Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I am familiar with the term ‘Duty Cycle’ from welders, etc. But 5% is really surprising. What is a typical duty cycle on a higher quality winch?

Thanks


Philbert

thinking this one is unlimited!!!

 

[Kodiak Kid]

awesome pix there, KK! for most of us, especially those in the lower 48... we see bear pix. we see bears and cubs. we see bears while others r on hikes.... Hey BEAR!! etc and they stroll off. but seldom do we see bears angrily being PO'd bears and fighting each other up close. other day down here there was a home indoors trailcam and it caught 2 bears going at it! up close. and the muscular power in their arms and they stretched and reached out to each other swapping pats... was incredible. up close near a bear, much less a momma... is not a good place to be! makes on rethink casual hikes along mountain trails...

Yeah Roger that! Unbelievably powerful and tough! With a pain threshold that makes a pit bull look like a Sissy when it comes to withstanding pain!

If you're not familiar with the American Bull Terrier breed of dog? Trust me! That's saying a lot about a bears sensitivity to pain!

Unfortunately we had young male nusance bear in our small rural community this Spring. Causing problems and becoming to comfortable around people much to often. Four of us hunted him every day for a week all at different times. After my sixth evening bear watch/hunt. I was the unfortunate one that got the first and last shot to terminate. When looking at him through the cross hairs at thirty yards while he was standing on his hinds looking right back at me. The only thing in my mind was "Man I really hope this is the right bear because I don't want to kill a bear that's just passing through not bothering anyone!" By the way we were looking at each other. He didn't really give me much of a choice at that distance!

It did end up being the problem bear, so it wasn't all bad. A three and a half year old young male. The neighbors and I guessed his weight between 400 and 500 pounds. He is a small Kodiak bear by size standards. Im 6'4" 230 and in pretty fair shape for my age! and his fore arm was as big around as my thigh and rock solid mussel!!! His front fore leg! Not his hind quarter or shoulder. His fore leg! Also, not firm like the hind quarter of a deer, beef, dog, or even a race horse! I mean heavy and solid like I've never felt in an animal! Even though he was dead, you could just feel his power!!! I really can't explain it!
And hes just a little guy!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I don't know the actual rating, but my Warn 12,000 has made pull after pull, winching my "loaded" pu way back into the mountains, to build a cabin and it never overheated one time.

How do I know this you ask? Because the Warn has thermo overload protection that if overheated it will shut the winch off and then "reset" when it cools back down. I remember reading in the manual, once tripped, the winch will only winch out, it will not winch in, but I've never tripped it, and I've winched MANY heavy loads with it, sometimes back-to-back.

BTW, I have a couple of those Badland winches too, when it comes to the motor, they are just very light duty.

SR

many armature units/designs from over there are. one has to learn the specs... and then stay in the window of utility...

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

That's a great question and it seems many manufactures are reluctant to publish a number. I have looked for it in the past as well since I was curious also.

Most do say to winch at or near max load for "short periods" or "one minute max" and to allow the winch to cool for a few minutes. Or not to winch if the motor is "hot to the touch". Some may depend on thermal switches and such to limit the duty cycle as mentioned on one of the smaller winches by @djg james .

I would guess that most winching is not at the max load for extended periods so there is probably more "on time" with less load. But if you're looking to operate an electric winch at max load continuously then you're going to be disappointed and you probably need a different solution.

WARN sounds like a good investment in performance and reliability... per SR! I have one, elec. but dont use it. it was used to pull a Cessna in and let roll easily out of a hangar... then owner sold plane. and gave me some stuff and the winch set up

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Oi! One post please didn't you read Steve's message!
Although I think our Texan lumberjack was the main contender and the two pages of posts yesterday.

And yes I remember certain splits, less common trees, hard to split logs and so on.

4 pages hard to catch up to, 11 all but impossible ~

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Oi! One post please didn't you read Steve's message!
Although I think our Texan lumberjack was the main contender and the two pages of posts yesterday.

