# New guy in Maine



## trukn2004 (Apr 8, 2015)

I might as well introduce myself and load the place with some pictures.

Name is Joe, new to the firewood scene. As I posted before, just finished a house on 11.65 acres of wooded and secluded land. Picked up a Husky 455 Rancher with 18" bar off of CL, brand new, never cut with. Personally, a great saw for a beginner, though im sure ill want bigger and better eventually.





This may be my first home, but I am no stranger to firewood. Grew up splitting and stacking with my grandfather, have spent a lot of time doing the same for the Mother-in-law. This is however my first time with a saw, and my first time being in charge cradle to grave so to speak. enough about me, here are some more pictures.

The truck: 2012 Ram 1500 Express




The project: 1992 Dodge Dakota 2wd v-6, bagged, rebuilt motor, 20's all 4 corners, still not done.




The start to the firewood:

































2nd tree that I cut down. did a sweet job of notching it the wrong way, then getting it to fall right into the crotch of another tree. had my site guy pull it down with his skid steer. shagbark hickory.

















That's it for now! All the wood you see was hand split, mostly with my Fiskars X27. I have a sweet collection of mauls going, ill try to get a picture. I also have some more wood split and stacked, just don't have a updated photo yet.

That's it for now, hope you enjoyed it.


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## Cheesecutter (Apr 8, 2015)

Hi and welcome to AS. Looks like you'll fit right in.


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## Whitespider (Apr 8, 2015)

Welcome... you need more firewood... get to work.
*


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## trukn2004 (Apr 8, 2015)

Cheesecutter said:


> Hi and welcome to AS. Looks like you'll fit right in.


 
Thanks. I do enjoy this site. It's quite laid back and seems to have a decent knowledge base.



Whitespider said:


> Welcome... you need more firewood... get to work.
> *


 
Thanks! and I do. just moved into the house about a week ago, so I go out and cut and split a little each day after work. I think I have around 3-4 cords split and stacked currently, but I am going to keep going with the dead and down stuff around the house. I have no idea how much ill burn this year once I get a stove, so my goal is to have hopefully 7-9 cord by the fall. I also have to build a shed and woodshed this summer, get my landscaping done, and sheetrock my basement ceiling for code reasons. Should be pretty busy!


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## .404 (Apr 8, 2015)

Joe you were reeling me in 'til I saw the lowrider.


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## unclemoustache (Apr 8, 2015)

Welcome! Sorry about the trucks. Maybe someday you'll upgrade to a Ford. 

That's a beautiful looking house you have there! I don't know if you know this, but the rest of America now has something called 'indoor plumbing.' Perhaps you need Uncle Moustache Home Improvements to install something for you?? 

Anyway, membership dues are to be sent to my home address. Don't listen to Groundman when he tells you that it goes to pay for my kids' food and clothing. I hereby promise to spend all dues on chainsaw-related activity.


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## Marine5068 (Apr 8, 2015)

unclemoustache said:


> Welcome! Sorry about the trucks. Maybe someday you'll upgrade to a Ford.
> 
> That's a beautiful looking house you have there! I don't know if you know this, but the rest of America now has something called 'indoor plumbing.' Perhaps you need Uncle Moustache Home Improvements to install something for you??
> 
> Anyway, membership dues are to be sent to my home address. Don't listen to Groundman when he tells you that it goes to pay for my kids' food and clothing. I hereby promise to spend all dues on chainsaw-related activity.



Or even better....a Jeep (he,he)

House looks great. nice site.
Looks like you got some Oak cut and split there.
Welcome and keep up the good work.


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## farmer steve (Apr 8, 2015)

welcome to AS Joe. lookin good so far. as far as uncles' plumbing .don't say i didn't warn ya. 
http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/uncle-moustache-work-pics.164786/page-41


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## USMC615 (Apr 8, 2015)

Welcome...nice house, beautiful place.


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## Ironworker (Apr 8, 2015)

Nice place and good luck. Sorry about the Dodge, I guess we all can't drive a Chevy what are you doing about a stove, I built a similiar house and have my stove in the front room and the heat goes right up the stairs.


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## trukn2004 (Apr 8, 2015)

.404 said:


> Joe you were reeling me in 'til I saw the lowrider.


 
haha, I know its not everyones taste, but I love the look of a truck laid out over big wheels.



unclemoustache said:


> Welcome! Sorry about the trucks. Maybe someday you'll upgrade to a Ford.
> 
> That's a beautiful looking house you have there! I don't know if you know this, but the rest of America now has something called 'indoor plumbing.' Perhaps you need Uncle Moustache Home Improvements to install something for you??
> 
> Anyway, membership dues are to be sent to my home address. Don't listen to Groundman when he tells you that it goes to pay for my kids' food and clothing. I hereby promise to spend all dues on chainsaw-related activity.


 
I live in maine now, indoor plumbing isn't allowed by code. And if you ever see me driving a Ford, send for help because I have been kidnapped and my family is being held for ransom.



Marine5068 said:


> Or even better....a Jeep (he,he)
> 
> House looks great. nice site.
> Looks like you got some Oak cut and split there.
> Welcome and keep up the good work.


 
There is some white Oak, red Oak, hickory, maple, and a Ton of ash in those piles.



USMC615 said:


> Welcome...nice house, beautiful place.


 
Thank you



Ironworker said:


> Nice place and good luck. Sorry about the Dodge, I guess we all can't drive a Chevy what are you doing about a stove, I built a similiar house and have my stove in the front room and the heat goes right up the stairs.


 
I think we will be going with a Oslo F500 from Jotul. at this point I am recovering financially from the home, so the stove purchase wont be until the summer/fall. I don't mind chevys, but the ram is better looking, more cost effective, and gets better mileage then the new chevys. I've been dodge my whole life and never had any problems, but if I couldn't have one, I would be behind the wheel of a chevy. If that option wasn't available, MAYBE a ford, but The windows would be limo-tinted so no one would see me


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## svk (Apr 8, 2015)

Welcome. I've been to York, nice area.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Apr 8, 2015)

That Zip OSB... The Advantech, my Dad works at the mill that makes it... in Maine.


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## trukn2004 (Apr 8, 2015)

ValleyFirewood said:


> That Zip OSB... The Advantech, my Dad works at the mill that makes it... in Maine.


 
Whole house is done in the Zip board and Advantech sub floor. He makes a great product!


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## anlrolfe (Apr 8, 2015)

trukn,

Welcome aboard this ship of fools. 



trukn2004 said:


> I think we will be going with a Oslo F500 from Jotul.



I don't think you can go wrong with Jotul especially with their limited production and assembly in Maine.

I grew up inland in the Mt. Blue area. Thought that corner near York was flat.


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## Erik B (Apr 8, 2015)

Welcome to the site. Good to see you have some of that PPE stuff. Keep cutting safe.
Erik


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## mr.finn (Apr 8, 2015)

Welcome to the site and congrats on the new house, looks sweet!! Glad to see you use PPE while cutting. I spotted some ash in there as well.


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## ScreamingBeaver (Apr 8, 2015)

Welcome . I hope cad doesn't get you too soon


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## Ronaldo (Apr 8, 2015)

Nice to see a new guy and love the pics. You have a beautiful home and location and wood pile is looking good, too! Welcome aboard.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Apr 8, 2015)

trukn2004 said:


> Whole house is done in the Zip board and Advantech sub floor. He makes a great product!



JM Huber. He's been working there for over 30 years.

Nice looking house BTW, I really like the design.


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## TreeTangler (Apr 8, 2015)

Welcome to AS from a fellow Maine-ah.


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## tla100 (Apr 8, 2015)

Nice place, Great truck, good start on the wood stash! Get that shed up, and make it twice what you think you will need.


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## Beefie (Apr 8, 2015)

Welcome to A.S. you have a good start on fire wood. Here is some advice, if you think you will use 7-8 cords this year cut 9-10 so it all can get seasoning sooner. Then keep cutting for the following year and cut another 10 cord. It is always good to be 2 years ahead. Gives the oak and hickory more time to season and burns better. Stacking in a sunny are that gets some wind will help with the seasoning this year. Good luck, stay safe and keep your chain out of the dirt and keep the pictures coming.

Beefie


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## babybart (Apr 9, 2015)

Welcome! Sorry about the trucks. Maybe someday you'll upgrade to a Ford. 



Awesome!!!!!!!


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## Ironworker (Apr 9, 2015)

babybart said:


> Welcome! Sorry about the trucks. Maybe someday you'll upgrade to a Ford.
> 
> 
> 
> Awesome!!!!!!!


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## farmer steve (Apr 9, 2015)

Ironworker said:


> View attachment 418088


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## babybart (Apr 9, 2015)

Where's that damn Dislike button???!!!!


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## .404 (Apr 9, 2015)

trukn2004 said:


> haha, I know its not everyones taste, but I love the look of a truck laid out over big wheels.



No problem just make sure your pants are pulled up.


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## .404 (Apr 9, 2015)

Ironworker said:


> Early signs..............


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## trukn2004 (Apr 9, 2015)

anlrolfe said:


> trukn,
> 
> Welcome aboard this ship of fools.
> 
> ...


 
Thanks! Most of York is flat, however my little corner is riddled with hills and ledge. It'll make great mountain biking though.



Erik B said:


> Welcome to the site. Good to see you have some of that PPE stuff. Keep cutting safe.
> Erik


 


mr.finn said:


> Welcome to the site and congrats on the new house, looks sweet!! Glad to see you use PPE while cutting. I spotted some ash in there as well.


 
Thanks guys, I never run the saw without it. Steel toes too.



ScreamingBeaver said:


> Welcome . I hope cad doesn't get you too soon


 
Ive heard that before, and I know it deals with Saws, but I don't know what CAD stands for other then Computer-aided design. 



Beefie said:


> Welcome to A.S. you have a good start on fire wood. Here is some advice, if you think you will use 7-8 cords this year cut 9-10 so it all can get seasoning sooner. Then keep cutting for the following year and cut another 10 cord. It is always good to be 2 years ahead. Gives the oak and hickory more time to season and burns better. Stacking in a sunny are that gets some wind will help with the seasoning this year. Good luck, stay safe and keep your chain out of the dirt and keep the pictures coming.
> 
> Beefie


 
Will do! and my goal is 9 cord. I think I will reasonably burn about3-4 cord a year, but I want to have extra and I want to get the drying time going. This spring and summer will be a lot of cleanup of dead and dying stuff so hopefully itll be ready to burn very quickly!



.404 said:


> No problem just make sure your pants are pulled up.


 
 I grew out of the sagged pants stage when I was 18.


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## trukn2004 (Apr 9, 2015)

Ooops. forgot the pictures. Here are the stacks as of yesterday. They now have about a 1.5-2 inches of snow on them









I stack similar to how my grandfather would. Basically the whole pile is laid like Lincoln logs. For me, it promotes air flow and stability. Probably not the most space-efficient, but I have the space to create the sprawl and will stack more traditionally once I get a shed up.


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## the GOAT (Apr 9, 2015)

tla100 said:


> Nice place, Great truck, good start on the wood stash! Get that shed up, and make it twice what you think you will need.



And then double it again.


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## the GOAT (Apr 9, 2015)

babybart said:


> Where's that damn Dislike button???!!!!





Spoiler: dislike


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## Erik B (Apr 9, 2015)

trukn2004 said:


> Ive heard that before, and I know it deals with Saws, but I don't know what CAD stands for other then Computer-aided design.


CAD is chainsaw addiction disorder. The more chainsaws you have, the worse the disorder. Some on this site have it really bad


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## TreeTangler (Apr 9, 2015)

Erik B said:


> CAD is chainsaw addiction disorder. The more chainsaws you have, the worse the disorder. Some on this site have it really bad


 You choose to say some have it bad, I choose to say some have it great!


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## trukn2004 (Apr 9, 2015)

Ahh, that makes sense now!


I got to say, I like my 455 rancher. Its decently light, I think around 45-50 cc's and has done a great job at whatever I try to tackle. that said, I am still learning and tentative to try and cut down big stuff like you guys do on here. I think the biggest stuff Ive cut down was 12" trunk diameter, and the largest ive bucked was 18-20". For those I just cut and rolled a lot.


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## mainewoods (Apr 9, 2015)

Sometimes called "Chainsaw Acquisition Disorder", when the "want" consistently outweighs the "need". Been known to make wives cry and in-laws blush. Welcome to AS!


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## Erik B (Apr 10, 2015)

TreeTangler said:


> You choose to say some have it bad, I choose to say some have it great!


I stand corrected


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## peterc38 (Apr 11, 2015)

Welcome from Maine here too


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## trukn2004 (Apr 14, 2015)

Thanks a lot everyone! The site was down the last day for me, but I snagged some more pictures of my land, and some pictures and questions for you guys. First up is the glory of my chainsaw chain and it finding a sweet piece of York county ledge. Only one tooth is boogered up, but when i cut with it, it shakes like a unbalanced wheel. Do you think this chain can be saved?









Its the red link, at the top in the second photo.

Also, I have some wood cut to rounds that splits like cake, but it seems it might be punked out. What are your thoughts?












It'll be firepit stuff if not.

Ive got my eye on a scrounge. I think its still pretty solid, and Im pretty sure its white oak. 

Standing specimin, you can see the victim on the ground












leaves all around it. Seems like its a oak stand. wood sounds solid, but i need to cut into it to be sure. And i need to get my chain figured out to do that.




Finally, just some shots of the woods. This is all just out back of the house, ive got a lot more off to the left of the house too. 









Ash i cut down. I hung it up in a tree, but was able to pull it down with a rope.


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## zogger (Apr 14, 2015)

You can (carefully) grind that one depth gauge off.


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## peterc38 (Apr 14, 2015)

The one that you think is white oak is red oak.


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## hardpan (Apr 15, 2015)

That chain appears terrible dull. Straighten up that one cutter the best you can, sharpen the rest, and you have a lot of life in it yet. Some of that oak (not white) is starting to decline but will be fine for fire pit or not-so-cold days. I mix stuff like that in with the better ones all the time. A little more attention to stove loading frequency is necessary. In time you will make friends with the good, the bad, and the ugly. You will be fine and there is a learning curve with this madness but I wouldn't trade.


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## trukn2004 (Apr 17, 2015)

So I brought the chain in to my local dealer to see what they thought. he said for him to replace the cutter, then tune the chain up it would cost roughly the same as a new one. I said screw it and picked up a oregon replacement. What a difference over the factory chain! I tested it out on that red oak above, and lucked out. the bottom couple of bucked pieces had a 2 inch punk ring, but the rest of it is pretty damn solid. Worked it a little with the new chain and the fiskars. boy does straight red oak split nice. 

Today I remedied a problem i created. I had started stacking on my driveway, right on the edge from my turnaround. At the time, it was covered in snow. With the snow gone, the wife asked that i relocate the wood so we could use the turnaround. Not a big fan of the extra handling, but its nice to have full access to the turnaround now. 

where it was, and where it had to go




All moved!




