Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Cowboy254]

That looks about like about as many rounds as I cut with my 346 when I first got it, a couple differences though; all the rounds were 14" and under and I was running an 18" bar lol.

Just take the pic from closer and down low. Massive rounds

Oh here we go again.... The annual ' ban the burner' has started again. Sadiq Khan, London mayor, is seeking powers to strengthen the clean air act and ban wood burners. We currently have ability to burn in approved stoves, like your EPA, although possibly not so tight. Still, it'll be 2025.... I'll have burnt enough to have paid for 2 stoves and my saws etc by about 2023. However I may have to hold off on a bigger saw

. Well, you know what I think about this sort of thing after my rant about Oz effectively banning 2-strokes from 2019. You should tell Sadiq to eff off. I wouldn't have thought there were that many people burning wood in London anyway. Would it apply to existing stoves that meet the current standard or just new ones? If it is applied retrospectively to existing heaters it would be like us banning 2-strokes and also taking our existing ones away - and if Mr Government man wants to do that he can come and take my 460 but it'll be running and pointy end first. Besides, I need my blower as well, it comes in handy for all sorts of things.



Cowlass's 8th birthday party last weekend, we needed to drive the kids to the party place but they'd been rolling down the grass slope at our place while waiting for everyone to arrive. Well kids, you're not getting in the new car if you're covered in grass .

 

[JustJeff]

I like my husqvarna 365 xt. I love my Stihl ms460. But to be honest, for the guy who cuts 2 full cords or less a year, you could get away with a 50cc saw. Not saying the bigger saws aren't nice cause they sure are! Just saying that the average guy who just wants to heat his house and is immune to CAD can do just fine with a 50cc and an 18-20" bar.

 

[LondonNeil]

Just take the pic from closer and down low. Massive rounds
I wouldn't have thought there were that many people burning wood in London anyway. Would it apply to existing stoves that meet the current standard or just new ones? If it is applied retrospectively to existing heaters it would be like us banning 2-strokes and also taking our existing ones away - and if Mr Government man wants to do that he can come and take my 460 but it'll be running and pointy end first.

1.5 million households have stoves in the UK, according to numerous articles about Sadiq's move, I've also read the figure before many times. 200 000 installs a year. It is a middle class luxury, more popular in the South East of the country, round London, where 16% of households have one, compared to 5% up north. Based on my own observation of flue cowls on chimneys around here I'd have guessed at 5-10% ish. So I'm not the only one....although I wold say 90% buy a sack of smokeless coal each winter, and a small sack of logs from the diy store, and only light the stove for christmas and a couple of days on top, 9% get 1-2m3 of wood delivered, 0.9% scrounge a small fruit tree or so a year....then there's me....22m3 (6 cord) and rising

Sadiq wants to ban the sale of non-exempt stoves (so only the EPA-like clean burn ones are left) which seems a good move to me. He also wants to ban the USE of ANY stove in the most polluted parts of London...err...that's most of it, Its pretty much all a smoke control zone already, this legislaton wold apply to the same area I think. Enforcement would be nigh on impossible...just as it is currently, it is already illegal to burn wood on a non-exempt stove (£25K fine iirc) but there are no recorded prosecutions, however Sadiq wants to give councils more powers here, powers to enter premise for example. Currently if an officer knocked at the door and said 'you are burning wood and can't, can I come in an prove it?' I can respomd, 'No I'm not, not you can't, now f*** off.'

Generally I think Sadiq is a good politician, we are sorely short of these currently. What I think, or hope, might happen is a toughening of the regs for 'exempt appliances' and a scrappage scheme to incentivise owners to replace old stoves ....hmm...no....no...noting much at all will happen actually....but just in case I'd better start burning more, much MORE....I need to make these stoves and saws pay while I can!

 

[LondonNeil]

I like my husqvarna 365 xt. I love my Stihl ms460. But to be honest, for the guy who cuts 2 full cords or less a year, you could get away with a 50cc saw. Not saying the bigger saws aren't nice cause they sure are! Just saying that the average guy who just wants to heat his house and is immune to CAD can do just fine with a 50cc and an 18-20" bar.

I was doing just fine with 30cc and 14". honest. I di have a lot of trouble with the gnarly ash that I got....but I'd hav got through that too, just much more slowly. Remember, I don't fell trees, I pick up arb waste and just buck to stove length...most of what I cut is sub 14" diameter, the bigger stuff is already cut short by the tree guy so he can man handle it. When I got the 038 I asked him if he could leave some big stuff longer so I cuold cut it for fun .

 

[rarefish383]

Update on the squished finger. All clouds have a Silver Lining. I just went and bought a bunch of supplies for the fishing trip, planned on leaving at 3AM tomorrow. Called my buddy to double check on the time. He said, "Yep, 3AM next Saturday". I was a week off. Now my finger has some time to heal, Joe.

 

[Cowboy254]

Update on the squished finger. All clouds have a Silver Lining. I just went and bought a bunch of supplies for the fishing trip, planned on leaving at 3AM tomorrow. Called my buddy to double check on the time. He said, "Yep, 3AM next Saturday". I was a week off. Now my finger has some time to heal, Joe.

