This was a snag at the end of one of the pastures in the bottoms. It is an oak or other hardwood which was at least 125 years old when it died. Given the amount of decay of soft wood, I would guess that it died about 10 years ago. I took this particular segment which is just over 30 feet long for another wonderful girder which will span the entire width of my home..
You can see from this end, this is almost all hardwood. You can see a little of the soft wood left on the right side of the timber for contrast.
By taking this timber down I was able to open up a section of Rancher Bob's pasture that was under utilized. Also as it was leaning and beginning to decay, it was a threat to the cattle and anyone who went near it. Still it took me close to half an hour to get it cut down. The hardwood had cured completely in the last decade in which it was drying. The wood is so hard that though the chainsaw was sharp and running well, the chain and bar got so hot that they were smoking. It looked like bad exhaust.. I had to be careful of where I set it down for concern of starting a fire from mere contact with the chain.
In the end I did maneuver this monster up to the piles..
The morning started with feeding the two herds, and rescuing a stranded calf which was on the other side of the creek from mama, and since this is her first calf she was not as attentive as one might like.. Fortunately this little gal let me get close enough to pick her up and carry her across the creek. Unfortunately one of Rancher Bob's dogs decided that being a complete ahole would be a good idea.. he ran up as I was setting her down and bit her head before I could stop him..
The calf was not hurt, and the dog lost all privileges.. which given the pampering that these dogs get, this is significant.. At this moment he is sulking in another room because I have withheld attention. Not my normal style, as I am inclined to treat non-human animals better than humans, but he needs to learn not to act like an ahole..
Doubt it will work..
Wonderfully comfortable evening for sitting out reading and enjoying a nice beer or glass of wine..
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