Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[turnkey4099]

Thanks but I suspect it's not the best of places to discuss the merits of the various kinds of birch available.

Try your local college or university - they may have a forestry program of some sort. Mine does and they are very helpful in such matters.

 

[rarefish383]

The honor system seemed to work better back in the old days. It seems guys have enough trouble keeping a crew now let alone trusting them to take discretion on their own.

Actually it wasn't much better. We had a couple good crews and rotated the bad ones. Finding good help in 86 when Dad retired was hard enough that I let the business go and went to work for UPS. The HR girl asked why I was leaving such a lucrative and established business? I told her it was easier for me to be a good employ for her, than it was for me to find a good employee for me. I wound up lasting longer than she did, Joe.

 

[dancan]

I know this is the place where we fell, cut up and burn trees but does anyone know a forum where the opposite happens, meaning people talk about nurseries and planting?

Long story short, I am rearranging the garden and while I have a highly trusted supplier of perennials and shrubs, I will need some trees as well. Nursery prices around here are horrifying and to make matters worse all trees I've seen have clear ballroot issues (sat too long in the container) so I've decided to "grow" my own. I've found a forestry nursery which will gladly supply me as many 2-5 years old saplings as I want for spare change and several sources of cheap nursery containers. I can make my own potting compost and trees can grow until they are ready to plant near the vegetable garden so I am all set there.

What I need is some help in choosing trees: I am well conversant about bushes and perennials but I may need some help in choosing the tall woody things as I have a tendency of chopping them up and burning them instead of growing them.

Well , spruce should grow well in your area
Look to see what the dominant healthy trees are in your area , while there is a lot of birch here it dies off early .

 

[James Miller]

So question for the guys that run modded saws. My ported 590 has the baffle opened up in the muff but the rest is stock.Most guys cut that whole rectangle with the tube out allowing a strait shot from exhaust port to deflector. Would the noise be worth the gains? @Big Block described it as the eardesplitterloudenboomer mod when he did it.

 

[woodchip rookie]

File guide says 35 degrees. No chain I have says 35 degrees. What is 35 degrees for? Everything I see for the 20LPX says 10 degree up angle. Thats the part I have issues with. The guide holds the hight, I can maintain the angle with the witness mark, but 10 degrees up? How the hell do you do that by hand? And I think maybe I know why my filed chains dull so quick. All the wood I'm cutting down at the pile is froze, hard and muddy. It might not be me. It might just be the wood.

 

[Philbert]

What is 35 degrees for? . . . , but 10 degrees up? How the hell do you do that by hand? . . . All the wood I'm cutting down at the pile is froze, hard and muddy.

35° is typically used for softwood. 25° for hard and/or frozen wood.

10° 'down angle' is tricky. Even when Oregon recommends it for a specific chain, there is a big '*' saying something like, " when using an Oregon filing guide, ALWAYS hold it level, 0°, flat on the top plate". In other words, you have to work with the design of your file guide to get the desired results. Not sure what your Pferd/STIHL one says. Some guides (Granberg) allow this. Some may have it already built in.

Philbert

 

[woodchip rookie]

Not sure I trust the little paper that came with the file guides. It says "0 degrees" but isnt semi chisel safety stuff zero? Is the paper accounting for chisel that needs 10 degrees?

 

[James Miller]

File guide says 35 degrees. No chain I have says 35 degrees. What is 35 degrees for? Everything I see for the 20LPX says 10 degree up angle. Thats the part I have issues with. The guide holds the hight, I can maintain the angle with the witness mark, but 10 degrees up? How the hell do you do that by hand? And I think maybe I know why my filed chains dull so quick. All the wood I'm cutting down at the pile is froze, hard and muddy. It might not be me. It might just be the wood.

Take a cheap hatchet with you next time and try to knock off as much dirt as possible where your going to make a cut.

 

[nighthunter]

The next time I get out there if the foreman is out there I'll try to get a schedule. They quit about dark. I'll bring a pile of pizzas.

and don't forget a few of six packs

 

[Conquistador3]

Try your local college or university - they may have a forestry program of some sort. Mine does and they are very helpful in such matters.

