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What's in your log yard?

Kevin Jenness

Kevin Jenness

Joined
Nov 15, 2020
Messages
818
Likes
680
Location
Huntington, VT
Every time I feel like my wood stash is getting low I come to my senses and realize I have a lot of stuff on the shelf, then a new windfall shows up. A neighbor is installing a new septic system in way of selling his house which resulted in a large white ash butt log and crotch plus a maple stem with a radical bend (the main log was full of ring shake so no crotch from this section). Then a client offered me a yew log and a large white cedar crotch section. It never rains but it pours.
white ash Mulpeter.jpgwhite ash crotch.jpgwhite ash branch stub.jpgmaple crotch.jpg
 
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"Swing by" Tennessee and I'll load you up with red oak, water maple, yellow poplar, sassafras, sourwood, and persimmon, and maybe cut down the big cherry in the woods that is still alive but starting to drop branches on the fence. Some down, some need to be down.

JKJ
 
Dang John, wish I lived closer or they had Star Trek transporters! Would love some black cherry and/or sassafras. Never had sour wood. Got some persimmon once. I have 2 madrone logs about 20 inch diameter, and turning like a mad man....

robo hippy
 
At work now so no pictures but I have a large stack of Ash, Walnut, Mulberry, a little Maple, and a little Honey Locust. Walnut was from a friend who needed to take out several (I think it was 8) Walnut trees that was in the "field" that her horses grazed in. Neighbor (just moved in) needed to cut down a Mulberry (or Hackberry?) tree to lower her homeowner insurance be almost $1000 per year. Happened to be right next to my log pile so the tree service was nice enough to cut it to manageable lengths for me. I am not sure I will ever be able to turn it all.
 
I have some maple, cherry, ash, sweet gum, Japanese pine, and poplar. Made the mistake when we moved to Charlotte, NC from SoCal of letting it sit on the ground since I was so used to a dry climate with little rot that this has been a learning experience - I’ve been hauling a bunch to the dump lately. Lesson learned and when I need to restock late this year will keep it off the ground.
 
Right now all I have is several ambrosia maple logs and a couple black walnut logs, most around 10’ long. Need to go pick up a couple of red cedar logs next week. I have a leaning cherry in my field that needs to come down and a couple more maple trees that blew over during the hurricane but are still alive since some roots are still in the ground so they can wait till fall/winter to be harvested. Also have 4 big red oaks down but they may become firewood.
 
John Redding said:
I have some maple, cherry, ash, sweet gum, Japanese pine, and poplar. Made the mistake when we moved to Charlotte, NC from SoCal of letting it sit on the ground since I was so used to a dry climate with little rot that this has been a learning experience - I’ve been hauling a bunch to the dump lately. Lesson learned and when I need to restock late this year will keep it off the ground.
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John-I am in the Charlotte area as well and use plastic pallets to keep it off the ground. If you ever need wood, just reach out.
 
Thanks, Wally, that’s very generous of you. And good idea on the pallets - still learning the differences in climate, but at least I’m learning. And now that I’m retired my time is mine.
 
In log form my stash consists of red oak, walnut, white oak, ash, hickory, sycamore, locust, hackberry, persimmon, cherry, red cedar, cherry burls and thirty walnut crotches from 40lbs to 400lbs. In block form I could add palm, desert ironwood, mulberry, hedge, sweet gum and others I can't think of. Wood collection is an illness. If I could turn it as fast as I find it....... if only...
 
I did have some myrtle/bay laurel that was the nastiest stuff I have ever turned. It came from a "slide". One buddy got a log as well. It dulled the tools up far quicker than any other myrtle I have turned. I changed forstner bits because I thought the one in the drill press was dull. It wasn't, but every time I drilled the mounting recess, I got smoke. I also found a lot of micro cracks after turning a bowl. This was not a drying issue. My guess is that the slide created a lot of stress cracks in the wood which were invisible. Some I found and cut around them, but MANY showed up after drying. So, is some one has logs from a slide, don't bother! The same may be true for storm damaged trees. If a tree blows over, and the root ball is still on the tree, it may be fine, but if the tree breaks and is taken down, I wouldn't want it.

robo hippy
 
John, I am guessing that because of all the winter rain we get, especially on the coast, like over 100 inches, it was a land slide.

robo hippy
 
Probably dangerous, but I would expect that they wait till things have "stabilized" before they harvest. Don't want to waste anything....

robo hippy
 
I have made a point of not gathering anything that is not really interesting to keep my wife happy. She always grumbles about having to mow around logs in the back yard and with a quarter acre lot there isn't a lot of space. Trust me this isn't easy since I work a few days a month at a facility where we take logs, brush and grass clippings and make mulch and compost so I am always seeing something interesting that is just pleading with me to take it home.

