Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[MustangMike]

I have never done it, cause they didn't have many of them fancy head lamps back then, but I have done it with the flood lights that are on the side of the house. I would do it with a good head lamp, but then again, I'm the same fool who did the roof on his previous house with a drop light hanging from the TV antenna. Hey, I had to get it done before hunting season, and I'm scared of heights, what else could I do??? (When you are crab walking across, and all of a sudden there is nothing under one hand, you stop going in that direction!)

 

[Philbert]

Funny cause I would feel safer pulling a lever in the dark versus swinging an axe.

Tunnel vision with a head lamp: limited depth of field, can't see what's around you, can't see stuff you might trip on, can't see stuff that would be 'obvious' in the daylight. Plus, with the noise of the engine (presumably not a Prius log splitter), you block out any auditory clues as well.

Might as well put on oven mitts.

Sensory deprivation may be fine with mushrooms, but not power tools. JMHO

Philbert

 

[MustangMike]

OK, some pics from last week I did not get to post. The first Red Maple was routine, the second one was so connected to the 3rd one that even though I roped it, and cut out a 4' section, it would not fall, so left tension on the rope and let the vines pull down tree #3! The MMWS 261 got the call for all of it.

 

[MustangMike]

More pics of my scrounged wood shed (up at the cabin) done with MechanicMatt, etc.

 

[MechanicMatt]

The kids all have a new nickname for you Uncle Mike, "uncle fun". They realized that you have a faster mustang, faster quad, more guns and you own the cabin where they go to have fun. They were talking about how ever fast Kyle went on my quad you stayed right there with him..... Fun dinner tonight listening to them talk about yesterday.

 

[Jutt]

Tunnel vision with a head lamp: limited depth of field, can't see what's around you, can't see stuff you might trip on, can't see stuff that would be 'obvious' in the daylight. Plus, with the noise of the engine (presumably not a Prius log splitter), you block out any auditory clues as well.

Might as well put on oven mitts.

Sensory deprivation may be fine with mushrooms, but not power tools. JMHO

Philbert

It's actually not that bad with 400 lumens of wide flood in my experience but it definitely helps to have some auxilary light to reduce shadows.

You do have to think about mountain lions, bears, wolves, 2 legged animals and other things sneaking up on you outside of your lit up workspace. But that's what your night time splittin' sidearm is for.

 

[Philbert]

'Depth of field' is a term used in photography. When it is darker outside, you need to 'open up' your lens (diaphragm) to let in more light. As a result, only a narrow range of what you can 'see' is in focus.

It is how they get photographs of an insect in focus on a blurred leaf or flower.

Same thing happens with your eyes. The iris in your eye has to dialate to let more light in, and you can only focus on a limited area at a time. Limited peripheral vision as well.

Just cannot have the same situational awareness.

Philbert

 

[crowbuster]

Have any of you scrounging fools tried splitting wood at night with a head lamp? Everyday I am running out of daylight before I make it to wood pile and have been thinking about going out there with my head lamp and splitting until 8-9pm. What are your thoughts?

I have, and do. Put led's on my wood truck, facing the rear. Puts out plenty of light for nite work. My headlamp is a permanent fixture on my head from time change on.

 

[Jutt]

'Depth of field' is a term used in photography. When it is darker outside, you need to 'open up' your lens (diaphragm) to let in more light. As a result, only a narrow range of what you can 'see' is in focus.

It is how they get photographs of an insect in focus on a blurred leaf or flower.

Same thing happens with your eyes. The iris in your eye has to dialate to let more light in, and you can only focus on a limited area at a time. Limited peripheral vision as well.

Just cannot have the same situational awareness.

Philbert

Well there are two types of people, those that do and can describe an experience and those that sit around and talk theory safely from the risk of "dangerous" activities like night splitting.

Nothing wrong with the latter either, afterall, the world needs attorneys for something.

 

[MustangMike]

And a pic of one of the 5 trees I took down today. Been dead from many, many years, but most of it is still hard as a rock. My thoughts were Locust or Hickory, but when I looked at the grain ... Does White Oak age like this???

The 044 got the call for this one, as it was just a little bigger than it's 20" bar. Cut the tree, wedged it, knocked it off the stump, and it still would not fall. Ended it climbing up it with a ladder (after it was cut) and rope winch pulling it down! It was out in the woods, no structures around.

 

[MustangMike]

The kids all have a new nickname for you Uncle Mike, "uncle fun". They realized that you have a faster mustang, faster quad, more guns and you own the cabin where they go to have fun. They were talking about how ever fast Kyle went on my quad you stayed right there with him..... Fun dinner tonight listening to them talk about yesterday.

Glad that all 5 of them had fun and helped out as much as they did. Was great watching them catch ring neck snakes & salamanders, and enjoy the views. Was also glad we saw some decent Buck sign, and the little Bear on our way down!

FYI, we had 3-4 people on my ATV each time we went for a ride, as it was the biggest one and we had 8 people with 3 ATVs.

 

[Philbert]

Well there are two types of people, those that do and can describe an experience and those that sit around and talk theory safely from the risk of "dangerous" activities like night splitting.