I was rained out a bit, so i went to the basement and worked on my maul/axe collection. Everything but the fiskars are hand-me-down, no namers. They all have a nice edge to them now after some hand filing.









My new wedges! haven't used them yet, but im excited for them


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## peterc38 (Apr 17, 2015)

Looks good but it think you missed an opportunity to tell the wife that moving the pile will require a new toy.... Errrr I mean tool. I'm thinking something along the lines of a 40-50 HP tractor w/ FEL and pallet forks


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## trukn2004 (Apr 17, 2015)

peterc38 said:


> Looks good but it think you missed an opportunity to tell the wife that moving the pile will require a new toy.... Errrr I mean tool. I'm thinking something along the lines of a 40-50 HP tractor w/ FEL and pallet forks



Haha, actually a tractor is on the list. Hope to have one by this fall if all works out. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## tla100 (Apr 17, 2015)

Skidloader with forks, bucket and grapple will fit bill nicely also. 

I think I am going to try stacking on a single pallet to move from behind shed to garage when I need them. I think they may fall over easily tho. I did have some extra chicken wire I made a circle and tied ends and set on pallet, but just thrown in. But too much air between. So if we don't get rain all weekend, which we will, would like to try it.


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## KiwiBro (Apr 17, 2015)

peterc38 said:


> Looks good but it think you missed an opportunity to tell the wife that moving the pile will require a new toy.... Errrr I mean tool.


I thought re-stacking it in front of the garage door was a cunning part of the tractor purchase plan.


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## benp (Apr 17, 2015)

Welcome. 

And I'm kinda partial to little trucks that make no sense. 





It's a 3/4 ton.


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## stihly dan (Apr 17, 2015)

Gay!


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## benp (Apr 18, 2015)

Lol. Fair enough. I can respect that. 

An s366 over a ht4b....and copious amounts of fuel.


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## anlrolfe (Apr 18, 2015)

Love those Cummins straight 6's.
Reliable as the day is long.
Not a big fan of too much boost. Sometimes voids the warranty if you know what I mean.
May consider a turbo oiler drip reservoir or similar product? I'm always worried about lube during the wind down.
Rock-on.


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## _RJ_ (Apr 18, 2015)

trukn2004 said:


> I live in maine now, indoor plumbing isn't allowed by code. And if you ever see me driving a Ford, send for help because I have been kidnapped and my family is being held for ransom.
> /QUOTE]
> 
> Indoor plumbing isn't allowed in Maine? Crazy east coasters


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## farmer steve (Apr 18, 2015)

not only Maine. it's the whole NE. why do you think the Chesapeake bay is screwed up.


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## _RJ_ (Apr 18, 2015)

farmer steve said:


> not only Maine. it's the whole NE. why do you think the Chesapeake bay is screwed up.



Actually I was hoping it was a typo. But I had no idea.


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## Ironworker (Apr 18, 2015)

benp said:


> Welcome.
> 
> And I'm kinda partial to little trucks that make no sense.
> 
> ...


Nice rig.


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## trukn2004 (Apr 18, 2015)

Built the woodpile up some more. Found three red oaks down on the ground all missing bark but solid all through!












Bucked it to rounds and still have most of it in the woods to carry out. Loving it!


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## hardpan (Apr 20, 2015)

Some are inclined, some not but firewood work can be a really good family thing and kids can learn what real and honest work is about. It was with us and I miss that stuff in a big way. There is regular mention of such things amongst these pages. Saw on.


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## stihly dan (Apr 20, 2015)

trukn2004 said:


> Built the woodpile up some more. Found three red oaks down on the ground all missing bark but solid all through!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Dead barkless red oak is my favorite. Don't know why but it burns like rocket fuel.


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## trukn2004 (Apr 21, 2015)

Im excited for it! Past two days I've been under the weather. Caught myself some sort of bug. On top of that, the skies have decided to relinquish a unending torrent of rain here to really test out my lack of topsoil or any sort of vegetation to hold the dirt down. probably wont be able to move or process any more wood this week.


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## Ironworker (Apr 21, 2015)

You seem to know what you're doing and on the right track, but I have one question. Why are you stacking wood in front of your garage?, do you not use it?


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## trukn2004 (Apr 21, 2015)

Ironworker said:


> You seem to know what you're doing and on the right track, but I have one question. Why are you stacking wood in front of your garage?, do you not use it?



I love my garage, plan to use it a lot, however this is a new home. My bay is still full of a lot of crap, and we have zero landscaping. Right now, in front of my bad is the best spot unfortunately. In the future it will be stored other places.


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## trukn2004 (Apr 27, 2015)

Well, I've been fighting a cold all week ,and finally on Friday I decided to try the old "sweat it out" remedy. Got moving on some what I believe is red oak rounds. Carrying and splitting. Used my new Timber Tuff 24" log claw. Slick tool, but I could tell my rounds were a little too short. I got it to work, and got better the more I used it, but I have a 16" claw and a 8" set of tongs on their way. Photo time!

Its nice when mother nature de-barks for you




splits




making the pile




My grandfather's splitting maul. No idea the brand or weight, but I have to say this was becoming my second favorite tool behind the fiskars. has a bit more weight to it, so it drive through the bigger rounds with ease. Unfortunately, the head was loose, and on borrowed time. Halfway through she let go on me. Going to pick up an new handle since the one that fell out has to be 25+ years old. Does anyone have a link to a good youtube video on how to reset a handle?


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## trukn2004 (Jul 14, 2015)

Well, it has been a while but I've been side-tracked with house stuff. We are all moved in and got several projects finished up. I finally tackled some wood stuff I have been meaning to handle. Got all of the wood moved away from the garage, and I took down a standing dead ash that was long overdue. It fell the right way, though i found i cut through the hinge. It had no canopy, so there was no real weight to get it to start falling. Wife and I also cut a bunch of small dead stuff around back to clean it up appearance-wise. I found three dead and down red cedars though, so i got those into the stacks too! I also had a tree guy come out and drop a maple in the backyard that I had wanted to save but my site guy destroyed the roots on it. that is them in the video. I had them put it on the ground and i am processing it.


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## Ronaldo (Jul 14, 2015)

That cedar is pretty wood and I love the smell!


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## trukn2004 (Aug 14, 2015)

More wood added to the pile! Well, technically not stacked, but close enough 

This red oak trio had a bad lead, so i cut it off








Hands down still my favorite purchase.




All in all, i cut up three downed red oaks. They got some outer punk, but the rounds are about 80% solid wood. plus nature has de-barked it all for me. Splits ranged from 43%(laying on the ground after some heavy showers a couple days ago) to 28% (off the ground, no bark, less punk) I'm pretty sure it will dry quite quickly once its stacked and top covered. 













Second lead looks to by rough at the bottom, but the top is still in full leaf and healthy. Think im going to leave it for now.





This is a dead lead i still need to get to. Comes off of what i believe is a white oak, no real punk, when i cut it seems nice and dry. Once i get more fuel mixed up i will know more.


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## benp (Aug 14, 2015)

Awesome!!! 

Looks like you've been busy!


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## Ronaldo (Aug 14, 2015)

It looks quite dry. Nice set- up you have there. Id say you are well on your way to becoming a wood hoarder! Good Job!


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## trukn2004 (Aug 14, 2015)

benp said:


> Awesome!!!
> 
> Looks like you've been busy!



Yea, Ive been doing a lot around the house too, outside pretty much every day while im on nights for work. Mostly ive been moving rocks around. The wood work is a nice break from the norm! here are a couple more shots of the stuff ive been working at.

second stone wall




the garden i half ass put together. Its doing decent, im getting a lot of cucumber and tomatoes. 




Stone retaining wall the wife and i are building. This picture was after we finished the first teir. Second teir is 90% done. Plan is to plant some blueberry, raspberry and blackberry bushes here.








A bush hog i got from a neighbor. this is what it looked like when i got it. 250.00, plus 100 bucks in parts and its running like a dream. Ive got plans to paint it this fall









Ronaldo said:


> It looks quite dry. Nice set- up you have there. Id say you are well on your way to becoming a wood hoarder! Good Job!



All this talk of harsh winters has me realizing I started out good, but i quickly slacked off.  I figure if i do a little at at time, it wont be as bad.


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## Ronaldo (Aug 14, 2015)

You have been moving rocks around? Rocks in Maine?


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## benp (Aug 14, 2015)

You have a GREAT looking spread there!!!!

Good use of all your rock you have around. The retaining walls look really good!!

Nice Kubota too!


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## trukn2004 (Aug 15, 2015)

Ronaldo said:


> You have been moving rocks around? Rocks in Maine?



If I can just cut down all these darn trees I think the rock crop will come in great next year! Lol


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## zogger (Aug 15, 2015)

trukn2004 said:


> Yea, Ive been doing a lot around the house too, outside pretty much every day while im on nights for work. Mostly ive been moving rocks around. The wood work is a nice break from the norm! here are a couple more shots of the stuff ive been working at.
> 
> second stone wall
> 
> ...



You are doing great! We started out with elaborate raised beds here once I cleared an area, but we have some nastyazz creepy grass weeds that over run everything, so I gave up on the raised beds and pretty walkways. I've taken samples to the county ag agent, two of them, they had no idea what it is. End of season I mow over what is left, cover with tarps, and let it cook down and rot until spring, then a fast till and plant again. I weed for awhile in the spring but once hot weather hits and the creepy stuff comes back, I just stop, heck with it. I dug one out once, two foot deep roots and went on forever.


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## rarefish383 (Aug 16, 2015)

Welcome to the site. I haven't been on the firewood forum for a while, been feeding my other addictions, milling and collecting vintage Savage 99 rifles. Beautiful place you have there, and the toys are starting to add up. CAD, don't worry about it, you have plenty of garage space. I have at least 20 saws from a little 14" Echo, to a 180 CC two cylinder Disston. I sold my biggest Homelite a while back to a member here, it was 129 CC with a 52 inch bar. Last year I bought a new Stihl 660. Of all the saws I have the two that get used the most are the little Echo 305 14' and the Farm Boss 290 18". The rest mostly line the walls on shelves because they look better than plain drywall. As for the Dodges, I can live with them. Here's mine, Joe.


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## trukn2004 (Aug 18, 2015)

its been hot here and ive been hiding in the ac, but decided i needed to get working on the rest of the wood i had cut down. mixed up some new fuel (going for 50:1, but i think it came out more along a 40:1 range). Saw initially stumbled a bit, but once i had made a couple passes, it seemed fine. I first started on the dead red oak limb i had dropped earlier. 




it wasnt much. but i figured why the hell not. I also dropped a little standing dead white pine, just for fun. Cut about 8 rounds off of it, and they split out to 19% moisture. Figure it will be a good mixed in with all the red oak.

Lastly I finally took down a standing dead tree right next to my leftover dirt pile. I made my cuts and got it to fall exactly where i wanted it to!





I had initally thought it was white ash, but while cutting i noticed how easily the saw chewed through it, and the rounds felt relatively light. The stump has some offshoots and i did some searching in my tree book. My guess is American Basswood . i split some and it popped apart like a breeze, thought i would luck out that it was dry since its been dead awhile, but the meter had it pegged at 42-43%!!!.














All in all, it really wasnt much would from all three trees (basswood, pine, red oak) so i think im just going to process it all and get it stacked. the rest of my stacks are Red oak, Shagbark hickory, white ash and rock maple. I figure this stuff will compliment those species quite nicely.


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## benp (Aug 18, 2015)

Yep. That's basswood you found there. 

I try to avoid that like the plague for my purposes. 

Neighbor through the woods burns the snot out of it in his stove for his year around lake cabin. 

He's happy with it but I'm not sure he's too savey on firewood.


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## woodbooga (Aug 19, 2015)

Welcome to the area. Don't venture to Tatnic - if the balancing boulder don't get you the cavemen and the Boston boys will. 

http://www.someoldnews.com/?p=614
http://us.geoview.info/balancing_rock_tatnic_area_south_berwick_maine,31174909p


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## Deleted member 83629 (Aug 20, 2015)

nice truck i wish mine was that shiny welcome to the forum btw, one saw isn't going to cut it though. 
my daily driver is ugly because thieves here like shiny stuff.
but for a 94 its quite good.


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## trukn2004 (Aug 21, 2015)

Thanks guys! got the wood split and stacked, probably another half cord out of all of it, maybe a little less. Its is raining like a bastard now, so i am cooped up inside. glad for the rain though, it broke the 4 day 90+ degree, 90%+ humidity we had going on. i was happy to shut the central air off and open windows again.


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## trukn2004 (Aug 28, 2015)

Welp, it is time for another installment of the guy on the internet does household chores and posts pictures of the work!

Headed into the woods to a pre-picked standing dead tree. made my cuts, and she fell just like i wanted. I notice though that i have a difficult time lining up my backcut to my notch. going to work on that as i move along.

started bucking and with the lay of the land and the lie of the tree i managed to kiss a rock. Back to the garage to sharpen 

At it again, and i did a swell job of pinching the bar not two cuts later!! did some lever work and got the saw free. 

crappy pic, but the saw is on the stump after i cut it flush. pretty steep downhill angle here, so i was extra cautious




A shot showing the cut. you can see how high my back cut was. Tree pulled a tiny bit of fiber right on the outside edge. definitely need to work on this.




So i carried the rounds to the edge of the ledge, and hucked them to my lawn. pulled the tractor around and moved it all to my splitting area. The first time i saw the tree, i thought it might be white oak by the lower bark. Turns out it actually was a shagbark hickory! not bad for standing dead. Split like a dream too, which was a very weird experience for me. 
the bark that confused me




bark higher up that looked much more like shagbark




All split. going to stack tomorrow morning, since my stove guy should be here soon!


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## cantoo (Aug 28, 2015)

Put a wrap of 2" masking tape around the tree, use it for a guideline until you get your lazer eye used to it.


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## trukn2004 (Aug 31, 2015)

cantoo said:


> Put a wrap of 2" masking tape around the tree, use it for a guideline until you get your lazer eye used to it.



Awesome idea guys! I did end up feeling a bit better as we have a new neighbor who is starting to build a house. He is doing his own clearing and i took a walk to check it out yesterday. ALOT of ugly stumps! farmer cuts, mismatched notches, back cuts a solid foot above the hinge cut. I squirmed a bit, and i know i am nowhere near a experienced cutter. I just hope i don't find him pinned under something one day.


In more exciting news, stove is in!





Did some reading and I know i need to do some small burns to let her swell up and set the paint. Going to pick up a condar top temp gage at some point and probably wait until end of sept to do the burns. let it be a littler cooler, but nice enough that i can open windows. It is the Jotul F500 Oslo for people not familiar with it.


