- Hey everyone, my name is
Matt, welcome to my backyard. Today we're actually gonna be headin' out and doing a log recovery. Gettin' all loaded up for that. I'm actually pretty excited
because this is the first like real, I don't know, adventure pick up that
I've done this year. I have picked up logs this
year, I picked up two, but they've been just
sitting in a parking lot, so that's not all that exciting,
there's no adventure there. This time we're actually gonna go out and do a little cutting and maybe some interesting
loading, we'll see how that goes. The log is a red oak tree that was either blown
over or it fell over. It's uprooted in a viewer's front yard. He reached out to me and asked
if I was interested in it, and it's been a little
while since I said yes. I have a lot of pick ups to do. So we're gonna finally get out there and see what we're getting into. So a log isn't going to be anything like this guy who's currently on the saw. Looks like in the pictures it's probably at most, three feet in
diameter towards the base. But we are gonna be doing some
cutting since it is uprooted, so I am loading up the chainsaws. I got both of my saws and my saw box, which I really like having a box just for the chainsaw
stuff, so you can take literally all of your chainsaw accessories with you in one little swoop. So I have all the safety equipment, you know, felling wedges,
bar oil, extra chains, and a sharpener. Basically anything you would need for a chainsaw is in this box. So it also makes it
nice to store the stuff when you're at home because it all just kind of lives in there. And I know where all my chainsaw stuff is. I've got all of my recovery stuff, jacks and tongs and other jacks. And I got a bunch of blocking, too. Because when you're out there, you never when you might
need a block of wood to stick under something or whatever. Got the winch battery. Got a pry bar, my peavy and
cant hook are ready in the truck as well as my chains and binders. And since we're gonna
be doing some cutting and maybe some weird felling, I got a sledgehammer as well
for pounding in some wedges. All right, so I'm gonna put the stuff in the back of the truck. The trailer's already hooked up. And I think, at that point, we
can get the heck outta here. Little bit of blocking that fell off. Gonna tie up this arch. All right, so we're not
going too far today, the GPS says 14 miles. So it should be a quick little drive. And the other thing in
the back of my mind is, if this is too big, it
might be a multi-trip thing. But at least today, we
can get everything prepped and take back what we can. All right, here we are. That is down in the dirt quite a bit. So after walking around it a little bit, I realize this is a lot of tree. So we'll see how that goes, but we have, what is it, 20-something feet from the base up to the crotch. And then we have these limbs up here. Crotch is four feet in diameter. Down here, it's closer to three feet. But you can see how
this thing has uprooted. And what's kind of interesting
here is it's uprooted, but it has also shifted all of
the soil mound back with it. So one of the challenges with
a uprooted tree like this is if this thing is sitting above a hole, if you release it anywhere, it's gonna try and stand
back up down to the hole, but I think we're a little bit lucky here because this thing has fully
forced up into the hill, so it's not gonna even
try and stand back up or move backwards again. So it should be pretty
stable as we're cutting. And you can see, we have a lot of stuff hanging up in the air still. So I'm thinking, we'll have a couple of smaller logs up here from the canopy. And then we have the
main crotch section here, which is probably gonna
be maybe seven feet long. And then we'll have two
eight foot long logs down there we can take as well. I'm gonna get set up and
get these things cut. This is definitely gonna be
a multiple-trip situation. So today I'm gonna try
and get the base sections out of here because they're uniform, and maybe grab a couple of
these things and get those back. But at least everything will be prepped and a little bit more clean. I'm gonna move this
small section of log here out of the way. That way I have a clear escape path when I go to cut the next
section that's up in the air. So I just laid out the cuts here. So this section here for the crotch will be about six feet long. And that'll leave me with two roughly eight
foot sections down here. So that stick right there
to that wedge is eight feet. And then we come down here and we see what we're gonna deal with when we separate this
thing from the root ball. There is a hole down here where the roots used to be, so I should be able to swing
through with the chainsaw and release this thing fairly easily. And without hitting too much dirt, but that'll be the last
cut I make just in case. There's a lot of tree in that hole still. So, what I'm up against right now is there is this large buttress root that comes down sort of
like right into that hole. So, that's what I'm trying
to saw through right now. And it's quite a bit
bigger than my bar length at the moment, so trying to come in here. I got some dirt out of the way. Should buy me some more space. But the other side looks like it's a little bit further along. So hopefully a few more minutes of cutting and it's gonna be separated. Either I've cut all the way through it and it hasn't moved. Or I can't reach it all. I'm a little pinned in. So since I'm not really sure if this is cut all the way through. I'm looking down there now. You can see light all the way through. So, give it a little tug with the trailer and see if it actually
is totally separated and sitting there or what, I guess. (Matt laughing) So it's looking like that thing is really stuck down there in the dirt. So I've got the trailer
pretty well loaded now. So I think this is
gonna be the first trip. I'm gonna come back and grab that crotch and another one of those or something. And then we should be able to get in here and get a little more
easy access to this thing to try and pull it out of the ground. So after a quick, yet
uneventful, drive back, here we are, ready to get unloaded. I am a little tight for
space here in the log yard. Normally, I just put
stuff right on the mill and cut it right away, but that thing is still
up there waiting to go. So I think I'm gonna stage
