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Here we go again. Cutting firewood off the edge of a field.

Started by cutterboy, January 15, 2021, 07:20:35 PM

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cutterboy

Hi all. Yesterday and today I've cutting at the edge of a field and transporting the wood to the barn. I can split it inside on a rainy day. It's supposed to rain tomorrow so I pushed to get a lot in. My tractor is down(starter) so I've been using the Cub Cadet.
A good stack already and bringing in more.


 

 
Now back to the field to get some more. This little pile is the leftovers from this mornings cuttings.


 
Now cutting ash and oak.


 

 

 
First pile in...


 
and the other pile and back to the barn.


 

 

Happy cutting.....Cutter
To underestimate old men and old machines is the folly of youth. Frank C.

upnut

Nice! Clean up the edges and make BTU's, win-win...My fields are already disced to the edges so i retreated into the woods and dropped a big old knarly cherry. Large, heavy rounds. Broke out the little trailer, installed a hitch on the back and took the splitter to the tree...


 

Small trailers make more trips but fit into tighter spots.

Scott B. 
I did not fall, there was a GRAVITY SURGE!

SwampDonkey

That's the way I get all my firewood, SxS, chainsaw and maul. I don't need a wood splitter because the wood is small or very easy to split. I have a splitter back home, but the least stuff I gotta frig with the better. :D I cut 6 cord off the bank of the road in November. Tossed right into the pickup. I'm 4 miles from the house.



Draw a line from that second man hole cover to the far left corner of the barn, that was 2-1/2 cords, now stacked under the porch on pallets. To the right of the pile I'm burning right now, it's dry seasoned. Once empty, I'll fill that up with 3 cords. Three more will go in the house, and I buy 1-1/2 cord of hard maple. ;D Mostly burn softwood and aspen, some red maple and birch. Never froze yet. This morning it is a bit hot in here. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

cutterboy

Quote from: upnut on January 15, 2021, 09:22:03 PM
Nice! Clean up the edges and make BTU's, win-win...My fields are already disced to the edges so i retreated into the woods and dropped a big old knarly cherry. Large, heavy rounds. Broke out the little trailer, installed a hitch on the back and took the splitter to the tree...


 

Small trailers make more trips but fit into tighter spots.

Scott B.
Scott, that's the way to do it. Keep all the mess in the woods. I like the idea of installing a hitch on the trailer to pull the splitter.
I see you don't have any snow either. It's raining here now with temps going up into the 40's, so the ground will remain uncovered for a while. Now if the ground would freeze I could get into the woods.
To underestimate old men and old machines is the folly of youth. Frank C.

Arctiva

 
here is how I roll, ut them 8 to 10 foot bring a pile right to the boiler cut em and split. 
 

Al_Smith

Funny thing about all this .It's been so warm,26-30 degrees I don't run the fan on the insert .If I did it would run you out .It uses just as much wood and right now it's white oak .About a face cord a week or around 4.5 cord  for the heating season .Takes about 15 minutes a day  to haul it inside from the trailer on my tractor .Maybe scoop out the ashes once every two or three days . 

DeerMeadowFarm


SwampDonkey

Quote from: DeerMeadowFarm on January 22, 2021, 01:33:07 PM
I am constantly clearing field edges....
Full time job especially if you're farming. There's always leaners, windfall and limbs.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

SwampDonkey

I burn through a wheel barrel load of wood every day when there is no sun. Mostly aspen, I throw in a stick of maple once in awhile. When there is sun I can go 2 days. I've burnt about 4 cord here since September 15th. That's 4 months. And like I've said for years, wood burns in the stove the same rate at 20F as it does 0F. Only thing that can change that, is don't put any wood in. :D

"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

ButchC

I haven't had a saw in the field since last winter. Back in the fall I had a dozen big dump truck loads of Black Locust given to me by a neighbor and just today I got 7 more dump truck loads of 8 to 16' long Cherry, Maple and Beech logs from another neighbo.  Probably 4 years worth of wood for us.
Peterson JP swing mill
Morbark chipper
Shop built firewood processor
Case W11B
Many chainsaws, axes, hatchets,mauls,
Antique tractors and engines, machine shop,wife, dog,,,,,that's about it.

SwampDonkey

"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

brianJ

Nothing has been done on this farm to hedgerows for 30+ years.    Started 6 years ago knocking them back.   Now getting all the ash dying.     Anyway, the boss pays me to knock them back and open them up so sunlight gets to even the outside row of the crops.   Got paid & 3 one yard buckets of firewood this week.   NIce Gig that

Al_Smith

You can cut hedge forever because I think it propagates from the roots .There used to be hedge rows in these parts but most of them fell to the bull dozers years ago .Those and most of the the fence rows are a thing of the past along with the huge dairy barns .Parts of northern Ohio are starting to look like Kansas .

cutterboy

Quote from: DeerMeadowFarm on January 22, 2021, 01:33:07 PM
I am constantly clearing field edges....
Yes, you have to if you want to keep your fields from being taken over by trees, brush and thorns. When I was a boy, (long time ago) I used to cut along the stone walls with a hand saw. (thus the nickname cutterboy) We used to mow the hay as close to the walls as possible and the fields were kept in good shape.
About 50 years ago my father gave up dairy farming and rented out the fields. Renters don't take care of the edges of the fields, they just take the hay and run. Now the woods have encroached into the fields 10-12feet in some areas. So, here I am cutting the edges of the fields like 60 years ago, being the cutterboy again. But at least this time I have chainsaws. ;D
To underestimate old men and old machines is the folly of youth. Frank C.