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## cantoo (Aug 31, 2015)

trukn2004, don't be afraid to cheat abit and use stuff like tape to get your cuts better. I would much rather laugh at you with tape on the tree than see your obit because you didn't. I do crappy cuts all the time but I pick my trees to do them on. I do most of my cutting in a bush and direction seldom matters so I practice trying to make trees go where they naturally wouldn't want to go. I dropped 3 big trees a week ago on a front lawn and they went exactly where I wanted them to go. The practice paid for itself that day. My buddy would cuts all the time was impressed, especially when I pointed out a widowmaker laying across the tree he was starting to cut down. It was about 50' up and he never noticed it because he was in a hurry to show me how good he is. You can never spend too much time checking for "oh crap" moments.
This isn't the one but it was one like this but much higher up in a tree that didn't get damaged, the branch landed in that tree from a tree 30' away. This one was up about 30' high. We dropped 6 trees so far and have a few left to go. The most dangerous ones are on the ground now but we'll still treat them with respect. Wind can cause damage that you can see until you start cutting. The ashes are 30+" and the silver maples are 24 to 36" dia. There is a 7' willow but not sure if I'm going to drop it or not yet.


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## trukn2004 (Aug 31, 2015)

cantoo said:


> trukn2004, don't be afraid to cheat abit and use stuff like tape to get your cuts better. I would much rather laugh at you with tape on the tree than see your obit because you didn't. I do crappy cuts all the time but I pick my trees to do them on. I do most of my cutting in a bush and direction seldom matters so I practice trying to make trees go where they naturally wouldn't want to go. I dropped 3 big trees a week ago on a front lawn and they went exactly where I wanted them to go. The practice paid for itself that day. My buddy would cuts all the time was impressed, especially when I pointed out a widowmaker laying across the tree he was starting to cut down. It was about 50' up and he never noticed it because he was in a hurry to show me how good he is. You can never spend too much time checking for "oh crap" moments.
> This isn't the one but it was one like this but much higher up in a tree that didn't get damaged, the branch landed in that tree from a tree 30' away. This one was up about 30' high. We dropped 6 trees so far and have a few left to go. The most dangerous ones are on the ground now but we'll still treat them with respect. Wind can cause damage that you can see until you start cutting. The ashes are 30+" and the silver maples are 24 to 36" dia. There is a 7' willow but not sure if I'm going to drop it or not yet.
> View attachment 444303


 
Thanks Cantoo! I definitely treat all the trees with as much respect as I can. Working in a forest I don't really care too much which way the tree falls, so I take the time to read each one and send it towards its natural lean. A walk around the base, looking up and checking surrounding trees is done each time. If I come across one that I don't think I can control it is left as-is. I am getting better each tree I drop! Widowmakers are definitely no joke!


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## Ronaldo (Aug 31, 2015)

Have heard good reviews on the Jotul stoves----sure a nice looking mantle, rock, stove, etc.


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## benp (Sep 1, 2015)

Ronaldo said:


> Have heard good reviews on the Jotul stoves----sure a nice looking mantle, rock, stove, etc.


I totally agree!!!


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## trukn2004 (Sep 1, 2015)

Ronaldo said:


> Have heard good reviews on the Jotul stoves----sure a nice looking mantle, rock, stove, etc.


 


benp said:


> I totally agree!!!


 
Thanks guys! the whole stove area just kind of came together. I liked a more uniform look, and the wife like more flow. So we used bluestone pavers for the floor and some sort of rock on the wall. Got all of it for half off at a landscaping company that was closing. I had originally planned to have a mantle milled from a piece of wood off of the property, but a buddy was tearing down a 100+ year old barn and that beam had great character and presence. The uprights were two smaller beams that I planned to use in another room but they were too short. The stone guy wanted a easy edge to put his rock too, and the plaster guys wanted a nice straight edge to work to as opposed to a jagged rock. Worked out for everyone and I think it does a great job of framing out the stonework.


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## trukn2004 (Sep 4, 2015)

Well I spent today doing a bit of cleaning up around the house. I have been postponing building a log sawhorse to aid me with cutting up some of the smaller pieces of wood that I tend to leave since it is a pain to buck them up individually on the ground. My whole day today consisted of "Zogger wood". All in all I cut up two cedars, 5 standing dead ash, and a few small maples. Nothing had a diameter of more then 8" and I cut and saved down to roughly 3". Overall I have to say I LOVE the sawhorses. makes processing this type of wood a lot easier, cleaner, and quicker. On to the photos!

the wood sits right about waist high on me, and I used cut off pieces of decking for rigidity. the space between each set of legs is roughly 22-24 inches. total cost $0.00





Some of the first victims. I tried to cut them to roughly 8-12 feet long.




















Cedar made this quite pleasant! beautiful color chips and a great aroma in the air.





All split!









I ended up stacking it, but forgot a pic. I basically added to existing piles that you see there, making them taller. Not sure how much wood it was, but It was a decent amount for how easily accessible it was, how it cleaned up the property a bit, and how my back didn't hurt at all. Definitely a fan of the new tool.


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## Ronaldo (Sep 4, 2015)

Your'e doing some good work up there in Maine, I like the saw bucks!


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## trukn2004 (Sep 4, 2015)

Ronaldo said:


> Your'e doing some good work up there in Maine, I like the saw bucks!


 
Thanks man! Im doing my best to be more active, help bring the health of my woodlot up, and offset my propane costs with sweat equity! I'm still nervous about it, but my saw isn't idling as well as it used to. I changed the air filter a bit ago, but I did just mix up a new batch of fuel. Not sure what it might be, but I'm guessing its probably something to do with the weather... just a bit nervous to try and tune it myself.


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## Deleted member 83629 (Sep 5, 2015)

go to the auto parts store and get a can of berryman b12 and put a splash right into the tank or add it to your fuel can 
2 ounces per gallon. ethanol laced fuels is not helping your problem.


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## benp (Sep 5, 2015)

Trukn, 

You are progressing along quite well!! Good job!


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## trukn2004 (Sep 14, 2015)

I figured another installment was due. the following work was done over a couple days, but it made a nice addition to the stack and cleaned up the woods too!

My first run was a bunch of dead, small maples laying on the ground. completely de-barked, solid and dry as a bone!













the middle pallet is the resulted stack. not too bad for a bunch of little trees that were easy to get and already very dry





I know its all the same, but i love the chips piles ive been making!




Second, i went back into the woods and took out two of the ash trees i had marked, as well as a little dead cedar. Bigger ash carried to where i could get the tractor. 




the pile from the two trees.








split and stacked! I put in on top of the maple that they took down in my backyard. Figured they will both be perfect for next year.




splitting area all cleaned up!


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## zogger (Sep 14, 2015)

trukn2004 said:


> I figured another installment was due. the following work was done over a couple days, but it made a nice addition to the stack and cleaned up the woods too!
> 
> My first run was a bunch of dead, small maples laying on the ground. completely de-barked, solid and dry as a bone!
> 
> ...



Whoop! too neat! heheheh Good feeling, isn't it?


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## KiwiBro (Sep 15, 2015)

Regarding the saw buck, how do you fellas stop the top sticks from bouncing around? Straps? Make sure only larger sticks are on the top?

What about bent bits that don't stack so easily in the saw buck?


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## trukn2004 (Sep 15, 2015)

KiwiBro said:


> Regarding the saw buck, how do you fellas stop the top sticks from bouncing around? Straps? Make sure only larger sticks are on the top?
> 
> What about bent bits that don't stack so easily in the saw buck?



Mostly careful stacking. Bent ones get put in all the same for me, but I have had some jump and spin. I try to go slow and ease in to minimize the issue.



zogger said:


> Whoop! too neat! heheheh Good feeling, isn't it?



Very much so! I never realized the satisfaction and piece of mind that comes from having a decent amount of wood set up. Feels good.


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## KiwiBro (Sep 16, 2015)

trukn2004 said:


> Mostly careful stacking. Bent ones get put in all the same for me, but I have had some jump and spin. I try to go slow and ease in to minimize the issue.


 Thanks.


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## trukn2004 (Sep 21, 2015)

Fun times on the coast! My lot neighbor across the way had to small hung up trees that were making me nervous. I fired up the tractor and took care of them. One was a small red oak, the other a nice size cedar (for our lots). got the wood out and got it split. Not a lot, but a little at a time has got me to where i am now.











 

Saturday, the wife and I decided to tackle a red oak that was hung up on the hill in a big pine. Got it down safely, cut it up. and got it split. the upper branches that had been off the ground split nice and dry, while the main trunk split out with a decently wet center. I just checked it outside, and the center pieces are already drying. I think once its stacked, it will end up being quite nice for next year.





Finally, woke up to a chilly morning and decided to do the first of the three set in burns. got the stove top to 250 for about two hours to help set the paint and let everything expand. It seemed to burn ok, but wouldn't draft as nice as i wanted. I had to run it with the side door cracked for about 15 mins, then leave the air full open. I attribute that to the high temps outside. it was nice because it kept the stove temps low like the instrucitions suggested, and i will probably wait another couple weeks to do the next burn. Let it cool off more so that I can increase the heat output.





Stunk a little bit, but with all the windows open and a fan blowing across it, the smell abated quite quickly.


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## trukn2004 (Oct 9, 2015)

First real burn, cold and rainy outside. Had some trouble with the start, but that was newbie screw ups. She is cruising between 400-475 on a stovetop thermometer. Warmed up the downstairs by 3 degrees in 2 hours.. A load of ash and possibly some maple cooking away. Now that I quelled my fears and learned some stuff, I'm loving the ambiance, heat and comfort. I look forward to many nice warm nights in my future!


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## Ronaldo (Oct 9, 2015)

You will continue to love the stove.
There is nothing quite like the feeling of being self reliant in heating your home, not to mention the all around warmth of a wood fire and, yes , wonderful ambiance!


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## trukn2004 (Oct 12, 2015)

Ronaldo said:


> You will continue to love the stove.
> There is nothing quite like the feeling of being self reliant in heating your home, not to mention the all around warmth of a wood fire and, yes , wonderful ambiance!



Agreed! I enjoyed having the house at 75 and not hearing the furnace running! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## DrewUth (Oct 13, 2015)

I loved reading through this thread- you have a beautiful piece of property and home! I love when my wife comes out to help me with the firewood- its a great thing for us to do together and the hard work pays off when we are enjoying the warm stove. 

One thing I don't know if anyone has really drawn attention to- you are doing all this splitting by hand! That amazes me the most! You must be in great shape haha.

Good stuff!


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## trukn2004 (Oct 13, 2015)

DrewUth said:


> I loved reading through this thread- you have a beautiful piece of property and home! I love when my wife comes out to help me with the firewood- its a great thing for us to do together and the hard work pays off when we are enjoying the warm stove.
> 
> One thing I don't know if anyone has really drawn attention to- you are doing all this splitting by hand! That amazes me the most! You must be in great shape haha.
> 
> Good stuff!


 
Thanks a lot drew! it is a great activity and when I can get the wife to lend a hand she does. We've narrowed he skill sets down to carrying rounds out, and some stacking. She tried her hand at splitting, but just doesn't quiet have the strength for it. As far as me, firewood has helped to get me to drop 20 lbs and increased my strength quite a bit. I look at it as a free gym that helps save me money. You wont catch me out there splitting 4 cords at a time, but I've been known to split and stack a 1/3-1/2 a cord in one sitting. I try to do a little every couple of days and it adds up quick!

Joe


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## trukn2004 (Oct 30, 2015)

Welp, the loveable scamp in southern maine was out last weekend slinging chips and making piles! 

Spent Saturday cleaning up part of the forest the wife found 'messy'..... she got together some good bonfire stuff and I added to the scrounging piles. I cleaned up some dead and down, dropped a small sickly ash, and dropped a large straight ash exactly where I wanted it, and with a perfect backcut! I was so excited I forgot to get a picture of it, but the photos show the rounds that we moved this weekend. All the wood is split and stacked as of now.









This was 90% of the pieces I split. Look how straight and clean that grain is. I was half-heartedly swinging the Fiskars and pieces were popping right off.





My next scrounge that I am currently in the middle of is a big oak branch. I only got a few pictures, but It is all cut up and ready to be carried out. Been busy this week and with the darkness creeping in earlier and earlier, I haven't been able to get it out to process. Its not a lot of wood, but every bit helps and it cleans up the property quite nicely!





closeup of the branches.




And just for fun, shot of the stove from a couple nights ago. First time I got this bad boy really rolling. loaded on a bed of coals with about 5 splits of ash and half air. Came back 20 minutes later to a stove top of 550-575 and it just boiling in flames! shut the air to a quarter and the secondaries rolled for a good 45 minutes.


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## trukn2004 (Nov 4, 2015)

Figured some more photos are always appreciated. I got a couple shots of the wood from the big limb, as well as the tree it came off of. Does not look like any of the other red oaks on the property, and I wasn't sure if it might be another oak sub-species.













Some splits with more bark.








It just doesn't seem as deep red as the other oak, but maybe im just seeing things. Either way, itll burn!

decided to tackle a three lead ash. One lead was dead and down, a second lead was dead standing, and the third I figured wouldn't do very well once the other two were gone. Had a bit of trouble getting them to the ground (slight hangup) but got them there safely eventually. I was home yesterday so I took the time to buck all three into rounds and began the process of carrying them out. Got them staged to be tossed down the hill and loaded into the tractor, but ran out of energy. This firewood business is tough! 

lead one, you can see the house down there is where I have to get the wood to. its a decent walk, along with some severe elevation changes.




lead two




dead and down lead three





Since the weather is so nice this week, im going to try and build my firewood racks and get the wood onto my porch, then get these rounds out and possibly split. I don't know how much longer these mid 60's temps will last, so I figure I should get the most out of it while I can!


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## trukn2004 (Nov 10, 2015)

Well, another weekend is in the books and a little bit more progress was made around the homestead. got into a little project I have been putting off, but it was nice to get it done. built one of two wood racks and loaded it up. it holds a little more then a 1/4 cord, so with the other one I should be able to keep half a cord on the front porch at a time. makes grabbing sticks easier and should keep the stuff pretty dry. I used a bunch of leftover bits to make them, so I am out zero dollars. Cant argue there!









cooled off over here on sunday, so I got the stove rolling again. some good burns, but I have noticed a little bit of water coming out the end of the splits. Not dripping, mostly a little sizzle right on the end near a edge. The wood is mostly ash that's been split and stacked over a year, and it is not many pieces, but I figure this is just part of trying to get ahead. Still puts out a ton of heat, so I don't complain too much! 









My mother was visiting and she found these packets at the Christmas tree shop. They change the flame color on a fire. I chucked one in Monday night after the fire had been burning for a bit and it was awesome. the pictures don't do it justice, but there were blues, greens, yellows and some purple. Lasted a good two hours and was quite a fun show! the packet contained Cuprite, according to the package, some sort of mineral by-product from copper I think.









