Cutting TREES for our REMODEL | But Why

A week or so ago, we harvested all this locust for our decking in our homestead house remodel. Imagine, decking will be right here. We'll be walking on decking that we harvested ourselves. It'll have a story.

Can't wait to get in here.

This deck too. Apparently, this is a lot of decking. My guide on this, Ian, we worked all day, harvested that locust. He said, yeah, that's only about half. He thought we were done. Oh, this is going to be a deck too. We're going to connect these two decks. Although, because this deck is normal deck, this probably should be too. But even so, we're looking at 900 square feet of decking. Good morning, Nana. Come back, come back. Hey, Royal. Just want him to stay. Tate, stay tame. Man, that was a tomcat. Got him for Sabina. Lily's gonna— I'm gonna say hatch some kittens.

That's not the right word. Birth some kittens.

Happy day! Is everything okay?

Uh, this grease point isn't really taking grease, and the grease came out right there.

Why? Just loose.

Won't go into the joint.

Chain, chainsaw rig.

Do you want me to deep clean the house?

Yes, after milking. Should we let her go clean? Our room is clean. What if she cleans your room? I doubt your room's clean. I doubt it. Jonah cleaned it yesterday. I highly doubt it.

Okay, we can go look at it.

Well, what are you gonna do while we're milking? I don't know, move waters, set up the water. He can move waters and stuff while we're milking, Lily. Do that later, you're gonna have all day. Let's go. You want to see the tractors, the real tractors move today? What do you say, dirt So why are we harvesting our own decking? After all, we've been outsourcing all of our, uh, pumpkin house remodel. Really, we're leaving it up to the experts. We're keeping this project moving.

We only live in a tiny cabin for a while.

That— I don't always capture the steepness of this place. Actually, more like that. Isn't that crazy? Okay, it's crazy. Well, we got us a mortgage, and we thought what we had was a generous budget. Hey, hey, Lily, you want to come do vanilla? You do vanilla, I do honey. Dirty done. But first, I'm being totally honest, we're going to save some money. We could harvest our own decking from the land, and things end up being a lot more expensive than we imagined. A lot. I'm sure nobody's surprised. Funny thing is, when the contractor came back with the price of the decking— we're having it installed no matter what, locust or traditional stuff, that's, that's the same price no matter what. When he came back with the price of the store-bought decking, it's like $2,500. I don't know if that's a lot or not, but it was actually the first price that came through and we're like Well, that's kind of— that seems reasonable. The install is more than that. Same poop. Oh yeah, just finished up with chores. I do feel a little behind. I feel like we started last time by 9. It's 9:15. To be honest, I'm quite nervous because felling trees can be one of the most dangerous things you can do on the homestead. By the time we expense our equipment— by the way, the chainsaw is under $500 worth of repair, warranty air on our machines, uh, counting our time, the haul bill to get it over to the sawmill, the sawmill bill, the haul bill to get it back. I'm not saving any money. We might be spending more money. Hey, you want a poo poo? Yeah, let us know. Okay, so are we crazy, Rebecca? Because this is, you know, felling trees a little dangerous.

You always say this.

I know, it's always good to be aware. It is. It's like one of the most dangerous I know. Homestead jobs.

We're not really saving any money. So the ones that we already have down.

Yeah.

Is there something else we could do with those? And just buy the decking?

It is a thought. Those are a bit thick for those kinds of uses. You know, we've outsourced so much. Yeah, well, we did. And this is something that we could do, and then that decking would have a story.

You don't want to accept let's do something else with those logs, but You don't want to fail the trees either.

Lily, are you doing the domestics? Yeah. First tree. We found a bonus tree. I just figured it out about my nerves. Although it's a little different, it's a lot the same. These are the same jitters I had before a track meet, before a soccer game. Ooh, more like before my mountain boarding meets because the mountain boarding meets were dangerous. What I think I have here, guys, is pregame jitters. And so just like in mountain boarding, that fear, it's there to keep us safe. You think that'll fall close enough? Yeah, y'all stay up here, you're well out of the way.

Hopefully it's gonna fall right there, close enough for this rope for us to snag it out.

Hook it up to the grapple, then I'll pull it up. Okay, then I'll spin around and you can hook it to the back.

Hey, it's gonna be a good day. We need 10-foot pieces, lengths, but 10 foot, if we carry it down and it's out horizontal, there's— these trees are too close in. That's not going to work. And we don't want to take one 10-foot log at a time, so what we're going to try to do is drag down this whole big old log, cut it into 10-foot lengths down there. Call me, John, if you have any problems. We're gonna go with the next one. I guess I'm going at low-hanging fruit at first. We're gonna get that boy right down into the road. And then next, the big guy, the biggest one I've seen. He's also leaning right down in the road. I don't know why the locust tree is a heat, but kids are fine-tuning their airsoft course way over there, leaning right down towards the road. That's probably a good angle for you guys, huh? Can we turn our eyes on this giant?

I'm excited about this one.