Nothing wrong with the latter either, afterall, the world needs attorneys for something.

I've done a lot of work by flashlight.

I've also taken time to think about it.

Philbert

 

[Jutt]

I've done a lot of work by flashlight.

I've also taken time to think about it.

Philbert

I agree, I would not recommend using a flashlight for night splitting or a cheap, low powered headlamp.

I use a Fenix HP25r headlamp powered by rechargable 3500mAh 18650s. 1000 lumen spot along with a 400 lumen flood, which is ideal for tasks like night splitting. Plus the flood LED (Cree XP-G2 R5) color temp is very neutral/usable vs the older diodes on the blue end spectrum.

Back to a photography reference, that headlamp is like using my Nikon 600 paired with the 50/1.8 for low light photography vs my smartphone. I get what your saying about shallow depth of field but simply don't experience that problem splitting given the new light tech available.

 

[Cowboy254]

I hope it's ok to put up a post about scrounging here.

Subaru got new tyres yesterday so it stood to reason that I should go to the Stihl dealer a couple of doors down to have a poke around. They didn't have an 880. They did have a 461 and a 661 but otherwise they didn't have any pro saws, just homeowner ones which I can now recognise by their odd second digit....and the price. If they had a 261 I might have had a second look this time but they didn't. So I came away empty handed. I've been into a Stihl dealer twice in a week and haven't come away with a new saw. I must be building a resistance to the CAD.

The tree of unknown name I had a go at was a few k's away. Naturally I had the trailer and saws. Would it still be there?



It was. Either no-one has been up here or they looked at it and thought it was all too hard. I spent a fair bit of time assessing it and taking off a few branches on the other side as well as all branches further up so there was no tension and eventually concluded that the butt end would probably stay up if I cut it along the trunk but propped a couple of rounds under the trunk near the first big branch on the other side (a few metres up from the base) which would also help block it if it decided to roll towards me.



This looked promising.



I did some mental arithmetic and felt that 7 wheels would fill the trailer.



Then I cut two more for good measure.



It was all quality time with the 661, the old workhorse didn't get a look in.

 

[Cowboy254]

This stuff was ok for splitting. I was able to knock the first 6 rounds apart, into quarters for the first couple then 6ths, then 8ths were all that I could happily lift. Then I was getting a bit weary so I noodled the last few into quarters then split the quarters so I could lift them readily. I'll split it down a bit smaller at home. I've received an opinion from someone who knows that it could be an ironbark variant or box-ironbark hybrid. This would be good news as we're talking Osage + 20% BTUs. I'll find out when I burn it, if it lasts twice as long as my other wood, it's ironbark, if it doesn't, it ain't.



As it turned out, 7 wheels was enough to fill the trailer but I wasn't going to leave the remaining two there so there was this...



and this...



I was right about the trunk staying elevated and my couple of smaller rounds that I had used as chocks I was able to retrieve as well, they sat in the back with the saws...



Cowgirl loves it when I do this to the Subaru.



She says I "owe her something" after bringing the Subaru home smelling of 2 stroke, dirt, bark and fresh-cut BTUs. I don't know what she's talking about. I went and got new tyres for the Subaru, didn't buy a new saw, and came home with a hearty load of backside warming BTUs. I think she owes me something. Negotiations will no doubt continue.

 

[Jutt]

Yep you Aussies get some good stuff down there. Is that Buloke?

 

[James Miller]

I have bought several electric chainsaws for $10 or $20 each at garage sales. I kept them because no one wants to pay me what they are really worth when I try to sell them!

Seriously, it is a very low risk to try this way. If the motor turns, and they have a bar and chain, they are worth $10! If it whets your appetite, then you can keep your eye out for, or invest in, better quality one(s).

Philbert

I've seen those, but I'm more interested in the larger ones, if I'm at the splitter I'm dealing with a little larger wood as it is.
I've seen some real nice ones for around the 150 mark, and a few around 75, just haven't pulled the trigger as it's more something I want to try rather than a need.

I'm 100 post behind but this is my beside the splitter saw. Always amazed at what this old plug in saw will do. It will rattle your teeth out and its thumb oiler but it just keeps cutting.

 

[Jeffkrib]

Cowboy that’s not iron bark, the bark would be way thicker. Never heard of a iron bark box hybrid but the bark does look like some sort of box (crumbly flakey bark).

See if this works, you will need to go back and get some seed pods to fully identify it.
And while your at it you may as well get a load of wood.

https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Co...and-evolution/Identifying-eucalypts-made-easy

 

[Jeffkrib]

I like how your looking after the welfare of those splits by putting a seat belt on them.

 

[James Miller]

Yep. I do all kinds of outside work with a headlamp when the days become shorter including splitting, snowblowing, etc. Especially with these new high output LED lights and rechargeable 18650s... I run a couple of Fenix headlamps but like this one for splitting due to the flood ability: https://www.fenixlighting.com/product/fenix-hp25r-rechargeable-headlamp/

I bet those 18650s last forever running LED lights. Iv pushed a few to there limits on my vaporiser they can take some serious punishment and come back for more.