Ford/New Holland tractor and big logs

My day took a turn yesterday, tree job suddenly comes up nearby so I ask if the wood is spoken for. It was big hard maple tree. Owner figured he wanted it down, paid to have it all removed, though he's well versed in the work, he just did a bunch on his own, after a professional limbed and fell some from the old hedge row in this once farm field. The tree was healthy, but I see this more than not. I think I would have left it, but you can't deny wondering like with all the larger or mature ones, no buildings in its path at least.

I said I'll take all the logs, but the chipper operator did not want to top em and let me take the 8" diameter logs, boy that thing could eat some wood and I'll bet a cord went through it of good tops..... hate that, but nothing I could do, unless I had known, I can get help one or 2 days a week, we definitely would have made good on the tops and not been in their way.

Got down the butt and bottom sections of trunk, the one you see on the forks weighed 3,400lbs per the read on the crane. I had thought the new holland 4630's lift was rated for 3600 lbs., actually 3,080 lbs ! I should have looked on my phone. I lifted it just enough to clear and moved it a short distance to my landing, the butt makes it look bigger, with the base of the roots splayed if you will. Hope like heck this was not to the detriment of this really nice tractor I was able to upgrade to. The section above this block, that had the crotches, weighed in at 5,800 lbs.!, so I had the arborist cut it in half seeing he had a 48" bar. 3 pt forks are rated for 2000 lbs, not bad for what they are made of, hollow steel agri-supply. They handled all the other logs just fine.

I suspect either the last log tested the steel. When I tried one of the halves of that trunk and it either caught or just started to fail so I stopped and took them off. Not bad, just the tine, so I should be able to repair it to be as it was before, just make a new one at worst and I'll certainly build my own heavier 3 pt set with forklift tines. It was a bit of work to complete the task as agreed, I got the 850 with the loader and rolled the giant blocks off the lawn to the lane and skidded them where my path was, then rolled them down in off the lane. I did some sweeping and raking, replaced a bit of sod that was displaced in spots, that heat was awful yesterday, sure earned this stack of wood ! I see a few live edge table tops out of this, at least 2 one for me and a friend ! Finally have an excuse to use my new 25" bar to block these up.

Aborist company, did a similar job that morning, got to this job at 11:30 am, was set up at 12 noon and pulled out at precisely 3:30 pm, amazing what can be done with only 3 people, a huge chipper, 2 chip body trucks, they even had a stump grinder with them. They had nice equipment, lead aborist was a very nice person to work with. I'm thankful as this will be next seasons wood, I've got this years all bucked/blocked/dried.

Got one little larger in front yard that NEEDS to come down as center is bad.
Too bad as is a great shade for house in summer.
SWMBO said researched that maple trees live about 150 or so years. (her words not mine)
Since this house was built in 1840, my guess is someone back then knew about solar gain and how to keep house cool in summer. Was another tree 25-30 ft away that would have shaded house in late day but power company took down since was to close to power lines. Since tree was there first, they should have moved thier lines LOL

That's a good amount of wood! Looks like silver maple, so it's kinda soft, softer than sugar maple, but who cares it's free heat. Lol,

Personally I wouldn't fool with Maple it doesn't put out much heat and those pieces will be a bear to split.

BTDT. Big logs like that are nothing new to my Ford. Some are big enough that I have to pick something up with the other end just to counterbalance it. This log was a 44" trunk.
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5500 ? Certainly does the job, rare for me to deal with anything of this size, being just across the lane from our land, figured it was worth it, log truck almost took it all away, glad I was here, had no idea it was coming down.

There is one maple species here, it cuts real easy like dry pine, mostly clear grain heart and sap wood, good for fall and late winter into spring, shorter burn with good heat. Another maple in this vicinity, and I believe its hard, leaves a nice coal bed, ranks up there close to oak, we have and old one on the old farm/house/barns area. The butt of it will make the one above look small. Some top trunks came off it, I split those by hand, it was a bit of work. The last 2 blocks, made some extra work not being able to pick them, but I'll get through them.

It made a pile of logs, not in the photos as I did not take any shots when done. I need to brush up on maple species. I mentioned one in the response above, cuts easy, makes ribbons with a new or sharp chain, then there is another I've cut here, seems hard, with a darker heart wood, seemed to burn well and make good heat. This tree looked like one of those, hard. It would be good to know what it is actually, but like you say, it all burns LOL ! I do separate mine by species, burn accordingly per the weather, saving any oak I have for the coldest of days or nights. I'll make good use of all of it. I even use the sawdust and chips, that will get composted. Definitely going to cut some table tops from it. Free heat is a big consideration, subtract your time, it really does not cost much to produce, the more you have on hand the better, given the alternatives.

Hate to lose a shade tree, but when they get like that, reach maturity and get hollow, best to deal with it before it falls. Power company forestry contractors do a lot of selective cutting when clearing around lines, not so often they take trees down, and some clearly need to come down. June 27 2007, we had an isolated down draft type thunderstorm make a direct hit here, it took a large section of an old maple down that stretched the primary power lines just about to the ground. Tied up the fire department for 12 hours, they trimmed this area in recent years, but left parts of that rotten but live tree up that will repeat the same thing when they fall. Strange how they leave some of them.

They probably need to keep within a maintenance budget, and can only take the worst ones, let the property owners take care of the rest.

I'm pretty sure that one you got is silver maple, the other you mention sounds like red maple. I also save the saw dust for the hens nest boxes! Lol

4500

I burn a lot of hard maple in my stove and it heats good and is as easy to split as any wood!

I did some reading, I believe you are right, this area was loaded with these, there's a good aquifer through here, those yards behind the houses in the background are soaking sponge wet much of the year, unless it gets dry like it has been. It said the silver maple does well in those conditions, shallow roots, my neighbor is pretty sharp, figured it was time, rather deal with it now then the huge mess later. Not far from this one, the other neighbor had a 48" diameter, huge willow taken down, I filled my grain truck with a full load, but there had to be at least 6-8 loads of it, he gave it away, I did not have the room, meaning my yard was littered with piles of logs, large and small, it burned great, gave me a months worth of heat. My splitter bogged down in some of the crotches worse than hardwood. Tree outfits have made some money off these backyards over the years, they grew some massive trees. Only one pine has ever blown down though, surprising with the wet conditions.

I take a metal 4'x3' or so metal drip or drain pan, 1-1/2" sides on it when I cut the logs into blocks, just move it with my feet to the next cut, it catches most of the sawdust. I dump it into a wheel barrow, spread on a tarp when hot out, dries in no time. I use it for bedding my voles, its kind of like bat guano, maybe not as strong, but its no different than the dark urine soaked horse bedding, so the nitrogen is good, it composts well if you aerate it. I put 12 wheel barrow loads in my small garden late last fall and tilled it in before we got that foot of snow thanksgiving, my garden grew the best I have ever seen it, the amount of I get is a perfect match for annual soil amendment for this patch so I keep the voles as a hobby, I've had them for so many years now they are about domesticated. I dry it good, also great for speedy dry in the garage.