Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[svk]

You have been a busy boy!

Philbert

There’s always something to do. I literally cannot work at my cabin due to mosquitoes until they die down. I was over at this place for 10 hours and didn’t have a single bug bite as it’s on rock/sand so no place for the skeeters to breed

 

[turnkey4099]

cheers, where do i stick the feelers? centre of the coil, or the two ends of the horseshoe?

I worked a bit in Dad's small engine shop. He had a set of long flexible gauges. They bend around the flywheel.

 

[LondonNeil]

Thanks Mike. I'd had the business card suggestion but thought it a little thick. I'll chop up a coke can and use one or 2 thicknesses maybe, or find something else that's more like 0.01"

Seals, . Should I avoid cheap AM, and pay for OEM? I have no intention of keeping this saw however my morals make silly shortcuts difficult.....I hope the bearings look ok!

I've been told stick to OEM for the top rear av mount, Chinese ones are toffee,. What are your thoughts?

This saw will now sit as a box of bits for far too long..... Oh well. It's a learning experience which is very good, just frustrating when I have so little time to do it.

It is reminding me why when I set out looking at a new saw I wanted stihl or husky, the ability to pay a local dealer to fix it if required doesn't come with the Makita. The 365xt may just have gone back top of the list.

 

[Cowboy254]

Our new puppy, "Breezy".

That is one beautiful little pup-dog. No doubt you'll have some fun with that one.

 

[LondonNeil]

Makita order cancelled. I'm going for the 365xt with a 20" b+c for £565, amazon has oregon 72dl 3/8 x 1.5mm full chisel square file (until i first sharpen it) for a mere £13.11, under half the price at the local dealers. oddly husky chain is more...and i thought it was rebranded oregon. anyway, £13 for oregon feels good when stihl 20" loops are twice that.

 

[Cowboy254]

Makita order cancelled. I'm going for the 365xt with a 20" b+c for £565, amazon has oregon 72dl 3/8 x 1.5mm full chisel square file (until i first sharpen it) for a mere £13.11, under half the price at the local dealers. oddly husky chain is more...and i thought it was rebranded oregon. anyway, £13 for oregon feels good when stihl 20" loops are twice that.

365xt? I didn't know Stihl had a model called that.

 

[Cowboy254]

My mate Roscoe tells me he's running short of wood. Got an update today. "How much have you got left?" Enough for today, he sez. Right.

So we troop out to my other mate Mark's farm (I do have more than two mates, btw). Mark has a peppermint snag he says we can take.



It's still a bit green, but we took the lot, including the stumpy bit. Somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 cord in Roscoe's trailer there.



Serenity shot while Ross was having a rest driving that load home.



So then we moved on to another dead standing peppermint that needed scrounging.



Limby took care of that for us.



TBC...

 

[Cowboy254]

So, once Limby got to work to drop it, the monkey saw came out to play. Man, that is one fun little saw to dock up the small stuff with.



Unfortunately, I flicked off the chain on the 241 as one round dropped and then I realised that I left my toolbox in Roscoe's Nissan so I couldn't get it back on. But I managed to make do with the 460 and 661 to do the rest.



Then, there was another dead standing peppermint down in the gully a bit. Some of it was a bit rotten but as a wise man once said, it is better than heating with snowballs.



By the time Roscoe arrived back after taking the second load home, I had cut up this one and lugged it back up the hill for loading up.



So we loaded that up along with a few other bits then chucked the sticks on top.



I reckon if you make sure you leave the place nice and neat - even though it is a 300 acre farm, you'll always be invited back for more. In any case, the 2 inch sticks are useful to get fires going well and Roscoe's kids (and wife) would benefit from learning to use a bow saw so it's all to the good. We ended up with three loads, prolly more than 4 cubes worth for the morning.

 

[LondonNeil]

Always like your landscape shots cowboy. You are a very good friend for Roscoe!

the 365xt is a special all orange creamsicle...a swedish german thing.

