Woods Tree Farm

I'm about out of space where I've been processing firewood, and I need to prepare that area for other seasonal use. I've decided my best option is to move my firewood processing and storage area to another part of my property where it will be out of the way for a while. Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

This is a question I've had here on the channel a few times: Can you use the grapple with pallet forks? There are a few reasons you might want to try this. For example, if you're trying to save money, but get the most capability out of your loader as possible, buying fewer grapple components may seem appealing. While it does work, there are some drawbacks when using the pallet forks with the grapple, and I'll try to cover that in this video. Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

I was on the hunt for smoking woods on the property today and after collecting some cherry and persimmon, I wanted to get after some hickory. Unfortunately the tree got hung up, so I tried to see if my Nissan Frontier could free it up and pull it to the ground. Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

Planting an 8000 sqft patch of sunflowers in the middle of our tree field where we've had several plantings of trees die over the past couple of years. Watch: 3 ways to plant sunflowers by hand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ijgH1eLsc Custom fertilizer blend https://youtu.be/z-cPAeoGzJE Buy your Earthway Garden Seeder: https://amzn.to/3KpArma *Amazon Affiliate link. We'll earn a commission on your purchase, which supports the channel and the content we produce.

Split and stacked so much firewood, I ran out of pallets. We've split a few cords of maple and poplar in the last 2 weeks and my pile of pallets has been quickly depleted. Lately we've been using the 4 way wedge on the Wolfe Ridge splitter because we've just had a random assortment of log sizes ready to go, and not too much that's just the right size for the 6 way wedge. The inventory is growing for the firewood business and I'm in high gear to get as much ready for this year as I can. Pretty soon my time will be up to get wood cut, split and dried to sell this year and I'll start on next year's firewood inventory. Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

We used both tractors today (the Kubota L3901 and the Farmtrac 60) to plow and till a couple areas of the property. First is an area where subsoil was excavated for a road-building project. We're trying to repair that area for future planting. Next is an area we've had cover crops planted and we'll plant christmas trees on it. Lastly is an area where many christmas trees have dies and we're going to plant several rotations of cover crop to improve the soil.

Using the Wolfe Ridge 28c splitting some firewood with my 6 year old daughter. She can do it. Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

Is poplar good firewood? Some people don't think so because it doesn't produce a lot of BTUs per cord compared to other hardwoods. But, I think poplar is a great firewood, especially for firepits and in the fireplace where a larger flame is more desirable. I fired up the Wolfe Ridge splitter and got to work breaking down some really big poplar rounds. There was already some maple split on the ground, so I could just mix it in with the poplar as I stacked it up. Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

I'm back at the lot that's being cleared to secure some white oak for my growing firewood business. In the last video (https://youtu.be/RGAM436gs94) I visited this lot for the first time and found this huge white oak log. The land owner was generous enough to pull the logs up to the front of the property, which made loading my trailer much easier. Everything went pretty smoothly, from cutting the logs with my Echo CS-590 saw, rolling the logs onto my 6x12 utility trailer using the Husqvarna hookaroon, and hauling the logs back to my property to be split at a later date. Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

Last year we decided to move our pick-your-own flower patch up closer to the front of our property into this small neglected field. We planted a Fall cover crop last year and plowed that into the soil this Spring. With that complete, we have time for a short Spring cover crop to try adding more nutrients back to the soil while (hopefully) breaking up our tough clay soil. The equipment used in this video includes our Kubota L3901 tractor, Countyline 6' tiller, and the Earthway bag spreader. One of the challenges we have on our property is compacted, dense clay soils. This patch has 3 different soil compositions that we're going to have to work on improving. Hopefully we can get things in shape before our flower growing season kicks off.

I went to a wooded lot being cleared to score some free firewood and a huge oak got my attention. Well, I should have left that tree alone because it turned into more work than I was expecting. On my 3rd cut of the log, my Echo CS590 got pinched in the multi-thousand pound log and there was no way for me to pull it or wedge it loose. The only option was to make another cut to relieve the tension on the chainsaw bar and chain. Upon returning to my farm, I had a bunch of maple and poplar ready to split, so we pushed all that through the Wolfe Ridge 28c compact commercial log splitter to build the inventory. Thanks for watching! Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

I'm up to my eyeballs with maple logs around my property and need to get things cleaned up as spring approaches. I had a nice pile of maple blocks ready to run through the Wolfe Ridge 28c compact commercial log splitter Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

We've got 400 trees to plant this weekend including some white pine and some austrian pine. We've never done the Austrian pine before so we'll have to wait and see how they do on our farm. Tree supplier: https://www.musserforests.com/

I've documented before how our soil is deficient in several key nutrients so we have to add a lot of fertilizer. Many people have asked me "whats the best fertilizer for christmas trees?" or "what do you recommend for fertilizer?" and I routinely have to suggest following the soil test recommendations. Use my custom fertilizer blend calculator: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1065ZBvCZdd1RlqTw6ZTMzZKO9fsw68vhlXEc82V9c0U/edit?usp=sharing

A lot of trees have died since we started our Christmas tree farm a few years ago. Many of those trees were canaan and concolor fir trees that seem to dislike our climate or the soil. We planted about 200 concolor fir two seasons ago and have lost almost all of them. There were some trees planted off to the side that I left for dead. Upon further inspection, under all the weeds, there were some surviving concolor fir trees that we'll go ahead and replant in the main field.