This post is not amused​

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Yeah Roger that! Unbelievably powerful and tough! With a pain threshold that makes a pit bull look like a Sissy when it comes to withstanding pain!

If you're not familiar with the American Bull Terrier breed of dog? Trust me! That's saying a lot about a bears sensitivity to pain!

Unfortunately we had young male nusance bear in our small rural community this Spring. Causing problems and becoming to comfortable around people much to often. Four of us hunted him every day for a week all at different times. After my sixth evening bear watch/hunt. I was the unfortunate one that got the first and last shot to terminate. When looking at him through the cross hairs at thirty yards while he was standing on his hinds looking right back at me. The only thing in my mind was "Man I really hope this is the right bear because I don't want to kill a bear that's just passing through not bothering anyone!" By the way we were looking at each other. He didn't really give me much of a choice at that distance!

It did end up being the problem bear, so it wasn't all bad. A three and a half year old young male. The neighbors and I guessed his weight between 400 and 500 pounds. He is a small Kodiak bear by size standards. Im 6'4" 230 and in pretty fair shape for my age! and his fore arm was as big around as my thigh and rock solid mussel!!! His front fore leg! Not his hind quarter or shoulder. His fore leg! Also, not firm like the hind quarter of a deer, beef, dog, or even a race horse! I mean heavy and solid like I've never felt in an animal! Even though he was dead, you could just feel his power!!! I really can't explain it!
View attachment 1000238And hes just a little guy! View attachment 1000239

that is why i mentioned it. the power in those front arms was hard to belive... i had never seen anything like it before!

are those two pix taken same day? one looks gutted and/or tanned? what did u do with the hide?

 

[Kodiak Kid]

I don't know why Ferman left this snag standing to work under yesterday while falling other bigger and taller live timber so close to it. Im sure he had his reasons. I always cut my snags First! However, that's how I was taught.

So the first tree I cut this morning was. Yup you guessed it. That Snag! When felling a strip. It is important to keep your timber in a good lead and not cross it up so its easier to log and also safer to buck unfortunately snags most often are fell in the direction they lean.

That's why in my opinion. It is very important to buck snags that are "Crossed Up" at the teetering points to prevent catapults, human fly swatters and such!

Cut safe, stay sharp, and be aware!

 

[Kodiak Kid]

that is why i mentioned it. the power in those front arms was hard to belive... i had never seen anything like it before!

are those two pix taken same day? one looks gutted and/or tanned? what did u do with the hide?

Yes, right before and after skinning out the bear. No gutting involved. Its at the taxidermist now. Im having a rug made. It will be done in about a eight months from now. Then I will donate it to our local school or library.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I don't know why Ferman left this snag standing to work under yesterday while falling other bigger and taller live timber so close to it. Im sure he had his reasons. I always cut my snags First! However, that's how I was taught. View attachment 1000244

So the first tree I cut this morning was. Yup you guessed it. That Snag! When felling a strip. It is important to keep your timber in a good lead and not cross it up so its easier to log and also safer to buck unfortunately snags most often are fell in the direction they lean. View attachment 1000248

That's why in my opinion. It is very important to buck snags that are "Crossed Up" at the teetering points to prevent catapults, human fly swatters and such! View attachment 1000246

Cut safe, stay sharp, and be aware!

Kodiak Kid: Got some good photos for you guy's.

" I am just here for the pix! "

Kodiak, gotta hand it to you. your AK tales, adventures and pix are amazing! imo, you are a real asset to the AS ST... taking the time to share your northerly adventures with us down here in the lower 48 and beyond. Thanks!

really enjoyed seeing your skiff jaunt.... 40 miles in that! up and back! what a feat!

I enjoy seeing all of the ST posted pix. all in all, imo, an amazing collage of unique woodlands foto essays and related adventures. AS is a unique url, imo!! i cannot even keep up with it all on this thread. so many i never even see. only manage somewhat if tv nights suck! even the off-topic shore excursions get interesting....

 

[H-Ranch]

he found it!

