Work Weekend at Winnipesaukee

Earlier this spring, a storm of substantial magnitude hit Lake Winnipesaukee in the Moultonborough area where the Goedecke camp is located. Many trees were blown over, including the three shown above, resting comfortably on the garage of the front house. Amazingly, the manner in which they fell and the support provided by the surrounding trees minimized the damage to the garage. Still, everyone knew that a bullet had been dodged and that these trees needed to be removed before their full weight crashed through the roof. 

Before any work could be done on these trees, though, the Goedecke family suffered an unimaginable tragedy. Alan Goedecke, the youngest of Marilynn's three brothers, was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, a malady of unknown origin, without a cure, and which rapidly spreads through the victim's brain causing death, usually within a month or two. Amazingly, Alan accepted this devastating news with absolutely no self pity. With the support of the extended Goedecke family and his deep Christian faith, Alan remained upbeat and in great spirits up until the very end on June 15. 

Alan was passionate about many things, and the Goedecke camp at Lake Winnipesaukee was high on that list. He was almost always there whenever Marilynn and I spent time at the camp. He loved being there, and he always had three or four projects going on or in the planning stage. As the size of his projects grew, so did his tool set.

The first thing to appear was a small Yamaha ATV (possibly bought by Pop Schindler, his father-in-law). That, along with an attached cart, came in handy for transporting all kinds of things around the camp. A decade or so ago, he decided the camp needed a small tractor to for various landscaping projects, so he bought a  Yamaha Kubota. At the time, I thought it was a bit extravagant, but it soon became indispensable. It encouraged everyone to think bigger and attempt larger and more complex projects that required  mechanical muscle. The next generation Goedeckes were always using it to locate, dig up and transport large boulders to the lake to improve the breakwaters.

A couple years ago, Alan got involved in an even bigger project: transforming a residential home in Bedford, NH, into a new home for his church, New Hope Christian Fellowship. While working on that, Alan was presented with the opportunity to buy a piece of equipment much more powerful than the Kubota: a John Deere 310SG backhoe:

I don't recall the specifics of the purchase, only that Alan said that he got a "great deal" on it, that it was useful when building the church and that it would pay for itself the first time that it was needed at the camp. Truer words were never spoken. 

The first time that Pete Goedecke looked at the trees that had fallen on the garage he said, "I can take care of this with the John Deere."  I was immediately skeptical. Professional tree companies use specialized forestry equipment with grapple hooks to do things like this. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how a backhoe operating in an area of limited mobility could remove those trees from the garage without doing serious damage to the roof. Over the years, though, I've learned never to underestimate Pete. I told him, "Let me know when you're going to do this. I want to witness this in person!" A couple of months later, the weekend of October 5th was set for the Great 2024 Tree Cleanup.   

Pete is a great idea man. He's also excellent at figuring out how to make things work. Meticulous advance planning, though, isn't his forte, or, if it is, it takes place totally inside his head. The rest of us aren't privy to it, which may be the way he likes to operate. A good example was the first step of the project: moving the backhoe from Bedford to Lake Winnipesaukee. Pete knew a guy who could do this for a reasonable price, but it had to happen on a rainy day when the flatbed would otherwise be idle. Knowing he would have little advance notice, Pete decided to fill the backhoe's 36 gallon tank with diesel fuel ahead of time. Now, most people might have done this by making multiple trips to the gas station with a large, portable, gas container. Not Pete. He decided instead to drive the backhoe to the local gas station. You may be wondering whether this was even legal. Many states impose a variety of restrictions, including:

• Possession of a backhoe certification
• A special Mobile Equipment permit 
  
• The use of escort vehicles
• 
  Driving at certain times and taking specific routes

As a resident of the "Live Free or Die" state, though, Pete probably figured that:

1. There are no restrictions regarding this sort of thing in New Hampshire; or
2. No one in Bedford will bat an eye at seeing a backhoe driving on residential streets.

So, rather than waste time researching the legality or asking for permission, Pete  simply jumped into  the backhoe at 6pm, rumbled to the local gas station and filled up. While paying he couldn't resist saying to the cashier, "Guess you don't get many backhoes filling up here, huh?".  He didn't get an answer. Not even a smile.

