big trees are a lot more work.

[Trapper_Pete]

I had to do this one without the skid steer or tractor, also maybe why it felt like so much more work , the ground was thawing and a sponge any wheels off the pavement were just making muddy ruts

 

[esshup]

I agree the big pieces are a PITA. I use a tractor with a FEL and tongs to load the big pieces on the splitter, then have to wrestle with the halves. Way longer noodling them all down, so splitting it is. All Oak or Maple, I much prefer the Red Oad to the White or Pin Oak for ease of splitting. It seems all the trees are 24"-36" DBH. We are seeing a lot of trees starting to die due to Oak Wilt disease now.

 

[bfrazier]

TW6 with log lift to get it into manageable pieces, and a Supersplit to turn the chunks into firewood. I believe this log was about 52" across.

I see the price of hardwood lumber and I just have to ask, when you get pieces this size, and they're already in some yard, are they not worth more as lumber or veneer than as firewood? A 52" is a good stick of wood for sure.

 

[jrider]

TW6 with log lift to get it into manageable pieces, and a Supersplit to turn the chunks into firewood. I believe this log was about 52" across.

What kind of wood? I had oak cut to 16” in length that was around 40” diameter and it weighed over 700 pounds. Log lift on my tw6 says not to exceed 500 pounds

 

[sirbuildalot]

I see the price of hardwood lumber and I just have to ask, when you get pieces this size, and they're already in some yard, are they not worth more as lumber or veneer than as firewood? Probably just us West Coast guys that are all wondering this. A 52" is a good stick of wood for sure.

It isn’t my yard. I was working for a friend splitting. I believe it was a poplar, not worth all that much.

 

[sirbuildalot]

What kind of wood? I had oak cut to 16” in length that was around 40” diameter and it weighed over 700 pounds. Log lift on my tw6 says not to exceed 500 pounds

I believe it was poplar.

 

[James Miller]

This one was fun. 40" oak all done with an 036 and my ported 590. Stayed that size for the first 20'. The thought of another one this size makes the 7910 worth having and the jred 111 worth picking up.

 

[Cowboy254]

I like big stuff. Generally speaking I'm not in a great hurry and in the places I have permission to cut there's no danger of someone else making off with it. I agree with the 'more wood, less bark' position and also more heartwood, less sapwood for less ash. I fully accept that for time invested, 12-16 inch wood is easier work and you can cut and load more of that in the same timeframe. Here are a couple of bigger eucalypts I have cut in the last couple of years.

Blue gum



Manna gum

 

[muddstopper]

I am not a big fan of noodleing wood. I feel it is to hard on my saw. The tree I noodled the other day wasnt that big. I used my 266 with 24in bar to noodle the log before I bucked it, since one end was off the ground. That meant noodleing a full 24in cut and then sawing off a 20in piece of wood. Bar is buried the entire cut. Easier than toteing the whole round to the truck, and yes I could have bucked to lenght and then noodled, but Its hard for me to get down on the ground and to noodle a stick of wood. I get down and then I cant get back up. Yea, I will noodle before I try to lift, but if its close to the splitter and I can get it on the beam, I will do that before I crank up a saw.

 

[bfrazier]

I like big stuff. Generally speaking I'm not in a great hurry and in the places I have permission to cut there's no danger of someone else making off with it. I agree with the 'more wood, less bark' position and also more heartwood, less sapwood for less ash. I fully accept that for time invested, 12-16 inch wood is easier work and you can cut and load more of that in the same timeframe. Here are a couple of bigger eucalypts I have cut in the last couple of years.

Blue gum

View attachment 725910

Manna gum

View attachment 725911

Hey Cowboy, that blue gum looks like the wood to have as your summer turns to fall! Is it as hard as a rock? How much will you use in a winter down there?

 

[Cowboy254]

Hey Cowboy, that blue gum looks like the wood to have as your summer turns to fall! Is it as hard as a rock? How much will you use in a winter down there?

