Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[djg james]

Back at the scrounge spot trying to get something useful out of what's left. Had a little bit of rot in it unfortunately. Also needs some bow ties to control checking. Thinking about an outdoor serving bench for BBQ's, one end flat up against the wall. Gonna run it through a friend's thickness planer and then decide if it's firewood or not.

It wasn't fun dragging this 40m back to the car solo.

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Yes, I would definitely try to salvage the flitch. I envy you owning a big saw and a CSM. Route out/grind out the rot and pour epoxy/stones etc into the void. Add bow ties as you suggested. Put on an outdoor finish.
Is that an outdoor wood?

 

[djg james]

Hedge will burn hot enough to burn up an old stove. I would hate to try to burn it in a new stove made from Chinese steel. It is best suited for the use it has served for decades and that is as fence posts. As some noted it can be used as tool handles. I worked with a couple guys that thought they were going to use it to make long-bows. They destroyed my jointer knives and burned up the motor in Powermatic 66 table saw. Needless to say they never got tehe bows done.

I have a couple of rows of hedge firewood that I plan to burn some this year. It's split small like camp wood. Will only add one small piece at a time to the fire. I have one of those sheet metal Heatilator fire places and I did have a flue fire from a large piece of Black Locust. Pulled that piece out and threw it outside in the snow. Scary.

 

[chipper1]

I have a couple of rows of hedge firewood that I plan to burn some this year. It's split small like camp wood. Will only add one small piece at a time to the fire. I have one of those sheet metal Heatilator fire places and I did have a flue fire from a large piece of Black Locust. Pulled that piece out and threw it outside in the snow. Scary.

How did you have a flue fire from a piece of black locust? You mean it burned so hot it caught all your creosote on fire?
The main wood I burn is black locust and I've never had a problem. The stove has 3 splits and a couple smaller rounds in it right now, the house feels great .
Most are unaware, black locust has one of the lowest moisture contents of any wood we have around here; I'm sure something else may have less, but I'm not aware of it.
There's a reason I don't like oaks, at least compared to BL, it's heavy and takes forever to properly season.
Now I'm wanting to go cut some.

 

[chipper1]

I have a couple Silvey Bar Shops and a third heading this way soon. They can do a lot of different things to get a bar back.

I'd like to have one, they are a cool machine, and soon I'll have a place in the barn to set one up.
A buddy of mine had one, I think he sold it without ever setting it up, he doesn't work on others equipment so he didn't have much need for it. Besides knowing him he probably would just make one, he's a product tooling guy/engineer, or he'd just buy another bar lol.

 

[chipper1]

She’s almost ready to come home , waiting on some work lights

Sweet!

 

[chipper1]

Things were different when I went to school, even though I it was in Westchester County NY (which at the time was the wealthiest County in the USA).

I was taking shop class in the 8th grade and was being picked on by a 10th grader. I don't mean being called names, I mean when I was going down the concrete and metal stairs, he put his foot in the small of my back and I went down express (and numerous other physical incidents). Luckly, even though I was small for my age back then, I was pretty tough and survived it all with just bumps and bruises.

I complained to the Shop Teacher (who liked me but was also a WW II Veteran) and he told me that someday I would have to learn to take care of myself. I told him the guy was 2 years older than me and he just repeated the same thing. The bullying didn't stop.

Years go by and I'm a senior, and I'm 6'1". I'm at a burger place with my good friend Bob (who is 6'3") and Bob says to me "what's wrong?"

I looked over at the waiting line and told Bob "that guy (who was 5'10') used to bully me". Bob looks over and says, "he bullied you too?" Then Bob says what do you think we should do, I replied I did not know.

So, in a real loud voice Bob says, "Do you think we should beat the Sh** out of him now or wait till he eats?". The bully looks over and sees the two of us at the same table and he just turns around and leaves the place! It was just great watching him leave the place express like he had his tail between his legs!