thecfarm

cutterboy, you got that right.
My Father just gave away the hay to be cut. They never took the back cut. Than the next year they was another 6 feet away from the stone wall and never took the back cut again.  ::)   :o  So now we are 12 feet away from the stone wall with woods on the other side. Things are growing. So he stopped giving it away and he started to just cut the grass let it lay. Than I bought a string trimmer. He thought that was just the tool to have around the stone wall to keep up on the bushes that tried to grow on our side. Than I bought him a Craftman's riding lawn mower. Another tool to keep the bushes back. He really liked that, because he could mow a couple times around the fields and than when we burned the fields the fire had no place to get away from us. Hard to burn green grass.  ;)
We was kinda slack on a few places around here. One day all is fine, than the next there are bushes head high.  :o  Took us a few years to get it back under control.
Than when we got a tractor with a loader, I hauled off one stone wall. Well I call it a wall. One of those walls that never got built. Just dump the rocks and go. Dribble some along the sides to make the "wall" 10 feet wide in places. I trimmed around that for more than 10 years. That was a haven for the bushes to grow around. Sumac was the worse to kill. My father mowed through them for years and I do mean years before they stopped coming up in that area. They got a hold when the hay was given away. All the rest of the bushes died out quick, he mowed it like a lawn, around the edges of the field. 
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Corley5

I'm letting our northern hardwood have back what belongs to it in several areas on our place. :)   Trees have a greater benefit here than open ground :) 
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

SwampDonkey

Cfarm, there's a bunch that farm near here, government paid for the farm so act like them fella's that cut and run. Aspen now 30 feet into the field that was always farmed. Nothing wrong with the land, just laziness. And an attitude that some bring when they don't pay for the land. Like that other farmer dumping rocks off his rented field on my land. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Corley5

I've got one field that is still hayed.  I go around it with the bush hog after they're done.  They don't cut as close to the edges as I would ;D
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

Old saw fixer

I think that I am going to tell guy that I give the hay to that he or his custom cutter has to take the back cut, or I'll find someone that will.  We always raised the cutter bar and cut up to edge.  Of course that was with a Ferguson TO30 and a hay mower.  I don't know if the newfangled  haybines work that way.  When the folks sold the horses the haying equipment went away as well so I have nothing to work with.
Stihl FG 2, 036 Pro, 017, HT 132, MS 261 C-M, MSA 140 C-B, MS 462 C-M, MS 201 T C-M
Echo CS-2511T, CS-3510
Logrite Cant Hook (with log stand), and Hookaroon

brianJ

Quote from: thecfarm on January 24, 2021, 08:36:39 AM
cutterboy, you got that right.
My Father just gave away the hay to be cut. They never took the back cut. Than the next year they was another 6 feet away from the stone wall and never took the back cut again.  ::)   :o  So now we are 12 feet away from the stone wall with woods on the other side. Things are growing. So he stopped giving it away and he started to just cut the grass let it lay. Than I bought a string trimmer. He thought that was just the tool to have around the stone wall to keep up on the bushes that tried to grow on our side. Than I bought him a Craftman's riding lawn mower. Another tool to keep the bushes back. He really liked that, because he could mow a couple times around the fields and than when we burned the fields the fire had no place to get away from us. Hard to burn green grass.  ;)
We was kinda slack on a few places around here. One day all is fine, than the next there are bushes head high.  :o  Took us a few years to get it back under control.
Than when we got a tractor with a loader, I hauled off one stone wall. Well I call it a wall. One of those walls that never got built. Just dump the rocks and go. Dribble some along the sides to make the "wall" 10 feet wide in places. I trimmed around that for more than 10 years. That was a haven for the bushes to grow around. Sumac was the worse to kill. My father mowed through them for years and I do mean years before they stopped coming up in that area. They got a hold when the hay was given away. All the rest of the bushes died out quick, he mowed it like a lawn, around the edges of the field.
HAHA   Once upon a time or actually 5 or 6 years ago I removed two hedgerows with just a 75XT skid steer on tires.   These small odd shaped fields had been in grass I suppose the last 20 years.    Hay was cut once in the spring then grazed later in the summer.    Probably just 300 feet total length, not much brush or trees because of that grazing.    But I took out 30 buckets of rocks.    
How small and odd shaped were those fields?   All three fields got consolidated to just one triangle shaped 5.5 acre field.   It grows corn now and soon into alfalfa.  

upnut

Last winter I traded chainsaw work for the use of a digger to remove stumps along the woods/field edge, this is what he provided for clean up work....


  

Made stump removal a breeze!

Scott B.
I did not fall, there was a GRAVITY SURGE!

cutterboy

Some more cutting on the edge of the field.
Five trees growing together off of an old stump. I cut two, the other three will be coming down too.


 

 

 

 

 
I've got a nice supply of wood in the barn that's ready to split.


 
Happy splitting.....Cutter
To underestimate old men and old machines is the folly of youth. Frank C.

SwampDonkey

Typical red maple. Those small diameter maple clumps can yield a lot of firewood. The less split'n the better. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

mike_belben

Praise The Lord

SwampDonkey

Now, we don't cut the sugar maples, Mike, that's the best sap. :D ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

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