During breakfast on Saturday morning -- just before the event began -- I asked Pete about his strategy for the day. He spent the next five minutes talking about how the area under back deck had to be cleared and a bunch of black plastic pallets had  to be set up in order to stack all of the firewood that would be generated during the weekend. No mention was made about how he planned to get those trees off the garage.

Once he got outside, though, his plan began to take shape. Since the backhoe was made for digging and scooping, it had no built-in way to grab a tree and lift it. Pete solved this problem by using a long, heavy-duty polyester strap capable of handling loads up to 2,500 pounds. One end of the strap was tied to the tree trunk while the other was tied to the end of the backhoe's arm, right above the bucket. Rather than describe what happened next, simply watch the video below, taken by my daughter-in-law Rebecca. Turn your sound up high so you can hear the banter between the Goedecke brothers, Pete and Herb, as well as stunned comments from the onlookers:

With that tree removed, the remaining tree was handled in a more conventional manner, The backhoe's front loader simply lifted the tree off the roof dropped it to the side as shown in another video, again courtesy of Rebecca:

You'll probably want to watch the video again. There's a whole lot going, most of which you probably didn't catch:

• Minutes prior to this video being taken, Pete had been berating Herb for sweeping debris from the roof into the backhoe's cab. Herb insisted it was accidental. They jawed back and forth at each other for a bit, but then got back to business. But Pete loves that backhoe and he wasn't quite ready to let it go. As he starts to move the backhoe to the tree, he stops, leans out the window and yells, "I can't believe you did that, Herb!" Herb, a bit stunned, looks over to Andy (who gives a small chuckle) and yells in reply, "Hey! Just ... Stop complaining! It was an accident!". Pure gold.
• Pete then puts the backhoe in gear and starts moving to the tree, shouting, "You better watch for me. I can't see, Herb!".  Not the most reassuring thing for all of us to hear as Pete attempts to toss 2,000 pounds of tree off the roof.
• At the 57 second mark, you'll see a figure appear on the other side of the garage. That's me. Pete gave me a job that was perfectly suited to my skill set. While clearing area around the garage to drop the tree, Pete got his chainsaw stuck in one of the trees. [Aside:  As a Mullen with zero Goedecke blood, I can't tell you how good it was to hear that. I've gotten my chainsaw stuck a few times in my life, but I've always been a bit ashamed to admit it, especially to a Goedecke.] My job was to save Pete's chainsaw from being crushed. When the tree fell off the roof, it would crash into the tree holding Pete's chainsaw, taking it down with it. Pete tied one end of the yellow polyester strap to the handle of his stuck chainsaw.  My job was to pull on the other end of the  strap and yank his chainsaw to safety the moment that it became dislodged. I'm happy to report that I executed the plan flawlessly.
  

With the trees off the roof, the weekend was already a success. But there was still a ton of work to be done. With very little conversation, the assembled group divided into a number of teams, with some people on multiple teams.

The Chainsaw Gang

This group generated all of the work for the rest of us. It consisted of the Goedecke brothers and my son, Andy. Their task for the weekend was nothing short of monumental. In addition to the trees that had been removed from the roof, there were many other monstrous trees that had come down over the last year or two that had been stacked along the side of the road. There were also a number of trees that had been damaged while clearing the roof as well as trees around the back camp's leach field. The goal of the Chainsaw Gang was to prune all of these trees and  saw the trunks and branches into fireplace-sized sections that could be split into firewood.  Over the two-day event, Andy estimated he spent about 14 hours chainsawing.  

The Burn Pile Crew

 

As the trees came down and the branches were pruned off, anything that couldn't be turned into firewood was burned. To handle this volume, three separate burn piles were set up. My daughter, Sara, oversaw most of the burning. With her forestry background and knowledge of safe burning practices, she was the natural choice. Plus, she was the only one who thought to purchase a burning permit!  Rebecca spent a ton of time dragging branches and debris to all three burn piles.

Sara's first burning pile was set up in the circular driveway of the front camp. It handled the branches and dead wood pruned off the trees that came off the garage as well as the debris from the trees around the garage that had to be taken down. It also handled the burnable waste generated by the splitting process.  

