Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Cowboy254]

Right, so having established that I am not suffering from Obsessive Scrounging Disorder, I figured it was safe to go scrounge.

Out to the farm. I figured I had better knock over and cut up a few dead standers for the Lady Farmer with that autumnal freshness starting to creep in in the mornings. Here was a nice straight blue gum without a lot of branches to muck around with.



After some encouragement, it fell over.



The nice straight trunk and thick grass made it easy to cut through here and there and roll the thing over in sections. Not sure why I bothered typing that.



One tank through Limby doesn't go so far in blue gum compared to peppermint. Last year a couple we know got roasted when they tried to refuel their ride-on mower and sloshed fuel over the hot motor so I always give the saw plenty of time to cool off before fueling up again. I can do without exploding petrol in the face. Might as well do some swingin to fill in time. Averaging 5x more hits than it takes to split peppermint means a very small pile while the saw cools.



A bit more cutting and a bit more splitting and this is where I ended up. When I'm giving the Lady Farmer wood I always make sure that it is both shorter and thinner as she only has a tiny little box that can't easily accommodate my normal 14-16 inch wood length.



I was running out of time as I had to get to work so I loaded up a pile of poles and crapwood for the bonfire in May.

 

[woodchip rookie]

What? No eat-your-face-off spiders? No clip-your-leg-off scorpions?

 

[bassattacker]

Beautiful country Cowboy254. Where were you scrounging?


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[DrewUth]

A bit more cutting and a bit more splitting and this is where I ended up. When I'm giving the Lady Farmer wood I always make sure that it is both shorter and thinner as she only has a tiny little box that can't easily accommodate my normal 14-16 inch wood length.

Be careful when talking about a lady's "tiny little box" and your wood length in the same sentence...

 

[JustJeff]

 

[Dieseldash]

No scrounge today. Cleaning back a treeline. This privet is a nuisance. View attachment 563133View attachment 563135

Do you have a brush cutter? The creek/ditch on the back of my property keeps getting overgrown with salt cedar (tamarack) it really makes it an easy job keeping the brush back. I live in town so I can't light a fire and burn it out. I have a Jonsered CC2128 that I got last year that is a big time saver.

 

[Cowboy254]

What? No eat-your-face-off spiders? No clip-your-leg-off scorpions?

Nah, it was pretty uneventful. The only things I saw were white-tailed spiders and jumping jacks. The white tails are venomous and do bite but you're ok to keep scrounging for a few hours before you have to go to hospital. Ok, I made that last bit up. Their bites are only a problem if they get infected. The jumping jacks are a type of ant that can jump (as the name suggests) and they have bright yellow pincers. A lot of people are severely allergic - one guy I know had to sell his land because it had jumping jacks and he got bitten three times and had anaphylactic reactions that landed him in hospital. I got bitten by two of them once and my leg swelled right up to my nutsack. The more you get bitten, the more sensitive you become so I'm a bit wary of them but fortunately, meat ants dominate the farm and they probably keep the jumping jacks under control.

Beautiful country Cowboy254. Where were you scrounging?

This is in the Kiewa Valley in North-East Victoria, Australia, not quite half way between Melbourne and Sydney. Nice area, close to the ski fields and with plenty of trees and trouts for summer scrounging.

Be careful when talking about a lady's "tiny little box" and your wood length in the same sentence...

Honest mistake ...

 

[NormP]

I admire the Australian people and would love to visit the country, and I grew up in the hills in the eastern part of our state surrounded by all kinds of critters, but I am more afraid of spiders than any venomous snake so I would be as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof if we visited and ventured out into the rural areas of the country.

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[Jeffkrib]

Cowboy, just looked up Kiewa Valley.... Awesome part of the world. I'm very jealous.
I did the 3 peaks race a couple of years ago. Falls creek > Tawonga gap > Mt Hotham > Omeo > up the back of falls creek.
Hardest ride I've ever done. 200km into the ride you hit the hill at the back of falls creek, its said to be the hardest climb in Australia. The 240km loop took me 9hr 28mins. I rode absolutely flat out all day. Average hart rate 155bpm, I burnt equivalent of 28 cheese burgers on the ride.... By then end of the day I had ulcers in my mouth and was pretty much pissing brown wee. Seriously took me 3 month to recover from that.
You should do it seeing as its just down the road from you!

 

[Cowboy254]

Cowboy, just looked up Kiewa Valley.... Awesome part of the world. I'm very jealous.
I did the 3 peaks race a couple of years ago. Falls creek > Tawonga gap > Mt Hotham > Omeo > up the back of falls creek.
Hardest ride I've ever done. 200km into the ride you hit the hill at the back of falls creek, its said to be the hardest climb in Australia. The 240km loop took me 9hr 28mins. I rode absolutely flat out all day. Average hart rate 155bpm, I burnt equivalent of 28 cheese burgers on the ride.... By then end of the day I had ulcers in my mouth and was pretty much pissing brown wee. Seriously took me 3 month to recover from that.
You should do it seeing as its just down the road from you!

That initial climb coming up the back of Falls Creek from Shannonvale is called WTF Hill - VicRoads have even put an official sign on it. I get tired just driving up it. No way am I ever riding the 3 Peaks - mainly due to a lack of masochism, but it also clashes with cricket finals.

 

[dancan]

I just stopped at princess auto , bought 2 pair of like new US mil surp wool trigger mitt liners for 5$ a pair , hopefully the other Canadian scroungers can find some .

 

[dancan]

Wool , the only protection needed for venomous Nova Scotian spyders and snakes lol

 

[woodchip rookie]

and 7 viles of antivenom

 

[Jeffkrib]

Haha, didn't realise WTF hill was the official name.

 

[Buckshot00]

Load today-mostly ash.

 

[JustJeff]

I love the interesting heartwood you get with ash. It fades quick but find some neat patterns when first cut.

 

[woodchip rookie]

Most of the ash I cut doesnt have that. Its been dead so long standing the core is colored the same as everything else. I scrounged a couple weeks ago and didnt know what the wood was. Fresh green stuff which I normally dont cut so it was hard to tell. Split a piece. Grain looks like red maple. Wow what a pretty wood.

 

[MustangMike]

That Ash looks like Norway Maple, I'll bet it is hard as heck to split!

 

[Cody]

I love the interesting heartwood you get with ash. It fades quick but find some neat patterns when first cut.

Cut down a perfectly healthy ash tree at my sister for their addition a couple years ago, she's still got a cookie from one of the branches on the north side. The heartwood formed a nearly perfect butterfly silhouette, is pretty darn neat. I cut down an oak tree a few years ago, well it was two grown in together but it resembled an owl for the most part.

 

[Haywire]

A sweet Slovenian scrounge machine!
http://agromehanika.si/en/products/agt_tractors/28/agt_835_forest_version/