Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[turnkey4099]

Today was the day to deal with the driveway. Wild roses were encroaching / going over onto the driveway. took the tractor out and ad my wife drive up while I stayed in back on the backhoe . Ripped them up but they will be back. Anyone building a survival house could line all the outskirts of the property with wild roses, slow anyone down and no truck or car could drive though them. Took out the Husky 450 out for a run cutting down small trees overhanging the drive. I have not used it in a year but I only run Husky pre mix so it ran like a dreamView attachment 997007

One spray with round up will put an end to wild rose.

 

[djg james]

I use a metal coffee can inside of a old pot sort of like a double boiler. I usually try to pick up blocks of paraffin wax from rummage sales because that’s usually the cheapest way to find them. I did use some of my exes old candles when I made a new scented candles with my daughters earlier this week.

My favorite fire starter is a cardboard egg carton drizzled with wax. Then you just break off one egg each time and it creates a roaring fire.

Here’s some pics from candle making with my daughters earlier this week. Ex had left several boxes of cheap tapered candles and I was tired of looking at them so now they are in a form in which they can be used. Pink jars are apple cinnamon and white are teakwood.

Never seen wax blocks at yard sales. Wish I would. I'm using a lot to coat bowl blanks for my nephew. Scrounging old candles from everyone I know.

I got a 5 gallon bucket of old church candles I like to remake into votive candles or other small candles. Never could figure out what size wicks to buy.

I used some cardboard, newspaper and kindling, cut from scrap 2x4s, to start my fires. All free.

 

[djg james]

I light a lot of fires, 2 small stoves that can't be kept in over night..... I light about 330 fires reach winter. Mostly it's just newspaper balls, kindling, a few small logs, and a match. I do collect waxed paper all year long and add that... Lots of the kids sweets (candy) wrappers are waxed paper, and some bread is wrapped in waxed paper. I have also used wax from old unwanted candles, I just took the cheese grater to it and grated a bit on to so news paper then rolled and twisted the paper up with the wax inside. That seemed to help get things roaring fast. I also watch out in the super market at the end of summer to see if they have left over BBQ stuff selling cheap and as well as stocking up on a couple of sacks of charcoal for the next summer I'll buy a few bottles of the lighter gel if I see them. A goood squirt onto a sheet of newspaper before rolling it up and adding to the stove helps. These are my zero/low cost and low effort techniques.

I have also considered adding a few strips of polypropylene or pet plastic which both contain only H, C, and O atoms, no halogens, and are common and easily identified. Plastic bottles are usually one of these 2. My chemistry tells me they are highly calorific, burn easily and can't burn to make really nasty products like dioxins (PVC which contains chlorine does produce dioxins and these are nasty... Think agent orange). Like most solid or liquid fuels they will produce soot but that is the worst as far as I can determine. However I've resisted trying as I can't find a definitive answer. I suspect a few strips cut from a bottle would make s decent fire starter.

Never thought of PE or PET.
Did/do you work in a lab?

 

[djg james]

I usually don't have to if I'm bucking dry wood. However, I have spread it out about one to two inches thick on an eight by eight tarp in my shop. Also on the same size tarp outside in the sun for a couple days if the saw waste is just a little damp. If its wet saw waste? Don't even bother, make some dryer stuff with your saw! When keeping saw waste to make fire starter. I usually lay a tarp down along a dry log, and on the side of the log Im bucking to catch the waste and keep it clean and dry. Better to do it on a dry day than rainy day also.

Cut safe, stay sharp, and be aware!

I put a tarp down on my rock driveway to do splitting/noodling. Easier to keep driveway clean. Then dump in trash bin. Noodles go on flower beds for mulch.

 

[WoodAbuser]

Good morning fellow cutters and noodlers.

 

[LondonNeil]

Never thought of PE or PET.
Did/do you work in a lab?

No! When I say 'my chemistry' I'm thinking back to A level/high school knowledge! And by 'research' I mean Google. My thinking is those plastics such as pet and pp which are purely h, c and o, are only a little different from oil or wax.... They are polymerised, that's basically the difference. Now those cross-links can't make that much difference to the combustion products can they? And if there is no chlorine then the nasty dioxins can't be produced. What I'm not sure of is the modifiers, the things added to the plastic that make it hard or flexible or coloured etc, but clear bottles as used for fizzy drinks don't have colour so that's one less worry. Going against that 'chemistry knowledge' is the instinct that says burning plastic is bad. However if a few small strips don't emit anything worse than some soot and can help get a stove hot fast, it might actually lead to less emissions over a light up.

