Brett Anderson isn’t a conventional postman. Instead of delivering mail, he converts hedge trees into fence posts.
The posts are in demand in western Kansas and Nebraska, where the sandy ground isn’t conducive to steel posts.
Anderson looks for full-grown trees replete with limbs. However, trunks that are too bulky aren’t suitable even for a corner post.
Depending on working conditions and the availability of satisfactory trees, Anderson said he could cut 60 to 100 posts a day. He sells them to a post yard north of Yates Center.
ON A RECENT day as the temperature hovered in the mid-90s and high humidity made being outdoors an ordeal, Anderson was bathed head to foot with perspiration as he darted about a pasture sizing up trees.
The first tree he felled had a thick trunk that had graced the pasture 20, maybe 30, years and supported a brace of soon-to-be posts. In a matter of seconds, Anderson had his chain saw purring and began lopping off the small sucker limbs.
Next, he drew a tape measure from his pocket and marked where bigger cuts would be needed. A tiny twig or a blemish may point to a weak spot. He then unleashes the saw and its razor-sharp chain and begins to carve.
The cutting itself is a bit of a circus. Chips fly every which way as the small gasoline motor roars.
Anderson is not finished.
He hauls his Bob Cat fitted with a grabber featuring claw-like teeth to load his bounty on a flat-bed trailer, keeping the two sizes separated. To the landowner’s advantage the residue — short pieces of hedge and brush — are gathered into a burn pile.
The arrangement is a win-win.
In pastures, where trees of all descriptions are of little value other than to provide shade, their removal increases the amount of rainwater available to grow an ample supply of grass for grazing cattle.
With cattle prices today unusually high, Anderson’s occupation is an added bonus.
ANDERSON GOT his start in post-cutting 30 years ago with a hand from Humboldt’s Joe Works, who has done much through the years to improve the environment.
When Anderson was considering taking up post-cutting, he said he asked Works about a hedge row on his property. Works gave him the green light.
Not a fan of idle time, Anderson has been at it full-time ever since.
