Sometimes you wonder if it's worth it!

[rooster 58]

Last evening, I went down over the hill with my 460 and firewood permit. I went to a spot that had some blow down cherry and maple, but there was a guy camping there. Not wanting to disturb him, I went to another spot. There was a standing dead cherry near a well pad so I cut it down and pulled it out to where I could process it. After loading it I thought of another log thatwould top off my load.

    As I was going back up the hill, I got not one but two flat tires on the driver's side I had to change one flat, then walked a mile to the top of the hill to be able to call a friend to bring another spare The rear tire was completely blown out and ruined. The front tire I'll find out about today. The funny thing is, I made sure I had my phone when I left, telling myself "you never know".

     Sometimes I think I'd be better off to just use more propane, or buy a load of poles and process them in my yard

[goose63]

Just think bout all the fun you would miss out of if you did that

[Leigh Family Farm]

And I wouldn't have an interesting story to read while at work! 

[ljohnsaw]

When I lived "out in the country" we had 5.5 acres but it was horse property - I had already cleaned up and burned what firewood I could the first two years.  So my buddy and I get our firewood permits and head out, each in our little trucks to get our "free" 1/3 to 1/2 cord we could carry. 

First time out, we follow the map for miles in the back country.  We load up after a long morning's hard work - and I have a flat.  OK, the tire was low on tread and I hit a sharp rock.  My buddy gets a broken windshield.

Next time we go out, again a long back country ride, I'm scouting a steep hill (above the trucks) for downed oak.  About 30' away, I see some bees flying in and out of the base of a dead tree.  I start to walk around and they come after me - Yellow Jackets!  I get stung a number of times and then realize - as I was running down the hill at breakneck speed, my nice watch I stuffed in my pocket fell out somewhere.  I looked around for quite some time but never found it.  My elbow swelled up a bit and was sore for a week.

So, for me, new tire - $130, new watch - $200 (it was a really nice one), "Free" firewood - priceless.  We had an inside joke for years - "...But it was a nice day for a drive" 

[ST Ranch]

For me, firewood is only cheap because I can get it in conjunction with other activities that I do - I always have a power-saw in the truck and any time I am in the bush and see an easy firewood log, I usually take 15-20 minutes and get a small load. Same thing at the ranch - I usually get firewood in the winter when/as I return from dumping shavings/waste from cleaning the barn.  On occasion, if I run across a good patch of blowdown in my travels that is not too far from home, I may get my dump trailer and take 1/2 a day or so to go get a good load.
Tom

[glassman_48]

rooster58,
A bunch of my friends have had similar stories, I told them I was thinking about getting a mobile firewood processor.  I got so much positive feedback that I went ahead and made the plunge.  Now I have a second business that wont stop.  I tried going in the woods and throwing log lengths into a dump trailer, it ended up being cheaper to just buy a semi load.  I got a buzz rig and log splitter before I got my processor and loved coming home from work and doing an hours worth of wood or so.  Probably 30 years ago my dad and I cut a 40" dead elm got the vehicle way way back and tried to drop it parallel to the 2 track we were on.  Wasnt quite parallel  it took us 3 hours just to clear the 2 track didnt have to cut much more wood than that tree that year. 

[clww]

Ah, what great memories you'll look back on....in 20 years.
Some days you're the windshield, while other days the bug.