Also, Noone in my house particularly cares, but I know you guys will! I had my first real good successful overnight burn last night. Loaded at 930, closed the air down to around 1/3 open at 1015, woke up at 545 for work and I had a 225 degree stovetop with a healthy bed of coals. house was still quite warm, 69 downstairs, 64 upstairs, and I could have reloaded and got it going again if I had wanted too. It was a great accomplishment for me.


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## trukn2004 (Nov 18, 2015)

Made some more progress with the woodpile. Got the ash out of the woods and split and stacked.













Some updated, overall shots of the wood stash.








Been burning pretty decently as of late, stove has done a solid job of keeping the house comfortable, but the propane kicks in every once and a while. Nothing too outrageous, and i do not burn when i am at work during the day. Just re-lit the stove off of a solid bed of coals this morning and it is cruising now.









Also, built another rack this weekend past, and got it loaded up. I now have a half cord at a time on the front porch. First rack is pretty much all ash, while the second rack i mixed in red oak. It is funny to see how far I have come in terms of my prep and presentation with firewood. I cut wicked short, and split very fat on a lot of pieces.  It all burns though!


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## DrewUth (Nov 18, 2015)

Whyyyyyy aren't the racks the same height hahaha my OCD would keep me up all night!


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## trukn2004 (Nov 18, 2015)

DrewUth said:


> Whyyyyyy aren't the racks the same height hahaha my OCD would keep me up all night!




Haha, the first one I built without having to make any cuts, just leftover material from building the house. The second one I didn't have any shorts so I just cut two 8 footers in half. Didn't realize the discrepancy until it was too late. Luckily I don't see them that often. Plus, they cost me nothing to make but my time.


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## trukn2004 (Nov 23, 2015)

Had a productive saturday. Finally took out the Red oak that had one dead lead, one lead i took already, and I took the last healthy lead since the stump was starting to crack and i figured it didnt have long. Got to use two more technical cuts. First one. was a traditonal fall, but due to the heavy lean i decided to bore it and then release. Glad i did because it pretty much popped and went as soon as i released the strap.









Second one was leaning two ways. so i swung it a bit so it wouldn't come to rest against another tree.









And noone told me this, but god damn is red oak heavy when alive!




Five full tractor buckets So i got it all together and got to splitting.













This was all that was left saturday, but i split it on Sunday




I havent stacked it yet, since we had a rainy sunday for the most part, but once the ground dries a little i will find this stuff a spot. Probably wont be burning it for several years. considering it was very wet. I've also found that my wood i am currently burning isnt very dry either. Some is, but i am getting more sizzle then i like. metered one piece out and it read 32% this was a live ash, split, stacked and top-covered for over a year. kinda frustrating, but all the more reason to get out there and get more wood stacked up. hopefully next year will be better since the woods been up for a bit, its been split smaller, and is stacked in a better location.


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## DrewUth (Nov 23, 2015)

Wow 32% after a year? I have white oak that I cut in April that reads 13-15%, and I didnt split it until August (was in rounds all summer).

And yea, red oak is HEAVY- its 50% of what I cut around me (the rest being white oak, which is only slightly lighter IMO).


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## trukn2004 (Nov 23, 2015)

DrewUth said:


> Wow 32% after a year? I have white oak that I cut in April that reads 13-15%, and I didnt split it until August (was in rounds all summer).
> 
> And yea, red oak is HEAVY- its 50% of what I cut around me (the rest being white oak, which is only slightly lighter IMO).




Yea, I highly doubt it's right. I had the piece in the house for three days so it was about 65 degrees. Did a fresh split and got that number. Thought it was weird because at that moisture usually you can see and feel it in the split. My guess; my cheap harbor freight meter is wrong. Especially considering its ash. I mean, this morning I got a fire going with small splits out of the same stack, stove top gage topped out at 550 before I cut the air, then stayed above 400 for a hour. So I think I'm fine. I just can't wait to get into 2 or 3 year old ash. I bet it's rocket fuel.


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## DrewUth (Nov 23, 2015)

I have never handled Ash before so I can't say. I do have about a cord of dry Poplar that I am running on now, and that stuff is rocket fuel- snaps and pops and stove temps shoot up REAL quick. Drawbacks are that it needs to be loaded every 2-2.5 hours, and it doesn't leave much for coals if you push that- at 3hrs+ you have a warm stove with some ash in it, thats all! I load the oak in when I need it to burn overnight.

My BIL lives in NY and has a few black locusts that need to come down, even though its a 3hr drive for me I am excited to bring home a load of that as I hear its some awesome wood. I am surrounded by red and white oak, so I can't really complain, although all the talk about Ash on this site has me really curious.


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## trukn2004 (Nov 23, 2015)

Yea, I have a lot of ash, red oak and hard maple on my property. The ash seems to be the holy grail on here, and I agree it is a decent fuel, but I have some dead maple and it is really great! I've only burned a small amount of red oak, not enough to have a good read on it yet. As the winter progresses, I will be getting into more of it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## stihly dan (Nov 23, 2015)

No, ash is not even close to red or white oak. Ash just seasons fast and splits easy, plus light to work with. With your wood selection ash would be your shoulder season wood.


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## trukn2004 (Nov 23, 2015)

stihly dan said:


> No, ash is not even close to red or white oak. Ash just seasons fast and splits easy, plus light to work with. With your wood selection ash would be your shoulder season wood.



That makes a lot of sense. I mean it does great for me, but I doubt I could heat my 2700 sq ft well with it in the middle of a deep freeze.


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## trukn2004 (Dec 8, 2015)

So a new neighbor is building down the road from me and needed some fill. Luckily, I was in the dilemma that I had a lot of fill and no room to use it. We struck a bargain that I wouldn't charge him for it, and in return his site guy would take all the fill and set some large rocks for me that I couldn't pick up. While he was taking the last of the fill today, I had a medium size sugar maple that was damaged during initial construction. I had plans to flop it at some point, but asked nicely and he laid the tree right down for me! its nice when the tree is put exactly where you want it AND the stump gets pulled at the same time.  got it cut up and put aside, going to get to splitting when the ground freezes up since its a muddy mess right now.


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## trukn2004 (Dec 8, 2015)

Aww, what the hell you guys like pictures. Here are some more! shots of the start of a bonfire pile, and the fill gone. It was the big pile that routinely was in the background of most of my photos. Ended up being 17 10 wheeler loads!





there is a old stone wall here that the wife liked, so I had him add some more rocks as he went along and extend it to my beech tree.
















this was the massive pile of stones that I had leftover. I couldn't move a lot of them, even with my tractor  luckily the Daewoo excavator had no problems.




A big monument happened this past week and weekend as well. I got my bay cleaned up! Tractor is now safely parked away, and I took the loader off and put on the front end snowblower. Didn't get a pic of it mounted, but im just happy to have the machine in and under cover.





hung my license plate collection too




This was during the cleaning process. it wasn't that I had a lot of stuff, so much as it wasn't well organized. Everything was just kinda strewn about.





Well, that is it for now! Ill try to get a shot of that red oak all stacked, ended up being a decent amount of wood.


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## Marshy (Dec 8, 2015)

Since you have elevation behind you house to your advantage I suggest you consider buying a utility slef to move your firewood. Even with no snow, a heavy layer of leaves on the forest floor is enough to drag a sled filled with rounds down the hill. Google "Shappell" for an example. You can find them on Amazon as well. I have one and love it.


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## trukn2004 (Dec 8, 2015)

Marshy said:


> Since you have elevation behind you house to your advantage I suggest you consider buying a utility slef to move your firewood. Even with no snow, a heavy layer of leaves on the forest floor is enough to drag a sled filled with rounds down the hill. Google "Shappell" for an example. You can find them on Amazon as well. I have one and love it.


 
That is a awesome idea, thank you! I usually use my tractor, but I have to get the rounds somewhere I can reach them with the tractor. Those sleds look like a great tool.


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## Marshy (Dec 8, 2015)

trukn2004 said:


> That is a awesome idea, thank you! I usually use my tractor, but I have to get the rounds somewhere I can reach them with the tractor. Those sleds look like a great tool.


The photo you showed in your post #105 would of been a great example where you could have loaded that sled 3-4 times and dragged all the splits down hill to toss over the bank. I suggest the largest one you can afford.


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## trukn2004 (Dec 9, 2015)

Sander is on and snowblower is working. Just need to adjust the shoes so it'll skim and not dig since I'm on dirt. All I need now is for my sand to be delivered.


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## zogger (Dec 9, 2015)

trukn2004 said:


> Sander is on and snowblower is working. Just need to adjust the shoes so it'll skim and not dig since I'm on dirt. All I need now is for my sand to be delivered.



That there is plain cheatin! heheh

I had a thought with a few blizzards up north, heck with clearing roads and such, everyone just switch to snowmachines in the winter. Even come out with bigrig snow machines, like snowcats with big sleighs or something. Saw an example once,. a blizzard and heavy snow in vermont, zero wheeled vehicles moving, snowmobiles all over all the way into town. All the stores were open, etc, just snowmachines in the parking slots. I thought it was slick!


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## trukn2004 (Dec 9, 2015)

zogger said:


> That there is plain cheatin! heheh
> 
> I had a thought with a few blizzards up north, heck with clearing roads and such, everyone just switch to snowmachines in the winter. Even come out with bigrig snow machines, like snowcats with big sleighs or something. Saw an example once,. a blizzard and heavy snow in vermont, zero wheeled vehicles moving, snowmobiles all over all the way into town. All the stores were open, etc, just snowmachines in the parking slots. I thought it was slick!


 
That is decently common up here still in some spots during big storms. mostly more for pleasure then need, while the roads are closed. going to be fun though. I have a half mile of dirt road to keep open, so doing it from the comfort of the cab out of the elements will be great! though at the rate this winter is going I'm not certain I will get to use it.


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## trukn2004 (Dec 10, 2015)

christ, got to like 55 out today so I did some outside things. Split the maple I took down the other day. also grabbed a photo of that red oak all stacked.









Then I decided I needed to decompress so I walked out into the woods and all around the property lines. Found some beautiful trees, some future scrounges, and just enjoyed the serenity. I love having 11 acres, backed by another 45 land-locked and undeveloped acres, with 80 acres across the street also undeveloped. It is my own personal sanctuary and I hope it stays that was for quite a while.


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## trukn2004 (Dec 28, 2015)

Merry Christmas guys! just wrapped up a week long visit from family all over the country. house got quite full! Ive been enjoying the warmth all week, but our first snow is on its way this evening so its back to wood and work.Christmas eve myself, my dad, my uncle and my brother-in-law went out into the woods to play around with the saw. I had four trees picked out to get on the ground. 3 were beech with this weird bumpy crap on their bark and one maple with a dead top. I started with the maple and dropped it perfectly.





it had two leads, so i cut it low and sent them down together. ended up splitting apart when it hit.








Next up was a beech with a narly burl near the base. I formulated my plan, put in my notch, did my backcut and promptly got it wedged in another tree... :unamused: We used several methods and tools and got it to the ground. took an hour.

ugly stump, from cutting it free and sliding it off.




burl








with a bit of humility, i went to the next beech. This was a big one, probably the biggest ive cut. 18-20" diameter at the base. took every thing my little rancher had on that back cut. she fell a little off the mark, and wedged low on a pine... you can see how the day was shaping up. 









luckily, the 4th and final beech was about 90 degrees out, so i cut it and drove the big beech off of the pine.









Tired and defeated, i left them to sit and just cut them all up today, well minus the last 15 ft of trunk on that big one. 3 tanks of fuel and i was spent, the saw was struggling, and i was beginning to get some dust. I will most likely leave them where they are and deal with it in the spring.


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## trukn2004 (Dec 29, 2015)

We got our first official snow. somewhere around 4-5" I think. Broke out the tractor and struggled to learn and clear snow off of a partially frozen half mile of dirt. found some nice rocks and went through two shear pins. overall, snowblower performed well, but if the ground can freeze a bit more it will work even better. Spent the whole day fighting a cold too, and its only getting worse. going to see what tomorrow brings, I might do another cleanup run on the road.


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## trukn2004 (Jan 28, 2016)

little update: Between end of December and now we've been bestowed a couple small storms. this, combined with some frigid temps kept me out of the woods. This past week its warmed up quite nicely and the woods are almost bare. I decided to head out today and split some of the wood that I dropped around Christmas. I started at the first tree. which I am pretty sure is a sugar maple. splitting was pretty easy, though the farther up the trunk the more punk I found. kinda made me a bit sad. I got about 40% of that tree split.





Next I headed over to one of the Beech trees. The first big round I started to split and found the grain was very twisted. Made it quite a struggle for the first two or three rounds. After that, they straightened out and I got a decent amount done.





I still have plenty more to go, but it was getting late and I was tired. headed to the house, washed up and headed to work. ended up stopping in at a local store and picked up a Jet Sled. I cant wait to give it a try hauling out splits and rounds from where I can't get with the tractor.


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## Jordan3605 (Jan 28, 2016)

Welcome to AS. Im in Kittery if you ever need a hand let me know.


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## trukn2004 (Jan 28, 2016)

Jordan3605 said:


> Welcome to AS. Im in Kittery if you ever need a hand let me know.


 
Thanks a lot!


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## trukn2004 (Feb 5, 2016)

Updates!:

I figure I will regale you with tales of wonder and frustration. After a day or two rest, I hit the Beech again. Splitting was getting harder and harder with the fiskars. Just bouncing off of the wood. I tried multiple rounds and gave up and grabbed the old school 6lb and 11 lb mauls. I made some more progress, but came across several rounds that the 11 bounced off of . I managed a meager pile before I had to call it quits.









here you can see how many times I hit it and nothing.




I think I need to wait until it cools and they freeze, or maybe if they can dry a bit. just impressive how tough they are. On top of that, the top rounds of the maple are mostly punk, so I am debating even bothering with them.

To save face I decided to reload the wood rack on the porch with my new jet sled.





Man is it slick! just glides over snow and ice, no problems. I had trouble on bare grass, but it wasn't terrible.

a few days later I decided to inspect the sander and tractor since weve had such nice weather. Took a look in the sander and found this





 seems a bunch of small rocks packed in the bottom. The grade 5 bolt I used did not shear. reading the manual I finally got told me how you aren't supposed to use anything but their specific bolt. so I now have a bent ear, I had to completely disassemble the sander, and I am waiting on 30 bucks worth of parts to fix it. not to mention I need to bend that ear back too.
the offending rocks




I will be making a secondary screen to prevent this from happening again, since the provided one does not prevent them from falling in.

On top of that, we got 8" of snow today onto a half mile dirt road that has zero frost. took me a hour and a half to half clear it, and I had to do a crappy job since I could not use the float feature with the snowblower since I would just dig into the road. On the plus side, fire was re-lit and the pup is quite happy about it.





that about sums it up! thanks for listening to me vent.

