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05-17-2018, 01:21 AM   #1
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"For Rent"--A fixer Upper, Montana Style

Two years ago I spent a month in Montana teaching a private course in lutherie (guitar making). My host was a seasoned forester who had promised me a chance to cut down a dead standing, ancient Engleman/Sitka tree--a extremely rare opportunity to harvest our own master-grade wood. We traveled into unknown parts somewhere beyond Stevensville, back on logging roads that he knew from his former occupation. It was a long trek up into the hinterlands to a private plot of land where he had permission to cut. We tramped deep into the woods, our backpacks loaded with a chain saw, axe, mauls and wedges, over a vast dead fall in a drought-plagued swamp, scouting for that one tree he had spotted about a year before; and we found it using the GPS on his phone! It was 38" in diameter, a monster--only a professional could have dropped that tree without heavy equipment. We split one huge chunk and lugged the pieces back to the car for the trip home. On the return trip, we found this rural rental and stopped long enough for me to take a picture.

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Last edited by barefootdesigns; 05-19-2018 at 01:26 PM. Reason: Trying to attach photo failed time and again--finally worked!
05-17-2018, 07:06 AM   #2
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No photo attached! Would love to see it, and possibly the tree before it was brought down.
05-17-2018, 08:16 AM   #3
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I, too, would like to see the "fixer-upper"!!
05-18-2018, 09:33 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by barefootdesigns Quote
Two years ago I spent a month in Montana teaching a private course in lutherie (guitar making). My host was a seasoned forester who had promised me a chance to cut down a dead standing, ancient Engleman/Sitka tree--a extremely rare opportunity to harvest our own master-grade wood. We traveled into unknown parts somewhere beyond Stevensville, back on logging roads that he knew from his former occupation. It was a long trek up into the hinterlands to a private plot of land where he had permission to cut. We tramped deep into the woods, our backpacks loaded with a chain saw, axe, mauls and wedges, over a vast dead fall in a drought-plagued swamp, scouting for that one tree he had spotted about a year before; and we found it using the GPS on his phone! It was 38" in diameter, a monster--only a professional could have dropped that tree without heavy equipment. We split one huge chunk and lugged the pieces back to the car for the trip home. On the return trip, we found this rural rental and stopped long enough for me to take a picture.
Don't leave us hanging...............pics please.

05-19-2018, 01:39 PM   #5
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While attempting to upload the "For Rent" photo my ISP was clobbered and I couldn't even get back into Pentaxforums. After two days and three people sweating over it, I managed to get back in and post the picture in my gallery, but not sure it's showing up in the weekly contest. I can't find it, though I thought I was successful. Any help would be greatly appreciated. It does seem that the "For Sale" picture posted in the forum but not as an the Weekly Contest. Oh, well, at least I'm back in the forum.

Here is a picture, as requested, of the tree that we cut.
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Last edited by barefootdesigns; 05-19-2018 at 02:01 PM. Reason: Addendum
05-19-2018, 04:09 PM - 1 Like   #6
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Holy smokes - THAT'S a tree!!!

And, I need the phone number for the rental unit!
05-19-2018, 04:14 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by ChipB Quote
Holy smokes - THAT'S a tree!!!

And, I need the phone number for the rental unit!
Glad you like it. It was a bear to bring down safely, and splitting the cross-cut sections and hauling them down the hill took a couple of hours. The old man (somewhere in his 80s) joined us and helped haul a piece down by himself--strong like bull, that one.

The phone number to rent it is 555-555-something.........

05-19-2018, 07:15 PM   #8
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How many instruments did it make and how do they sound? Was it worth it besides the experience? Etc, etc
05-19-2018, 08:10 PM - 1 Like   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by swanlefitte Quote
How many instruments did it make and how do they sound? Was it worth it besides the experience? Etc, etc
We got about 30 tops out of it, but they have to dry for at least a year before we can use them--longer if we can hold off.
05-21-2018, 01:25 AM   #10
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Here's a picture I snapped of the old man in his 80's who owned the land and helped us carry some of the splits down to the car. He is a tough old bird, but we gave him the lightest pieces anyway.

We made some braces for the guitars we were working on, after cooking them in the oven to dry them out some more--think kiln drying. The tops will have to wait for quite a while to dry out, but I can say that even "green", they have a lovely tap tone. c:
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05-21-2018, 07:20 AM - 1 Like   #11
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Hey, the rental had satellite TV available. Must have been for the Birds.
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