Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Marine5068]

ok

Welcome! We like pics in here. That's what someone told me when I joined up and they've been regretting it ever since.



I miss Lady Farming, thems were the days. However I have located another scrounge.

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There was a working bee at a local open space near the river on Saturday. It used to be a mass of blackberries, rubbish trees, weeds etc but is starting to come up nicely now. I wasn't there on Saturday as we had Cowlass's 8th birthday, otherwise I would have been there. A couple of the other volunteers limbed this fallen manna gum (manna gums have the highest sugar content in the leaves of eucalypts - they are a koala and drop bear favourite) and carted off the wood they could from the branches. The easy stuff in other words.

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It wasn't that tall but pretty chunky, around 3.5-4ft at the base. I'm happy to go after the bigger stuff in these trees since the branch material with the sapwood and bark is ashy as but the heartwood is good burning. Thought I'd better check to see that Limby could still noodle so I gave this slightly troublesome round a bit of a start so I could split it with the 8lber.

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Otherwise I flipped the rounds up into the trailer for splitting at a later date.

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All in all, it was great. Not quite a tank through Limby for a cube and a bit, only 3 minute drive and I was loaded up and home in no time. There are several more loads left in this but I don't think I'll have much competition for it, big trunks are too much work for most people with their occasional use saws around here and now that spring has arrived, no-one is really interested in green wood. Generally they do nothing until April then go mad trying to find dry stuff.

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Looks like you could use a larger trailer.

 

[woodchip rookie]

Burned some really lightweight, super hard white colored mystery wood the last couple days. Its not pine, the best I got is silver maple but its super hard. Definetly not sugar. *NOTE TO SELF* Do not put super dry softwood on a super fresh super hot bed of coals. The NC30 will go NUCLEAR. It doesnt burn long, but it burns quick and hot. Guess I gotta dig out my small little stash of sugar maple for longer burns, however, I think I should still use ash for the overnight and sugar while I'm at work. If I load at 10PM and get up at 5AM, thats only 7hrs. If I load at 515AM and dont get home till 5PM thats 12hrs, so I actually need the long burns while I'm at work.

 

[coryj]

Scrounged up a few ducks over the past two mornings. I didn't do much work in the woods today other than hang a deer stand. So much snow and ice stuck to everything that falls all over you. I actually wore my chest waders in the woods because it was the best way to stay dry.

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Nice. Our season comes in on 11/15, but the duck hunting isn't great in this part of VA. My best day in the past few years was 4 mallards in one outing. Seems I scrounge ducks and scratch out a few here and there like I do firewood to cut.

What double barrel are you shooting?

 

[Cowboy254]

I reckon Cowboy could slab some of the trees he finds and winch the slabs onto and off a trailer, and by the time they are dry he'd have the woodworking skills and gear to rip into them, making all sorts of in/outdoor slab furniture...just sowing the seed .

I would like to be able to do that. At the moment I lack the skills and the equipment, plus I'm not so comfortable in my firewood sources that I can turn BTUs into furniture. There have been times when I've nearly done that in reverse.

Looks like you could use a larger trailer.

Not wrong, but then I'd need a bigger vehicle to tow it as the suby complains enough as it is. Free firewood would be getting pretty expensive.

 

[JustJeff]

Came home to a couple hundred Canada geese behind my place. Camera phone makes them look a mile away but it’s less than a hundred feet. I’m in the wide open (obviously) so when we get to see wildlife from the house it’s always a treat.

 

[svk]

Nice. Our season comes in on 11/15, but the duck hunting isn't great in this part of VA. My best day in the past few years was 4 mallards in one outing. Seems I scrounge ducks and scratch out a few here and there like I do firewood to cut.

What double barrel are you shooting?

It's a Stoeger coach gun. Too short of barrels and too open of chokes to be a great waterfowl gun but I love it for grouse hunting. I only duck hunted two days this fall so it didn't warrant hauling the fowling piece (aka 1100 magnum) up.

 

[dancan]

Burned some really lightweight, super hard white colored mystery wood the last couple days. Its not pine, the best I got is silver maple but its super hard. Definetly not sugar. *NOTE TO SELF* Do not put super dry softwood on a super fresh super hot bed of coals. The NC30 will go NUCLEAR. It doesnt burn long, but it burns quick and hot. Guess I gotta dig out my small little stash of sugar maple for longer burns, however, I think I should still use ash for the overnight and sugar while I'm at work. If I load at 10PM and get up at 5AM, thats only 7hrs. If I load at 515AM and dont get home till 5PM thats 12hrs, so I actually need the long burns while I'm at work.