Joe


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## ChoppyChoppy (Feb 5, 2016)

Grade 2 bolts usually work well for shear bolts


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## trukn2004 (Feb 5, 2016)

ValleyFirewood said:


> Grade 2 bolts usually work well for shear bolts



Yea, I contacted the place that sold it to me, he said he looked it up. I know now that he didn't since the manual calls for a HHCS bolt. luckily nothing expensive broke, but just a lesson on my part to fact check. in hind sight, a screen should have caught those rocks and I never should have had this problem. Live and learn! lol.


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## trukn2004 (Feb 9, 2016)

Vengence was mine today!

We got hit with another 6 inches of snow and some quite bitter, well in comparison, temperatures. Went out and beat on those beech rounds. A TON easier when frozen. I did all of it with the Fiskars and got most of the large rounds handled.

The small stacked pile under my coat was from before.




Overview. got a decent amount split before my hands got cold and wet from fishing rounds out of the snow.




A rare selfie. Sent it to the wife.


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## Ronaldo (Feb 9, 2016)

Looking good. Colder temps certainly do help with popping those rounds apart!
Check in to a hookaroon, pickaroon or log tongs to keep your hands drier.


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## zogger (Feb 10, 2016)

trukn2004 said:


> Vengence was mine today!
> 
> We got hit with another 6 inches of snow and some quite bitter, well in comparison, temperatures. Went out and beat on those beech rounds. A TON easier when frozen. I did all of it with the Fiskars and got most of the large rounds handled.
> 
> ...



LOL! Big frozen fun man!


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## trukn2004 (Feb 29, 2016)

Another update! Fixed the sander I had boogered up a couple weeks ago with new parts. That was a bear, but its back together and running great. This summer im going to weld some finer mesh on top to keep all the rocks out. For now, I just used a dirt sifter that I put on top while I load. Takes a little longer, but no more rocks in the sander.

First pic shows you the bent fans that needed replacing. They took quite a beating..





Second shows the new ones installed. Nice and straight, no dings!





So the wife and I are looking into a abutting land-locked piece of property. I decided to walk the boundaries and check it out. along my trip I found this. it started about 8 ft up, and was about 6 ft high. After some research I learned porcupines do this! kinda neat. Tree is about a 1/8 mile from my back property line.





So the weather has been wonky the last couple weeks. Cold, hot, rainy, cold, windy, etc. It finally leveled off and we hit 60 today! The ground has been drying a ton so I headed out with the saw. It hasn't been run since Christmas. I headed out to the beeches to finish up some cuts. First I got the last portion of the last tree bucked. These are some serious rounds. will have to halve them first just to pick them up.




I also had some stubborn ones, so they got a noodling! thatll teach them to not respect the fiskars.





With those piles pretty well set and just in need of some splitting and being moved to the stacking area, I ventured back to a steep hill towards the back of my property. I have about 6 red oaks that have been down a long time. All the sapwood is gone, but the heartwood is solid and ready. I cut until I ran the tank dry. Its about a 60% slope, not my most favorite footing, but I moved slowly and carefully and didn't run in to any problems.
















I headed in, so I had time to get ready for work and passed this snapped top propped against itself. Looks like it might be a lightning strike to me, but im not sure. seems weird to be singed just in the middle like that.









Back out front, I grabbed a beer, sat down on my big pine stump by the road, and took it all in. What a awesome feeling living out here!


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## zogger (Feb 29, 2016)

trukn2004 said:


> Another update! Fixed the sander I had boogered up a couple weeks ago with new parts. That was a bear, but its back together and running great. This summer im going to weld some finer mesh on top to keep all the rocks out. For now, I just used a dirt sifter that I put on top while I load. Takes a little longer, but no more rocks in the sander.
> 
> First pic shows you the bent fans that needed replacing. They took quite a beating..
> 
> ...



Real nice spread man, and plenty of cuttin fun!


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## trukn2004 (Mar 1, 2016)

zogger said:


> Real nice spread man, and plenty of cuttin fun!



Thanks man! it is great, though sometimes i get jealous of all the flat land owners. . I've got great trees, but its very steep and a lot of ledge. makes getting the wood out a bit more difficult.


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## zogger (Mar 1, 2016)

trukn2004 said:


> Thanks man! it is great, though sometimes i get jealous of all the flat land owners. . I've got great trees, but its very steep and a lot of ledge. makes getting the wood out a bit more difficult.



I remember living up there and know exactly what a Mainer would say "Aaayup..and it helps keep the tourists out..."


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## trukn2004 (Mar 1, 2016)

zogger said:


> I remember living up there and know exactly what a Mainer would say "Aaayup..and it helps keep the tourists out..."



haha, just like the cold helps drive the Mass-holes out in the fall after the leaves drop.


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## Dumf (Mar 1, 2016)

trukn2004 said:


> haha, just like the cold helps drive the *Mass-holes* out in the fall after the leaves drop.



Hey, you call it boy, being a hop from the Mass border. Silly crap from one so far south you can see Boston.  Most of you south of Brattleboro, Manchester or Portland 
errrrr -- like YORK, ME ! -- are IN Mass. No need for this. Belay it.....
Besides you got those palm trees way down there in York.


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## zogger (Mar 1, 2016)

Dumf said:


> Hey, you call it boy, being a hop from the Mass border. Silly crap from one so far south you can see Boston.  Most of you south of Brattleboro, Manchester or Portland
> errrrr -- like YORK, ME ! -- are IN Mass. No need for this. Belay it.....
> Besides you got those palm trees way down there in York.



HAHAHAHAHAHA!


I used to razz my city friends "ya know, my outhouse is uphill from poland springs..."


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## trukn2004 (Mar 1, 2016)

Dumf said:


> Hey, you call it boy, being a hop from the Mass border. Silly crap from one so far south you can see Boston.  Most of you south of Brattleboro, Manchester or Portland
> errrrr -- like YORK, ME ! -- are IN Mass. No need for this. Belay it.....
> Besides you got those palm trees way down there in York.


 
haha, I always joke that I don't live in real maine, just a nice suburb of boston.


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## GVS (Mar 5, 2016)

zogger said:


> HAHAHAHAHAHA!
> 
> 
> I used to razz my city friends "ya know, my outhouse is uphill from poland springs..."


I absolutely love that!


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## trukn2004 (Apr 29, 2016)

Well it has been quite a while since I've posted, but figured I would update you all. sorta related to firewood, but I have pictures so I figure that's good enough. 

Where to Start, well first things first, Tractor is back in its more useful dress! fought with it a bit, but blower is off and loader is back on.




And with that loader, I tackled some potholes along the private road. Basically dug up those sections, then smoothed it back out. Been done for about a month or so and it seems to be holding up.








I also started in on my woods road.




tried to take the path of least tree removal. ended up having to take one decent-sized one out. luckily it was dying, unfortunately its too far gone to salvage :unamused:












So, back in January or so, my section of the road washed out. I found the water source and stopped it, but I needed to re-gravel. I also had a low spot that was habitually wet, and very icy from ground water. I called my road guy and we developed a plan.


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## trukn2004 (Apr 29, 2016)

First things First, here are some shots of before. It was even worse, but he came out in January and fixed it with what was left to allow me to drive on it.




















To start, we had to move some big rocks down and create a retaining wall for the section we were raising. Luckily, I grow big rocks very well. 









82 yards of 6" minus to get the grade right 




Next came the topping with 1.5" crushed. should hold well on the hills.








final passes were rolled and compacted.


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## trukn2004 (Apr 29, 2016)

The best news of all, the mini was staying with me all weekend! Road was fixed Thursday, and I worked while they did. knocked out a bunch of honey-dos. first was a swale back up the unfinished section of my road to keep it from washing out ever again. I raked it out this morning to make it more even.








I also had a big stump in the back yard to remove. Took some digging and some luck but I got it out! allowed me to push back an existing swale and tie it into a newly dug one. I did tear up my yard in the process though...












little mini couldn't lift it, so I pushed it around front of the house.. tore up the lawn, but I needed to loam and re-seed anway. :hide:

I also put in a ton of work on the woods road. Stumping, leveling, and general clearing. making it nice and safe for the tractor or possibly a truck to get out into the woods.




























I'm about 250' off of my road, and my back line is about 150' away. Wife picked up fuel for me, so I should be rip-roaring to go tomorrow! Itll be nice to be able to easily access all the wood from this winter that's been sitting out here.


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## asbury park (May 1, 2016)

Awesome work. Looks like fun to me.


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## trukn2004 (May 2, 2016)

So Saturday I spent a long time in the mini again. Got the road all finished up, but didn't take final pictures. I will try to get some tonight.





Success! This is the tractor at the turnaround. Road goes another 40 ft or so.




A nice little black birch was right in the way, and any way around it involved me destroying the roots, so it came out. thing was spitting water! I cut some of it up and hauled it out. my first use of birch and my official first use of the tire. I love it, just need to secure it to the splitting stump with some nails or screws.












If that wasn't enough, the wife and I finished up the front bed and mulched it. 3 yards of mulch. I was quite glad to have a tractor then. makes distributing from the pile quite easy.




I am sore, tired, and ready for a day or two off for a bit. With my new road I should be able to shuttle out all the split beech from this winter, as well as the dead red oak I cut into rounds recently. should be a fun-filled spring-summer!


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## trukn2004 (May 8, 2016)

So i went from a single saw guy to a 3 saw program! Was visiting my mother and father over the weekend and got talking about saws. he had two from my grandfather. gave them to me, free of charge! both are extremely old, the bigger one was built in canada by my dad's uncle, and the top handle i am not as sure. did a little research but i cant seem to place how old or info on them. pulled the cords on both and the turnover so thats good. going to clean them up, mix up some fuel and see how they run.

















If anyone has any info on them, size, CC, etc, i would love it. My mom is going to see if she has the manuals kicking around.


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## byron2 (May 8, 2016)

what I found ....
http://www.mymowerparts.com/pdf/Homelite-Parts-Manuals-For-Chain-Saws/
scroll the pdf's and you will find the ut # of bigger saw looks like it is a super xl with auto olier built from 1964 till 1988...I'm not sure when they went to red but the older xl 12's were blue and you had to oil the bar as you were sawing had a plunger near the trigger you could work with your thumb ... so yours would be a newer version say "70's" and up

couple other links
https://www.scribd.com/doc/81517291/Homelite-Owners-Manual-XL-12-SXLAO
http://www.acresinternet.com/cscc.n...6af40002b8f7/a17d735d551f0f1e88256b78005f6a7b


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## trukn2004 (May 12, 2016)

Weather is getting nicer! Back on a day shift and I got home from work a little early. took the pups for a walk, got back to the house and decided to drive the woods road and pick up some of the wood out there.

This is my favorite view. Cab was a blessing since the black flies are out and they love to fly into the side of your head for no reason.




So after all the rain the woods road was only a little snotty in one spot. Made it through in 2wd the first time, then 4wd got me through it the next 3 times. Going to have to bring in some dirt, or corduroy that section. Nothing terrible, just mucked up the turfs a bit. Anyway, got out to the turnaround, made a 180 and stopped 20 ft from the pile. man oh man, that is nice!




I only brought out two bucket fulls, about 70% already split. Didn't take maybe more then 30 minutes. Still have plenty out there. Plan will be to make a couple trips a week to get it out. going to try and fix the muddy section first though!








That's all for today! And if anyone is wondering: Mostly American beech with a small amount of birch.


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## trukn2004 (May 16, 2016)

Well, I promised you guys a full set of photos of the road, and I never delivered. I would have fired myself if I didn't work so cheap. .

I'm gonna start at the end of the road in the woods. I sort of just stopped it shy of the property line. the line is basically right where the hemlocks are.




Turned around and looking back towards the house. The turnound is in the photo. from here on out itll just be in succession of heading out.




















The split. heading left brings you to the walkout basement, right to the road. Were going right.




The mire. Going to fill it in with some crushed ledge, top it with some small saplings and some dirt over that. hopefully that will solve the muck issue.








Back at the splitting area dropping of the second load. unloading is so much easier then loading.










So there is probably another three loads in the big pile, then I have two smaller piles to move. once all those are done I am going back in with the saw to cut up some pieces that were left, and I also have some unsplit red oak rounds to haul out. going to be a busy summer. I don't even know if I will put another tree on the ground. if anything itll probably be closer to fall.


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## 101mph (May 16, 2016)

Awesome piece of property you got there truckn2004.

Jealous of all the cool power equipment too


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## trukn2004 (May 17, 2016)

101mph said:


> Awesome piece of property you got there truckn2004.
> 
> Jealous of all the cool power equipment too


 
Thanks a lot! Having the right equipment really does make it a lot easier. I tried to convince the wife I "need" a mini ex full time, but for some reason she didn't believe me. .


I have to say though, a solid, good-sized tractor is worth every penny you can muster. I bought it mostly for the snow work on the road, but their isn't a day that goes by that I do not find another use for it. Right now my biggest problem is trying to gather more implements for it. A box blade will be next once I can secure the funds. living where I live, the tractor is almost a necessity if you don't want to pay someone to do all your work for you.


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## zogger (May 20, 2016)

Adventure! You are doing quite well.


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## trukn2004 (May 21, 2016)

Treated myself. Been looking into a hatchet for kindling duties and happened to be in BJ's. Setup was 35.00, but had a instant 5 bucks off. I felt that was a pretty good deal, so it found its way home with me.


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## Ronaldo (May 21, 2016)

trukn2004 said:


> Treated myself. Been looking into a hatchet for kindling duties and happened to be in BJ's. Setup was 35.00, but had a instant 5 bucks off. I felt that was a pretty good deal, so it found its way home with me.


You'll like those!


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## trukn2004 (May 21, 2016)

Ronaldo said:


> You'll like those!


Im excited to give them a try!

Put in some work today, boy was it warm out all morning. 

Started stacking from the pile ive been bringing out of the woods. Here is a shot to show you a idea of how i stack. Its not conventional, but it dries well and is very stable.




the completed pile




the splitter trash being saved for kindling.




and the Mother-in-law pile. All pieces that dont want to give in to the fiskars. her timberwolf t2 handles them quite well though.




I also fixed my tire. Added some bracing and screwed it to the splitting block. Now it no longer slips around. 








Decided to do some chainsaw work. Cleaned up the half-rotted tree, cut up the rest of the black birch from before and dropped a white birch that was standing dead and cut it up.
















Thats it for today, got to get ready for work. hopefully i can get some rocks into my woods road, then head out and continue the gathering process!


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## trukn2004 (Jun 13, 2016)

Well, I had a couple friends up this weekend, and they wanted to lend a hand around the house. I took advantage of that at we got more wood out and stacked! Friend was happy, I let him and the wife drive the tractor. It was around another three bucket loads, but that cleaned up one of the piles out there. All stacked and ready for a tarp.





Overall look at the stacks:




The wife and I also raked out the back hill of small rocks, rolled out some burlap and planted some plants. We are trying to get stuff to grow to hold the dirt back. Hopefully the stuff will do it. Its a tough area because it gets a ton of sun. Plus side, all the rock we raked down I scooped up with the tractor and dumped into that muddy section of my woods road. Worked like a charm. I definitely need more, but it turned a swampy patch into a nice sold road. Didn't get pictures, but ill grab some tonight.