Yep, I have a little more down time to surf AS right now. Plus if you don't keep up, then you find you're down several pages when things get hoppin' here.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

Felling a four and a half foot Old Growth Sitka Spruce Part 1

The Face Up.

Before clearing out the base

After clearing the base.

Exacutingeing face cuts


Inspection of face for any unintentional bypass cuts that would produce a hard or full face dutchman.
Face failed inspection as an unintentional bypass was found. Therefore leading to the correction of face cuts and removal of any unnecessary wood or hard Dutchman's

The tree is now properly faced up to fell with a Humboldt Face cut. Standby for more to come in the near future. Part 2 "The Back Cut and Wedge Lift" Part 3 "The Assisted Push, Driving the Tree Over to Commit to Fall"

 

[Kodiak Kid]

Kodiak Kid: Got some good photos for you guy's.

" I am just here for the pix! "

Kodiak, gotta hand it to you. your AK tales, adventures and pix are amazing! imo, you are a real asset to the AS ST... taking the time to share your northerly adventures with us down here in the lower 48 and beyond. Thanks!

really enjoyed seeing your skiff jaunt.... 40 miles in that! up and back! what a feat!

I enjoy seeing all of the ST posted pix. all in all, imo, an amazing collage of unique woodlands foto essays and related adventures. AS is a unique url, imo!! i cannot even keep up with it all on this thread. so many i never even see. only manage somewhat if tv nights suck! even the off-topic shore excursions get interesting....

View attachment 1000256

Thank you very much! I am humbled by your commitments to say the least! When posting pictures of my work cutt'n timber. I try to describe what, when, and why Im doing a particular fundamental or technique. That way, maybe others on this web site that are less experienced than others won't make the same mistakes a lot of us on here already have. Im not trying to show off by any means! If I help one person. Just one! Run a power saw more efficiently and safer than they were before reading some of my post's. Than I will consider my opinions and advise on this forum to be doing what I intended. If someone gets hurt trying one of the fundamentals or techniques I've explained. Than I would fell pretty bad and seriously considering no more work pics and fundamental descriptions on my behalf.

 

[LondonNeil]

maybe that explains why SR is shredding and the Rancher is not running cattle...

View attachment 1000219

prolly after SR is done shredding... he will be out there running a finish mower....

View attachment 1000222

i counted one, did i miss someone...?

i think SR's travel trailer set up is pretty slick! almost looks as if the Rancher made the cut out just for him....

'it's the next right, just up ahead....'
View attachment 1000225

the Atlantic coast is nice! walked beaches along it many times down in NJ area... sand dollars, star fish... and flat rocks to skip on out...

View attachment 1000226

the 75 G3 they used to whizzz thru tree limbs along power lines at my place had an awesome winch. doubt much it could not yank on out....

pro level
View attachment 1000227
View attachment 1000228

as i read ur reply to my question - you are saying 50K Tons? 50,000 Tons?

not my idea of a lot of little bits!

just sayin'

not on a small tractor and if it has no shade... especially after breakfast or lunch and close to 100f!

any special requests for multiple Likes ??

every week? really - sounds like Seattle...

i guess i could try 5 or 6 pages of ST thread posts... all in just one great big reply post. let the reader sort out the names, etc... topics. is there any limit to the size of the text box? i know this site does not respond normally to std enhanced text protocoal... sometimes it's hard it seems to just reply with a simple... hello

evening sd -

trust me, prob not even close....

i never use it, just do a reply and then use my graphics skills to manage the reply and white space....

oops!, sorry svk

hi chipper - it was gray, wet and humid here all afternoon. then weather moved on, blue skys and some cumulus... a breeze and then the humidity din't seem quite so bad. actually, quite nice late in afternoon here...

yep, you worked that maple real nice. i got a kitchen work center... Boo's maple butcher blocks and table... measures 9'. i use mineral oil to keep the wood n good shape. imo, maple counts for a lot.

