Extracting and salvaging redwood stumps, logs, or even butt cuts can be incredibly challenging. To extract redwood is likely the most laborious step in cutting redwood. This is true even with large earth-moving equipment like cats and loaders. A lot of the stumps are buried in the underbrush, dirt, smaller stumps and logs, sand, gravel, mud, and water. One may find themselves in truly astonishing environments while reclaiming redwood.
I have encountered some amazing situations in pursuit of redwood. Many of these will be featured in my new book, and on our All Things Redwood page. In this blog post, however, I intend to explain our process for salvaging redwood.
Earlier this year, I received a call from an old friend of mine who was involved in a small Timber Harvest Plan (THP) on about 40 acres. The THP was a third-generation harvest, but there were tons of old-growth, Redwood stumps, and butt cuts. Luckily, I was able to swoop in on the smaller of the stumps. (By small, I am referring to cuts that are as much as 16 feet in diameter.) For about 2 months I hauled some real nice old growth from the location. Outside of getting the stumps unloaded at my mill site, breaking my 18-foot trailer deck in half, and having to be pushed up a dirt road by a bulldozer, the extraction was quite nice. Mostly because there was heavy equipment on site.
My Last Extraction
My last extraction wasn’t so cut and dry. I was contacted by a landowner earlier this year about getting some old stumps off his property. He had tried to burn them. But, as is common with Redwood, they wouldn’t burn. For this project, I used our boom truck. A boom truck is basically an old truck. Ours is a Ford F150 that has had its bed removed and has been modified with a flatbed, winch, and boom for pulling and hauling stumps.
This extraction was moving right along. But as is almost always the case, I ran into a large, curly, redwood stump. That stump broke my boom and burned out my winch. The stump is still setting on the property, half-cut and waiting for my new boom and winch to come to get it. You better believe I will! Contact us today if you have some extractions needed.
Stay posted for stories about the burl industry and our adventures in redwood salvage!
