August - What I have done in this month

[MartreCycle]

An opportunity to share information about the work/tasks/activities done in your woodland during the last summer month - August.

Can be big projects, minor works, laborious, tedious,relaxing, mundane, exciting etc. Does not have be original and can be the same as other activities done in any other month.

Aim - to give folk an idea of what owning a wood involves - glamourous and not so glamourous.

Try and keep items short and informative - Items warranting more discussion can be picked up as a separate 'thread'.

[tracy]

Still splitting wood for firewood, having lots of visitors and getting excited about identifying trees! We have alder buckthorn!

[greyman]

Built a hand pulled trailer (in July), made of wood, to 'assist' (oh yeah!) moving the windrows off the coupe cut this winter. Really pleased with final bit of equipment but it is slightly over engineered and therefore heavier than a similar design in metal (next project?). Plus it is not painted or sealed so gets heavier when rained on......Doh!

Having sold all the charcoal from our first burn in the spring, we moved some of the wood from our first coupe, cut this winter, up to the kiln area, loaded it up and fired it only for it to blow a gale and pour with rain. As the summer has been wet and our wood is on clay the kiln base must have been slightly damp and the wind and rain made for difficult burning and so most of the bottom and sides on the windward side are 'browns' (not quite charcoal). We have made a start emptying the kiln and have 26 bags so far but I'm not confident we'll beat (or even match) the 48 bags we got from the first burn. Used up all the bags we got when we bought the kiln and are now waiting to buy some more - we've got a supplier but we're waiting to see if we can get any from a more local source than Reading.

Also looking at the next winters project to clear along the stream edge at the bottom of the wood. This will have two benefits - letting more light in (reducing/thinning some trees) and tidying up some over stood Hazel/Field Maple coppice. This year we WON'T be doing it all by hand saw!

Still waiting for some nice sunny weather to enjoy an evening stay-over as Tracy has been sending all precipitation to us here in Sussex! ;~))

[tracy]

We picked up our landrover! Does that count as a job done in August?

We won't need it for mud, as Greyman says, we haven't had as much rain as some others ;-) Lots of lovely, dry, warm evenings at the wood... lol

[wood troll]

What's rain? In my distant memory we last saw that Blighty stuff end of May....but we do get occasssional downpours 37mm in less than 12hrs (July) and 9mm in 15mins! So our biggest August project has been watering all the sapplings we planted last winter. Long walks with buckets (and taking the car and trailer to places its not designed to go!!!)

Another job to be undertaken this month is to cut up the wood from two oaks (both over 100 years old) I re-pollarded last winter. Totally normal in France, provides plenty of fire wood with out removing the hedgerow trees. When the tree is eventually felled the crown provides a huge knotty lump of wood which I use to make unique table tops or basin stands.

Back in February 160km hour winds took out the tops of 9 of our poplars. This month I'm using some of the thinner ends, chainsawed lenghtwise in half to make (yet another) pair of "compost corrals" - built like a log cabin but with only three sides and larger spacing between the horizontals.

[James M]

Greyman, have you got a picture of your device on line anywhere??

[steve rollnick]

Greyman (are you old or what?),

Can you tell me, why dont you just use a wheelbarrow instead of hand pulled trailer? Is it the length of the poles?

I had been thinking of building a sort of hand pulled sledge, until I found a good wheelbarrow..... which is fine for short length, multi-trip lugging....

Steve

[wood troll]

Steve

When removing large logs and planks (I use an alascan saw rig a lot), firstly I try to use a teenage (6'4" strapping build). Failing that I have a pair of old caste iron wheels I found in a hedge with a wooden axle between tied to one end of the log. I am thinking of buying a horse though as the teenager is going to university. Should I start a tread on horse logging?

wood troll

[greyman]

James,

I did take some pictures and Tracy has seen the results of my handy-work (read 'ineptitude') But I asked her not to put it on the SWOG site. I am not sure I want to display my failings to t'internet en mass but you want a laugh and a lesson in how not to do it I guess Tracy can put a couple on the page. No 'enthusing' about it though!

Steve,

Wadda ya mean "are you old or wot?" I'm 21 but I've had a heck of a hard life so far.....;~)!

The trolley/trailer was envisaged as extendable so that we could move longer lengths and although made so we can make it longer than the 2 Mtr carrying space as is, I think it would need a powered means of pulling it if it were used for that. I am looking into the possibility of finding an old defunct ride on mower that has a broken deck that I could use to pull it as we don't want to open up the wood more than it is. We do have said wheel barrow and I now also have a metal framed 'small trolley that I'm about to weld some side supports for but I think we'll keep the long one for moving the poles of the winter cuts.

If Tracy does put the picture on the site -have a good laugh and then remember how fit I'll get pulling it about!

Love and Bananas,

Greyman

[tracy]

Greyman, you really shouldn't lie about your age you know! ;-)

I have the photos and I will put them up tomorrow. I think the trolley thingy looks good.