Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Kodiak Kid]

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.

Well said! Well said indeed!
Also, my hat is of to all climber's, piecer's and topper's! Those three fundamentals are the pinical of expert level timber work in IMOP! Ground fallers can run from danger if need be. Witch means more leeway for error. No where to run in the top of a tree with a climbing belt around your waist or if harnessed to a big branch!!! Very little room for eminent error!

 

[Kodiak Kid]

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

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

Dick Proenneke is most definitely "The Man". He took most the factory wood handle's of his tools to shave weight when he originally hiked and packed in to his homestead! He made new wood'n tool handles once he arrived to his homestead! Gotta respect that!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

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

You have to be careful, Warn also sells cheaper, lower quality winches. You have to pay more for one of their better built, made to take punishment winches and I've not kept up on their model numbers.

SR

 

[Sawyer Rob]

**** Proenneke is most definitely "The Man". He took most the factory wood handle's of his tools to shave weight when he originally hiked and packed in to his homestead! He made new wood'n tool handles once he arrived to his homestead! Gotta respect that!

He didn't have to hike too much to get to his cabin, he went in by plane and landed on the lake, although it's true he was really trying to save weight in the plane when he first went in.

Most people think he lived out there full time, which isn't true. Also, he got a lot of help to live out there, a lot of his food and other things was flown into him.

SR

 

[Sawyer Rob]

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.

Do you think everyone with one will be as lucky as you were that day? And when it craps out later, will you say, that's ok, I overheated it really bad that time....

I know I wouldn't run my Badland winches that hard.

SR

 

[Lionsfan]

Happy Independence day weekend scroungers! I hope you all enjoy a day or two at the beech!

 

[H-Ranch]

Happy Independence day weekend scroungers! I hope you all enjoy a day or two at the beech!

I see what you did there!

That's a baby one, I have a couple that size in my woods too. But they can get much larger as you know.

 

[MustangMike]

I have been too busy the past week to keep up with the posts. Had to replace drainage pipes that had been cut off by the Town when they re-did the storm sewers. The cut off pipes did not give me problems for years but are now. I did not realize the Town had cut them off for quite a while.

Had to cut the driveway, search for "lost" pipes, and dig over 100' of trenches ... and the rented Excavator (from HD) lost it's track twice! A nightmare!

Been working like a dog, cutting large roots with the reciprocating saw, reconnecting pipes (never easy) and making new drain basins (I refused to pay $85 for a new drain basin, so I bought a $7 plastic cement mixing tray and made my own).

I was way too busy and beat to take pics ... sorry ... just glad I survived it!

As I get older the hand truck becomes my friend (for lots of stuff I used to just carry or roll), and I even used the winch on my ATV to lift/tilt up a large piece of bluestone that I used to just muscle up (about 5' X 3" and very heavy). It takes more time, but save me!

 

[MustangMike]

Nice bear KK, what caliber is your rifle? (Sorry if I missed it).

I understand the ONLY reason they still make ammo for my Model 71 (348 Winchester) is because it retains its popularity up in Alaska.

 

[Lee192233]

@MustangMike, I have a new Granberg 36" mill that I will use with my MS660. I know I should tune it a bit fatter. I was thinking about 500 rpm less than what sounds good for normal use. I've heard some guys say to run 32:1 when milling. I was thinking I'd stick with my 40:1. Any other tips for this newbie?

 

[MustangMike]

I run Amsoil Saber at 40:1 and have had no problems, even with Asin 660s w/36" B+C milling. I use square file chain and keep my chains sharp. Milling dulls chains fast; you will notice your speed of milling decrease when the chain loses sharpness.

If using round file, you should change your cutting angle from 30* to 10* (rip chain angle). No need to change any angles with square file.

I generally set up 2 - 660s with 36" B+C. You will go through fuel fast, try not to run out in the middle of a cut. I generally sharpen after two tanks of fuel, but that is in wide (approx 24") hardwood. Softwood should not be as bad.

