Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Philbert]

Should I get a 28” or 32” bar and what chain. .

32" bar and skip tooth chain.

If you are going to have a 'just-when-it's-needed-bar', it might as well be the bigger one. Cost difference will be negligible.

Does not have to be a lightweight or an ultra fancy bar due to it's limited use. Skip tooth for chip clearance in the bigger wood and to reduce the load on the saw if you bury the bar.

Nate fixed me up with a nice one at a very reasonable cost for mine.

Philbert

 

[Cowboy254]

I took another load of one neighbour's wood up to my other neighbour last night. The tree guys had cut this peppermint 3/4s of the way into rounds. Not sure why they stopped there.



Anyway, at least it wasn't much work for Limby to finish the job.



Peppermint is great splitting wood. One or two motivated Fiskars hits at most.



Wasn't much work to bigly split and load then drive up my neighbour's driveway to unload.



Nice sunset too.

 

[woodchip rookie]

Looks like SoCal

 

[rarefish383]

Instead of splitting rounds into firewood, get yourself a froe and split them into shingles. Then, use your new conveyor.

Philbert

I was at an auction a few weeks ago, a young lady saw me looking over the axes. I was showing my cousin makers marks. She walked over and said ,"excuse me, you look like you know splitting tools?". I said, "I like all things sharp". She laughed and asked if I knew where she could find a froe? I asked if she was splitting shingles, and she said "yes".

 

[rarefish383]

And that good looking axe is a ?

Yep, like Ron said , it is a Plumb. I have several Plumb axes, including the pretty one that Multifaceted hung for me. It's on a hand shaved octagonal haft. The one in the picture is the perfect weight for splitting straight grained wood. It has a thin handle that gives quite a bit of whip to it, very good axe speed. Unfortunately, it has a small crack in the eye. I might try having it welded.

Here's the cruiser that Multifaceted hung for me. It'sthe 3rd from the left.

 

[MustangMike]

We’ll stay in safe waters with this question. A couple times a year I get really big trees given to me so I want to get a bigger bar for one of my 7900. The bar won’t be used all the time, just on the big donations, usually 3’- 4’ dia oak, occasional maple. Should I get a 28” or 32” bar and what chain. Probably going to Nate’s shop to bounce it off him and make my purchase there but would like to hear your opinions. Thanks.

Not sure what your oiler is rated for, but I don't like more than 28" on a regular basis, but always kept a 36" B+C around for my 460s for when I ran into large Oak, etc (some of them exceeded the 36"). I would go with 36 if your saw will handle it, but would only put it on when you need it. Also, long bars are great for stumping.

I like full comp, but my saws are ported. Semi skip also cuts very well. If you saw is stock, full skip may make more sense. Also, I pay the extra for the light bars, IMO they are worth it. Much easier to line up your cut when felling, etc. Long bars can be tough to control in those situations.

 

[chipper1]

We’ll stay in safe waters with this question. A couple times a year I get really big trees given to me so I want to get a bigger bar for one of my 7900. The bar won’t be used all the time, just on the big donations, usually 3’- 4’ dia oak, occasional maple. Should I get a 28” or 32” bar and what chain. Probably going to Nate’s shop to bounce it off him and make my purchase there but would like to hear your opinions. Thanks.

It will do fine running a 32 with full comp chain but will slow in root flares and very dry dead wood when buried, and may also not oil well(at least to me) in very dry wood when buried with a 32. It will pull a 36 full comp no problem if you are not heavy handed with it but will not oil it well. If you get a 36 you can mod the oiler and then it will keep up no problem.
It will pull a 28 and oil it just fine, nice bar to have on one, then a 24 on another and a 20 on one as well .
I had a 28 on one of mine a while ago and at low rpms I couldn't keep the chain spinning it would just grab hard and stall(big dawgs working at shoulder height and a chain with the rakers a little low), so I spin it up and worked my way through what I needed to do, later that day I realized I had an 8 pin sprocket on ). It did fine bucking, I was just having a hard time getting the top cut on a hard leaner started . This was a stock saw running an 8 pin and a 28" full comp B&C.

32" bar and skip tooth chain.

If you are going to have a 'just-when-it's-needed-bar', it might as well be the bigger one. Cost difference will be negligible.

Does not have to be a lightweight or an ultra fancy bar due to it's limited use. Skip tooth for chip clearance in the bigger wood and to reduce the load on the saw if you bury the bar.

Nate fixed me up with a nice one at a very reasonable cost for mine.

Philbert

Pretty sure the 7910 wouldn't have a hard time pulling a 36 with skip as that's like and 18 with a little extra weight.

You have a 32 with skip on a 7910, what bar do you run on it normally, or is that your normal bar for it.