Not only is it so big, it's actually still alive. I can see the locust trees—

I mean, the leaves—

way up in the sky. I'm excited. It's gonna be a good tree. I'm safe. Everybody's safe. I guess because it's so green, we lost a good bit of it. Well, they probably still use this. You see this big tree? What do you think?

Two pieces.

This is massive. I mean, we haven't been harvesting stuff as little as that, so we'll get that limb too. You can try to pull it for this length. That's gonna be a big dare. If I cut this, can you pull it out? Pulling the big bottom out now. We got the top out. Things couldn't be going better. A lot of the locusts we're finding, they're pioneer species, so they're the first to come up in a forest. And so a lot of them have done their job and they're dead, but this one made it to the light. The big hard— other hardwoods begin to shadow them out. How was it pulling that big log? Did it work?

Besides the tight corners.

Monster!

What is that, 40 feet? 4 cuts? As cool as this deck is going to be, I'm really enjoying this process. I'm having a good time. We're working with chainsaws, couple of big machines. I'm working with my boys. Henry interacts with us in between. A little bit more difficult ones. I don't know if they're gonna— they're not gonna fall in the road. That one's leaning on another tree. Let's do that one in a minute. Let's keep getting the easiest ones. We'll save the most difficult one for last.

Look at that one. Instead of getting these tricky ones, let's get these ones right here.

Oh wow, that's too easy. Now that one might fall the other way. Is our chain long enough? I don't think it is.

Oh, we can put the excavator arm down there with the chain hooked up to it and pull that out.

Oh, I like it, I like it.

Let's just get these two and be done. Those two are more trouble, and if we need more, we can just get them.

All right, is that just too easy? That one's just gonna fall right into the road, right into the direction we need it. It's falling the other way. It's leaning this— well, it looks like it's leaning this way. Pretty sure It's teetering right there. I've cut all the way through. There's just a little bit holding on to it. We're gonna get the machine and come at it kind of behind this other tree. Gotta stay safe behind this tree if it were to— just in case it were to fall this way, but we're gonna push it that way. Mad skill, man. You got it right next to the road. Thanks. How'd that last one go?

Really big. Got stuck.

You did?

Yeah, I couldn't make the turn to get it into the pile of logs.

How'd you get it unstuck?

I just got the— I just picked it up with the front.

Nice.

Try 2 logs.

One of these is a little bit closer.

There's one free and standing. Here's the hope, and that arm will reach. We're a foot away. And how are we gonna wrap around that tree? We need so much slack. Rebecca just radioed me. There's a snake in the house. Okay, just keep an eye on it. Don't lose it no matter what.

Oh wow, that's tiny.

Hey, hey, shh.

Very tiny, but I'm afraid there's more.

Okay, just hang on. That's what you call a ring snake, and they don't get much bigger than that. Get mad. Should I hit it? They're not gonna kill it.

I'm more terrified that there's more, like a mother.

We don't know where came from.

That's the scary part. Henry, we're leaving. Let's do lunch at 1. In 1 hour we should for sure be done. We weren't sure we'd get done today, let alone before lunch. So let's just move lunch back. Bring that chain. We found another chain.

All right, go around.

We gotta bring the mini eggs home. Might as well carry along with us. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. One more coming, that's 7.

Woo!

We just took a break for lunch. We're back at it. We got to cut these into 10-foot pieces. 10-foot, I called the mill guy and he's like, yeah, it's hard to keep locust straight, so the shorter the better. You are leaking. We're dripping right here. Hopefully we just need to tighten this up. I guess it just vibrated loose, Jesse. We did it and we're all in one piece. This is our total log pile. You think this is enough deck? I hope so. Let's text Ian and hope for an answer by the end of the day. I'm alive. I figured out I just like the process. Of what? Felling trees, hauling out the logs, working with the big machines, my son.

You like the process?

Yes, that's what it's about. I've been all day trying to figure out why am I doing this. It's not— it might save us some money, but it's definitely not going to save a whole lot. We are trying to salvage this ridiculously large zucchini, and she— I don't think you're gonna risk it. Good news and bad news. Nobody got hurt today. Bad news is I heard back from Ian. We need more. He said we're close. It's the second— the second time we thought we were done. I said there are two more trees. He This is day 2 of cutting our own decking. Why? Because we're enjoying the process. That's what it comes down to. Again, we didn't have enough. We do have a neighbor's locust. He was so kind to give this to us. It's just across our line. You'll lift this up and I'll cut it as high up as I can. You'll drag it out and then I'll cut this crooked limb off of it. Not kidding, blade's too tight, and I don't think I have the tool. No, I don't have the tool. That wasn't our problem at all. The chain isn't on the gear. Let's just restart.

You gotta be kidding me.

All right, we'll get this one, we'll get you going down the hill, we'll go change his diaper. We're having so many distractions getting started. Just says like, how do loggers do it? Well, they're not filming. We had to go down once for a battery. We had to go down once for a broken camera. They don't bring kids. They don't have a homestead. And they work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

You guys ready?