i like that horse. D-proenneke made a lot of stuff with his up at Twin Lakes, AK

these cabin doors just some of the wood and lumber items he made using his shaving horse bench

.View attachment 1000233

.
View attachment 1000232
he was a man that had woodworking past a science and down to an art! ~

wonder just what happened? did he forget and leave his fone home?

i guess a guy could just read and toss out a Like here n there to catch up. i know how easy it is to get behind on the AS ST. but sometimes the pix alone are worth the effort to keep up.

i definitely am here for the pix!

i am impressed with the rock lift, and even more a) rig din't tip over! and b) din't get stuck....

is it long enuff to run the cable completely out... and pull it back in? loaded up to 12K?

here is a short answer.

What is meaning of duty cycle?

Duty cycle is the proportion of time during which a component, device, or system is operated. The duty cycle can be expressed as a ratio or as a percentage.

hi WA

for me it was more like... You are just going to have to wait for H-Ranch to see that!!!

kinda like a car or truck starter. best not to run them on and on... if engine don't fire right on up. tractors, too

highs been in the 80's here past couple days tk! but we been advised... 90's and up soon to return...

hard to forget WA... ( i never do! ) and hard not to forget how hot it gets down here come summer. i spent an hr or so this afternoon on some a/c maint. our units here are just short of full-on powerhouses...

View attachment 1000241

dual zones installs here not uncommon...
View attachment 1000242
i pull 10/12 gallons daily in this hot humidity from air
worked on my drain lines, cleaning, etc

How much water from AC is normal?
When the summer season is in full swing and humidity is high, it's normal for your air conditioner to drain anywhere between 5 and 20 gallons of water each day.

same thing with cheap beer, too!!!

thinking this one is unlimited!!!

View attachment 1000243

many armature units/designs from over there are. one has to learn the specs... and then stay in the window of utility...

WARN sounds like a good investment in performance and reliability... per SR! I have one, elec. but dont use it. it was used to pull a Cessna in and let roll easily out of a hangar... then owner sold plane. and gave me some stuff and the winch set up

View attachment 1000245
4 pages hard to catch up to, 11 all but impossible ~

This post is not amused​

View attachment 1000247

that is why i mentioned it. the power in those front arms was hard to belive... i had never seen anything like it before!

are those two pix taken same day? one looks gutted and/or tanned? what did u do with the hide?

THIS MULTIQUOTE IS EASY!

 

[rarefish383]

Neil, looks like your having too much fun. Just for kicks go back to page one and see how many multi quotes you can get in one post?

 

[H-Ranch]

Oh yeah, this is much easier to say hi to Neil in a multi quote than after every post....

You can buy fuel l fire lighters that are little balls of waxed noodles

Hi Neil

Do you think anyone has ever given gunny firewood for free?

Hi Neil

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.

Hi Neil

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.

Hi Neil

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.

Hi Neil

All this talk of charcoal costs, I wonder... Anybody got ideas for a really small redneck charcoal retort? Cook up your own. Chipper will no doubt upscale the design and start selling the charcoal .

Hi Neil

Hey yes!
https://www.oldrailwaylinegc.co.uk/...3MCiPIQvVn2_OF3-EeKyehA0AkhUDurhoC6k4QAvD_BwEEnjoy an evening round the firepit and cook the 'coal for the next BBQ!

Hi Neil

I'm glad I cycle most places...
As I just filled the car with petrol. Feel robbed. I need to find a way to distil petrol from wood

Hi Neil

Oi! One post please didn't you read Steve's message!
Although I think our Texan lumberjack was the main offender and the two pages of posts yesterday.

And yes I remember certain splits, less common trees, hard to split logs and so on.

Hi Neil

THIS MULTIQUOTE IS EASY!

Hi Neil

 

[H-Ranch]

I'm not sure this helps all the time though.

Guys-if possible can y’all PLEASE use multiquote if you’re going to answer several folks in one sitting? I know it’s tougher from a phone but really makes reading a lot easier for the rest of us. Especially when trying to catch up.

Like this for example.