 

[mountainguyed67]

I helped get a 4WD trail ready to open over the weekend, 154 trees across the trail on a 5.5 mile trail. We had about 14 people, 6 sawyers among them. This trail burned in 2016, that’s why so many trees. It was unusually cold, we woke up to frost Saturday morning. The Forest Service had two female interns with them, one from Missouri and one from Georgia. They really didn’t expect cold here. The Georgia girl was wearing four jackets, she kept asking for people’s jackets.

 

[mountainguyed67]

This mess was right at the end. Five trees here, and two more just around the corner.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

I helped get a 4WD trail ready to open over the weekend, 154 trees across the trail on a 5.5 mile trail. We had about 14 people, 6 sawyers among them. This trail burned in 2016, that’s why so many trees. It was unusually cold, we woke up to frost Saturday morning. The Forest Service had two female interns with them, one from Missouri and one from Georgia. They really didn’t expect cold here. The Georgia girl was wearing four jackets, she kept asking for people’s jackets.

View attachment 997262View attachment 997263View attachment 997264View attachment 997265View attachment 997266View attachment 997267View attachment 997268

Hell Yeah Brother!!!

Looks like good fun and good work!

Cut safe, stay sharp, and be aware!

 

[mountainguyed67]

Hell Yeah Brother!!!

Looks like good fun and good work!

Cut safe, stay sharp, and be aware!

We enjoy it, it’s hard work of course. With this many people, none of us need to work so hard.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Well here it is. Last grill was a char broil commercial series. This is pretty much the same thing. Old one lasted nearly 10 years so hopefully this one will too. And to kick it off, some all beef hot dogs from the last steer. Texas long horn. You can take your Angus and...... trying to talk him into raising a couple head of charolais. One of the best beef cattle imo....

nice!

i am still grilling on my Broilmaster... it is about 40 years old now. some R/M in past, but sill good as brand new. used it yesterday... angus tenderloins, angus burgers... and some slow poached steelhead. i dont do chicken on it...

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

there were 5

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

steelhead stole the show...

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I love my wood lot because it is shaded for most of the day. Hot sun can kill any ambition quickly.

as in very!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

If you don't mind me asking? How much was that model of tractor, and how heavy a log can it lift?!?! I need one bad!

i haven't seen a cheap tractor yet!!

and add in transportation costs to AK... hope it wount take a bush plane to get it to you.....

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Looks delicious! I hope its not farmed fish though! Being a Commercial Fisherman from Alaska. I stress to other folks that. "Friends don't let friends eat farmed fish!

haha! so u say... that is just like telling the US Marines in S Pacific... warm beer is not drinkable... during WWII!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Looks delicious! I hope its not farmed fish though! Being a Commercial Fisherman from Alaska. I stress to other folks that. "Friends don't let friends eat farmed fish!

there is always... good better best!

i made better best. melt in mouth. see post... or send a few pounds on down!!!

then i can post up a taste test report...here on SF

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

How do you dry the saw chips though? I rake them up off my lawn asap after cutting as they kill the grass (I think they strip the nitrogen from the soil,). I've just run a tank through my 365 and Raked up 5 sack fulls. Half has gone straight to the wheelie bin and the remainder will go to the next collection. But if o could dry it, I've got 5 gallons of used oil to hand currently.

at 100f and going higher, i prefer not to make any....

 

[rarefish383]

i don't know Gunny. was he a US Marine...?" of the web site.
View attachment 996984

As H Ranch said, "Uh, No". That's kind of nicest thing that can be said of him. He was like, the "Pancreatitis" of the site. He was good for some laughs sometimes, rest of the time he was like gangrene in the intestines.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

It works great. Also good for oil drips and spills on concrete shop floors. An old Alaskan who's been long past now. Learned me the ol "oiled saw waste" trick for fire starter and oil spills . He and his family moved up from Wisconsin to Alaska, and homesteaded in Homer in the 1930's when he was just a boy. One of the first families to start and establish the small town of Homer! He was definitely from the old school! As he was also one of the most ambitious and hardest working men I've ever known. Eventually becoming a millionaire and land Baron by owning the biggest Cattle ranch in Alaska!

Its good stuff! View attachment 997031Cut safe, stay sharp, and be aware!

good tip, but i'll stick with pine needles... but i can see ur point. spilled some bacon grease last nite on grill... soon had small fire, black... and had to wait to clean that up...

as a scrounge, i often save paper towels used to clean up greasy stuff from KP to use in camp fires. starters. don't want it going down my sewer lines... works great!!

'poof!'