How I Got into Urban Logging
My journey into urban logging was a pretty straightforward one. I began when I was riding one day along a road near my house where the power company was cutting down trees to prevent trees from falling on the powerlines. We stopped and asked the power company what they were doing with the trees that they were cutting down. They responded with a hearty nothing. I then followed up with a quick question about whether we could take some of the logs. The worker said that the trees are first come, first served. I thought to myself, I have seen other people make lumber and slabs out of urban logs, and I thought it would be a great idea to make use of free materials that were likely to go to waste. I ended up convincing my father to go back and get some firewood along with some logs for slabs. Later that week, my Father, little brother, and I went back to the place where the trees were down and brought our trailer. At this time, the trailer had not been outfitted with the winch and arch system, so we loaded the logs into the trailer by hand. After we got the trees back to my house, we took the firewood out and then took the logs to an Amish sawmill near me to get them slabbed.
The whole time we were loading and unloading these 16-24 inch diameter logs into the trailer, I would think about how convenient it would be to have the trailer lift and load the logs without us breaking our backs. That is when I remembered Matt Cremona’s logging trailer and was inspired to start creating the winch and arch contraption. The only issue was that I did not have any knowledge of how to weld and fabricate things, let alone the tools to do so. This is when we enlisted the help of two good friends of mine that have extensive experience in that area. The project took about 5 months in total, and we were met with a multitude of problems: straightening both axels, reinforcing the end of the trailer, attaching the arch, reinforcing the sides, adding a jack on either side of the end of the trailer, adding a mount for the winch, and adding a guide hole for the winch cable.
Once the structural and functional issues were ironed out, we got to painting. The process was pretty straightforward. I purchased some Massey Furgeson Gray Farm and Implement paint and cut it with gasoline and shot it out of a pneumatic paint tool called a Binks Gun. This tool is spectacular, but it is certainly not meant to put an airbrush-quality finish on the surface. After a few days of crawling under and around the trailer to get every piece of the frame and deck, my hair became exceptionally sticky and tangled. Despite my matted hair, the results were worth it.
Over the course of the next 2 years, I began seeing and collecting logs from all across my county. My first logs were two large oak logs that had been cut down at my local hospital.
The logs we collected after that were logs that I found at my old High school. All I had to do was ask the head grounds keeper. The ash logs didn’t have the most exceptional wood, but they did have some very interesting spalting.
The slabs on the right are made from one of the ash logs.
The last, and my opinion the most impressive of the logs I have picked up with the trailer is from the place I work. One day, while I was driving back from work, I noticed that there was a massive silver maple that had likely been cut a few months before my seeing it. One day after work, I talked to my boss and got his permission to take the log. Getting the log home was a very interesting time. Getting it off however was quite easy with the telehadler at the local sawmill. I intend to sell most of the slabs and keep a few good ones to make a table or two out of once they are down to the right moisture content. I am really excited about the future of these silver maple slabs!
The most recent of the logs that I have at my house are some logs that I got delivered from a local tree service company. For most people, I wouldn’t really recommend this route, but if you want to find some interesting species, your local tree service company would likely have a good selection. I was home on Christmas break and I thought it would be exciting to splurge. I ended up getting two black cherry logs, one maple log, one pin oak log, and one white oak log.
In summary, my journey into urban logging has really just been me getting help from good friends to help me me make my dream come true. I have been flying by the seat of my pants ever since the and I have loved it. My advice is to just go for whatever you are passionate about, and see where the chips fall.
Like always, thank you for checking out my blog and I hope to see you next week when I post the next two installments of Wood You Rather. Leave a comment down below about what you would like to see me talk about in the coming blogs.