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## olyman (Jun 13, 2016)

trukn2004 said:


> Well, I had a couple friends up this weekend, and they wanted to lend a hand around the house. I took advantage of that at we got more wood out and stacked! Friend was happy, I let him and the wife drive the tractor. It was around another three bucket loads, but that cleaned up one of the piles out there. All stacked and ready for a tarp.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


unless its really rainy there,,id put nothing on top of those stacks, till first hard frost....air has to move thru, in every direction,,to dry it out..the top pieces may not dry much, with the tarps on there


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## Woodyjiw (Jun 13, 2016)

Looks like u have a good system. The equipment is definitely nice to have around!!


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## trukn2004 (Jun 13, 2016)

olyman said:


> unless its really rainy there,,id put nothing on top of those stacks, till first hard frost....air has to move thru, in every direction,,to dry it out..the top pieces may not dry much, with the tarps on there


 
Yea tarps were put on late last fall to handle snow, and I never took them off. the wood was stacked and uncovered for about 5 months before that. I have been on the fence about pulling the covers.



Woodyjiw said:


> Looks like u have a good system. The equipment is definitely nice to have around!!


 
Thanks, the tractor is definitely a fantastic piece of equipment. Everything can be done without it, but nowhere near as fast or as well. I don't think I will ever go back to not having one.


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## trukn2004 (Jul 30, 2016)

Man oh man, this summer has gotten away from me! I have done very little in the way of firewood-related work. Most of my time has been in road maintenance, bush-hogging, and trying not to melt in the heat. I finally have a couple more pictures to share though!

Tractor just crested 50 hours on the motor. Sent it in for a full fluids work up and checkup. Came back pristine. no real problems. bucket has lost its shiney new paint, but i can live with it.




Had a fire last night, its been quite a while since i ran the little pit. Was great just sitting around and enjoying the outside. Bugs we minimal, and it has cooled off significantly.




I dont think this limb wood is seasoned well. 








Put this on repeat and time melts away




Not all of it is relaxing and serene though. Wife and i finally got out the last of the cut and split wood. American beech and some sugar maple. Going to get it stacked, split or pass along the bigger pieces and make plans for the next batch.









That big burl. Still need to figure out what im going to do with it. picture is deceiving, but that bad boy is hefty. It will either fall to the noodling, or maybe ill put it on craigslist and see if any wood-workers want it. hell, if anyone on here is local and interested, hit me up.





That about wraps it up for me! Next step is the dead red oak i had cut up a while ago and its counterparts that are out there. Going to be a lot of tractor runs getting it all out, but that stuff is great once its split and stacked for a year or two. Hope you enjoyed this installment and as the weather cools i hope to have plenty more pictures for you guys and gals!


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## trukn2004 (Aug 5, 2016)

Did a little bit more the other day, and sweat my kiester off while doing it!. A work friend just got a Shop Smith and was looking for some logs to test the lathe out on. He had worked up some of the cedar for me before, so I offered him some to try out. ended up cutting down tow dead standings and getting 5 6-footers and a 3-footer for him.

Of course, the cedar grows at the opposite end of my property from the house, and I cant get there other then on foot. Started the journey in.




Carried out to the road, about halfway back. While relatively light, cedar posts got some heft! I was sweating like a banshee.




Along the way, I couldn't help but take down a small red oak that was in the way. it is growing in the roadway, and I snagged the cab with it before. Since I had the saw, I figured might as well lay it out!





Only cut 8 rounds off for now. just enough to keep the trail clear. I will get to the rest another time.




I cut the burl off and loaded it all in the truck. On their way to a better home.




I also noodled one of the bigger rounds I had left to split so that I can go out and give it hell later on.




the oak rounds and some misc. beech pieces I have to work over. you can see the stack that resulted from the previous haul.




that'll be it for now, waiting for a little bit cooler weather to make some more chips. Felt good to run the saw again. it needs a bit of tinkering on the carb, and a bit of cleaning, but overall ran well for sitting for several months.


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## trukn2004 (Aug 6, 2016)

And another one.

The MIL pile. Mostly some semi-punky stuff i dont want to process. Maple, some ash and some unsplittable (for me) beech rounds.




The final stack. this has the red oak rounds and the all the beech.








Noodles!


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## trukn2004 (Aug 9, 2016)

Whats that? it's Tuesday and you guys were looking for some more pictures to brighten your day? 

This weekend the wife and I went out and decided to pick up the Oak rounds I had cut back in December. All of it is dead and down red oaks. I failed to remember my camera, but I took the tractor down the end of the woods road and began. Got a bucket full, went to drive it to the landing/splitting/stacking area while the wife worked her way to the next pile. Before I left she asked me if I still had my sled. my sled? Crap! I totally spaced on even attempting to use the JET sled I bought this winter. Went back, unloaded, grabbed the sled and worked back into the woods. By the time I got there, the wife had cleared a path from the rounds to the tractor so we could use the sled with ease. Man, is that a nice tool. Loaded it full, then let gravity pull it downhill to the tractor. Two sleds full and the bucket was overflowing! Thankfully my wife uses her brain, as I would have been humping those rounds out one by one. 

20 minutes total and I had everything that was cut out. Need to do more cutting, but that is for another day.

Yesterday I got home and decided to put in some work since it was nice outside and the bugs seemed to be at bay.
The pile. As you can see, these bad boys have been down quite a while, but minus missing the bark and sapwood, the heartwood is solid as can be.




The tools of the trade. No fancy splitters here, but luckily my health and tree quality makes this part of the job not too bad.




Close up of the victims.












A break a little way through. Popping splits with ease, nothing too crazy or difficult. I love working Red Oak.








Side by Side comparision. The lighter split is from a young, just cut live red oak. Split on the left is from the dead. It is cool to see how much the color comes out as the tree ages.




Split!








The result of maybe 20 minutes of work. Yes, most of the rounds have punk attached to the outside, and they probably wont burn like a wildfire, but Last winter I burned 6 month split and stacked dead red oak and was quite impressed! This stuff will sit for a couple years, top covered and safe. It burns hotter then dead ash and longer then maple, plus it helps clean up the forest and gives my live red oaks a chance to get just a littler bigger. On top of that, it does season very quickly.


Hope you all enjoyed and I will try to get more posted as I move along!


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## Ronaldo (Aug 9, 2016)

That down and dead Oak will burn beautifully! You have two X27's or is one a thinner axe?


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## trukn2004 (Aug 9, 2016)

Ronaldo said:


> That down and dead Oak will burn beautifully! You have two X27's or is one a thinner axe?


 
Both are x-27's The all black that I bought off amazon was listed as a super split. I thought it was going to be the older style head and wanted to try it. Came in and it was actually the newest one. I paid 35 for the orange and black one and 40 for the all black.


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## Woodyjiw (Aug 9, 2016)

Good thing u have the wife around to keep u plumbed up... Nice job..


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## trukn2004 (Aug 9, 2016)

Woodyjiw said:


> Good thing u have the wife around to keep u plumbed up... Nice job..


 
haha, yea. She is a lot smarter then me, and it helps a lot. I usually rush right in to get things done, halfway through figure out the easier way to do it. She will take the time to look at the whole situation and figure out the best solution. Only time I really do that is when im running the saw, and that is due to a healthy respect for that machine.


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## trukn2004 (Aug 10, 2016)

Well, I seemed to have a good bit of productivity going, so I decided to keep the train moving. Grabbed the saw, some fuel, safety gear and the sled and headed back out to make more progress on the red oak.





Got to my spot, loaded up the sled and headed up the hill to the wood.









halfway through cutting. Its kinda hard to tell, but I walked up that first shallow slope, parked the sled, and then was cutting on a much steeper grade. Footing was a bit treacherous, so photos were limited. You can see the rounds scattered below, and the stumps of two of the trees I was working. The saw is resting on the third and fourth that I cut up.





I kept reminding myself to get a photo of the full sled at the top, to show you my path down. Failed each time.  This is the last bucket full. Each bucket took about two sleds, and that would put some pressure on the front end. Ended up taking two buckets out, And only left two huge rounds that I didn't quite cut through before they rolled off the steep hill. I will get those another time.





Dumped it all over by the splitting area. Just need to stack what I split last time, then split and stack this group. A little at a time, and it is adding up!


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## Erik B (Aug 10, 2016)

trukn2004 said:


> Well, I seemed to have a good bit of productivity going, so I decided to keep the train moving. Grabbed the saw, some fuel, safety gear and the sled and headed back out to make more progress on the red oak.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Your woods look a lot like mine, right down to the road you cut into it. Nice to have your own woods to cut from and gravity to get the wood to your tractor with FEL


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## trukn2004 (Aug 10, 2016)

Erik B said:


> Your woods look a lot like mine, right down to the road you cut into it. Nice to have your own woods to cut from and gravity to get the wood to your tractor with FEL


 
Thanks! Having my own wood lot literally surrounding my house is one of the main reason I burn. Due to work and my schedule, driving somewhere or having to spend 6 hours one day working wood is not feasible. The ability to hop in the tractor, drive out, cut for 45 minutes, and move the wood back to where I can work it is amazing. That along with a non-exisitent scrub and brush layer makes it almost unfair.


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## trukn2004 (Aug 22, 2016)

Well, today was a bit of a putz around day. I just purchased a husqvarna tune-up kit, stump vice and Granberg file guide. Decided to give it a go. Saw got a new plug, and new fuel filter. I put the file guide together and gave it a go. I can tell right now that i have not been filing at a consistent angle between teeth. Some filed nice, others filed like garbage.  This is a old chain, its been beat, nicked, ive lost two depth gauges, and has cut a ton of dead wood. Going to keep practicing on it with the file so that once i put on a new chain, ill be a champ. 

After that was all done, i went out to the wood pile and split the remaining red oak. Ill just have to take some time and stack it in the future. Definitely got some great splits out of these rounds. Going to be awesome in a couple years.








After that was done I decided to get going on a idea ive had floating in my head. Ive wanted a carry-all, but i like keeping my weight box on. Decided to get the best of both worlds and do it for free.









Two ratchet straps hold it on, after a couple tightening and moving it around i got it quite snug.




I built two uprights as my big plan is to use it to transport brush. I also can see adding some edging and using it to transport rounds out. A bucketful and this should help cut down trips.









I also found this weird Caterpillar hanging out on my firewood. No idea what it is.


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## trukn2004 (Aug 23, 2016)

Not necessarily firewood related, but I used a chainsaw!

The end of my road has two splits. They are directional depending on which way you want to go. The one used the most, the paved one is taken care of pretty well, the lesser used one, gravel, has been slowly growing in and getting tight. I decided to take it upon myself and open both up.

some before pictures








After all the cutting. At this point, my nifty carryall was called into play. there is nowhere to stash the brush, so I loaded it up to bring down the road and dump on one of the vacant lots.









One trip, and it worked flawlessly!




Looks 1000 times better. I want to take out two more trees, but they are bigger and are going to need a assist on falling




That will do it for now. After all this work I had noticed my saw was cutting poorly. Went back, fiddled with the Granberg and adjusted the filing angle to 25 degrees. filed a lot better this time and should be dialed in quite well now.


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## trukn2004 (Aug 29, 2016)

Did a little bit of firewood stuff, but nothing terribly too impressive. Got the oak stacked that had been split and then cleaned up the splitting area. Not too bad a quantity either for basically ground trash.









The big job that finally got done was fixing the main private road. myself and my neighbors gathered together and ended up spreading and smoothing 32 yards of 3/4 crushed gravel.

Some before shots












Road hadn't been topped in probably 15 years. We were down to some of the larger base material with some wicked ruts. My neighbor with a box blade spent some time scarifying the ground so that hopefully the ruts wouldn't appear as quickly.





Then, myself and another neighbor ran buckets of material down and rough leveled it. After about 50-60 feet, we would use the box blade to smooth and evenly distribute the gravel.









All spread.








We could really use a couple decent rains to help set the gravel, then another smoothing pass and it should be a top-notch roadway. The work went so well, we have plans to continue on with the next section before winter. hopefully this will make snow removal a breeze this winter.


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## trukn2004 (Sep 20, 2016)

Wow, I cant believe its almost been a month since I pestered you guys! 

Work around the house has been slow. My job had me on the road, it was dry and humid and generally unbearable outside. I did end up getting some work done Saturday that turned into a less then ideal debacle. Attempted to bring down one tree, ended up taking down 4. 

I will have photos later, but I figured I would give you the jist of it.

I have gone thru the easily accessible dead standing and laying near my woods road. I decided next step would be some forest management. I went to the end of the road, and picked out a massive, by my standards, red oak. had to be 24+" at the base. Took my time, read it, made my cuts and got to to start falling. gets hung up.... my father and I worked on it a bit. I managed to pinch the bar, get wedges stuck, and get tired. Pulled out the come-along and got it off the stump and un-hung and falling, right into another tree... This was a nice shagbark, not too big but that wood doesn't give for a damn. I ended up having to cut the hickory while under strain. Luckily I was not under the oak. Hickory barber-chaired, but slowly and controlled. Had to cut it all the way thru from the back. Now two tree we're falling!!!!! right into a maple and a twin-sticked dead birch.

At this point, things were a lot safter, so I began the game of pickup sticks and cleanup. Cut the oak into 6-8ft lengths from the butt, working towards the mess. Once I got that heavy weight off. I dropped the dead birch leads. using the come-along, I would cut up the oak branches, the hickory, and the birch, then pull the tops down and out of the maple so I could leave that standing. A 40 minute job turned into 4 hours!


Needless to say, 95% of it is on the ground and the rest will be handled once the much needed rain lets up. only positive is I have plenty of wood on the ground.

I know, I know, . I will head out today after work and take some of the aftermath. couple things I learned; I need a bigger saw. the 455 was slowing down in the cuts on that big oak. Just cant bury the bar in hardwood. I need to look into my filing and rakers. The original chain I had on was cutting like crap. I thought I had just sharpened it, but I was not getting good cutting performance. I have been filing rakers, but not sure if Ive filed enough. I did get to bust out the new semi-chisel chain though! That is some nice stuff. Cuts really well.


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## benp (Sep 20, 2016)

Awesome Pictures!!!!

Great documention of your work!!!!


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## trukn2004 (Sep 22, 2016)

benp said:


> Awesome Pictures!!!!
> 
> Great documention of your work!!!!


 
Thank you. I really love pictures so I usually post too many.  It is a nice way to go back every once and a while to see my progress.

Anyway, I got those pictures to show you the debacle.

so here is the overall, you can see the tree that started it all up front. Beautiful red oak with a less desirable crown then the one next to it.




My 18" bar didn't reach thru, and my husky was bogging when the bar was buried. On top of that, I think the chain was dull or the rakers are too high.




I think you can see where the bar was pinched. . Luckily, it seems straight and cuts fine still.




