The Great UP Cherry Wood Heist:

When I drove up to Dad's place in the UP to help open it up we had a lot of things to do.  They included a trip to a local sawmill to see some pine that Dad had ordered.  

When we got there we found that the sawyer had just bought 30 cords of cherry logs from a pulpwood cutter.

Some of this wood was already cut but there was a big pile of logs still to cut.  I discussed the cost for "log run" material with the sawmill and we settled on a price.  I was just thinking in terms of a couple of hundred board feet for my own use.  I mentioned the find on the forum of my local club - Southeast Michigan WoodWorkers.  The response was surprising!  Dave Richardson stepped up and volunteered his truck and trailer to help with the pickup.  Neither of us realized just how much work this would be.

We headed up in June for a pickup weekend.  We were getting about 2400 bf of the cherry to satisify the demand.  We found that we could only hold about 1600 bf in Dave's truck and trailer.  We had to partially unload at Dad's and head back to the sawmill for more. 

We left about 800 bf stacked in Dad's pole barn for a second trip.

We brought the first load back and unloaded it - some at my place but most of it at Dave's.  Over the next week or so club members picked up their wood. 
Once we whittled the pile down somewhat we returned and grabbed the second load.  This was mostly destined for Dave and I.

 

Eventually I returned for another load of 8/4 and 5/4 cherry bringing our total up to 3000 bf.  Once kiln dried this became some very nice cherry and I have used it to make many projects.