One one trusty tool I've acquired since my last post is a large garden tractor (actually very small compared to non-garden tractors). Its a 24hp, 4wd, 2-cyl diesel, with a front and rear PTO, category one 3-pt hitch. The previous owner welled up a light "cage" to protect the operator from brush and small trees. It has essential 18 speeds, with the very lowest being virtually crawl settings. Maybe a little better suited for pulling down the barn than my Toyota Tacoma. The tractor didn't come with any implements, so I bought a standard draw-bar (with 2 ball hitches, and a hook), and a carry-all. Both from Tractor Supply Company. The carry all is perfect for how I want to harvest wood from my woodlot.
Being a forester, I'm rather picky about how wood gets cut, so I try to practice what I preach. Low Impact Logging (LIL)has unlimited benefits to your woodlot. Those benefits range from protecting soil and water quality, to maximizing long term economic output of your woodlot. So the process for harvesting your own wood goes as follows:
1.) Select and fell your trees- Pick trees that are suppressed, stressed or would otherwise die within the next ten years or so if you didn't cut it yourself. Already dead trees are another option, but they can be dangerous to fell, or may have some excellent wildlife characteristics that certain animals depend on. A chainsaw operation class is strongly recommended.
2.) Buck the trees up into manageable lengths- For most of the trees I felled, 4.5-5 ft lengths worked best for most trees I felled. The larger the diameter, the smaller the length, which ill make them lighter and easier to handle. Even when felling very small trees, 5 feet was the maximum length I would keep them at, so they would fit behind the tractor... which leads us to....
3.) Load your the bucked logs on the tractor- I have two handy tools to help with this. A pulp hook, and log tongs. A pulp hook has been used for, well, at least as long as pulp has been around. Its great for keeping a firm hold off the wood and throwing the wood. Log tongs are small hand held tongs that are used to pull longer small diameter logs. You can also use them together with a pulp hook to save your back a few inches of extra strain when picking up wood off the ground.
The idea to carrying the wood to the tractor and save the ground from getting torn up, and to keep your machinery going further off the trail then it needs to. Dragging the wood behind a tractor (also known as skidding) may be necessary for hauling our larger logs that will be sawn into lumber, but it isn't really necessary for something your going to be cutting up into small pieces anyway. And in some instances, light surface disturbance is a good thing, and can regenerate trees more quickly. But, you also run the risk of rutting, or creating extra mud. Two things that don't naturally happen often in a forest. If I think forest regeneration is necessary, I may take a metal rake and conservatively stir up the first inch or so of soil.
4.) Drive out and unload- Preferably next to the woodshed, off your lawn. Cut them up into smaller pieces that will fit in your stove. I built a log stanchion to hold logs at waist level while I cut them up. Only problem there, is that you're handling them one more time, compared to cutting them where you dumped them.
5.) Split 'em and stack 'um- I bought my stepfathers log splitter which is a big luxury. I find splitting by hand almost medicinal, and would recommend it to anyone who has the time. I however, do not. Stack them up in the wood shed, or anywhere really. Most people at the very least cover their piles, although I've seen plenty of people that don't. As a general rule, the fresher (greener) the wood is, the more important it is to keep it dry. For example, a wood pile you cut in the fall is more important to cover than a woodpile that you may have cut the previous fall. An uncovered dead piece of wood, off the ground, will still dry out quite a bit given enough time.
The woodshed probably won't be finished this year, but at least its got a roof.
Some people choose to burn wood out of principle, others choose to do it to save money. I do it for both... so lets look at how we did for saving money....
Cost of Wood........ $0.00 (my own woodlot, and logging waste)
Cost of Tractor...$4000.00 (grain of salt, not used just for fire wood)
Cost of Gas........@$15.00 (Chainsaw, splitter)
Cost of diesel.......$0.00 (Came with a partial tank and haven't needed a refill!)
Cost of Splitter...$500.00 (Used from family)
Cost of Shed.......@250.00 (Treated posts, roofing, the rest was barn debris)
Total Cost........$4765.00
If I just burned Oil, at $2.70/gal, and oh... 500 gallons, it would cost around $1300. So...
Years to recoup
investment........... 3.66
Not to Shabby. Next year I hope to speed up efficiency by splitting in the woods and bring just the finished product to the woodshed, along with a more efficient cut to length system.
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