Oh boy, this is nook and cranny working today. Got about an hour We're gonna need to eat lunch. That's not enough to do it, but that's something. One locust is leaning up against a tree, and then another locust— both of them are pretty far off the road. Hopefully this thing falls down the hill, not over, not towards you guys, towards the camera. Oh boy. That went way down the mountain. It jumped 20 feet from where it was. Oh no, it's, it's rotten.

Shoot.

Let's try cutting a little higher and just hope it's solid. And it was. Not too far up, so that's good. Now how to get this 40, 50-foot piece out of the woods. Hey, you guys don't go past the Put them where we'll know where they're at. Okay, y'all stay back here, okay? You'll be well out of the way if you stay no further than that, no closer than this, okay? We've had a lot of distractions today. We've got one tree out of the woods, well, and one down. We've literally got about 25 minutes till I need to go in for supper. I mustn't rush here though. There's our locust. It's leaning. This is a problem. That limb— well, it's probably holding it up somewhat. If I cut it completely down here and that limb's holding it a lot, it's still not going to fall. And then I'm gonna have to cut the tree that it's on, and then I'm going to be in the way if that thing falls. So really, I need to cut that tree down that it's resting on. Oh, I get the plot thickened. I can't, because if I cut this tree, it won't fall that way because the locust is in the way. Can I cut it all the way through and then let's put a rope chain on it and pull it from that end? Maybe all that weight will break that branch. That's what I'm hoping for, guys. Oh no, I'm about to cut it through. It's going to pinch my saw. That little end's holding this thing, the whole thing up. Pretty sure it's going to fall that way. But what if it were to fall this way? Put the wedge from the other side there. What if we can drive that wedge in? I'm all out of ideas for today. Let's see if this chicken is shreddable. Oh, it's shredding! Hey, it's day 3 of getting out these locusts and everything locust project. We've got another little nook and cranny of time here, an hour. We've got one tree down, another tree caught in a limb. Let's see what we can do. Come on, Henry. This tree is on a limb. It could really fall at any minute, and this trunk could swing up this way, so just be real mindful. We're gonna use the excavator to pull this out, and it'll just put so much weight on that limb, it should fall. And I think it's leaning far enough that way that I don't think there's any chance it's going to come this way.

Most dangerous jobs: logging, construction is the number one dangerous thing.

No, go with logging. It's a better story.

I was worried the tree was going to pull me down there for a minute there.

I thought that tree was coming this way.

That's the last tree to pull down too, so over here I'm going to pull it up along the side of the road instead of straight up, and then you're going to pull it from the little end down the hill.

I don't think he has a bad idea there. If we pull it straight up the hill, we still have this angle to make. If we pull it this way, he'll be, he'll be on the road the way we want him to be, parallel with the road. Got two 25-foot chains today in town, and they are coming in clutch. So, Jonas, should we get the other one out right now? Yeah, we'll get the other one out now. One machine can pull one and one in the other. A lot of timeline here. They want to swim. Boyfriends are here. What was your thing when you were young? You were just so anxious to go. Yeah, uh, four-wheelers. We had a four-wheeler when I was a kid. You know, my dad would work us on Saturdays. Hard. And we'd have friends come over. I lived in the country and we'd play on Friday and ride the four-wheelers. Well, we'd find out who my real friends were on Saturday if they ever came back. And there were only a few that did. So did you come for the fun and the yeehaw on Friday, or you're gonna have to learn to cope with the work on Saturday? We'll find out if these are real friends. I think they are. Sam and John's been coming around a long time. Austin, how far do you think that, that tree is? 50 feet? Yeah, it's 50 feet. I only got 50 feet of chain. I cut it right here and it fell down the hill 20 feet. I was a little concerned with that other one. I saw you got the close-up shot. It's rotten there on that end, so hopefully it's not rotten all the way to the bottom. There's some area here, it's so big. Maybe that's why he's having me Yeah, y'all thought you were done with this log.

We thought we were done like 2 or 3 times ago.

This is, uh, came off. Slipped off. That's the first time that's happened this whole time. I could wrap it double, but then it's harder to get the chain out, so I think we'll just put it further back on the log. Turning the machine around. It's got a nice hookup, middle of the frame, most control dragging the machine out. You back up to right here and we'll hook this log up to Josiah. We were just earlier playing airsoft with these boys, and they first got their airsoft guns, I heard Sam say, "I wonder if it's gonna hurt." It's all this excitement around the danger. And now we're figuring out Why are we doing this logging? Well, I'm grown now. They're saying logging is one of the most dangerous things in the world. I don't know, maybe that's the excitement. Maybe that's part of the allure. But I'm thankful we're all safe and sound in this.

Yellow!

Yellow?

Yellow!

I'll let them go ahead and play. I'm thinking I can cut these and I think I can turn them by hand. To cut the other side of them. It's 44 feet, so we're just going to cut 4 11-footers. With the help of Austin, 1, 2, 3. Hey, we're gonna let the boys swim a little bit, then I'm gonna have them stack these logs, and we'll see if this time the third It's time. Do we have enough?

Sun is setting. We got one last thing to do, and that's stack these logs.

Come on now, 8, 9 feet of locust logs. Come on, is that gonna do it? That's gonna do it.