RichP said:
Theres nothing more fun than firing up the turbine, traversing the main gun over the rear deck, closing the hatches and blowing thru a good stand of 30ft pines at 40 mph....
Been there done that, nothing more impressive than 30 foot pines flying through the air. I once watched a 8-10" thick pine go straight up and land right in the loaders hatch. Nobody got hurt, it was funny.
I was on manuver and had a platoon of Rangers try to sneak up on my tank in the middle of the night, I chased them back out of the woods with the tips of thirty foot pine trees slapping them in the ass. It was great entertainment.
It doesn't hurt much to plow through the underbrush (the underbrush that is, it can puncture tires and hole radiators and generally tear up an XJ) it actually promotes tree growth. But you have to use common sense.
Driving the XJ and the trailer to the fire wood sure beats trying to cut and carry it back to the trailer.
The going rate for a cubic yard of hardwood split and dried, around here is is near $90-$100. I often drag my son out to cut firewood, so we have some fun money in the bank for summer. Besides a wood cutting permit is a good way to get in some good wheeling legally and tone up the old muscles (why pay for a gym).
One cubic yard of wood is roughly equal (in BTU's) to a fifty five gallon drum of heating oil. A renewable resource. I only cut cultivated trees or sick old growth. They often plant trees thicker than they should, to allow for die off of the young trees. They often need to be thinned, when they get near middle growth.
If bark beetles get into a stand of pine, the cure is to cut the wood and let it lay and rot. Bark beetles only live in live trees. Firewood works for me. Also after a big storm, there are often blown down trees.
I try to stay out of the woods in the mid to late spring and summer. Late fall and winter when the ground is frozen, is a good time to cut wood anyway, less sap. I often cut trees into 15-20 foot lengths and snake them near a road or trail to be picked up and cut in the early spring or fall.