Bob and I laughed, enjoyed our meal, and shared stories of what he had done to each of us.

Bob joined the Navy and was on Nuclear Subs out of Grotton CT. Unfortunately, he had some exposure during a near meltdown. He put his 20 years in, but then was diagnosed with cancer and only survived it for a few months.

Real shame, he was a good friend. When I had my first Mustang (a Black 67 Fastback 289 4 speed) Bob had a 69 Z-28 Camaro, and we palled around together a lot.

My problem was I never got any bigger, at least in height .

 

[djg james]

How did you have a flue fire from a piece of black locust? You mean it burned so hot it caught all your creosote on fire?
The main wood I burn is black locust and I've never had a problem. The stove has 3 splits and a couple smaller rounds in it right now, the house feels great .
Most are unaware, black locust has one of the lowest moisture contents of any wood we have around here; I'm sure something else may have less, but I'm not aware of it.
There's a reason I don't like oaks, at least compared to BL, it's heavy and takes forever to properly season.
Now I'm wanting to go cut some.

Yes, I think your right. I had a hot fire going and I put a large chunk of BL on and I think I over loaded it. Got too hot. Not blaming the log, just me.

Yes, I know you cut/burn a lot of it. Wish I had a source for that much, it's all I'd burn. What I do get, I save for really cold periods. I'm still waiting for you to gift me with a couple of loads (lol).

What I running into more around here is Mulberry. I cut every log I find on the pile. To me, just as good as BL, or at least, close.

 

[sean donato]

Yes, I think your right. I had a hot fire going and I put a large chunk of BL on and I think I over loaded it. Got too hot. Not blaming the log, just me.

Yes, I know you cut/burn a lot of it. Wish I had a source for that much, it's all I'd burn. What I do get, I save for really cold periods. I'm still waiting for you to gift me with a couple of loads (lol).

What I running into more around here is Mulberry. I cut every log I find on the pile. To me, just as good as BL, or at least, close.

Not as good as locust, but pretty darn near imo. I grab up all of it I can as well. To my old man it's a shite tree and he won't burn it. So more for me.

 

[chipper1]

Yes, I think your right. I had a hot fire going and I put a large chunk of BL on and I think I over loaded it. Got too hot. Not blaming the log, just me.

Yes, I know you cut/burn a lot of it. Wish I had a source for that much, it's all I'd burn. What I do get, I save for really cold periods. I'm still waiting for you to gift me with a couple of loads (lol).

What I running into more around here is Mulberry. I cut every log I find on the pile. To me, just as good as BL, or at least, close.

Okay, just as long as your not blaming my favorite wood lol.
I haven't been down your way in a long time, yrs ago I was down there on a normal basis.
Mulberry is great burning wood, but heavier than BL when both are green. I have a crazy one(Mulberry) at a buddies to cut down, it has like 7 or 8 leads at the base and hangs over his shed/chicken coop. He's installing a woodstove as soon as he can get the tile backer and tile up, we picked his pipe up in PA last month. The good thing is he won't need to burn the Mulberry for a while, it does take a while to season well, I told him it's best to take it down this fall once the saps out of it(that makes it lighter too ).

 

[djg james]

Okay, just as long as your not blaming my favorite wood lol.
I haven't been down your way in a long time, yrs ago I was down there on a normal basis.
Mulberry is great burning wood, but heavier than BL when both are green. I have a crazy one(Mulberry) at a buddies to cut down, it has like 7 or 8 leads at the base and hangs over his shed/chicken coop. He's installing a woodstove as soon as he can get the tile backer and tile up, we picked his pipe up in PA last month. The good thing is he won't need to burn the Mulberry for a while, it does take a while to season well, I told him it's best to take it down this fall once the saps out of it(that makes it lighter too ).

Yes, I do believe it branches more that BL and is heavier too. Last log, I left the crotch piece because it was too mean to lift and split. I'm spoiled, I go after the easy stuff.