Over the past 3 years I've acquired numerous attachments for my Kubota L3901 compact tractor, but there is one attachment that gets used more than any other - the box blade. The box blade I have is the Land Pride BB2560. Its a 470lb medium duty box blade that has stood up to a variety of jobs on the farm, from leveling and grading, to cutting trails, to pulling stumps, this box blade has proven to be a valuable tool that greatly increases the capability of the compact L-series Kubota tractors. Equipment in this video: Kubota L3901 tractor Artillian grapple Curtis Universal ROPS Canopy Kubota BB2560 box blade Harbor Freight Quick Hitch In this video, I show how the box blade is an effective tool to move soil from on place to another while grading a roadway that needs additional fill dirt and also needs a crown developed. 0:00 Intro 0:20 Recent Bonfire 1:20 New Farm Road 3:02 Box Blade Grading 4:18 Grading Update 5:14 Best Tractor Attachment 7:17 Subscribe For More Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

Today we use the Max Tapener to straighten some small tree seedlings and some larger transplants that are crooked or leaning. Buy your Max Tapener here: https://amzn.to/3pVwXjM *As an Amazon affiliate, I'll earn a commission if you purchase through one of my links The Max Tapener uses plastic tying tape and a staple to secure a plant to a stake or anything else. I use it to secure christmas tree seedlings and larger transplants to stakes. I also use it to straighten the top of a tree.

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The biggest thing holding me back from growing my firewood business is having enough dry inventory on hand. Some of the oak I split last year is just getting around to being dry enough to burn, so I'm shipping it out. At the same time I'm focused on splitting as much as I can with my new Wolfe Ridge splitter so I can have ample firewood on hand for this upcoming selling season. Equipment List Kubota L3901 Tractor Artillian tractor grapple Wolfe Ridge Pro 28C splitter Stihl MS181c chainsaw Husqvarna 455 Rancher chainsaw Echo CS590 Timberwolf chainsaw Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

The YITAMotor debris fork is an effective tool to pick up brush, wood chips and other debris. Its easy to clamp the brush forks on your tractor bucket and with a 2500lb capacity, its strong enough to see your brush removal project start to finish. Get 15% off debris forks with code FLATCREEK15 (discount valid until April 5, 2022) Debris Forks Link: https://bit.ly/35lrP1E Get 10% off ANY PRODUCT with code FLATCREEK10 (discount valid until April 5, 2022) All Products Link: https://bit.ly/34bMNPS Brush cleanup with a compact tractor is easier with a clamp-on debris fork. This is a low cost alternative to a grapple that helps transform your tractor bucket to a versatile brush and debris cleanup tool. Adding these forks to your bucket is as easy as turning the threaded clamping bolts. At just 42.5 inch wide, these debris forks will fit a large variety of subcompact and compact tractors Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

Working today on cutting up some trees left behind by a recent excavation project on the farm. We have numerous piles of logs around the property that we'll need to get moved up to the splitter and split into firewood. Watch excavation project overview: https://youtu.be/b18dljJpjlU Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

Its been over 2 months since I've published a video, so I wanted to give a few updates about the projects we've been doing on the farm and what you can expect as we approach the growing season. Everything we've learned about flowers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5nzrrcUvJQ Flower growing & sales playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hti0UH8dj1Y&list=PLyubp1Fzo-JmQ3kp_o48gnovMekIBUxFT For more equipment and maintenance videos, watch Flat Creek Outdoors: https://www.youtube.com/flatcreekoutdoors Last Fall we planted several cover crops which will hopefully improve our soil this year. We did a couple excavation projects this winter to improve access to a couple areas of our property. Our Christmas trees continue to grow, but we've had a lot of deer damage. In a few weeks we'll be planting trees again and then we'll have to get on with fertilization, weed control and mowing as the weather warms up.

The hour meter on my new Wolfe Ridge splitter is still in the single-digits and I'm pleased with the output. In this splitting session I was able to split about 3/4 of a cord of wood and I'm sure if I had a helper to reload rounds on the splitter I could have split a cord or more per hour. I am in a frenzy now to get enough firewood inventory for this upcoming firewood selling season. I have a lot of maple, poplar and elm logs available now. These woods have proven to season quickly in previous years, so I want to get as much of that split as possible. Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors

Using my Wolfe Ridge splitter today and I realized something about keeping equipment under a heavy tarp that is reason for concern. There was heavy condensation all over the splitter after we had heavy rains and then the sun warmed the tarp. Is trapped condensation under a tarp just as bad as storing equipment outdoors without any over? You guys let me know! Don't forget to subscribe and join us on Facebook, too https://www.facebook.com/flatcreekoutdoors