The second burn pile was set up about a couple hundred feet up the road close to where a large cache of fallen trees were being cut up.
(More about that burn pile later.) The third and final burn pile was set up on the back camp's leach field as Herb and Andy cut down a bunch of trees in that area. Just about everyone -- including Zach, Keira and Dana Joy -- got involved in dragging branches and other debris to these burn piles. All of them stayed hot over Saturday night and were revived the next morning. 

The Transportation Group

This group consisted of Pete and three third generation Goedeckes (Johnny, Amaya and Bryce). Their responsibility was to deliver the fireplace-sized chunks of wood created by the Chainsaw Gang to the Splitters and Stackers. Pete, of course, used the backhoe, filling its front loader with the biggest of the chunks. Johnny used the Kubota to handle the the medium-sized chunks. Amaya and Bryce used (and sometimes fought over) the Yamaha ATV to transport anything else that could fit in attached cart. Rebecca and everyone on the Chainsaw Gang provided the muscle needed to load the bigger pieces into the various conveyors.   

The Splitters and Stackers

Splitting and stacking required a lot more people than I would have thought. It consisted of me, Nancy, Marilynn and a bunch of third-generation Goedeckes (Johnny, Amaya, Callie and Bryce). In fairness to the group, Marilynn and Nancy were also responsible for making all the meals. And Johnny and Amaya were alternating shifts in the Transportation Group. All I can say is three cheers to Nancy for getting us a top-notch splitter!

A year or so earlier, Nancy purchased the splitter from a friend of hers who no longer needed one. While it took two (and sometimes three) people to wrangle a chunk of wood into place and split it, it would have taken an army of people to split all this wood with axes.  I volunteered to be a splitter since I had used one before, but that splitter was operated horizontally. Someone quickly discovered that Nancy's splitter could -- and indeed should -- be adjusted to operate vertically. Man, did that make a big difference! Chunks of wood that weighed over 100 pounds could now be jockeyed into place instead of having to hoist them onto the splitter.

 

For even small pieces of wood, splitting was most efficient with two people: one person to wrangle a log and hold it in place, and another to raise and lower the splitting wedge. I spent most of my time as a wrangler/holder.  Whenever I needed a break, Johnny was right there to take over. Everyone in Splitters and Stackers took a shift operating the wedge. Over time, it evolved into a game of sorts -- raising the wedge just enough to allow the split wood to be cleared, pausing while a new log was set in place, and then quickly delivering another split the instant the holder was ready.  Split wood was tossed into a pile to be stacked. Everyone on the team took a turn stacking, as did anyone else who happened to stop by. Nancy was the mastermind of the stacking operation, organizing all of the black plastic pallets that Pete had somehow acquired and overseeing the method of stacking. 

The Cooks

Arguably, the Cooks were most critical members of the work crew. In addition to participating in all of the outdoor work, this group made sure that the the entire crew was hydrated and well-fed. Some of the highlights:

• Nancy's oatmeal cake for Saturday's breakfast which kept everyone going throughout the morning.
• All of the hot dogs, hamburgers and ears of corn that you could eat for lunch on Saturday.
  
• A turkey dinner with all of the trimmings on Saturday evening.
•  Fried egg sandwiches made to order by Herb on the Blackstone Grill for Sunday breakfast. 
• Nancy's fantastic turkey soup for lunch on Sunday.
• Marilynn's Sunday dinner of American Chop Suey and pita bread that was enjoyed by everyone, even all the kids!
  
• The three apple pies that Nancy somehow found the time to make (with Marilynn's assistance)
• The trays of water that Marilynn delivered to the workers throughout Saturday and Sunday to keep them going.
  

The Tree Fire 

 

 

It was late Saturday afternoon and a fantastic day of work was drawing to a close. It had been a perfect day. The weather had cooperated, none of the equipment had broken down, no one had gotten hurt, and a massive amount of work had been done.   Then Nancy decided to walk up the road to help with the second burn pile. She noticed something a little odd and said to the group, "Is that smoke coming out of that tree up there?" Heads immediately snapped upwards followed by a collective gasp. The top of a tree next to the burn pit was on fire! I immediately headed to the front camp to notify Sara, the burn pile coordinator. The instant she saw the smoke she was on her cell phone calling 911. The 911 operator, in turn, put her in touch with the Moultonborough Fire Department, who arrived within a few minutes.