Spruce ?

 

[MechanicMatt]

SVK, does it have screw in chokes? My Stoeger over and under does.

My 262xp is repaired and ready for more fun. Dang thing was built with so much snot that it snapped the pull cord on me last weekend. Lucky old trusty 362xp with that china top end starts every time. That thing, I cant believe is still running strong. It feels like it has 70 psi compared to that little 262 but she starts and runs strong for 7 years now with that cheapo top end. I got my hands on a 365, it is in need of some serious love. Bottom end bearings need to be replaced.... It'll be a fun after work project. Got the old 8n running again to skid my logs with. Its simply amazing the torque those old tractors have compared to a four wheeler. My four wheeler in 4wd will just spin the four tires or want to stall, that old tractor just pulls. It does have its limits, some times I drag the trees with the front wheels 2-3 feet off the ground steering with the rear brakes, my wife HATES when I do that, but it will pull most of the trees I drop after I 1/3 them. Been looking on craigslist at old Dozers to use as a skidder if I buy this 12 acre property the wife wants.

Uncle Mike and I have quite the project ahead of us this weekend. About 7 cord we need to process. Its in long length right now, we need to buck, split and stack it for my broken back brother in-law. He's a lineman that got three vertebrae broken on the job. Super nice guy, some how deals with my sister, happy to help him out. Uncle Mike is coming loaded for bear with "every saw I own", have a excavator with a thumb there, a PTO driven splitter attached to his big John Deere sporting a 6 way and log lift. I hope enough men show up to help.

 

[dancan]

Shame you're not closer , sounds like my kind of event [emoji3]

 

[MechanicMatt]

It'll be me, Uncle Mike, My pops, and broken back Billy for sure. My dad swears he has in writing that my two jack ass nephews (20 and 22 years old) are showing up at 8 too. Seeing is believing. The older one only gets up early to hunt or fish and the younger one is on my "**** list" for being.... well a punk 20 year old kid. If he shows up and works hard he might earn some respect back. As for old Billy, If his back holds up we'll put him in the excavator so he doesn't try and lift any logs, if not he'll be running the levers on the splitters. One of my techs at work did some work on billy's rat rod and in return billy graded his driveway with his backhoe. Rich thinks he got too good of a deal so he'll be showing up around 10 to help out too. I just cant believe with all the "friends" this guy always has show up to parties and drink his beer that he still hasn't had his firewood taken care of. Really ******, god help me if after working all day and then my nieces birthday party later that afternoon..... I know im going to have a few beers in me and if any of his "pals" show up...... My mouth has been known to write checks my ass has had to cash....

 

[MustangMike]

Matt, we are going to have a good time and just get it done! It will be like a mini family GTG. No need to cause any trouble at the subsequent party or alienate any of his friends, even they are "fair weather" ones. Just show em what we did and let them stew in their own guilt.

Bill is a great guy, and it will be nice to help him out. Your sister has been on "good behavior" the last few years, so she is fine in my book too, and I seem to remember you having a few mishaps, and your future being in doubt, when you were the age of your Nephew's! (And you know the stories about me, I was there too at that age). Hopefully, they grow out of it.

Glad to hear you fixed your saw, was painful to look at it with that frayed/destroyed pull rope!

 

[Cowboy254]

It'll be me, Uncle Mike, My pops, and broken back Billy for sure. My dad swears he has in writing that my two jack ass nephews (20 and 22 years old) are showing up at 8 too. Seeing is believing. The older one only gets up early to hunt or fish and the younger one is on my "**** list" for being.... well a punk 20 year old kid. If he shows up and works hard he might earn some respect back. As for old Billy, If his back holds up we'll put him in the excavator so he doesn't try and lift any logs, if not he'll be running the levers on the splitters. One of my techs at work did some work on billy's rat rod and in return billy graded his driveway with his backhoe. Rich thinks he got too good of a deal so he'll be showing up around 10 to help out too. I just cant believe with all the "friends" this guy always has show up to parties and drink his beer that he still hasn't had his firewood taken care of. Really ******, god help me if after working all day and then my nieces birthday party later that afternoon..... I know im going to have a few beers in me and if any of his "pals" show up...... My mouth has been known to write checks my ass has had to cash....

Sounds like too high a price for me. Hope it all works out and you have a great day swinging saws.

 

[KiwiBro]

I know im going to have a few beers in me and if any of his "pals" show up...... My mouth has been known to write checks my ass has had to cash....

Shame you're not closer , sounds like my kind of event

 

[Cowboy254]

Shame you're not closer , sounds like my kind of event

Yeeeees.