I suspect I know more about trees than anybody at my alma mater... they had planted River tamarinds to line the avenues in an area known for Winter frosts and those trees which survived had to be felled due to a insect plague caused by poor quarantine practices. I don't know what they planted after I left, if anything, but it's hard to do worse than they did first time around.

Well , spruce should grow well in your area
Look to see what the dominant healthy trees are in your area , while there is a lot of birch here it dies off early .

I would never plant an evergreen or another potentially large tree anywhere near a house. Too many people here planted cedars in their usually small gardens back in the 70's, obviously being assured they would "stay small" and are now facing the consequences. As removing such huge trees near a house will cost huge money you now see many houses with a small garden mostly or wholly taken over by one or two giant cedars... still growing.
Birches are well suited to the job because, as pioneer plants, they are short-lived and don't grow that tall and their roots aren't (that) invasive. But there are so many to choose from... also I'd like to try my hand at making multi-stemmed birches as they look great and command a large premium over regular ones. I know the theory but would like to talk to somebody with experience about them.

 

[JustJeff]

I suspect I know more about trees than anybody at my alma mater... they had planted River tamarinds to line the avenues in an area known for Winter frosts and those trees which survived had to be felled due to a insect plague caused by poor quarantine practices. I don't know what they planted after I left, if anything, but it's hard to do worse than they did first time around.



I would never plant an evergreen or another potentially large tree anywhere near a house. Too many people here planted cedars in their usually small gardens back in the 70's, obviously being assured they would "stay small" and are now facing the consequences. As removing such huge trees near a house will cost huge money you now see many houses with a small garden mostly or wholly taken over by one or two giant cedars... still growing.
Birches are well suited to the job because, as pioneer plants, they are short-lived and don't grow that tall and their roots aren't (that) invasive. But there are so many to choose from... also I'd like to try my hand at making multi-stemmed birches as they look great and command a large premium over regular ones. I know the theory but would like to talk to somebody with experience about them.

If you’re just looking to plant a few trees around your place for aesthetics, it really doesn’t matter if they are good firewood trees or “valuable lumber” Stay away from poplars and willows if it’s near your house. Just pick the ones that grow in your area that you like the looks of.
I built my house on former pasture land. Other than a few windbreak pines by the road, there wasn’t a tree on the place. I planted trees that I dug up from my parents garden and in laws. Also found a nursery supply farm and bought some bare root seedlings and planted a small apple orchard. Bare roots are cheap and can be planted early spring or in the fall. Other things to consider are how big the tree will get and how fast it grows.
I like birch trees too.

 

[chipper1]

and don't forget a few of six packs

Dang NH .
Just read this and thought about this, scrounging at it's best lol. My how things have changed, and I think in this area for the better.
"When I was out in Ohio used to go to Blaney's Sawmill only 1/2 mile from my house. Got to know the Guy running the d-9 with the forked loader in the yard. He would pick up a whole load of slabs and just drop the whole load rt in my truck! Would give him a six pack of Stohs and off I'd go! Thought I'd died and went to Heaven!! Had a huge pile in the backyard with about 20 cords"

 

[Philbert]

Not sure I trust the little paper that came with the file guides. It says "0 degrees" but isnt semi chisel safety stuff zero? Is the paper accounting for chisel that needs 10 degrees?

Yeah. It's a conspiracy to intentionally mislead you . . .

One big benefit of sharpening your own chains is doing it how you want, including choosing your own angles.

But if you use a tool / file guide differently than designed by the manufacturer, you may miss out on some of its features, such as the 'automatic' depth gauge adjustment with that tool.

Each guide / method has advantages and limitations. 10° down angle is a limitation for that tool. Also not designed to work on skip tooth chain.

Philbert

 

[woodchip rookie]

So with that tool am I supposes to hold 10 or not?

 

[MustangMike]

With round file I always went with 30 degrees for cross cut, 10 degrees for rip chain, semi for dirty wood.

If I regularly cut softwood, I would go 35.

 

[chipper1]

With round file I always went with 30 degrees for cross cut, 10 degrees for rip chain, semi for dirty wood.

If I regularly cut softwood, I would go 35.

What angles do you use for your square for hardwood.
With round I use 30 on most as well, but have some at 10/11 for milling(although I've never milled before), those work great for cutting in the root flair as they cut very straight and don't dull real fast.