Not sure what your oiler is rated for, but I don't like more than 28" on a regular basis, but always kept a 36" B+C around for my 460s for when I ran into large Oak, etc (some of them exceeded the 36"). I would go with 36 if your saw will handle it, but would only put it on when you need it. Also, long bars are great for stumping.

I like full comp, but my saws are ported. Semi skip also cuts very well. If you saw is stock, full skip may make more sense. Also, I pay the extra for the light bars, IMO they are worth it. Much easier to line up your cut when felling, etc. Long bars can be tough to control in those situations.

The oilers do fine on the 7910, better than most 460/461's I've had, I did have one that was modded, it would have oil dripping off the bar with a 24 on it set in the middle cutting green wood .
Here's a link to the mod I have saved on my computer, I've got other info that may not be in this thread if you don't already have it and would like it(I see you were already in that thread, probably before me ).
https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/044-046-oiler-modified-illustrated.275634/
I wouldn't mind a light 36" , probably go with a Stihl 3003 mount and then run an adapter so I could switch it back and forth between all the brands. The 36's I have are heavy for sure, but they get the job done well.

 

[chipper1]

And there’s a new one who’s bite makes you allergic to red meat. May as well smoke your shotgun at that point!

That would be a bummer .

Hate fire ants!

A friends daughter almost died earlier this month down in Texas from them, she's fine now thank God.

View attachment 682406 Winter 2019/20 is stacked. 2020/21 is still in that pile.

Pile looks great, soon we will be able to see your fence-line from google earth too .
Last night when I scrolled to this post I saw a little flicker of light in the picture, almost as if there was lightening in the picture, then I heard thunder . Ends up it was a reflection on my computer screen, it was pretty cool .

 

[Deleted member 149229]

I run a 20” TsuMura on one and a 24” TsuMura on the other. Probably get a 32” TsuMura with skip for the backup big bar. I’ll just have to remember to turn the Oiler up with the big bar. This will be a bucking bar so I can stay with standard bar. Saw is stock except gutted muffler and retuned. Thanks guys.

 

[pdqdl]

Termites can cause havoc on chains. I got half way though a 18” log before my brand new semi chisel chain was cactus. When I looked at what was going on I found termites had dragged bits of quartz the size of a quarter of a grain of rice.

They build tunnels with whatever dirt you happen to have. Sandy, perhaps?

 

[pdqdl]

I was noodling some of the 39" Pin Oak from last week. The slabs were popping on the splitter, the blade would sink in about 1", and it would just pop apart. So I figured I'd try the new, old Plumb. After i got the block noodled I flipped it up flat and grabbed the Plumb and hit the stop watch. It took almost 4 minutes to the second to crank out that little pile. Wish it all split like that before the noodling. I wouldn't need the splitter.

What do you do with all the noodles?

 

[pdqdl]

JustJeff, I was past your place today and noticed that you need some time stacking. I went to Rockford to pick up a conveyor that I bought. Turns out that the conveyor was in Flesherton so a bit more of a drive. The conveyor was also 10' longer than I was expecting. She was a long slow ride home, trailer was 20' and conveyor was 37' long. No cops on the road today. It's the same conveyor as this and is used for shingles. It was real cheap but now I have to find a use for it. View attachment 682439
View attachment 682439

Become a roofing delivery guy. Hire out to the roofing supply guys for runs they don't want to make.

Split wood, and make some REALLY tall piles of firewood.

 

[pdqdl]

We’ll stay in safe waters with this question. A couple times a year I get really big trees given to me so I want to get a bigger bar for one of my 7900. The bar won’t be used all the time, just on the big donations, usually 3’- 4’ dia oak, occasional maple. Should I get a 28” or 32” bar and what chain. Probably going to Nate’s shop to bounce it off him and make my purchase there but would like to hear your opinions. Thanks.

32" bar and skip tooth chain.

If you are going to have a 'just-when-it's-needed-bar', it might as well be the bigger one. Cost difference will be negligible.

Does not have to be a lightweight or an ultra fancy bar due to it's limited use. Skip tooth for chip clearance in the bigger wood and to reduce the load on the saw if you bury the bar.

Nate fixed me up with a nice one at a very reasonable cost for mine.

Philbert

Yep. What he said, but maybe even more: I'd bump that up to a 36" bar, if you think your saw can carry it. I've seen lots of times when I really wish I had another 4", but I haven't ever regretted it for that "once in a while" bar. With a full 36", you can be pretty sure that nothing will beat you. Make sure you go to .063 gauge, if you aren't already there.