@MechanicMatt

We lit the fire for what will probably be the last time this year. We had a front whip through yesterday dropping a little snow around the place but nothing that stuck. But it gave me all the excuse I needed to light the fire and it's still cold enough tonight to light it again. It gets the Cowcat seal of approval.



For a while I have looked at northern hemisphere woodstacks and wondered why the wood was split so skinny. To my mind, the only bit of wood that was too big was the one that didn't fit into the heater. My research since though has informed me that the most efficient heating is to be had with the air draught medium/high with splits that are 10-15cm diameter (4-6 inches). Most efficient and most heat are not necessarily the same thing but I'm considering splitting my stuff smaller, apart from some 12 inch stuff for cold nights.



Edit: Looks like Cowgirl needs to sweep up in front of the fire.

 

[rarefish383]

Cowboy, I'm one of those guys that measure every piece to exactly 18 inches to fit my stove. Back when I worked for my Dad, and we sold a lot of wood, I got in the habit of splitting the wood small. It had to be light enough for me to pick up and throw with one hand. A lot of our customers were older, or the women tended the stove during the day, and needed it small. When I got my first stove, 30 years ago, I found I could pack it much tighter with smaller splits. I could get a twelve hour burn with small pieces packed tight. I got in the argument with one of my buddy's, the said big pieces burn longer. Well, yes, one big piece burns longer than one little piece, but 4 big pieces don't burn longer than 16 little pieces packed tight. That's the problem with my new Jotul, it's their biggest insert, it's plenty wide, but not very deep, so I can't pack it tight. But, I'm retired so I can feed it more often, just have to get in the habit of coming in more, Joe.

 

[rarefish383]

A little clarification, my old stove took 18 inch wood, I think the new Jotul will take 25 wide, but all of my racks are built to make one cord at 18", and the few friends I sell wood to all take 18, so I'm probably losing some burn time by not making my wood longer, Joe.

 

[woodchip rookie]

Spent a couple days (between work and sleep) cleaning saws. (t540xp and the 395xp) Wow. I have never been good at taking care of saws between jobs but I will start making it a routine. The 540 must be one of those magnetic saws, had a wire jump into the clutch cover and lock up the saw. Pulled the wire out, looked like it just got hung on one tooth, and kept cutting, knowing I was going to have to do some sharpening at a later time. Its also one of those saws that has a little hole in the center of the clutch that you have to grease. Are all or most saws like that? Anyway, tore it down and did a PM/sharpening. Then the 395. And it also has the grease hole in the clutch. I did alot of noodling with it to eat up some of the twisty knotty stuff I had and I have a 32/20" so 2 bars and 3 chains. Glad I tore into this saw. It had big noodles stuck everywhere. There were chips in the chain groove under the chain wedged in so tight I had to fight a razor blade through the slot. Can I put spacers in between the bar and bar nuts and leave the cover off for noodling? I wouldnt do it on the regular, just noodling.

 

[Jeffkrib]

I’m a fan of the big splits but in saying that you need a mixture of sizes. If I come home from work get the fire going I try to load it with appropriate size bits to get it to burn until 11pm. Then load it with two big daddies which will go all night.
Don’t have think to much about that now I won’t be lighting the fire until late April.

 

[LondonNeil]

It's more about stove size, which is partly related to house size (much smaller) but also how stoves are used, that is partly due to tighter populations in cities and pollution minimising. It is far less common to see a big stove, heating a whole house, running non stop, choked back to smolder. Instead it's small stoves, hot fast burns, insulation to keep the heat, then light the stove again.

In the UK many many stoves are room heaters for ambience mainly, 5kW typical as it meets building regs more easily, so small. My own stove takes (according to the manual) 13" X 5" maximum logs. It actually for fits about 14" X 6" but only a single one and one lonely log tends to sulk and go out. Much of my stuff is cut to about 10-12" and split to 3-4". I'll load 2 or 3 pieces, they burn hot but are gone to coals in an hour. Not a problem when I'm sat by the stove of an evening. Only way to burn overnight would be to load with coal.
I do feel frustrated when I read all these ' I split a cord in an hour' comments. Splitting small and stacking lots means I manage 1/3m3 per hour usually.

 

[woodchip rookie]

I can load my NC30 at 530AM and still have coals at 5PM when I get home. Stoves been goin since Saturday morning and I work 10 1/2hr days Sun-Wed, but the drive time makes it a 12hr day. However, all my wood is cut too short because of the stoves I had before and the fact that I hand split. I need to take some measurements on the inside of the stove before I cut any more wood so the firebox size will be optimized