Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[chipper1]

That's impressive. I have yet to have a good experience burning red oak. However, to be fair, I've never had "choice" wood to use. First tree was a monster that fell across my father in law's driveway. I cut huge rounds, took them home and split them. They were way too wet, so they did not burn at all (I was so used to burning dead standing ash that we would cut up, I figured it was good to go since it too was dead standing then blew over. Nope!). I was super green back then, and had just started burning firewood to help heat our house.

Now that I have a TON of red oak on my property, many that need felled, I'm gonna try some again.

That sounds fun, dropping those trees that is.
Finally got the elm down in front of the barn here.

 

[H-Ranch]

Did a couple loads this morning, but the wind was making me uncomfortable working near the woods. I have a few piles of logs in the open so I may work on those a bit if any are still not frozen.

 

[muad]

Well it's maple boil off time. I actually had way more sap than I thought, had to borrow totes from my wife to get it all. It had ice in it Monday but I didn't boil un till yesterday. The sap today was full of ice but I melted in the 1st warming tray. I am down to the one serving tray of sap now. Burning lots more wood than the OWB but I knew it would. Picture of last nights fire.
View attachment 970594

We have been boiling the past two weekends. We even did some HVBW syrup yesterday that is amazing!

My buddy built an RO unit this year that has really helped reduce boil times. Sorry for the sideways pics. This is the only site that does that with my iphone photos??

 

[bob kern]

That's impressive. I have yet to have a good experience burning red oak. However, to be fair, I've never had "choice" wood to use. First tree was a monster that fell across my father in law's driveway. I cut huge rounds, took them home and split them. They were way too wet, so they did not burn at all (I was so used to burning dead standing ash that we would cut up, I figured it was good to go since it too was dead standing then blew over. Nope!). I was super green back then, and had just started burning firewood to help heat our house.

Now that I have a TON of red oak on my property, many that need felled, I'm gonna try some again.

It’s good wood but like most others it has to be dry, but too dry and it won’t last overnight.

 

[muad]

That sounds fun, dropping those trees that is.
Finally got the elm down in front of the barn here.

That's some fancy felling.

I need a slidding winch, lol

 

[Lionsfan]

Had all intentions of breaking trail up into the woods today until temps got above freezing with a monsoon. No idea how much frost we have, but this mess is gonna be here for awhile.

 

[H-Ranch]

Well, most of the logs in the open weren't frozen to the ground anymore so I ran a couple tanks through the Dolmar and have a good number of rounds to process now. News at 11.

 

[U&A]

Cleaned up the wood I cut the other day. Now I have room for the brush from the stuff on the right as I get it cut up.View attachment 969923
I got a couple buckets of snob wood and a bunch of oak.View attachment 969924View attachment 969929View attachment 969925

NICE!!!


Sent while firmly grasping my Redline lubed Ram [emoji231]

 

[husqvarna257]

I just finished up the first boil with the sap that I separated the ice from the sap . Got a little over 3 1/2 qts of syrup from 11 gallons of sap . I'll be doing it this way whenever I can .

Black birch did wonders for heating sap up. I used some 6 month seasoned boiler wood and some 6 year seasoned wood from the 2st lean-to for the wood stove. ended up with 3/4 of a gallon. I boiled it down kind of thick so the syrup is thick and I'll end up with maple sugar in the jars Now to see what this week brings.

 

[James Miller]

Got the call on another scrounge yesterday. Locust and cherry.Yellow wood is good wood.Time for a new chain. Started breaking cutters off this one.

 

[SS396driver]

Black birch did wonders for heating sap up. I used some 6 month seasoned boiler wood and some 6 year seasoned wood from the 2st lean-to for the wood stove. ended up with 3/4 of a gallon. I boiled it down kind of thick so the syrup is thick and I'll end up with maple sugar in the jars Now to see what this week brings.

Finished up my second boil today in 60 degree weather . Think my season is about done . Not a good year but I got a gallon and half + . But I did that with about 25 gallons . Boil was a breeze . I’m looking into building a RO for next year

 

[old CB]

I’m looking into building a RO for next year

I'm far from knowledgeable, but I'd think twice on the RO. Yes, they're very effective on separating water from sugar, but . . .

I was buying syrup from a producer in DeKalb Junction a few years back, got visiting (great guy, hunting stories, sugaring, family, etc.) and he showed off his RO outfit. Wow! Computerized, high dollar, high tech stuff--very impressive. But I found his syrup was less flavorful. And he had showed me a filter that had removed a whole bunch of stuff from his product--and I later wondered if some of what he removed wasn't mineral solids and such that contribute to flavor. All I know is his syrup was lacking. I avoid buying syrup from operations using RO.