 

[Marine5068]

Thanks to all on AS for the tremendous info you provide. I'm used to cutting logs down to length or rounds. Came upon this black locust someone offered me. Log is a few inches off the ground.

Problem: The further down I cut, the weight closed the cut up top and picked the bar/chain shut.

Solutions:
1) a wedge or two in the cut?
2) support from the bottom??

Thanks all. Enjoying the firewood/saw scene and learning a ton along the way

Cut a bit from the bottom up first, then yes. tap a plastic felling wedge into the gap of your top cut to keep it open and from pinching your bar while finishing the cut.
Watch out for that log/round as it drops to the ground. Keep your legs and feet away.

 

[Marine5068]

So, once Limby got to work to drop it, the monkey saw came out to play. Man, that is one fun little saw to dock up the small stuff with.

View attachment 666956

Unfortunately, I flicked off the chain on the 241 as one round dropped and then I realised that I left my toolbox in Roscoe's Nissan so I couldn't get it back on. But I managed to make do with the 460 and 661 to do the rest.

View attachment 666957

Then, there was another dead standing peppermint down in the gully a bit. Some of it was a bit rotten but as a wise man once said, it is better than heating with snowballs.

View attachment 666958

By the time Roscoe arrived back after taking the second load home, I had cut up this one and lugged it back up the hill for loading up.

View attachment 666959

So we loaded that up along with a few other bits then chucked the sticks on top.

View attachment 666960

I reckon if you make sure you leave the place nice and neat - even though it is a 300 acre farm, you'll always be invited back for more. In any case, the 2 inch sticks are useful to get fires going well and Roscoe's kids (and wife) would benefit from learning to use a bow saw so it's all to the good. We ended up with three loads, prolly more than 4 cubes worth for the morning.

Good work and great pics and nice and clean after you're all done is always a good thing on someone else's property.
I see a Cant hook in that last pic. Just bought a good one myself. Now I want a Pickeroon. Great tools.

 

[woodchip rookie]

I have a pickaroon and a timber jack but I need a good cant hook also.

 

[LondonNeil]

best i could do with my phone, but here's some pics of my hand filed chain.

side view, cutters not too bad, although that middle one looks like the file should go lower still to me, not far off though i think


cutters about even in length on those ones...they aren't all so even, but they are better than they were! angles look uniform and about right i think



closer side view. my guess is the raker height is ok, could go deeper probably for softwood and even green oak, but the ickle saw may struggle in dry stuff....or oak if the bar is buried. left hand cutter looks to me like the file should still be lower, its better than it was though.



close up of that last tooth that i think isn't well filed. bit blurry though

 

[James Miller]

This is after 3 years of practice. And still not perfect.
Practice a lot learn a little each time is how it worked for me.

 

[LondonNeil]

Not perfect! really! if they all look like that i'd be very happy. I'm glad i started filing, even though my brother's FIL grinds my chains for free. and the 2in1 makes it very straightforward. i think its worked well that i've stuck largely to one chain as it has drifted off over time i think, so I've picked it up before all my chains are way off. also lucky that its one of my cheap chains not a stihl. Need to test it out...and with the 038 now a box of bits, it will get buried in some bigger wood next week, we shall see if it cuts a bit better.

 

[svk]

Love that interchange!

“How much wood do you have?”

“Enough for today”.


You are a good friend to him Cowboy!

 

[woodchip rookie]

Anybody have experience sharpening the saw blades on clearing saws/brush cutters?

 

[svk]

I always brought mine to a local guy. But it's similar to free filing a saw chain. Just need the right angle.

 

[dancan]

Anybody have experience sharpening the saw blades on clearing saws/brush cutters?

What blade do you have ?

 

[JustJeff]

Woohoo! Halfway done. My process is to split and stack along the fence where the wood gets full sun and wind, then move it to these racks under my deck for the winter. 10 racks 4x8 with tin above to keep them dry. Close to the door where the stove is. It’s been such a hot year, I am behind on my stacking, so we’ve been picking away in the mornings when it’s cooler.