I had a really large oak we took out this summer. Even the 36" bar wasn't hardly enough; I had to work very carefully to get it cut in half, going all the way around the trunk. Like I said, it was rather large. We had to make 3' long wafers just to make the sections light enough for my bobcat to pick up.​

You wood scavengers would have had a real party with that tree. It took us about 5 days to cut it up and haul it away, with cleanup afterwards.​

 

[pdqdl]

Not sure what your oiler is rated for, but I don't like more than 28" on a regular basis, but always kept a 36" B+C around for my 460s for when I ran into large Oak, etc (some of them exceeded the 36"). I would go with 36 if your saw will handle it, but would only put it on when you need it. Also, long bars are great for stumping.

I like full comp, but my saws are ported. Semi skip also cuts very well. If you saw is stock, full skip may make more sense. Also, I pay the extra for the light bars, IMO they are worth it. Much easier to line up your cut when felling, etc. Long bars can be tough to control in those situations.

On a long bar, I find that full comp chain becomes very difficult in awkward positions to keep the necessary pressure against the cut to keep it working efficiently, especially out at the tip. Semi- or full-skip has fewer cutters, so each tooth bites a little bit harder. Sure, shifting the saw and changing the angle of the cut frequently during the cut reduces the length of chain in contact with the wood at any given time, but that becomes a pain in the butt, too.

A little 7900 probably isn't enough horse for full comp and lots of pressure anyway. I can easily stall out my 3120, using .404 full comp on a 36" bar, so I know that the 7900 would benefit from the lighter load. Speaking of the 3120: You ought to see the noodles that thing spits out! You need to keep the noodles a little bit short, otherwise it will fill up the cover and then start dragging them out the top and piling them against the log.

 

[James Miller]

We’ll stay in safe waters with this question. A couple times a year I get really big trees given to me so I want to get a bigger bar for one of my 7900. The bar won’t be used all the time, just on the big donations, usually 3’- 4’ dia oak, occasional maple. Should I get a 28” or 32” bar and what chain. Probably going to Nate’s shop to bounce it off him and make my purchase there but would like to hear your opinions. Thanks.

I ran my 7910 with a 32 and full comp barried at the chambersburg gtg. Didn't seem like it was even trying. If I bought my own it would be skip chain to make filing easier.

 

[KiwiBro]

We’ll stay in safe waters with this question. A couple times a year I get really big trees given to me so I want to get a bigger bar for one of my 7900. The bar won’t be used all the time, just on the big donations, usually 3’- 4’ dia oak, occasional maple. Should I get a 28” or 32” bar and what chain. Probably going to Nate’s shop to bounce it off him and make my purchase there but would like to hear your opinions. Thanks.

36" and mod the oiler.

 

[James Miller]

What do you do with all the noodles?

Put them in a couple 5 gallon buckets for starting the wood stove.

On a long bar, I find that full comp chain becomes very difficult in awkward positions to keep the necessary pressure against the cut to keep it working efficiently, especially out at the tip. Semi- or full-skip has fewer cutters, so each tooth bites a little bit harder. Sure, shifting the saw and changing the angle of the cut frequently during the cut reduces the length of chain in contact with the wood at any given time, but that becomes a pain in the butt, too.

A little 7900 probably isn't enough horse for full comp and lots of pressure anyway. I can easily stall out my 3120, using .404 full comp on a 36" bar, so I know that the 7900 would benefit from the lighter load. Speaking of the 3120: You ought to see the noodles that thing spits out! You need to keep the noodles a little bit short, otherwise it will fill up the cover and then start dragging them out the top and piling them against the log.

The 590s will push noodles out the if they won't go out the bottom. Haven't been able to clog that saw.

 

[rarefish383]

Brought in two loads of dead Oak today. First load was a couple 10-12" trees. The second was a little over 20" and I had to skid it out of the woods first. Hope I get the pics in order, but if I don't you can figure it out. Threw the tree in the only open spot in the woods. Hung two snatch blocks in trees to skid out to driveway. The first block had to pull the log to the left about 20' to clear the stump and another tree. Took the rope out of that block and pulled the log back about 50' to the right. That lined it up with the drive. Continued to pull the rope up till most of the log was off the ground. Put a couple big cinder blocks under the log and lowered it back down. Bucked up the log and loaded it. Then tied the rope on the top of the downed tree and snaked it out, ready to get next trip.

 

[rarefish383]

I forgot to take a pic of the load in the woods. That's my driveway at home. The battery on the dump was getting low so I decided to charge it before trying to dump.

 

[rarefish383]

What do you do with all the noodles?

My next door neighbor is an organic vegetarian. He covered half of his front yard with wood chips and planted a big garden, fruit trees, mushroom beds. I give him all my noodles. I only start my stove once in the fall, and I cheat and use a propane torch. If by chance it goes out, use the torch again.