An upstate NY friend of mine who does a fairly sizable operation (100--150 buckets?) told me he went to a cooperative extension type thing last year, where the specialists and tech folks presented the latest research on maple sugaring. One thing he learned was that if maple sap is extracted from a tree in such a way that it never encounters oxygen (or atmospheric air) it is just plain water and sugar and has zero flavor. The characteristic maple flavor is a function of bacterial action (or some such--I retain only the gist of what he said minus the tech details).

 

[SS396driver]

I'm far from knowledgeable, but I'd think twice on the RO. Yes, they're very effective on separating water from sugar, but . . .

I was buying syrup from a producer in DeKalb Junction a few years back, got visiting (great guy, hunting stories, sugaring, family, etc.) and he showed off his RO outfit. Wow! Computerized, high dollar, high tech stuff--very impressive. But I found his syrup was less flavorful. And he had showed me a filter that had removed a whole bunch of stuff from his product--and I later wondered if some of what he removed wasn't mineral solids and such that contribute to flavor. All I know is his syrup was lacking. I avoid buying syrup from operations using RO.

An upstate NY friend of mine who does a fairly sizable operation (100--150 buckets?) told me he went to a cooperative extension type thing last year, where the specialists and tech folks presented the latest research on maple sugaring. One thing he learned was that if maple sap is extracted from a tree in such a way that it never encounters oxygen (or atmospheric air) it is just plain water and sugar and has zero flavor. The characteristic maple flavor is a function of bacterial action (or some such--I retain only the gist of what he said minus the tech details).

You need to use it in reverse. Pure water comes out one pipe and everything else which is now concentrated sap goes into your boil bucket . A good RO will only remove the water . Hard to explain but basically you throw out the water and keep the runoff opposite of using it to make drinking water. Sounds like the guy was doing it wrong or may have had crappy sap to start with .
Never heard of the zero oxygen thing mine sit in buckets and get agitated transferring to the collection bucket then to the evaporator. But I do know boiling will remove oxygen from water. That’s why I have to oxygenate the wort with O2 after the boil or the yeast is very slow to kick in fermentation of the beer

 

[Philbert]

Time for a new chain. Started breaking cutters off this one.

The rest of the chain looks in great shape! Looks like you took good care of it, and got your money’s worth!

Philbert

 

[Lee192233]

Got out and did a little chainsaw therapy this afternoon.
Bucked and noodled a 20" beech log with the MS 460. Love that saw.

Not a wheelbarrow but close.

Also bucked a couple small ash trees. Not bad for a hour in the woods.

Played around a bit and cut some small slabs from a crotch piece from the beech. I will stack and sticker them with about 100 lbs on them and dry them for a year. I'm thinking of making a charcuterie platter. They're rough but I should be able to smooth them out.

Saturday looks cold with a high of 23° F so I will get out after a few more ash trees. My goal is 10 felled and dragged out of the woods.
Have a great week guys.

 

[cantoo]

Grabbed another saw and spent a bit more time in the bush. We got hit hard awhile ago with some high winds. Lots of widow makers broke off and still hanging way up in trees. Ash borers have really taken a toll also. It's a shame that I didn't log the ash and sell them to a sawmill but that wasn't the original deal I made with the owner of the land. As you can see in some of the pictures the ash is in bad shape.

 

[svk]

According to a local paper we endured a top ten coldest February ever. Our average temp was about -2f for the month. The last top ten was the polar vortex of 2015.

 

[cantoo]

Missed a few pics. The ash are shattering on impact. Sure saves a lot of branch trimming but makes a mess. Saw is the 362 that I bought at auction a few years ago. I kind of "forgot" I had it. My wife needs to clean up the shop and barn.

 

[Brufab]

Grabbed another saw and spent a bit more time in the bush. We got hit hard awhile ago with some high winds. Lots of widow makers broke off and still hanging way up in trees. Ash borers have really taken a toll also. It's a shame that I didn't log the ash and sell them to a sawmill but that wasn't the original deal I made with the owner of the land. As you can see in some of the pictures the ash is in bad shape.

Those are some widow makers if I ever seen one. Is the tire still holding air?

 

[James Miller]

The rest of the chain looks in great shape! Looks like you took good care of it, and got your money’s worth!

Philbert

I try not to let them get to bad. The side with the broken cutters got rocked at some point and the cutters where noticeably shorter from cleaning it up. Set depth gauges with a husky roller guide so even with the difference in cutter length still cuts straight. It was missing 7 cutters on a 52dl chain.