I do have some maple and black birch for now.
 
Kent Reisdorph said:
Sure is. I wish I could justify it ... I need to do a little driveway paving.
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Someone offered me a free tractor recently. But I didn't take it since already have enough stuff and that tractor was a classic (read: old) and might need some work. I'm real lazy.

Maybe put up a sign in your yard: "Free tractor in good condition wanted."

We had our driveway paved a few years ago. It's over 1/4 mile from the security gate at the street to the house. A huge improvement after 20 years of gravel drive. But they didn't offer to do it for free.

paved_gate.jpg paving_C.jpg
JKJ
 
I have a log yard at home and one at the shop. (about 3 miles away) I keep acquiring wood that I get excited to turn, but it's way more than I can keep up with. As I get fresher stuff, some of the older stuff gets split and used for heat. (of course, some just gets too rotten and punky for turning or burning) Last year I had a few IBC totes loaded with spalted maple and walnut next to my outdoor boiler.

Looking back, I really should've made space for my old Problematic 4224 and kept it set up for coring. Instead, feeling sort of cramped for space, I donated it to a local nonprofit that was setting up a community workshop.
 
Darryl Fective said:
I have a log yard at home and one at the shop. (about 3 miles away) I keep acquiring wood that I get excited to turn, but it's way more than I can keep up with. As I get fresher stuff, some of the older stuff gets split and used for heat. (of course, some just gets too rotten and punky for turning or burning) Last year I had a few IBC totes loaded with spalted maple and walnut next to my outdoor boiler.
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Once the addiction set in, it's almost impossible NOT to take free wood. I try to keep in mind the advice from experts: never take green wood that you can't turn within a reasonable time, or in the case on one of my addictions, what I can't process into turning blanks to dry before they go bad. For some reason, there is no shortage of woodturners who will take blanks of good wood, dry, with no cracks. Some go to our club annual wood auction.

I once visited a gentleman in another state, a new turner, full of enthusiasiam. Almost half of his 2-car garage was maple log sections that "yay, was free!" Unfortunately, he handn't learned the difference between good and bad free wood. most was horribly cracked and a lot was too punky to turn, not even spalted.

Firewood might be a good option for those of us with too much wood. I do these things:

1) When I get wood too good to pass up and way more than I can use, the turning club sends out a notice to members. I dump it in a field with easy to access from the road and people come with chainsaws and trucks/trailers and take what they want. I try to make it easy: pressure wash the dirt off the logs, hold them off the ground for sawing, then load any big pieces to heavy to carry.
water_maple_jim.jpg

2) I have a dump trailer and a grapple on the skid steer so I move firewood logs to a big pile on one end of the farm. A kind friend collects wood for people who heat with wood and have little money -some disabled veterans, elderly women people who live alone - she takes them enough for the winter. She brings a trailer and I lift and hold the log over the trailer with the excavator so she can cut chunks that drop into the trailer - no lifting. I'll also cut and split enough for family and friends and stack it in a shed to keep it dry until they need it.

3) A local guy who sells firewood for a living has hauled off numerous truckloads of big wood that would otherwise go to waste. I move the logs to a small section of our property outside the fencing where he has free access to work. He cuts, splits, and hauls and leaves no mess.

JKJ
 
I wish one of my fellow turners would have warned me how much work cutting and prepping logs is….especially in the hot sun!! I’m not pushing Segmenting with that statement, just letting my sore back and kicked azz a chance to voice their grievances, lol!!
 
Russ Braun said:
I wish one of my fellow turners would have warned me how much work cutting and prepping logs is….especially in the hot sun!! I’m not pushing Segmenting with that statement, just letting my sore back and kicked azz a chance to voice their grievances, lol!!
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Ain't that the truth. I recently processed most of the main trunk of an ash. I can't do more than 8 or 10 rounds before I've had enough for one go. Fortunately, the Crossville club took several log sections off my hands. :)
 
Kent Reisdorph said:
A bit of everything. Walnut, mulberry, sugarberry, cherry, white oak, persimmon, ERC, maple, sassafras (including the dead one standing in the middle of the pile), elm, dogwood, etc. etc. I know my pile is a mess, but I'm just one guy and no tractor.

