We’ve had a bunch of brush piles on our property for the last five years. Home to many birds and critters no doubt. But a couple close to the house had become eye sores so I had the boys from Korte Tree Care come and adios them.
More adventurous types would burn these but the thought of setting our woods on fire is too much for me.
During the 30+ years we’ve lived in our home (on 3 acres) we’ve thinned out a lot of trees, mostly scrub cedar. Woodsman that I am, I chainsawed them into logs and stacked them, thinking someone would want them for some purpose. Wrong. They’ve been sitting where I stacked them for years.
Today I started getting rid of them… with the help of Minty Fresh, the family pickup truck. It was always my hope I could drive the truck down into the woods and haul shit out with logs at the top of the list. But having no experience driving off-road in a four-wheel-drive vehicle, I’ve been reluctant to tackle the rough terrain and steep-ish grade. Until today.
I flipped the lock-out hubs to LOCKED… put the low-range gear lever in “granny low” and eased down the hill. I scraped a tree once or twice but the pickup is so beat up you’d never find the spot. I loaded up the extra-long bed with logs and made it back to the road without a hitch (although I do have a hitch).
Aside from my lack of off-road/4WD experience, the big obstacle to this project was nobody wanted the logs. But as (bad) luck would have it, my friend George has some big-ass brush piles as a result of last spring’s tornado… and he offered to let me add my logs to his piles which he will safely burn.
I’ve got maybe half a dozen more truck loads but it’s a labor of love and great exercise. And if I role the pickup… a great blog post. [Photos]
A few years ago I spent several months cutting and hauling brush. The hardest work I’ve ever done. I recently had a few big cedar trees dropped and limbed and decided to bring in some pros. This is how you adios brush piles. The guy driving the front-loader (?) could make it walk and talk. I think our job was their first of ten scheduled for the day. And it’s hot.
There are lots of positives to living on a few acres of wooded land. It’s quiet and peaceful. No traffic. The sort of environment where you find deer, rabbits, turtles, wild turkeys and… snakes. (shudder) I am not fond of snakes.
This was found at the bottom of a pile of brush that the lads are clearing out today. I wasn’t there when Mark picked this copperhead up and declined his offer to “milk” the venom.
Following this little show-and-tell, the snake was dispatched with a spade. Yes, I know there’s never just one snake.