When the fire brigade arrived they approached Sara (who was obviously in charge) and the following conversation took place:

 

    Fire guy: "Who started this fire?"

    Sara:       "I did."

    Fire guy: "Do you have a burn permit?"

    Sara:       "I do."

And that was it. They didn't ask for any of the details of the burn permit. They didn't even ask to see the burn pit. Sara's word was good enough. The fire brigade then unrolled their hose from the tanker truck and attempted to douse the fire burning about 50 feet above them. When they stopped (after about 30 seconds), the tree was still smoldering. The fire guy then approached Andy and suggested that he cut down the tree. We're guessing he approached Andy because he saw a guy decked out in color-coordinated, high-visibility orange safety gear and figured he was the head of the Chainsaw Gang. While Andy is damn good with a chainsaw (and probably could have dropped the tree if needed), he realized that the right man for the job was Pete with his experience and larger chainsaw. And Pete didn't disappoint. Despite his chainsaw being dull from a long day's work, Pete took care of the tree in a couple of minutes, dropping it away from the power lines and smoldering burn pile and back towards the area that the Chainsaw Gang had recently cleared. Another of Rebecca's video:

And here's a couple of shots of the fire brigade in action:

 

With that, we said thanks and goodbye to the fire brigade and everyone went back to work. Andy didn't like the look of the downed-but-still-smoking tree and decided to chainsaw the top half that had caught fire. While Rebecca dragged all the branches and dead wood to the leach field burn pile, Keira played with the grubs that were still in the rotted area of the tree. 

 

A final postscript to the tree fire saga: As Marilynn and I were splitting a partially burnt section of that tree, a small, gray mouse popped out of it. Marilynn let out a yell as the mouse ran around her feet and then bolted to freedom.  As Marilynn told everyone later,  "That poor mouse! Imagine, first your house is set on fire; then it crashes down to the ground, is cut into pieces, rolled, loaded, and dropped. Then wham!  It’s gone!"

Wrapping Up

 

While most of the excitement happened on Saturday, we still had a solid day of work ahead of us on Sunday. A good portion of the large downed trees that had bordered the road were cut into sections and split, but some were deemed to be too rotten for firewood were relocated (somehow) by Pete and the backhoe to a less visible portion of the woods. Pete and the backhoe also spent some quality time together landscaping the torn-up area around the garage. Here's what it looked like once he was finished: 

 

The Splitters and Stackers didn't stop until it was time for dinner. There was still a pile of logs to be split, but that was left for a future weekend. While the backhoe and the chainsaws were the MVP tools of the weekend, the splitter had to get a vote or two.  Sure, it said "Hold on a minute!" and shut down a couple of times despite having plenty of gas and oil, but that was almost certainly caused by a couple of gigantic logs that we fed it. After it had a few minutes to rest and recover, it was back up and humming.  Below is the pile of firewood it generated:

A cord of wood is a stack with the dimensions 4'H x 4'D x 8W'. That translates into 128 cubic feet of wood. Our stack of wood was roughly 5.5'H x 7.5'D x 18'W. That translates into 742.5 cubic feet of wood. That means that the team created and stacked damn near 6 cords of firewood over a two-day period. Not too shabby!

While it was a "work weekend", the group still managed to have some fun Bryce and Herb actually got up at 6am on Saturday morning to fish! Although the water was a chilly 63°, Herb and Pete jumped in the lake at the end of each workday to get refreshed and clean up a bit. The weather was absolutely gorgeous late Sunday afternoon, so Keira, Zach and Dana Joy got in their bathing suits and played in the water until dinnertime. Amaya paddleboarded around the lake and gave both Bryce and Zach a ride. Keira, Zach and Bryce fished a bit from the dock. While relaxing on the roof deck on Saturday night and marveling at the gorgeous "moon set", Marilynn, Andy, Zach and I saw a shooting star. It was Zach's first shooting star and he said, "That was great! When is the next one?" 

Although the weekend was truly exhausting, everyone was excited about how much was accomplished. It was a lot of fun working together, so it was a little sad to see it end. Not to worry. Pete has a series of other plans in his head involving the backhoe, the chainsaws, the splitter, and 12 cubic yards of gravel and dirt!