Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[mainewoods]

You know you got a good scrounge when your arms are all "rubbery" and you can't lift a beer to your lips.

 

[dancan]

Speaking of scrounging tools here's a handy one , a long handled felling lever from Husqvarna , I don't believe it's available Stateside but it sure is handy up here .
The top of that maple leaner was all intertwined in the tops of 2 spruce , I could have cut the maple in chunks dropping it a few feet at a time but that has it's own set of risks so here's another way of getting it down .

 

[Poindexter]

Yup, I haven't seen that longer Husqvarna lever available at my local emporium. Would be handy indeed.

 

[mainewoods]

That will work, but if it was me, I would have cut a couple of quick 3 foot chunks out of that little maple butt, like you said, had it standing straight up again, and easily pushed away from the snag with one hand, in half the time, and half the energy it took him to yank that lever 32 times, ( I counted)

 

[MustangMike]

Clint, you got me laughing, but just think of it as a demonstration and I'm sure there are times when each method works better. Cutting the bottoms does not always go well either (been there, done that).

 

[mainewoods]

Always worked for me, and I never had a tree fall on my head yet. I'd say I have cut my fair share that way, over the years. If the tree is too big to chunk, I side hook a chain to it and roll it out of the snag. Same action as a lever, but mechanically powered instead of arm powered. That's why God made 4x4 pick up trucks.

 

[MustangMike]

Often I don't have a vehicle in where I cut. I have had to pull some down with a come along, even had some that when you cut the bottom out stayed suspended in the air.

 

[pennsywoodburnr]

Often I don't have a vehicle in where I cut. I have had to pull some down with a come along, even had some that when you cut the bottom out stayed suspended in the air.

Had that happen with an oak scrounge last year. I cut notches on both sides of a leaner to see whether she wanted to fall down or come up. I was happy when I realized cutting straight down would give me a levitating trunk. I got close to 10 feet of waist high wood before I had to rip the rest down with the masdaam.

 

[koomie]

Dan you sure work hard for your wood, wish you were my cutting partner

 

[dancan]

Thanks koomie , I'd love to get down there and cut some but it'll have to wait till one of these loto tickets pay off LOL
Clint , I counted 31 ......Bwahahahahahahahahaha Ha !
Hard work but I enjoy it , could put the same effort in at the gym but I'd have nothing to show for it .
For me it's not how much I can get done it's the fact that I can get out there and get it done .

 

[mainewoods]

Dan,I may just send you a couple tickets, so you can get some new, powered equipment. No wonder you got a broke leg with 6 screws holding it together(I counted). You are a human "skiddah".

 

[dancan]

The reason they had to go back in for the second go round was not because of the broken pins not seen in the xrays but because of the screw backing out and mainly one of the pins had shifted between the joint which was causing some "slight" discomfort . The "skiddah" stuff is rehab , lotsa small loads LOL
Mechanization is coming soon , real soon

 

[NSMaple1]

How I spent most of last weekend:



Well, not most of it. Just a few hours. Doesn't take long to burn through a gallon of gas when you get into messes like this. There's more windfalls here than I'll be able to burn before it gets too rotten. Only a 2 minute ATV ride from my back door. People think I'm nuts for thinking this is fun. Now I need to cobble up more pallets to pile on - I think I got 3 cords worth of this stuff cut up & ready to split/haul/pile. I never think to take pics while I'm at this stuff - think this is the only other one. Last year same spot:



Pays to pack 2 saws sometimes.

Found one more. Sometimes I scrounge from the weeds. White birch dries pretty quick & burns not bad either.



I'll have to try to remember to snap more pics when I'm taking breaks. Nice thread.

 

[chucker]

found an area with 15 acres of wind damage that has a majority of pine and popple with a small amount of hardwoods... managed to gather 2 nice cords of jack to start out the pine pile.

 

[Topbuilder]

No need to applaud , if they had their way , it would have been fused ,,,,,,Like that's gonna happen LOL
Don't worry about the saws , I've got plenty of saws to choose from and there isn't much around here that you couldn't take care of with a 16" on an 026 if I want to go light , I use my 361's the most though .
It's Dancan btw , I fixed it for you

I'm just getting the edge broken in , not ready for the resharp service yet , still splits fine , plenty of life left in that edge

"if they had their way , it would have been fused ,,,,,,Like that's gonna happen LOL"

Looks like a carbon copy of my ankle. The doc told me I would be back for a fusion in ten years. To which I said "uh huh, sure... see you around"
Like clock work, I had the fusion in ten years. I could not walk on it. Ate up with the post tramic arthritis...
No need to fear it, I walk surprisingly normal. Work on my feet most every day. If you over do it, it will bark at ya.
No more cowboy boots or slip ons though!
Good luck!

 

[dancan]

Thanks Topbuilder , I don't fear it , it's just the loss of time to give up to get any surgery done and recover that I can't get back that I'm concerned with .
I'll deal with what ever I get and figure out how to git er done regardless

 

[svk]

Here's a little bit of the cutting I did on Saturday.

I've watched this one get larger every year and finally eliminated the threat. The tree was just about perfectly balanced and no lean so I convinced it to the right with a come-along. It's bucked and sitting in rounds until the Mosquitos have wound down.


This big blowdown Norway was way too wet to split now but should be workable in the fall. Bark is starting to fall off which should help as well.



On Sunday I split and stacked another half cord of canker killed aspen from around the property.

 

[dancan]

How I spent most of last weekend:



Well, not most of it. Just a few hours. Doesn't take long to burn through a gallon of gas when you get into messes like this. There's more windfalls here than I'll be able to burn before it gets too rotten. Only a 2 minute ATV ride from my back door. People think I'm nuts for thinking this is fun. Now I need to cobble up more pallets to pile on - I think I got 3 cords worth of this stuff cut up & ready to split/haul/pile. I never think to take pics while I'm at this stuff - think this is the only other one. Last year same spot:



Pays to pack 2 saws sometimes.

Found one more. Sometimes I scrounge from the weeds. White birch dries pretty quick & burns not bad either.



I'll have to try to remember to snap more pics when I'm taking breaks. Nice thread.

I learned a long time ago to pack a backup , long way to drive home for a rescue sometimes LOL
I'll usually run the saw down any birch that I don't split to break the bark so the smaller rounds dry faster .

 

[zogger]

I learned a long time ago to pack a backup , long way to drive home for a rescue sometimes LOL
I'll usually run the saw down any birch that I don't split to break the bark so the smaller rounds dry faster .

That's a good idea. I have started, whenever I fell trees anymore, to do similar, plus take an axe and prybar to the bark and bust or cut off a lot of it before bucking. Yes, it is much slower..so am I these days If the wood is really green, a run or two cut longways down the trunk sure helps with the splitting later.

 

[dancan]

The reason I score the birch that I'm not splitting is because the bark is waterproof and does not breath like regular bark so the rounds tend to rot before they dry .