Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[dancan]

Today's scrounge

Nice kiln dried maple , does it ever burn hot LOL

 

[Philbert]

Looks like an urban dumpster scrounge to me! I got a couple of bushels of kiln dried oak from a guy putting in hardwood floors a few blocks away . . .

Philbert

 

[Ambull01]

The object is to stay on the bike! Actually, I think ripping down the twistee downhills on a road bike is a lot more dangerous, no protection from road rash, trees along the road, or cars coming the opposite direction. We have had close calls with cats, dogs, woodchucks, fox, and vultures and actual impact with deer & squirrel (ruined my front wheel). Even had a Black Bear cross in front of us, then turn and run parallel with us for about 50 yds (which will scare the H*** out of you).

No cool stories like that but my first longish bike ride I fell onto the pavement right at an intersection. Came to a stop and had some trouble unclipping from the pedal. I panicked and went straight down. Pretty embarrassing.

 

[Philbert]

'Fat bikes' are big around here now, especially in the winter. They are making special trails for them.
29 inch wheels (typical mountain bike wheels are 26") and extra wide tires - look like small motorcycles.

Several made in Minnesota.

Philbert

One on right is called 'Pugsley'


Conventional 'mountain bike' next to 'fat bike'

 

[Ambull01]

I've been getting all my gear ready to do a marathon cutting session tomorrow. My two new Carlton semi-chisel chains came in from Bailey's yesterday so now I have three chains I can switch out while cutting instead of busting out the bar clamp file guide. Picked up one of my County Line TSC b&c oil gal and it's still super thick. Damn it! I poured it into my chainsaw last Friday when it was supposed to be in the negatives with wind chill. It was super thick. I hope it makes it around the bar or I'll have to waste time driving somewhere to buy a thin oil.

 

[Philbert]

Thin out a quart or 2 of the bar oil with kerosene (preferred) or diesel (smells). Drain the oil out of your saws tonight, keep the bar oil jug in the house until you leave, and place it near the heater outlet in your truck till you get there. Or drain the fuel out of your saws and bring the saws into the house to warm up (they tend to leak and leave a mess).

Philbert

 

[Ambull01]

Thin out a quart or 2 of the bar oil with kerosene (preferred) or diesel (smells). Drain the oil out of your saws tonight, keep the bar oil jug in the house until you leave, and place it near the heater outlet in your truck till you get there. Or drain the fuel out of your saws and bring the saws into the house to warm up (they tend to leak and leave a mess).

Philbert

Yeah, guess I'll have to cut it. I was hoping I could just pout it into my saw and go to work. I know there's tons of oil threads but I'm not sure how much I believe some of the guys on this site. Everyone seem to have no issues with Husqvarna or Countyline oil but it just doesn't seem to make it onto my bar. I've tried using Canola oil but the chain/bar became really hot and I think the cutters became discolored from what I see.

I keep my Makita and all the oil jugs in my house but it's still kinda thick. Even if it did thin out, the jugs will be out in the elements tomorrow anyway which will make it thicken up. I don't know how you guys up north are able to find decent oil. Or maybe I'm just being too anal about it.

 

[svk]

Yeah, guess I'll have to cut it. I was hoping I could just pout it into my saw and go to work. I know there's tons of oil threads but I'm not sure how much I believe some of the guys on this site. Everyone seem to have no issues with Husqvarna or Countyline oil but it just doesn't seem to make it onto my bar. I've tried using Canola oil but the chain/bar became really hot and I think the cutters became discolored from what I see.

I keep my Makita and all the oil jugs in my house but it's still kinda thick. Even if it did thin out, the jugs will be out in the elements tomorrow anyway which will make it thicken up. I don't know how you guys up north are able to find decent oil. Or maybe I'm just being too anal about it.

I think your idea of bar oil that seems too thick might be skewed. Most folks think that County Line is on the thin side of the spectrum and Husky oil is fine for summer weight. Or to be absolutely sure you could buy Stihl Blue as that's specifically formulated for cold weather use.

 

[Ambull01]

I think your idea of bar oil that seems too thick might be skewed. Most folks think that County Line is on the thin side of the spectrum and Husky oil is fine for summer weight. Or to be absolutely sure you could buy Stihl Blue as that's specifically formulated for cold weather use.