Yeah. It's a conspiracy to intentionally mislead you . . .

One big benefit of sharpening your own chains is doing it how you want, including choosing your own angles.

But if you use a tool / file guide differently than designed by the manufacturer, you may miss out on some of its features, such as the 'automatic' depth gauge adjustment with that tool.

Each guide / method has advantages and limitations. 10* is a limitation for that tool. Also not designed to work on skip tooth chain.

Philbert

That 10 degree tilt helps an Oregon/husky chain to self feed, without the 10 degree tilt an extra swipe or two on the depth gauges will help them to self feed better.
I'm looking forward to trying some of Oregons new chain, the videos make it look as a very forgiving chain, I'm wondering how it holds up as well about the ease of sharpening it.

 

[Philbert]

So with that tool am I supposes to hold 10 or not?

0°. Flat. Level.

There is debate about how much difference the 10° angle makes.

Some Oregon representatives have told me that it absolutely makes a difference when used in a test fixture under controlled conditions. As a practical matter, under normal use, I do not personally notice a significant difference.

The 10° angle used to only be recommended for full chisel chains. Now Oregon recommends it for many of their semi chisel change too. STIHL recommends a 0° angle for their chains. So go figure!

Granberg jigs let you dial in this angle if it is important to you.

Philbert

 

[woodchip rookie]

The 10° angle used to only be recommended for full chisel chains

Thats what I have.

 

[turnkey4099]

If you’re just looking to plant a few trees around your place for aesthetics, it really doesn’t matter if they are good firewood trees or “valuable lumber” Stay away from poplars and willows if it’s near your house. Just pick the ones that grow in your area that you like the looks of.
I built my house on former pasture land. Other than a few windbreak pines by the road, there wasn’t a tree on the place. I planted trees that I dug up from my parents garden and in laws. Also found a nursery supply farm and bought some bare root seedlings and planted a small apple orchard. Bare roots are cheap and can be planted early spring or in the fall. Other things to consider are how big the tree will get and how fast it grows.
I like birch trees too.

And eyeball what the mature size will be in respecct to where you plant. I bought this place in 1976 and immediately planted trees and trees (2 acres) Spruce for a windbreak/noise screen along the highway. Mature they are doing their job. Not so good with birch, mountain ash, walnut. I have already had to remove 6 trees due to being too close to the house. I beautiful birch that was raking the leaves with branches, Spruce in backyars ($850) to enrich the treeman, others that I removed. 2 flowering plum that wife insisted on and made a mess evry fall, etc.

Old saying "When is the best time to plant a tree?" "20 years ago" Meaning plant now, don't wait a few years.

 

[woodchip rookie]

Got off work late. Hurried up and filed chains, tossed stuff in the truck and went to "The Pile". I didn't take alot of time filing. Just hit 5 licks a tooth on both the 445 and the 550. Chains cut fine. For a half a tank on the 445 and one tank on the 550. It was ok because thats all the daylight I had anyway but that wood is so caked in frozen mud and now snow that I cant even tell the difference between mud and bark. I have to file every chain every tank or less on this stuff. So I think I am doing fine on filing, its just hard, frozen mud caked wood. It was a big party again when I showed up. The foreman over there is super dude. Every time I have been there when he's there he stops over with his five foot wide monster tonka toy and checks on me. He lets me cut about 20mins then crawls over and asks me what I need. WHAT I NEED!!?? There was a big something 20+" 30ft long and it was too big to get up on the timber jack and I couldn't cut it then roll it either. He squared up the tracks, pulled it up to the tracks then pulled it up to waist height pinned in between the bucket and the tracks and me and the 550 went to ASS. KICKIN.

I had a huge trunk lifted to waist height by a monster excavator and cut all the way to the tracks while he held it there!! When I got to the track he set it down for another bite and I ran down the trunk again to the track. About that time I was running out of bar on the 550 and knew I was gonna need a bigger saw for the bottom half of the trunk but thats ok, its short enough now that next time I go back I can wrestle it around with the timber jack. If not, I'll wait for big brother wiff da macheen. Super dudes over there. I cant believe that is actually happening. Oh get this...he said if I dont have the wood out when the ground thaws hes gonna drag it up to the entrance so I can get to it when its muddy. Does this get. Any. Better?!