You would have been pretty pi55ed to rock up at sparrow fart and then find out that you're a week early . Hope the finger comes good, serves as a reminder that you do need to be careful with the big rounds.

 

[svk]

Thanks! Hope you are well. All I have been doing is fishing, tying flies, and fishing. The grouse you sent last year have really been great.

Excellent!

 

[woodchip rookie]

Could have been worse. Your wife could have been a week off.

 

[MustangMike]

Cut a couple of Red Maple in the morning, then got my new MMWS ported 261 in the mail, and used it on an Elm in the afternoon.

 

[Cowboy254]

I split up the load of manna gum from Thursday this morning, none of it easy going. Had to noodle a couple of bits. Then I went back down to the tree to have another crack.



It took twice as long to get the cutting done and had to noodle lots of bits to get them down to a size that I could move.



I had a few onlookers do slow drive-bys, clearly they covet my wood, and well, who could blame them . One guy rocked up with his trailer, said hi, looked at the trunk and my saw and got back in his car and left. For reference, both branch stubs on the left were more than the 25in bar on Limby. There's no easy wood left in this but pretty big BTUs for the persistent. I'll have a few more goes at it this week.



I had the trailer overloaded, was just hoping I didn't meet any of the highway patrol on the way home.



and needed to remind the Subaru of old times with a few spare bits.



The boys got to ride in the back seat.



Had a few showers earlier but was clearing up ok by the end.



I'm moving the dry wood from Mt Cowboy into the middle bay of the shed and the green stuff is getting stacked next to it. I put a tarp down to keep it out of the dirt and the bottom layer will get wet but it won't go off in one year.

 

[nomad_archer]

Cut a couple of Red Maple in the morning, then got my new MMWS ported 261 in the mail, and used it on an Elm in the afternoon.

I'm havin' a bit of saw envy of the mmsw me 261... how did she run.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[JustJeff]

I bet some beautiful hardwood lumber gets made in Australia. Some of the pics you post @Cowboy254 , show some real interesting colors and grains.

 

[LondonNeil]

@Cowboy254 why not stack on pallets? Keep the tarp for the top of the stack.

Panic over here, middle class outcry and the mayor has backed down wrt domestic stoves after realising it's unenforceable really. He is still pushing for tighter regs on stove sales to stop all but the cleaner ones to come in sooner though, which seems good to me. Just need that scrappage scheme too.... One of my stoves isn't the newest. I always miss out on the handouts though so it won't happen.

 

[MustangMike]

I'm havin' a bit of saw envy of the mmsw me 261... how did she run.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Fantastic, Light, Fast & Strong for a 50 cc saw. Just what I wanted! You going to the GTG in PA?

 

[svk]

Hey fellas. Haven't been around much and probably won't be for a bit.

The cell service at my cabin went to hell mid summer and I barely get service unless I'm outside. I don't know if they are having issues with the nearby tower or what. Which is fine on a beautiful day like this when I can sit outside but I'm not about to hang out at night just so I can check a forum lol.

Our old house closes in about a week and a half which will be nice to be done. I'm contemplating celebrating by having a new saw built and maybe buying one more. After having to move all of my possessions I am really questioning my large fleet of saws when I really only have a couple that I want to grab every time so maybe I'll throw a few on the trading post when I collect my wits after I get the rest of the stuff out of the old place.

 

[farmer steve]

Fantastic, Light, Fast & Strong for a 50 cc saw. Just what I wanted! You going to the GTG in PA?

i saw you said it was a 4 hour ride if you come Mike. hope to see you there. hoping to convince @nomad_archer to come.

 

[svk]

As I type this they are logging the 120 acres of public land adjacent to my cabin. It's sad because I've hunted that land for my entire life. I understand it though as the trees are overly mature and probably should have been cut 20 years ago.

The good news is that it's a select cut so only two of my three favorite spots are getting cut and both of the others are only about 50 yards into the cut line. Yesterday I carried my ladder out of the woods which has been used in two different spots since I was a sophomore in college, which was 18 years ago. The PT beams are solid although the PT 1x6 steps could use replacing soon so I'll fix those before I bring it back up. I guess that's pretty good mileage for lumber though.

And of course there will be tops piles to scrounge once the loggers leave. I can only hope they wrap this up by deer season. Although a 120 acre select cut shouldn't take too long.

 

[Philbert]

Hey fellas. Haven't The cell service at my cabin went to hell mid summer and I barely get service . . .

'AT&T' changed its name to 'hell'?

Tree tops could convert you to 'Zogger wood' pretty quickly. Make your 'limbing' saws your most popular.

Philbert

 

[svk]

'AT&T' changed its name to 'hell'?

Tree tops could convert you to 'Zogger wood' pretty quickly. Make your 'limbing' saws your most popular.

Philbert

For as much as I pay them I deserve a fricking land line brought in here lol.

 

[KiwiBro]

Cut a couple of Red Maple in the morning, then got my new MMWS ported 261 in the mail, and used it on an Elm in the afternoon.

What chain and rim/sprocket pin/tooth count does your 261 wear please? Not that I have used mine anywhere near enough, but I keep going back and forth between .325 and picco