot a video. It's a lot easier than it sounds. I think the big thing is getting the snatch block up in the air a ways, so there is little resistance, Joe.

 

[SWI Don]

This year we have started hauling out of the timber with a CTL and a grapple bucket. You just have to cut them in lengths short enough to maneuver though the trees. The loader has a 7000# tip weight so you can wrangle whole trees if you have the clearance. Usually though we ended up cutting them in 12' pieces and stacking 5-10 in the grapple for each trip.

 

[old CB]

What Joe (Rarefish) said above. Rope and snatch blocks, rigged high as you can get 'em to reduce friction on the ground. Often I need to load the pickup to get weight enough for traction, sometimes add tire chains, but rope and blocks is the way. I use 150' or 200' stable braid. Having more than one block lets you turn corners (redirect is the term for it). And like Joe mentioned, if you choke the wood with log chain it'll save a lot of wear on your rope.