A Cleared Lot

Tree-cutting is finished, at least for now.  Late yesterday morning, as I got ready to leave for Alpena and "down below," Tom and Dean were cleaning up the last few trees, including a 50-foot poppel in the center of the lot.  Tom has been in the forest products business for over 30 years, loves working outdoors, and wields his chainsaw with remarkable economy.  He can drop a huge tree, remove the limbs, and reduce the trunk to a pile of 16-inch sections in less than ten minutes.  As he worked, his assistant Dean cleared away the brush, stacked the wood, or put the wood on the skid-loader to more easily move it around the site.  Attila and Sharon put me in touch with Tom, who is a member of Trinity, Alpena, and teams with Attila to count the loot... er, collection... every few weeks.  He also supplies the Paltelkys with their firewood.

These photos do not adequately convey the change Tom and Dean brought about.  Before, the lot was densely wooded with second-growth cedar and poppel (Swedish for poplar), plus a small number of oak.  The center of the lot was heavily shaded, and walking between the trees and over deadfalls was difficult.  Now, the trees have been cleared to within ten feet of the side boundaries, and up to the brow of the hill which drops down to the lake.  By the time I put up a house, garage, drain field, and driveway, almost all this space will be in use, with a few square feet left over for gardening.  Trees retained along the road should provide privacy screening on the "public" side of the lot.  The driveway will be slightly curved; that way, if you look up the drive from Kauffman, you will see trees, not the house.

Tom at work on Monday morning, July 26.

Dean (left) stacks wood as fast as Tom cuts it.

Suddenly my dark lot has become sunny and open.

Tom's skid loader, brought in on Tuesday, makes moving wood much easier!

I learned a few things about wood this week.  First, most of my cedar trees were (so to speak) rotten to the core.  Ants and other bugs have eaten the center of most trees.  Before long, with a little help from wind or snow, they would come crashing down.

Good cedars have commercial value, but Tom found very few sound trees.

Second, I have two poppels which pose a risk to the power lines (the right-of-way runs across the street side of my property).  Tom did not want to cut them, for if they fell badly, they would take out the lines and plunge the east side of Lake Esau into darkness — and perhaps set off a cascading collapse of the grid from Michigan to Maine!  That's not the way I want to meet my new neighbors!  Moreover, I would have to pay thousands to fix the lines!  Instead, I will mention these two trees to Presque Isle Electric and Gas.  If PIE want to take them down, at their expense, I'll be a good neighbor.  If they want to let nature do the work, and then repair the lines in mid-winter, that's their choice.

One of my "problem poppels," christened the Leaning Tower, is at left above.  The tree in the right foreground is a healthy oak, one of my few hardwoods.  I relocated the driveway a few feet to save both of them.

I also discovered how little piles of wood add up!  Tom estimates that I now have about 20 cords of wood piled on Lot 5.  The woodpile is out of the way of construction.  It's also my new hobby-in-waiting.  For stove use, I will have to split and stack all this wood.  This could take years!

Sharon's and Attila's granddaughters provide a little perspective on the woodpile, and on the work that awaits!

By the way, a cord is a tightly-stacked pile of split firewood, 4'x4'x8'.  I probably have the makings for about 20 cords.

I did not cut all the way to the lake.  Instead, I will live a year with the trees in place and observe how the sun penetrates the site and house for passive solar heating.  I also want a view of the lake.  These considerations will tell me what to cut.

Finally, I have decided that Kyle Doyon and Dave Sanders of Grand Haven will be the "prime contractors" on this project.  The guys spent Wednesday and Thursday, July 28-29, looking over the building site, deciding where the temporary power feed should be located, and figuring out where out-of-town subs can be housed when they are on-site.

On Thursday, July 29, Dave (left) and Kyle check the plans to locate the power line.  Getting power to the site is essential for construction.

The electrical feed will run along the boundary between Lots 4 and 5, in front of the woodpile.  Notice how my woodpile is growing!

God and the bank willing, we should be able to break ground in mid-August.  Kyle and Dave estimate that construction will take 4-6 months — with time out for The Feast of the Holy Hunting Season.  I really wanted to be in my house by Christmas, but it doesn't look like that will be possible.  Well, I've waited months and months to get this project started, so a few more weeks won't hurt me.  Patience is a spiritual virtue.  I guess I better hurry up and cultivate it. •••