After months of dragging, chipping, stacking and climbing over and under cedar my property is now about 3/4 cleared. Yesterday was a great day. With the burn ban lifted, Mike Timme and his crew got started about 7:30 in the morning and by the time I got there at 9 most of the piles were nothing but ashes. What a glorious site! I watched them work with some of the smaller piles and the equipment is amazing. The machine that stacks the cedar can also pick up whole trees and drop them onto burning piles. I felt like a little kid watching all the action. If I had had about a 40 foot stick I could have roasted some marshmallows:). Those fires were major hot! Later in the morning the wind started to stir so Mike decided to back off on burning and brought out his mega chipper. Yep, he bought a chipper because he has not been able to burn in months and many of his clients like me have been grumbling. In about 1 and 1/2 hours they chipped most of the remaining cedar on the top of my property. Hurray, I will be able to drive and walk around. This will make the remaining work on the fences so much easier. We still have about a half days burning to do but the rest of the cedar is not in my way.I talked to Mike about my plan to use the chips around the barn and he agreed this should work well because in out drier climate the chips break down very slowly. He explained this is why the cedar eater machines that come down over the top of trees and grind them are better in the eastern, more humid part of the state but in west Texas and the hill country the chips stay too long and prevent the grass from growing unless you rack them up and haul them off. Anyway, I have received quite and education and if you ever need any clearing around the hill country check Mike out at www.brushshark.com. He is a great guy. Working ahead of the chipper my friends Ron and David cut up some of the trunks for firewood. It is cool to have so much support from my friends and neighbors. Madalyn
THERE IS A TRACTOR CARRYING THIS TREE!
CUTTING FIREWOOD
ANOTHER PILE GOES UP IN SMOKE!
CHIPPED WOOD!
FRONT PASTURE AFTER THE CLEARING
Hi Madalyn,
Well, well, well, welcome to being a real rancher and having some sweat equity into your new digs! Where we moved from we had pines trees (Washington state)everywhere so when we moved to Glen Rose and looked at all the cedar to clear, we lasted about a day before we hired the “big guys”to come in and he did it in two days!! And yes, those cedar piles get HOT! So I can totally relate to your story.
We roasted marshmellows later in the day when the embers cooled down. I loved the smell of the cedar burning. Just like campfires when we were little….do you remember that?
Glad to hear you have some elbow room and you get to enjoy some fresh air and peace and quiet, you deserve this peace. I will look it up on the map and see how far you are from Weatherford.
drop me a line and eat lots of StemPlex to help your muscles recover quickly. 🙂 your friend Jennifer Roach
Hi Madalyn
Sounds like you are going to have a great place. I have been an avid reader of your news letters and have just got logged into your Blog. Keep up the good work.
From NW Montana
Donna Tourtellotte