Well maybe my oiler is defective. I actually took my bar off and watched the oil pumping out using the Husqvarna stuff. Put the bar back on still no oil making it into the groove. The Ace Hardware brand oil works great though but it's $13. Sometimes I just wish I could stop sweating the little stuff.

 

[Philbert]

I bought some Husqvarna winter weight and still had to thin it. At 30°F it is still like pancake syrup. Especially a problem with my electric and battery saws that don't have a muffler and internal combustion to warm it up!

Philbert

 

[Ambull01]

I bought some Husqvarna winter weight and still had to thin it. At 30°F it is still like pancake syrup. Especially a problem with my electric and battery saws that don't have a muffler and internal combustion to warm it up!

Philbert

Thank you! Finally someone agrees with me on b&c oil. The Countyline stuff seems thicker than the Husqvarna oil I tried. It was like pouring Elmer's glue. Should have just stuck with the Ace Hardware oil instead of being so cheap and trying this out.

 

[MechanicMatt]

Got home, only two pages tonight to read through, you guys are a bunch of slackers. Leave my house at 7am getting home at 11pm, been working too much and man do I miss my kids, hope the remember who I am when I come home at 5:30

 

[Oldman47]

I learned a long time ago how to separate wood cutting from farming, but I have also watched a lot of people who have not figured it out yet.

They must just like to sharpen chain!

Reminds me of my now gone grandfather. He was watching a city crew who were removing trees. As we might expect they were using chain saws and a chipper. After watching them for a while he walked up and told them to give him their chain saws. He took them back and used a file on them. When they got them back they could not believe they were the same saws. Sometimes knowing what you are doing really does count. My grandfather had been heating with wood for over 25 years before that and he knew his saws.

 

[Oldman47]

N

@Philbert , you think this could be used as a multipurpose firewood tool?
http://www.amazon.com/Nupla-AP-6-36...RAW10TKSYA02VY503H#product-description-iframe

Looks like I could use it as a pickaroon too.



Oh, that's how you're so fast. You have a daggone loader!

No way is that a pickaroon. It is a fireman's axe and the back side is not intended to help move splits around, it is for prying things loose for access. If you need to tear through a structure to gain access to a fire source or a victim, that back side can be very valuable.

 

[MustangMike]

I use the Countyline oil in all temp conditions w/o any problems, and grow some balls and use some full chisel chain or we are going to send U to the State next to here!

 

[Ambull01]

I use the Countyline oil in all temp conditions w/o any problems, and grow some balls and use some full chisel chain or we are going to send U to the State next to here!

Well you have super duper hopped up chainsaws. I swear, I need to figure out how to make a video of my oil pump pushing the stuff out and never getting onto the bar.

I don't need full chisel! The stuff I cut is usually a bit dirty and a few seconds longer for each cut isn't going to matter. How are you able to keep your full chisel chains sharp cutting downed trees?

 

[MustangMike]

Downed trees are not always dirty trees. I usually cut the trees where they fell, so they are still clean, even if they have been down for a while. Often, the tops keep the trunks off the ground. When I put semi chisel on my saw, it almost seems like slow motion!

I had my brother and my nephew (MechanicMatt) use a loop of square file, and neither of them removed from their saw after they used it.

I do keep some semi chisel and duro around for dirty wood, but is has to be real bad for me to use it.

 

[Ambull01]

Downed trees are not always dirty trees. I usually cut the trees where they fell, so they are still clean, even if they have been down for a while. Often, the tops keep the trunks off the ground. When I put semi chisel on my saw, it almost seems like slow motion!

I had my brother and my nephew (MechanicMatt) use a loop of square file, and neither of them removed from their saw after they used it.

I do keep some semi chisel and duro around for dirty wood, but is has to be real bad for me to use it.

Interesting. Man it's too easy to persuade me, I'm about ready to switch over to the dark side. Have you ran square file and round filed chisel back to back?

 

[Philbert]

'Square file'? Are you still screwing with square file Ambull01? There's your problem . . . Most of us are up to hexagon filed by now. . .

(Philbert)

 

[MustangMike]

Square is hex, it is 6 sided.

According to Madsen's Chainsaw, full chisel is 10-15% faster than semi, and square is 10-15% faster than round full chisel. So to go from semi to square is about 20-30%, a noticeable difference.

I would study their information before attempting it. If you do square, you have to get it right.