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Speaking of that dead standing sassafras, I met an Amish man who likes to make small furniture out of sassafras. He said he had run out of it. I told him I'd bring him some in trade for whatever is fair. His non-Amish son in law has a big sawmill right across the road. I see potential here. :) I'll bet he's going to be real surprised when I actually show up with a big sassafras.
 
I will not pave my driveway. Asphalt is only as good as the ground under it, and we get kind of swampy in the winters. Some "fine" quarry rock is best cap for any drive way, which is 1/4 minus or 3/8 minus, depending on your source. Not river rock which is round and rolls around. Do crown it a bit in the center, for water run off, and the dirt packs all the loose stuff in, or just let "nature" take its course and leaves and stuff will eventually pack every thing in place. Spread some dirt on top, like 1/2 inch or so, and it will pack as tight as concrete, and I did residential concrete for 30 years.

robo hippy
 
In truth, I'm only doing about 20'. The first 200 feet of my driveway is flat. It leads to a bridge over the creek. The rock on that part is 20 years old, probably. Still good enough. From the bridge up to the house is already paved.

What I am paving is 20' of the rock driveway from the bridge back. The creek has overflowed a number of times due to gully washers and debris partially blocking the 4' culverts. Believe me, that water can move a lot of rock in a hurry. That washed out section is deeply rutted.
 
Russ Braun said:
I wish one of my fellow turners would have warned me how much work cutting and prepping logs is….especially in the hot sun!! I’m not pushing Segmenting with that statement, just letting my sore back and kicked azz a chance to voice their grievances, lol!!
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My brother called last summer and said he had a 18” hickory he was taking down. I grab my $1300 chain saw and travel 20 miles to his house. We used his $30,000 tractor to load it up once cut. Drove 20 miles back to my farm, soaking wet after working in Mississippi July heat and unloaded it with my $40,000 tractor. The next 2 days was spent processing and turning. I had to keep reminding myself, “but it’s free!”
 
robo hippy said:
I will not pave my driveway. Asphalt is only as good as the ground under it, and we get kind of swampy in the winters. Some "fine" quarry rock is best cap for any drive way, which is 1/4 minus or 3/8 minus, depending on your source. Not river rock which is round and rolls around. Do crown it a bit in the center, for water run off, and the dirt packs all the loose stuff in, or just let "nature" take its course and leaves and stuff will eventually pack every thing in place. Spread some dirt on top, like 1/2 inch or so, and it will pack as tight as concrete, and I did residential concrete for 30 years.

robo hippy
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You are absolutely right, the ground and base is everything. In our case, when we moved here I cut a new driveway from the street through the woods, and u the hill along the side of a big sloped field - everything well drained. No soft or swampy areas.

It was tractor and yard box, cut and fill, cut and fill, reshape the ground, compacted it well, then spread 300 tons of grave. Packed that down with a wheeled skid steer with a heavy load of gravel in the bucket. The base is SOLID! For 20 years we drove over it, regraded, and added more gravel if needed. I used only crushed granite from the local rock quarries.

For one section I paid for commercial grade asphalt (more and bigger rock, different asphalt blend, much thicker layer) where I may need heavy equipment and loaded trucks, put residential grade around the circular drive by the house and from the county road down into the woods. I have a completely separate gated entrance I use for heavy trucks and equipment.

This area is mostly eroded mountains, big rock not far underground everywhere.

When I dig a hole on my property, or grade a section I always run into rock. Some have been huge and took all my wits to dig up and move.

This one was sticking a few inches out of the ground where I was grading. After digging deep all the way around I got worried. Then when trying to pry it out of the ground with the skid steer the top half separated from the bottom along a thin mud line and I could roll the top out and fill the hole in. Anyone need a nice dome-shaped decorative rock for their yard? You can move it.

My son got in the photo for scale.
paul_big_rock.jpg

I pulled this one out while digging a piy-burning hole. A young friend got a lesson operating the skid-steer and moved it for me!
skid_steer_Rebecca_20240507_171625.jpg

What is frustrating is to start digging out big stump I find the roots had grown around or down through cracks in big rocks. That's the only time I wished I had access to some REALLY big equipment.

JKJ
 

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