Long Day Tomorrow

[Matt Hutchinson]

Well, I have hit the hard maple motherlode. I went to the city yard waste dump today, and there was a complete tree trunkk, 30" X 8' plus huge crotch pieces. And there is a ton of curly figuring in it! I got some of it today, but tomorrow I try for the trunk. The funny part is that I don't have a trailer!! I have been hauling stuff in the trunk of my Honda Civic. Surprisingly, with the seats folded forward, this works very well. Anywho, I expect I will be making about 4 to 6 trips to haul this stuff home. My back hurts just thinking about it.....

Hutch

[curtis rosche]

have fun, a truck might get better milage than a loaded civic though

[Allen Neighbors]

Wow! What good fortune! Get some help... for your back's sake... but get it!

[Nathan Hawkes]

NICE!! What kind of saw do you have?? Hopefully a big one.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrats Matt. Find a friend with a pickup and will help you.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Sounds like quite the wood! Looking forward to seeing photos! Be safe!

[Richard Madison]

Well done Matt! Ditto what Bernie said. Surely there are a few pickups in Michigan. Nearly everyone here has a few.

[Bruce Pennell]

Do the Uhauls in your area have the $19.95 pick up truck for local use by the day, might be worth it. Great wood haul, enjoy it after all the hard work is done. I lucked out, my wife and I are in the storage business and one of our long time customers is a tree doctor. He's dropped off two loads (small) but delivered for $25 bucks about 1 1/2 cords worth. 6 types of wood so far. Ash, mesquite, pepper tree (great reds and gray colors), oak, eucolipties (sp) and one branch of pine. Can't wait until he works at the apple orchard. Enjoy your new wood....Bruce

[Rasmus Petersen]

nice load :-) but be carefull with the back!! i have the entire day today set aside for some shopcleaning time... but im out with a realy bad back today.. (can stand but only barely) So don´t over do it and end up beeing only able to look at the wood...

[Matt Hutchinson]

The worst is over! I went and rented a U-haul cargo van. I wanted a truck, but they didn't have any. Well, about 6 hours of hard work resulted in around 2,000 lbs. of hard maple. I am so excited. This translates to thousands of dollars in finished product, well worth the cost of the U-haul, $64.

It was an amazing adventure. I have hauled large chunks of wood before, but not to this magnitude. Luckily, I got to the yard waste dump with the van just in time. If I would have been 15 minutes later, another person would have staked their claim on this log. He was looking for firewood and had to settle for some silver maple logs instead. With the help of a friend I managed to get a full round log section home. But the rest had to be blanked out. In fact, I had to leave some there. I ran out of steam. After hours of chainsawing and lifting, my body was done. I may go back tomorrow morning and try to get a couple more pieces, but I am certainly satisfied with what I have. Now I have hours of roughing to do. I already had some 24" diameter walnut to turn, and now I have this!! I think it's time to get a coring system!

My dream is to develop my turning into a strong part time business (around 25 hrs a week). This really gives me a boost. I have already done a couple jobs for a millwork shop, and hopefully I will soon have a market for the decorative items. Anywho, I am really excited. I will post the pictures of the haul tomorrow. Thanks all!

Hutch

P.S. I used a Stihl with a 20" bar, I think it's a model 310. It made the crosscuts great, and I didn't even have to sharpen it with all that cutting. However, after the last cut I noticed it was making an unusual sound. I may have it looked at.

[Matt Hutchinson]

Well, it took a couple days, but I finally foudnt he camera cable. So, here are the pics of the haul. There are a few pieces not pictured. I just got done turning a 17" rough bowl with a lot of figure and dark streaky color. I am absolutely ecstatic!

Hutch

[Jim Becker]

Matt, see if you can get some of that silver maple, too...especially from down near the bottom of the trunks just above the roots. VERY nice turning material and if you can get more "stressed" wood, the more amazing the figure will be. Some of the kewelest maple pieces I've seen have been from silver maple!

[Bruce Pennell]

Great save Hutch, lots of work, but very rewarding. I have a customer here at our storage, that is a tree doctor. I've gotten 6 loads from him so far a whole $45 worth, dropped in my back yard. He's happy, he saves gas and dump fee's. He brought a tear to my eye last night when he told me he might be moving soon. Probably have to look for a new wood supplier in 4-5 years. Enjoy all that free wood, or $64 wood, smart move with the truck. Bruce

[Ron Oastler]

awesome load of wood, in our local they won't let anyone in with chainsaws to cut up any of the wood there, it sure would be nice if they did,