For reference, that is a size 12 flip flop. It went about halfway across.




The hickory that was holding it up that I had to cut under pressure.




Fun little side fact: That nail right there, I didn't see it until much later. missed it by inches. Brand new chain on too.




the mini-chair. It was quite controlled for the situation. I cut off the top piece once it was on the ground.




This was the twin sticked dead birch. also a pain to cut. ended up hopping off the stump and staying vertical. Took some weird cutting to get it onto the ground. Luckily, it was small.




The maple that was holding the tops up. here you can see what I left. Going to clean up the base before I work on this so I have some room.




Lots of logs!





On a more positive note, I got to use a new tool yesterday! Had a load of 3/4 crushed delivered so I could top my section of the road. the 1.5" was nice, but bumpy. Used my new to me York rake to spread and smooth it out. Still need to free up a guide wheel, but man is that thing awesome!

























Not bad for my first try, a stuck guide wheel, and eyeballing it. 

That is it for now, hope you guys enjoyed!


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## trukn2004 (Oct 11, 2016)

Been quite a bit. I lost some time to work and dealing with some health problems, but I finally got back into it. ill try to capture it all.

Picked up a timberjack! not the biggest, or most expensive, but its proven its worth already.




I only tested it to see how big a log it would pick up, and it did not disappoint. I believe that is around 18" in diameter.




I decided to get out and tackle the mess from before. I started out sharpening and filing my oldest chain, working the rakers and getting it all squared away. then I packed up and headed out.




I figured I would start at the end closest to the tractor and clear as I went. The old chain made 4 cuts in that oak, very well, and on the beginning of the fifth started to throw little slivers. I don't know if the chain is toast, of if I hit the ground, but it came off, looked dull, and the semi-chisel went on. That chain made the rest of the cuts, something like 14 or so, and was still throwing chips.

Perception is very tough here. These rounds were massive compared to what I normally cut.








I contemplated noodling, but my rancher isn't the happiest doing that, so I broke out the fiskars to see what I could do. The first round, from the base, gave me some trouble but I got it. After that and as I moved along they got easier and easier. by the time I got to 18" diameter, I was quartering them in less then 6 hits.













Still a good amount to go.




Looking back. I basically cut until dry. Got around 3 extremely full buckets out, and I have another 8-10 rounds 90% cut, but I ran out of gas before I rolled the log to finish them off.





Decided to split some too. did I ever tell you how much I love red oak?




That is a 18" tire for reference




Where I stopped. Basically half of the wood is split.




The stuff is so beautiful.





Earlier this week, I also did some cleaning up down the road. had a big oak top come out and land on the lines. power company ended up cleaning it up, and left a mess. I went down, cleaned the brush and then fished out the rounds the cut and split it all. lengths are quite varied, but it yielded a good amount of oak. I picked up the stuff in the woods and it was a full bucket plus some. I will get the road stuff later on as well.









You can see the tree it came off of with the pink ribbon. It was poorly trimmed a long time ago and has died standing. the base is hollow and now it has no top. I am trying to get a quote to take it down, since the power company wont do it unless it falls on the lines..


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## trukn2004 (Oct 14, 2016)

First fire of the year. This is two year seasoned ash and maple, what a difference!





Only took 5 minutes to get up to temp.


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## Ronaldo (Oct 14, 2016)

trukn2004 said:


> First fire of the year. This is two year seasoned ash and maple, what a difference!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nice fire! Can we see a bigger pic of your hearth?


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## trukn2004 (Oct 14, 2016)

Ronaldo said:


> Nice fire! Can we see a bigger pic of your hearth?



Here you go.






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## Ronaldo (Oct 14, 2016)

Thanks, I really like that!


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## Deleted member 135597 (Oct 15, 2016)

this is a great thread, thanks


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## benp (Oct 15, 2016)

Woody harrelson said:


> this is a great thread, thanks



I thoroughly agree.

@trukn2004 ,

You have made a lot of progress since your first post.  I really like how you document everything with the pictures.

Keep up the good work!!!


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## trukn2004 (Oct 15, 2016)

benp said:


> I thoroughly agree.
> 
> @trukn2004 ,
> 
> ...



Thanks for the kind words! I am really enjoying the home heating with wood. It's quite fun to see how I have improved. Wood I'm burning now was cut and split two years ago. Split size and shape is very erratic, while wood im processing now is much more even. Definitely all burns, but in two more years I'll be burning stuff that is a lot prettier. 


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## trukn2004 (Nov 21, 2016)

Hello loyal followers! 

Been pretty lazy with wood. Doing a decent amount of burning, heating the whole place on some less then desirable stuff. With all of the rain, i havent really been out in the woods, but i took a hour the other day to do some more cutting from the big oak tree from before. i am working my way through the limbs of that tree, the hickory, and suprisingly the birch that i thought was rotted to hell.

fruits of one tank of fuel. still a good amount of wood out here.




Brush pile




overall view. Not much left to cut, mostly small stuff.





I need to find time to come and get this before the loader comes off and the snowblower goes on. I also need to get off my butt and stack the splits from the main trunk. Been working on cars and working at work in my free time mostly. Either way, colder weather is coming and the heating season has begun!


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## trukn2004 (Nov 23, 2016)

Relaxing and enjoying the heat. My two rugrats love it.


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## trukn2004 (Jan 25, 2017)

Might as well post for the new year. Unfortunately, no photos 

This winter I have been pretty much just burning. No real cutting going on and only some splitting. Got into my 2 year old hickory and i have to say i have mixed feelings. Once it is going, it will put some heat out and burn a while, but to try to get dried splits to start is a chore and man does i coal like crazy. If i had to choose, i would stick with my red oak and leave the hickory for other things. 


Got into a couple scary moments with the stove. had it get decently out of control twice that ended with a sopping wet towel being thrown in to calm things. One time was at 2 am, the other earlier. Both times i got home from work and loaded on what i normally consider too hot a stove to reload, or too much of a certain species. Since those two screw ups, i have been fine and i actually have started to run the stove better then before. I was always burning on the side of caution, not really winding the stove out to its full potential. Now that ive had it get away from me, I run it a lot more efficiently, and in turn get better burns and more productive heat into the house. 

Other then that, saw has been run, but only a little bit. I've also upgraded the truck to a 2016 2500 cummins! Ill have to go through photos and videos tonight and get some stuff to upload for you guys.


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## trukn2004 (Jan 26, 2017)

A photo and video to tide you over. I thought I uploaded a second video, but that doesnt seem to be the case!

The new truck, putting in work to load the rack on the porch




Just a little fire video, a cold restart to warm you guys.


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## Ronaldo (Jan 26, 2017)

I'm liking that truck!!!!


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## trukn2004 (Jan 26, 2017)

Ronaldo said:


> I'm liking that truck!!!!



Thanks, me too. she is getting new tires and wheels tomorrow to replace the shot factory tread and the ulgy slt wheels. I got it used, 2016 with 24k miles on it. more truck then i need, but ive always wanted a diesel and the price was pretty good. wife thinks its too tall, but sided with me on some 35" tires since she said the factory ones were too small. . Only downside, i have to install some running boards to assist with getting in and out. Small price to pay i think.


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## GVS (Jan 27, 2017)

trukn2004 said:


> Thanks, me too. she is getting new tires and wheels tomorrow to replace the shot factory tread and the ulgy slt wheels. I got it used, 2016 with 24k miles on it. more truck then i need, but ive always wanted a diesel and the price was pretty good. wife thinks its too tall, but sided with me on some 35" tires since she said the factory ones were too small. . Only downside, i have to install some running boards to assist with getting in and out. Small price to pay i think.


What size tires/wheels are on it now?If you go much bigger then whats on it now you may want to think about going with lower gear ratio in the front and rear ends.


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## trukn2004 (Jan 27, 2017)

GVS said:


> What size tires/wheels are on it now?If you go much bigger then whats on it now you may want to think about going with lower gear ratio in the front and rear ends.



Came with 33" tires from the factory, just upsizing to a 35". Nothing too crazy to call for regearing.


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## trukn2004 (Jan 30, 2017)

Another rare weekend off, so i did some wood chores. I took pictures this time though!

First chore was re-loading the porch. we have some snow coverage, along with a crapton of ice. Sled pulled well and i had on my ice crampons to keep me upright.




Porch all loaded. This round is dead red oak and some more hickory. I got to say, while hickory is nice, red oak is my favorite.




After that i decided to do some walking in the woods to find some of my next scrounges. This is all that is left on the low side of the house, from now on all my wood will be up near the driveway for easy access.




Found some standing stuff that should come out to help the forest grow. Took the frozen ground to get a better look at some stuff thats fallen into the stream. I think there are two trees worth some salvaging. This will help eliminate the snags and allow the water to flow better.




A shot back to the house from the fallen stuff. all uphill, but not too terrible.




Thats it for now! enjoy.


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## trukn2004 (Feb 8, 2017)

Well, I've been burning that hickory for a couple weeks and i have to say, not a big fan. It is extremely tough to get going. The wood is seasoned well, but you have to really drive the air to if and keep it open for a while to get going. Once burning, yea, itll put out the heat, but with the excessive coals and the babysitting needed on each reload, I would rather burn the ash and red oak i have. I think in the future I will shy away from them unless they are dead and down.


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## Woodyjiw (Feb 8, 2017)

trukn2004 said:


> Another rare weekend off, so i did some wood chores. I took pictures this time though!
> 
> First chore was re-loading the porch. we have some snow coverage, along with a crapton of ice. Sled pulled well and i had on my ice crampons to keep me upright.
> 
> ...


Do you have any problems with mice in your wood stacks on the porch? Or do you rotate enough that they don't get a chance to get comfy?


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## trukn2004 (Feb 8, 2017)

Woodyjiw said:


> Do you have any problems with mice in your wood stacks on the porch? Or do you rotate enough that they don't get a chance to get comfy?



The wood on the porch doesnt seem to be too inviting to mice. I think with the daily traffic in and out of the front door, large open expanse to get to it, and my two dogs going in and out and sniffing the pile they dont bother it much. The stacks last about a month, and i am taking pieces off every day, so i think they stay vermin-free. The stacks in the yard however, those i find chipmunk and squirrel stashes, along with mouse houses.


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## Woodyjiw (Feb 8, 2017)

trukn2004 said:


> The wood on the porch doesnt seem to be too inviting to mice. I think with the daily traffic in and out of the front door, large open expanse to get to it, and my two dogs going in and out and sniffing the pile they dont bother it much. The stacks last about a month, and i am taking pieces off every day, so i think they stay vermin-free. The stacks in the yard however, those i find chipmunk and squirrel stashes, along with mouse houses.


Yeah, I here ya, I've got a 14x24' shed that I fill for my OWB and those buggers try to take over.. Lots of traps, try and keep the numbers down.


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## GVS (Feb 8, 2017)

trukn2004 said:


> Well, I've been burning that hickory for a couple weeks and i have to say, not a big fan. It is extremely tough to get going. The wood is seasoned well, but you have to really drive the air to if and keep it open for a while to get going. Once burning, yea, itll put out the heat, but with the excessive coals and the babysitting needed on each reload, I would rather burn the ash and red oak i have. I think in the future I will shy away from them unless they are dead and down.



Mix some ash in with the oak to help get it fired.
Of course I meant hickory rather then oak!


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## trukn2004 (Feb 8, 2017)

GVS said:


> Mix some ash in with the oak to help get it fired.
> Of course I meant hickory rather then oak!



Ive been doing that, problem is the stack on the porch is almost all hickory for now, with red oak below it, i will have to work on better mixing in the future.


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## trukn2004 (Feb 12, 2017)

My single artisanal piece of firewood. I store it like this to ensure optimal moisture content. [emoji23]


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## trukn2004 (Mar 6, 2017)

Some video of the snow blower running.


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## trukn2004 (Mar 8, 2017)

Hi there friends!!

the 4 ft of snow we got in one week and then the week and a half of spring temps have made doing much outside almost impossible. Its just getting to some nice weather, but there is snow in the forecast now . I figured I would update you with some photos of the truck. I got the wheels and tires mounted after some delay and i have to say I love the truck even more now. Only thing it really needs is a set of flares to keep the mud off of the side. Other then that, its just perfect IMO.

AEV Salta HD 17x8.5 wheels with 35x12.50x17 Toyo AT II Extreme. Amazing setup, no lift, no rubbing, not issues lock to lock.


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## Ronaldo (Mar 8, 2017)

I like white, especially big white trucks. SHARP!

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## trukn2004 (Mar 10, 2017)

Ronaldo said:


> I like white, especially big white trucks. SHARP!
> 
> Sent from my Z832 using Tapatalk



Thanks! White was not my first pick, but buying used you dont get much choice. I will say that the color has definitely grown on me. It shows dirt really bad, but when clean the truck is sharp looking!


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## phidelt1736 (Mar 12, 2017)

Yeah it does show dirt but it hides all scratches and minor imperfections which I really like for a truck. I don't know if I'll ever have another color. When it gets washed it looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor. My buddy in auto body work always joke's "if it ain't right paint it white"


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## trukn2004 (Mar 30, 2017)

Well Apparently winter does not want to let go so i had to get some work in. After the last storm we had a tree on our road break. It was a Codom Rock maple and luckily the lead that fell, fell into the woods and not the power lines. Im in process on getting the remaining lead taken down, but the part on the road has been sitting there all cut up by the land owner, a water company. They said wood was up for grabs, so i waited a couple weeks to see if neighbors wanted it. Since we have snow in the forecast, i went out and cut up the bigger stuff and grabbed a truck bed full.

As you can see, split at a very old injury. The reamaining lead will not survive long and is pointed right at a power pole.









Did i mention how much i like this truck?








So there is another bed full left. I thought i grabbed a picture of the unloaded pile, but seems like i didnt. Good amount of wood, and i cant wait to get it spilt! Hoping to get the rest of the rounds today after work, and i need to noodle the big base piece. This was a impressive size tree.


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## trukn2004 (Mar 31, 2017)

updates!

He is a overall view of the tree. It is to the right of the power pole, you can see the broken lead still attached.




Next two show the rounds from the first load.








And the second load that was the remainder of the wood. Had to noodle a decent amount and split some pieces to make lifting possible. Forgot my camera while i was working, so no work shots. a neighbor did stop by and help load though, which was nice.





Splitting will re-start once the snow clears out. I also have a pile waiting to be stacked. On top of that, i need to get some wood on the porch after work today. calling for 5-11" of wet snow with the possibility of power outages.


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## trukn2004 (Apr 5, 2017)

Well, It is official. I have decided to deny any more winter. Tractor is mid transformation back to summer mode.









Looks funny with nothing on the front.


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## TonyK (Apr 5, 2017)

Oh man why do you have to say something like that? You know as soon as you pull the blower off you are doomed to get 2 feet of heavy snow.