Guys-if possible can y’all PLEASE use multiquote if you’re going to answer several folks in one sitting? I know it’s tougher from a phone but really makes reading a lot easier for the rest of us. Especially when trying to catch up.

Or even this.

Guys-if possible can y’all PLEASE use multiquote if you’re going to answer several folks in one sitting? I know it’s tougher from a phone but really makes reading a lot easier for the rest of us. Especially when trying to catch up.

Guys-if possible can y’all PLEASE use multiquote if you’re going to answer several folks in one sitting? I know it’s tougher from a phone but really makes reading a lot easier for the rest of us. Especially when trying to catch up.

Or there is always this.
Guys -if possible can y’all PLEASE use multiquote if you’re going to answer several folks in one sitting? I know it’s tougher from a phone but really makes reading a lot easier for the rest of us. Especially when trying to catch up.

Or this.

I didn't say that!

Just funnin' with ya, Steve!

 

[H-Ranch]

I call bull on that duty cycle... had mine so hot the one day I thought it would catch fire. Had all 100 feet of rope out, plus All the chain I had trying to get a big oak log out in 20 foot sections...... 5 min run and took more like a half hour to cool off before It felt semi cool.

That's why a maximum run time has to be included with the duty cycle; otherwise a 1 hour pull with a 19 hour recovery time is technically 5%. A 5 minute pull with a heavy load is probably more than any of them would recommend.

 

[rarefish383]

Thank you very much! I am humbled by your commitments to say the least! When posting pictures of my work cutt'n timber. I try to describe what, when, and why Im doing a particular fundamental or technique. That way, maybe others on this web site that are less experienced than others won't make the same mistakes a lot of us on here already have. Im not trying to show off by any means! If I help one person. Just one! Run a power saw more efficiently and safer than they were before reading some of my post's. Than I will consider my opinions and advise on this forum to be doing what I intended. If someone gets hurt trying one of the fundamentals or techniques I've explained. Than I would fell pretty bad and seriously considering no more work pics and fundamental descriptions on my behalf.

I enjoy your pics and descriptions of what your doing. Coming from 4 generations of tree work, dating back before chainsaws, I “Understand” what you are saying. We did residential work with a lot of rigging over multi million dollar homes. Often removing one big ornamental to make a drop spot to chunk down 18” chunks, because we couldn’t dent the yard felling the log. That’s a dying skill. Now a days they say sorry no other way to do it, and just crush stuff up. One time my Dad went to a factory in Baltimore that made 8’X8’ burlap sheets, and bought a whole bale of them to cover the yard. The customer didn’t want any saw dust in the grass. I wish Dad had of taken more pics back then. I have one of Dads 3‘ hand saws hanging on the wall. People don’t believe that in our lifetime they used those to take down a tree. When I was a kid we still didn’t have small climbing saws, so all of our climbers had big hand saws. It was amazing to see how fast they could make a cut with hand saws.

Anyway, what I was going to say is, I’d feel pretty comfortable sharing techniques here. Most of these guys have multiple saws and know what a sharp saw is. Don’t do it on the Homeowner Helpers forum. You tell some one to make an open face cut and a fast back cut. You and I are using a 100CC saw with a 36” bar and razor sharp chain. The homeowner is using a 16” dull box store saw. Our face cut comes out in a perfect wedge. Theirs comes out in 3 pieces with multiple angles. Our fast back cut takes seconds, and is one cut. Theirs, the bar won’t make it through the cut, they are see sawing with their dull saw. You can never assume there equipment is in the condition ours is. My advice on that forum is, call a pro, live another day.

If anyone here sounds like the homeowner, that’s my back door way of saying don’t do what you think the pro is doing, it is dangerous.

 

[LondonNeil]

What I quoted was were almost all consecutive. They would have been I suspect, were Kodiak not posting at the same time.

I'm just saying I can see Steve's point, and tend to agree when there's that many posts in a splurge.

Didn't someone flounce off the forum for being asked not to do it a few years ago?