I try to angle the saw a little to the right, then the left. Makes it easier on the saw and gives an interesting saw cut pattern (IMO). Give the saw, and yourself, frequent breaks to avoid overheating. Good luck with it and keep us posted.

 

[Lee192233]

I run Amsoil Saber at 40:1 and have had no problems, even with Asin 660s w/36" B+C milling. I use square file chain and keep my chains sharp. Milling dulls chains fast; you will notice your speed of milling decrease when the chain loses sharpness.

If using round file, you should change your cutting angle from 30* to 10* (rip chain angle). No need to change any angles with square file.

I generally set up 2 - 660s with 36" B+C. You will go through fuel fast, try not to run out in the middle of a cut. I generally sharpen after two tanks of fuel, but that is in wide (approx 24") hardwood. Softwood should not be as bad.

I try to angle the saw a little to the right, then the left. Makes it easier on the saw and gives an interesting saw cut pattern (IMO). Give the saw, and yourself, frequent breaks to avoid overheating. Good luck with it and keep us posted.

Thanks for the tips Mike! I will take pics and keep you fellas in the loop.

Have a great 4th!

 

[MustangMike]

OK, I took some pics of my "finished" project. There were two sets of pipes to deal with, which increased the difficulty as often one set was under the other. Cutting holes in the driveway and hoping you cut in the right spot to find the pipes was a nightmare, especially not know how deep they were.

I have a curtain drain and footing drain in one set, and gutter drains and a surface drain in the other set.

We had added several feet of fill in the front after the initial drainpipes were installed, so they were much deeper than anticipated. We had to dig a little past the back of the house to get the proper height/slope for the current storm sewer pipes.

The three pieces of Bluestone closest to the driveway had to be lifted. The large one is very heavy, and I often had to do it w/o any help. Pics are in order from back to front. When you reach the front of the house (from the back) the pipes have to go over near the property line to avoid the septic lines. The Tri Gallies are under my driveway.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

THIS MULTIQUOTE IS EASY!

thanks for the demo! now i won't have to do it!....

you prob made the longest post in AS posting history

ps: the Ignore button is simpler. i see it works swell...

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

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

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

i can't read what he said...

'You are ignoring content posted by this member. Show ignored content.'

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

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

Like this for example.

Or even this.



Or this.

Just funnin' with ya, Steve!

i thot the AS App was tailor made to make managing/replying/reading AS posts simple and easy.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

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.
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.

i think KK is in a class by hizzelf! it's the wood, for sure... but as a total package... quite unique!

i think it's the Alaskan pix that give him an edge...

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Well said! Well said indeed!
Also, my hat is of to all climber's, piecer's and topper's! Those three fundamentals are the pinical of expert level timber work in IMOP! Ground fallers can run from danger if need be. Witch means more leeway for error. No where to run in the top of a tree with a climbing belt around your waist or if harnessed to a big branch!!! Very little room for eminent error!

in an environment of eminent danger! hope to see more AK timeber/lumberjack pix. and such...

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

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

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

Hi Neil

hi H-R ... i guess a guy, let's say someone that has gotten 5...6... 7... maybe more could just read all the pages of posts first! then go back to their start point and start a Reply Post ~

only prob i see is that the AS Timer Clocks prob would time out the member...

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

**** Proenneke is most definitely "The Man". He took most the factory wood handle's of his tools to shave weight when he originally hiked and packed in to his homestead! He made new wood'n tool handles once he arrived to his homestead! Gotta respect that!

i watch movies... now n then. some. i get dvds in off N-F... and i have some vids. dvds, even some tape. i almost never watch any twice. i have all the D.P. vids Bob. S. did and i have watched them dozens of times!... i almost know every notch, nook, cranny and nail - his 'perfect notches' of his cabin build... and never seem to get tired of watching it all again!

"Good enough for that beaver...!"