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## trukn2004 (Apr 6, 2017)

TonyK said:


> Oh man why do you have to say something like that? You know as soon as you pull the blower off you are doomed to get 2 feet of heavy snow.



Haha, Isnt that the truth! I will just ignore any snow. deny deny deny!! I put the loader on today, so i guess i can technically still clear snow.


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## trukn2004 (Apr 12, 2017)

With the warmer temps, i got back into the swing of things, pun intended!

New toy, the XA-22 Hookaroon. Awesome tool, bad-ass looking and helped keep my hands out of what little snow was left.




the start pile. All the maple from the last couple posts.




It all split pretty well.




Only things left were pieces that would need noodling, or were a bit too long.




I really should stack.








Anyway, thats where im at. Right now the snow is pretty much gone, just super saturated ground. I also promised some of this maple to one of my neighbors. She is older but still heats with wood. Great lady and since the wood came from the communal road I said i would bring my a bucketful for her.


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## Ronaldo (Apr 12, 2017)

Those Fiskars tools are super nice, brother has one of those. Slick hookaroon. 

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## trukn2004 (Apr 23, 2017)

Might as well make another update.

My parents came up this weekend. and my father and I stacked the split wood. I decided to give the traditional method a chance to compare drying times and quality.

My traditional method:




Start of the more known method. Cribbed ends and stacks between








Shot of CMP taking down that maple. I forgot I had it. just gives a sense of scale with that boom maxed out.




So i finally went back and had a go at the rest of it today. Luckily I got my new bar fit up. I screwed up ordering it, so I had to snag two new loops of chain too to fit the .050" gap, but man is it nice.





No sugihara, but its a nice bar




Everything that was left.




Several photos throughout the process. A crap-ton of noodling, but it netted me a lot of wood.








Noodles!








The wife was in charge of running the tractor back and forth. I think i got something along the lines of 6-7 buckets out of what was left.




I split some, then took this super crappy photo from inside. Scale is not shown well, but there is a ton of wood out of the rest of this tree. Cant wait to get it split and stacked.




That is it for now, i am gone all week for a business trip, so what is left there will sit for a bit.


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## Sledneck_77 (Apr 27, 2017)

Great thread been away for awhile and read this from beginning until now. And man you've done some work! Keep it up. Just bought my tractor and can't believe how handy it can be. Awesome how dedicated you are to your work as well as this thread. Can't wait to read more. Pic is what I have to start splitting this weekend


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## trukn2004 (Apr 30, 2017)

Sledneck_77 said:


> Great thread been away for awhile and read this from beginning until now. And man you've done some work! Keep it up. Just bought my tractor and can't believe how handy it can be. Awesome how dedicated you are to your work as well as this thread. Can't wait to read more. Pic is what I have to start splitting this weekend



Thanks man! and that shed is freaking cool-looking! how much wood does it hold?


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## Sledneck_77 (Apr 30, 2017)

Thanks I love it it fits just under 5 cord depending on how high I stack it. It's built out of pallets. Including the shingles it cost me a little under 200 bucks. Dries the wood super fast.


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## trukn2004 (Jun 12, 2017)

Hello all! It has been quite a while since I've posted. Not too much going on as it has been rain non-stop for at least a month. With the ground drying out, we got to some more homeowner projects. First on the list was to put in a garden bed on the front of the house. 









Edge done with the myriad of rocks from the property, and mulched out. We will continue to add plants as we get them.













I also did a side bed on the garage. dont seem to have any photos. 

Took time to cut down the gypsy moth nests that i could find and give them the proper send off. Dont need those guys taking over the neighborhood.





Alright, might as well update the firewood debacle. That maple that was taken down has proved to be quite a headache. The size of the rounds, the knots and sheer diameter have made hand splitting strenous. I have been working my way through and setting aside the difficult sections to fall prey to my neighbors hydraulic splitter. I also cleaned up the splitting area.





Some old super dry pine im splitting for a friend's firepit. Stuff is like paper, but should burn hot and quick. 





starter splitter trash gathered so far.




the stuff to the right of the tire is the pile of unsplittables. there is a large amount of wood there still.




Pieces i need to buck up and get split. Waiting for it to not be 92 degrees outside. 




What ive gotten so far out of the second load




Overview. Ive weedwhacked the brush back and am working on cleaning up and getting access to the gardens. 




Thats it for now, hopefully i can get back on track with more consistent updates.


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## cornfused (Jun 14, 2017)

Trukn2004...
Just read this entire thread....WOW!!! You & your wife exemplify the best of what America has to offer anyone who has the ingenuity, drive & will to work. Great job and a great thread....Keep 'em coming!!!
Cornfused


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## trukn2004 (Jun 14, 2017)

cornfused said:


> Trukn2004...
> Just read this entire thread....WOW!!! You & your wife exemplify the best of what America has to offer anyone who has the ingenuity, drive & will to work. Great job and a great thread....Keep 'em coming!!!
> Cornfused



Thank you very much! I try to always work and earn my keep. Its very fulfilling.


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## trukn2004 (Jun 19, 2017)

More pictures??? More pictures!!!

I was perusing the tractor forum and saw a lot of people recommend a wheel spinner to help with backing up tractors. I got one off ebay and I have to say, I love it! helps you find center quite easily





Since I had the tractor out, i decided I should go and grab the rest of the wood from the big ole red oak, and cut myself a wafer to attach another tire to for splitting. The current ash one works, but it never hurts to have a spare for friends.





The last bits, about a bucket worth of wood. Not too bad.












Did some more noodling and some splitting. I think i have split everything I can and what is left will fall to the hydro.

















I was very suprised that the white birch was still solid all the way through. It sat in the woods on the ground for several months. Thats it for now!


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## NSMaple1 (Jun 19, 2017)

That doesn't really look like the white birch we have around here. White maple, maybe?


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## trukn2004 (Jun 19, 2017)

NSMaple1 said:


> That doesn't really look like the white birch we have around here. White maple, maybe?



Haha, so the stacked stuff is sugar maple, their are a few birch splits in the loose pile in front, though it's mixed with oak and maple. 


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## rarefish383 (Jun 20, 2017)

It's been a great thread. What they might call a Steering wheel spinner now, used to be called a suicide knob. Back in the pre seat belt days lots of folks had them in cars and especially trucks. In a head on collision people had to be pulled off of them, stuck in their chest. But, if you put "Suicide Knob" on the plastic wrap, I guess not many people would buy them, Joe.


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## Erik B (Jun 20, 2017)

rarefish383 said:


> It's been a great thread. What they might call a Steering wheel spinner now, used to be called a suicide knob. Back in the pre seat belt days lots of folks had them in cars and especially trucks. In a head on collision people had to be pulled off of them, stuck in their chest. But, if you put "Suicide Knob" on the plastic wrap, I guess not many people would buy them, Joe.


Those knobs used to be on a lot of tractor steering wheels.


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## rarefish383 (Jun 20, 2017)

Yep, lots of tractors too, I had one on my Ford 640. I guess power steering on most everything now, makes them obsolete. But I think the nick name came from being on vehicles. They literally punched holes in peoples chests. Some heavy equipment they can't be used on, OSHA laws prohibit them. When I worked for UPS they weren't allowed on their vehicles, Joe.


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## trukn2004 (Jun 22, 2017)

rarefish383 said:


> It's been a great thread. What they might call a Steering wheel spinner now, used to be called a suicide knob. Back in the pre seat belt days lots of folks had them in cars and especially trucks. In a head on collision people had to be pulled off of them, stuck in their chest. But, if you put "Suicide Knob" on the plastic wrap, I guess not many people would buy them, Joe.



Thanks for the info! and i have to agree, hard name to market. 

I went out and grabbed a bit more. three dead ash, two standing, one down all small. Got quite the bucket-ful out of it..








I had been out cutting, so the bush hog was still on. It carried the last three pieces and the saw and gear.





I also mounted the second tire to the big red oak slab i cut. Nice to have two splitting setups.




Only thing left to do was turn this....




Into this





It had been a bit and i forgot how easy dead ash splits. Got it all done in 15 minutes. I am going to stack it and plan to burn it this year. The wife also got me a sweet new beer glass, figure you guys might enjoy it.





Thats it for now!


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## rarefish383 (Jun 22, 2017)

My Bernese Mountain Dog would need a bigger glass, Joe.


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## trukn2004 (Jun 22, 2017)

rarefish383 said:


> My Bernese Mountain Dog would need a bigger glass, Joe.



My MIL has one of those, beautiful dogs. Hers thinks he is a 15 lb lap dog.


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## rarefish383 (Jun 23, 2017)

trukn2004 said:


> My MIL has one of those, beautiful dogs. Hers thinks he is a 15 lb lap dog.


That is a Burner trait. They don't sit next to you, they sit on you. My 97 pound "little Girl" would back up and sit on your feet, straighten up and wiggle into your lap, with her head on your shoulder and big brown eyes looking helpless at you, Joe.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Jun 23, 2017)

I threw out my back trying to carry my black lab up into my dump truck (floor is about 4ft from the ground).

Couple weeks later had a vet checkup... darn porker is almost 100lbs!


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## trukn2004 (Oct 3, 2017)

Hello friends, Its been pretty quiet on the maine front. Not a ton of work getting done due to it either raining or being 95 degrees. Ill try to catch you up on the little stuff that has happened. 

First things first, I knocked out some of my welding projects that I had put off. Added mesh to the tractor grille and a trailer jack to the york rake so i wouldnt need to cart around a piece of wood.

















I also went through a 2 month hell issue with my Ram. long story short, paint started to bubble and flake off, ram and my dealer told me to pound sand. After several attempts, i walked across the street, traded it in and picked up a 2017 Tacoma trd off-road. Ive had it a week and its a great truck. 









And finally, some wood work! I took down a beech, got it split and just finished stacking it. Ive been very lazy on the wood gathering front, so im hoping to pick it up more now that things have cooled off.









And this is my pine pile. Ive been using it for my fire pit.


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## trukn2004 (Oct 4, 2017)

Did a bit more work today. Took down a red oak for processing. In my normal fashion, got it stuck. luckily, i was able to use the tractor and pull it down.





A small black birch was in the way, the tractor ripped it out of the ground with ease.









A shot showing the hooks i welded onto the bucket along with the grille in place. Those hooks are downright the best addition to the tractor.




Got two bucketfuls out of that tree.








Piled up for the splitting.








All split up. ill get to stacking it at some point.


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## trukn2004 (Oct 11, 2017)

A little bit of a sidetrack. 

I was out in San Francisco this weekend for a friend's wedding. afterward we hit up the tourist spots. Alcatraz was impressive but I think my favorite visit was Muir Woods! The sights and sheer scale of the Redwoods is something to be seen. Wife and I spent about a hour and a half walking around. I was just blown away and humbled by the size and beauty of the ancient forest. One of these trees would heat my house for a decade. I got some pictures to share.









I believe the woman at the gate said the trees ran around 265-270 feet tall.
















Most of the trees had fire damage, some where hollow at the base. I guess just their sheer size and water content means they very rarely die from a forest fire.





Overall a cool trip. I recommend you stop in if you are ever out that way.


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## trukn2004 (Oct 17, 2017)

Back at it with stuff a little less grand is scale 

power company took down a standing dead maple. Got some wood, but unfortunately it was core-rotted about 15-18 ft up so it wasnt much. Got it split one day, then cracked a beer and went to stacking.








Ripped out the temporary gardens that Ive had for 3 years. Finally going to move it from where the wood is to the side of the garage in a terrace the wife and I made but never used. gets a lot more sun and frees up more wood space.



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Bark from the maple. It was coming off in sheets.




Wife was running the tractor and side-swipped the pine pile..




Walking in the woods i found another little scrounge. Limb broke out of a big red oak.








I also found two red oaks out back of the house that fell over at some point. Ill be scrounging those up too. Should be a nice break from dropping live trees. Thats about it for now.


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## trukn2004 (Oct 28, 2017)

Finally loaded out the porch. It’s getting colder here.


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## trukn2004 (Oct 31, 2017)

Finally lit. Had a awful storm come through, no power, restoration is expected to take a week in some places. I’m hoping for sooner, but it was cold this morning and I figured why not fire up the stove! Got some 2.5 yr old maple and it’s just pumping out the heat.











Happy Halloween to you all!!



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## Jakers (Oct 31, 2017)

Ha! Love it. I see the security dog has found a perfect place to lay down and enjoy the beauty of it too


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## trukn2004 (Nov 4, 2017)

Jakers said:


> Ha! Love it. I see the security dog has found a perfect place to lay down and enjoy the beauty of it too



Haha, yup that little dog lives in that spot all winter. Case in point...







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## sawjunky23 (Oct 21, 2018)

I stumbled onto your thread while searching for info on hearth’s. I know it’s old but I ended up reading it from start to finish! I found it very enjoyable to read and follow along with the pictures. It’s impressive that you do almost all of your splitting via axe! I also think you set a good example that you don’t need 10 high dollar pro saws to cut firewood. 

Nice work and I love your stove setup. I had a Jotul Oslo similar to yours, I sold it before I sold my last house. I plan on buying another one soon and that was why I was researching hearth ideas in the first place. 

Thanks for sharing your adventure


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## trukn2004 (Oct 22, 2018)

sawjunky23 said:


> I stumbled onto your thread while searching for info on hearth’s. I know it’s old but I ended up reading it from start to finish! I found it very enjoyable to read and follow along with the pictures. It’s impressive that you do almost all of your splitting via axe! I also think you set a good example that you don’t need 10 high dollar pro saws to cut firewood.
> 
> Nice work and I love your stove setup. I had a Jotul Oslo similar to yours, I sold it before I sold my last house. I plan on buying another one soon and that was why I was researching hearth ideas in the first place.
> 
> Thanks for sharing your adventure



Thanks man! Im still at it, i just havent been that great at posting. Photobucket got weird and i could still manage to get pictures hosted but lately it has become a bit of a hassle. Ill have to figure out a better photo hosting site and try to get some updates up. Im still at it with the same saw and the same axes. We just got into buring about 2 weeks ago and the wood and the stove have been performing extremely well.


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## Sandhill Crane (Oct 22, 2018)

We are on our way home from Acadia National Park. Stayed at an rv park near Bass Harbor, walked the Carriage Roads, explored some trails, and rocky beaches. Visited friends in Falmouth, north of Portland, and drove on Route 1, probably through York. Campgrounds are closed, or closing, and wood piles and stacks near many country homes. Beautiful country.


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## trukn2004 (Oct 23, 2018)

Sandhill Crane said:


> We are on our way home from Acadia National Park. Stayed at an rv park near Bass Harbor, walked the Carriage Roads, explored some trails, and rocky beaches. Visited friends in Falmouth, north of Portland, and drove on Route 1, probably through York. Campgrounds are closed, or closing, and wood piles and stacks near many country homes. Beautiful country.



Yup, state is getting quiet again! The tourists are appreciated for the revenue, but Post-colombus day everything slows down and it gets nice.


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