things, where at here? In front of this tree here. That'll give me a spot
for all these little logs. They're all eight foot and less, so they should fit there pretty nicely. So, gravity is working
in my favor this time. I can just pull these
things off the trailer. And since I have the mini skid-steer now, it's also a little bit more convenient to move around things. And I don't have to get things exactly where they need
to be on the first go. And the last thing today,
I will seal these things up with some end grain sealer. That's gonna keep them from
cracking as they sit here. And I'm gonna go pick up
the next batch of logs. I'll bring the sealer with me and I'll seal up all the ones
I leave there for the future. The sooner you can get these
things sealed up, the better. Keep that moisture in, keep
them from cracking and splitting as they increase stress
as they start to dry. So this is a good little spot for storage. I get that question quite a bit of, where and how can I store logs to make sure they're
still good for sawing. So over here, they're in the shade. So they're out of the sun. That'll keep them from drying out from the outside too quickly. I've got them on some blocks
so they're off the ground. So that will keep them
from rotting down there. And if the bark is loose,
you can always pull it off to help to keep some insects
from getting under there. So these will be really stable
for storage for about a year, maybe two if I really need to. But, they'll probably only
be here for a few months. So I'll probably head out
there again in a couple of days and go pick up another few
logs and get them back here. I think it's probably gonna be three trips, maybe four, total. So see you back out there
in a couple of days. (woman laughing) - [Woman] How did that happen? - I just dropped it straight in there. That log is there, kind
of out of the way for now until I get the rest of
the straight logs back. And they'll stack right there, and I'll eventually put this
crotch here to kind of rest. That way it's off the side of the driveway and out of the way, but big crotch. So let's head back and make another trip. And see what we can get back here. All right, of we're
back for this guy again. Gil, the home owner got some exercise and dug out a lot of the
space around the log. And it does look like there
is still some material attached at the bottom of that kerf. And now with this big hole here, I'd have more access to
get my chainsaw down there and cut that, however,
not really feeling like I wanna be down in a hole
with a log when I release it. So instead of using the
other bar on the saw, I got the longer bar out. Which will allow me to stand,
you know, not in a hole and make that last cut. And then it'll just be a
matter of fishing this thing out of this hole. That's what we're dealing with. So real quick, let's take a
look at the end of the log. So right here, you can see
this kind of discolored area. This is actually some
rot, so it's pretty common to have some rot at the base of the tree. It's called butt rot. And, so we have that here. Not really sure how far
off into the tree it goes. Plus this is not that wide. And it's still pretty solid. It's probably not gonna go up that far. Probably like only a
couple of feet in there. So it's not a huge deal. But I wanted to point that out before I got the sealant on there, which will make it a little harder to see. The other question I get quite a lot is how old are these trees? And do I count the rings? I don't usually count the rings because I kind of have a good idea of how old these trees are in general. Most of them are about the same age. And I kind of go for more of
a ballpark kind of estimate. It's a lot easier than sitting here and counting all those rings. So if I go here. One, two, three, four, five. Six, seven, eight, nine, 10. So that's 10 years right there. So if I come from here, that's 20 years. And a little bit more there,
so 20, 30, 40, 50, 60. And assuming that some of these rings are a little closer
together towards the center. Trees usually start
growing a little slower. 70, 80 years old for this guy right here. All right, back for the last pick up. Got a few small things to get
up here on to the trailer. The interesting thing with small stuff is, it's actually more challenging
than the big stuff. So, let's see what we
can get on the trailer. And that'll be it. - [Woman] This is the only
kind of fishing Matt does. All right, here's the challenge. You've gotta put that sucker,
it's gotta fit right there. There it is. - This could be like the last
big run for this trailer. - [Woman] I sincerely don't understand, how's it gonna get over that? We'll find out. Look what dad's doing. - That tree took out a
bunch of smaller trees when it came over, so
this is a chunk of elm that I grabbed because it was small enough and light enough that I could throw it in the back of my truck. So this was a really fun pick up. I really, really enjoy getting
out and doing these things. It's so amazing to talk to people and hear about the trees
that impact their lives, or were a big part of their
lives for years in the past. So in this case, this
tree was, essentially, the focal point of that
family's front yard. They drove past it every
day as they left the house. And there's a lot memories
there in that house and with the yard, and with the tree. It's just really, just a
powerful feeling for me to know that this tree that has so
many memories tied to it will become something that
can live indefinitely. Because trees, just like
us, don't live forever. So, yeah, got a lot of logs here. I think we're gonna be pretty well set for saw mill content for while, even though I do have quite
a bit more logs to go get. (Matt laughing) There's trees coming down
everywhere, all the time. The supply of urban logs is extremely, extremely high. Doing what I can to save what I can. So, hopefully you enjoyed
this little adventure. Getting out there, getting some work done, getting sweaty and, I know I loved it. So that's gonna do it for this one. Thank you, as always, for
watching. I greatly appreciate it. If you have any questions or
comments on urban logging, anything on the saw mill or
anything back in the shop, please feel free to leave me a comment. As always, I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. And 'til next time, happy woodworking.