G'day there, yes blue gum hardens up dramatically when dry, when it's green it is not much harder than many other eucalypts. I ruined a perfectly good stihl duro chain on the dry sections of that tree, just broke many of the cutters off. Even semi-chisel suffered cutters burred over either up or down. When I got into the main trunk there was still some moisture there so it wasn't as hard going. The manna gum is similar to oak in density and blue gum about 15% denser but of the two I would rather burn manna gum since that orange heartwood has virtually no ash but blue gum is ashy all through. Blue gum is good for overnight burns though if you don't mind the mess.

We'd burn about 15 cubes or 4 cord a winter.

 

[bfrazier]

Hey Cowboy! We have some Tasmanian Blue Gum in the US! What a pretty tree - but it invades and flat takes over here to the exclusion of every other plant. It grows along the California Coast, I think it's the same stuff - would love to get my grubby hands on some of it. Us Pacific Northwesterner's are always looking for something that will burn all night - we have mostly softwoods.

Never heard of a "cube of wood"... gotta be a cubic meter - way too logical for us. ;-) And thanks for your reply - best wishes. Bob

This is what we call Blue Gum over here... I think it's your trees, Eucalyptus globulus, imported over here as early as the 1850's.

 

[James Miller]

Hey Cowboy! We have some Tasmanian Blue Gum in the US! What a pretty tree - but it invades and flat takes over here to the exclusion of every other plant. It grows along the California Coast, I think it's the same stuff - would love to get my grubby hands on some of it. Us Pacific Northwesterner's are always looking for something that will burn all night - we have mostly softwoods.

Never heard of a "cube of wood"... gotta be a cubic meter - way too logical for us. ;-) And thanks for your reply - best wishes. Bob

This is what we call Blue Gum over here... I think it's your trees, Eucalyptus globulus, imported over here as early as the 1850's.

What is the best common firewood out there? Being from PA I've often wondered what the folks that aren't surrounded by hardwoods burn the most of or consider the best available to them.

 

[ThackMan]

A little sore after this one with my 372xp and a 32” bar with skip chain.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[square1]

Size doesn't matter. I do it for exercise. Whether death by 1,000 cuts on small stuff or saying "uncle" after wrestling bigget rounds...when I'm worn out, I'm worn out. How much wood has been processed at that time is immaterial to me.

I noodle the odd piece or two that are gnarly with knots, but think splitting the old fashion way with sledge & wedge(s) is far more efficient method overall in getting big rounds down to a size that I can handle.

 

[Cowboy254]

Hey Cowboy! We have some Tasmanian Blue Gum in the US! What a pretty tree - but it invades and flat takes over here to the exclusion of every other plant. It grows along the California Coast, I think it's the same stuff - would love to get my grubby hands on some of it. Us Pacific Northwesterner's are always looking for something that will burn all night - we have mostly softwoods.

Never heard of a "cube of wood"... gotta be a cubic meter - way too logical for us. ;-) And thanks for your reply - best wishes. Bob

This is what we call Blue Gum over here... I think it's your trees, Eucalyptus globulus, imported over here as early as the 1850's.

Yep, E.globulus, that's the tree we're talking about. I've heard that it likes the environment over there a bit too much and is virtually a weed. Also, it seems that the blue gums planted over there grew fast but were less dense and of generally poorer quality than back in its native environment, which is a shame. I'm planning to make a dining table out of blue gum, by which I mean I'm planning to help my mate who actually has the skills to do it, and when I say helping my mate, I'm planning to stay out of his way and do as I'm told and then pay him for the table. That still counts though.

 

[James Miller]

You can learn a lot by staying out of the way and watching. But you cant learn it all till you go hands on and f word some stuff up and then figure out why.

 

[panolo]

Big wood makes nice piles!

 

[panolo]

 

[bfrazier]

Yep, E.globulus, that's the tree we're talking about. I've heard that it likes the environment over there a bit too much and is virtually a weed. Also, it seems that the blue gums planted over there grew fast but were less dense and of generally poorer quality than back in its native environment, which is a shame. I'm planning to make a dining table out of blue gum, by which I mean I'm planning to help my mate who actually has the skills to do it, and when I say helping my mate, I'm planning to stay out of his way and do as I'm told and then pay him for the table. That still counts though.

There's that Aussie humor you guys are famous for. Too funny! Good luck on building that table. I mean help... I mean watching and holding you're mate's beer (and drinking it) while he builds your table!