So, Andy finds a good candidate.
He cuts them such that the tops fall downhill, making the butt end of the log closer to the field where the tractor and winch wait.
A lovely shower of bright yellow leaves sprinkles down each time, shaken loose by the falling tree a bit quicker than nature would have done.
After he's felled as many as he wants to deal with in one session, the winch is put into play. First you drag the cable to the log...
Chain it firmly on and then trek back uphill to the tractor. Engaging the PTO causes the cable to wind back on the spool, pulling the log along with it. This particular tree had gotten hung up in a neighboring one, but was still no match for the winch and quickly became horizontal.
Up and over the bank into the field and pulled into line with the rest. He pulls the entire tree out of the woods and cuts the tops off out there. You can get a lot of nice small limb wood from a tree top. The parts that are really too small to mess with can be pushed back into the edge of the woods with the tractor bucket later.
"Mom, I LOVE the woods. Let's do this every day!!"
Er, you'll have to talk to Dad about that, Holly. Too much fun is likely to wear him out!
We are behind on cutting our wood too. Oh well, better late than never.
ReplyDeleteWe've been lucky the last few years. Don found a someone who lives right around the corner who works grounds at a local college with lots of old trees. His job is to trim or take them down and dispose of them and our job is to pay him a reasonable price for firewood. It comes cut-to-length, split and he often has time to help stack it.
ReplyDeleteNice shots! Your woods is beautiful and well maintained.
ReplyDelete