 

[chipper1]

Yes, I do believe it branches more that BL and is heavier too. Last log, I left the crotch piece because it was too mean to lift and split. I'm spoiled, I go after the easy stuff.

I only have a few mulberry on the property here, I try to keep them under control by pruning them, if not they are very messy and will grow towards any light they can get many times wrapping themselves around there trees on their way to the top of the canopy.
I feel I'm spoiled, lots of BL and it's all right near where I split at. I have more in the woods I need to get off the neighbors property that are leaners from the storm in the fall 2019. The ones left are mainly all bigger as I grabbed the easy stuff first knowing noone would take the big leaners, but who knows what folks will do this yr with the price of heating continuing to rise. If the weather holds out today I'll do some shuffling of logs and then I'll be more ready to do some fall cutting, the leaves are dropping fast here. I do have a large oak branch(probably 24-28") out back I should clean up before the locust as it's been down a while and it will rot, the locust not so much. Guess I need to make some decisions , the oak is all on my property and mostly off the ground. I'll probably wait on the oak til spring(or until some wood is out of the woodshed) and then load it into the woodshed for 24/25.

 

[chipper1]

Got some tree work one today. Came most of the way down in a wind storm. Got it the rest of the way to the ground and bucked up. Took a few hours to get bucked up. Butt end is around 34" only had a little of the 36" bar sticking through at the root ball. Getting the root ball cut off was a bit sketchy, for whatever reason it's like a little ravine on that side. Root ball was holding the butt end up at about 4 feet off the ground yet. I was thinking it would.make some nice boards, but it has stress fractures through most the trunk. So, shoulder season wood it is.

Looks like some nice wood in that. Them stress fractures can make a bad day out of what was thought to be a good one. They can be very difficult to get a read on as there is tension/pressure where it shouldn't be and the other way around too.
Are you leaving the one standing/leaning on the right, is that the one over the nasty neighbors. Maybe his tune will change when he sees you cut the neighbors tree, but not his. On another forum the guy had a nasty neighbor who was always calling on him, because of him he had to get rid of a bunch of wood at his place, this fall the township guy asked the guy from the forum if he'd sell him some wood, he said he would have but they made him move it . Also the nasty neighbor ran into some issues with them and hasn't said a mean word to the guy on the forum since .
You never know how things will work out, the neighbor I share the main drive with was a jerk, the one there now is the guy who I dropped some locust for this spring and he brings me all the logs/wood. I bring him cherry when he wants it so they can burn it in the fireplace, I guess he doesn't like BL in there, not sure if it's all the popping or the nasty smell . It works out well for both of us much like my other neighbor to the north .
Did I post this one here, next neighbor to the south had this BL blow into a large box elder, leaning towards his shed. I thought I was going to need to do some real fancy rigging, did a little, but not as fancy as I thought .
No stress cracks in this one. I diced it into firewood for him and he pulled all the brush.
I have a large nasty maple to drop at another neighbors that he's gonna get the wood from too if he wants it, otherwise I need to haul it all back here.

 

[MustangMike]

You guys cheating with your big equipment ... where is the skill!!!

I use HD 5/8" rope and a rope winch to pull things. Since rope stretches a bit, it works very well even if you don't have a helper. For snatch blocks, I love my Fusion Strux 8152 blocks. They swivel to let you get the rope in w/o taking anything apart. IMO, they work very well, and you can easily place them anywhere. They are also lightweight aluminum. They are very handy to have around, have used them a lot, and you can add or remove them from the rope any time you want.

 

[JimR]

I just got back from a hunt myself. I passed on a three year old 4x4 Blacktial right before it started getting dark. Its the second three year old 4x4 I've passed on this year. Hoping to find something with a little bit bigger frame! Hope I don't regret passing on those two this season.

I know what I would be eating right now if that were me.

 

[JimR]

You guys cheating with your big equipment ... where is the skill!!!

I use HD 5/8" rope and a rope winch to pull things. Since rope stretches a bit, it works very well even if you don't have a helper. For snatch blocks, I love my Fusion Strux 8152 blocks. They swivel to let you get the rope in w/o taking anything apart. IMO, they work very well, and you can easily place them anywhere. They are also lightweight aluminum. They are very handy to have around, have used them a lot, and you can add or remove them from the rope any time you want.

It is so much easier using a machine if you have one. I love my logging winch for dropping trees.

 

[JimR]

My son wanted one of those when he was about 12 so I bought one. They are load as hell and kick like a mule,

You should try a 8mm Steyr carbine if you like noise and a kick.

 

[djg james]

Went to the log yard to take a look. He had completely burned everything off last week. Well there's some new stacks added with some big Mulberry in one. He and another guy sell firewood, so I don't know if these stacks are off limits to me. Don't want to cut into them, tick him off and get thrown out of there. Still hard to resist.
I mainly went there to find something big I could cut after I sharpened my chain. Had to quit cutting last time because the chain was cutting embarrassingly to the side. This is the yellow stihl (RM?) chain I had sharpened by a guy who used a 5/32 wheel on. I sharpened it since and it cut fine. There was a discussion here about chains cutting to the side. Don't remember if the general consensus was cutters on one side longer that the other or some of the rakers higher than the other. I was going to sharpen and try it again today.
Going on an extended camping trip this week and my trailer is full of camp wood. Overkill, but it was suppose to be cold all week. I did find one pile of R. Oak branches on the burn pile, so I loaded up as much as I could get to without a chain saw. Hate to see it go to waste. Cold (mid 30s morning) and difficult to breath with the wind blowing. Did I say you guys up North should keep all that cold weather up there? I don't much care for it down here.

 

[djg james]

You guys cheating with your big equipment ... where is the skill!!!

I use HD 5/8" rope and a rope winch to pull things. Since rope stretches a bit, it works very well even if you don't have a helper. For snatch blocks, I love my Fusion Strux 8152 blocks. They swivel to let you get the rope in w/o taking anything apart. IMO, they work very well, and you can easily place them anywhere. They are also lightweight aluminum. They are very handy to have around, have used them a lot, and you can add or remove them from the rope any time you want.

I posted earlier about reliable snatch blocks others here use. I looked up Fusion and they appear? to be rope pulleys? Not for cables?
Now, I'm leaning toward a X-Bull.

 

[JimR]

I’ve never seen anyone try to lift a whole tree that big, don’t know why you would.

View attachment 1024760

No common sense and lack of training.

 

[JimR]

Went to the log yard to take a look. He had completely burned everything off last week. Well there's some new stacks added with some big Mulberry in one. He and another guy sell firewood, so I don't know if these stacks are off limits to me. Don't want to cut into them, tick him off and get thrown out of there. Still hard to resist.
I mainly went there to find something big I could cut after I sharpened my chain. Had to quit cutting last time because the chain was cutting embarrassingly to the side. This is the yellow stihl (RM?) chain I had sharpened by a guy who used a 5/32 wheel on. I sharpened it since and it cut fine. There was a discussion here about chains cutting to the side. Don't remember if the general consensus was cutters on one side longer that the other or some of the rakers higher than the other. I was going to sharpen and try it again today.
Going on an extended camping trip this week and my trailer is full of camp wood. Overkill, but it was suppose to be cold all week. I did find one pile of R. Oak branches on the burn pile, so I loaded up as much as I could get to without a chain saw. Hate to see it go to waste. Cold (mid 30s morning) and difficult to breath with the wind blowing. Did I say you guys up North should keep all that cold weather up there? I don't much care for it down here.
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Another reason for cutting off to the side is wear on the bar on one side making the surface not flat. Your chain will pull to the short side. You can check the squareness of the bar with a good square. Also make sure you don't have burrs on the side edge of the bar.