Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[JB Weld]

One of my neighbors had his lot cleaned up from last years tornado. On the north side it is very steep and kind of like the side of a bowl. The dirt man used a great big track hoe and pulled down the twisted trees and piled them alongside the trail he blazed back in there. I can go cut all I want! I think I am going to start cutting this evening.

 

[zogger]

One of my neighbors had his lot cleaned up from last years tornado. On the north side it is very steep and kind of like the side of a bowl. The dirt man used a great big track hoe and pulled down the twisted trees and piled them alongside the trail he blazed back in there. I can go cut all I want! I think I am going to start cutting this evening.

Sounds great man! Just be realllly careful cutting from a machinery chunked up pile, really think about gravity and stuff, how logs will twist and roll etc.

 

[zogger]

Uh huh. I'm learning fast. Free wood isn't always the deal it looks like!

Elm is excellent firewood, you just have to work for it. I scrounge up and burn a lot of elm and do my best to get it into woodstove size with the saw. Hand splitting, ecchhh. cut it short or noodle it is the best. With a mechanical splitter it is doable, just you get strings. Same with my sweetgum here, decent wood, requires a bit more saw work HAHAHAHAHAHA, sport!! Those big chunks I wind up with, night logs! Excellent for that. I cut a lot of smalls, so that balances out, half my stacks are stuff that needs zero splitting.

Pretty wood, real clean uniform splits, high quality, what I call primo by species and uniformity, etc, around here oak hickory and some cherry, that's cashola stuff! I burn everything else and do not lack, even with taking most of the year off. Once I get back in the groove, those stacks expand.

 

[farmer steve]

Move the date a little and I will be there. On a hunting note. Remember to put your doe tag application for round one in the mail tomorrow.

i don't get to set the date. up to the host. haven't got a doe tag in years."crop damage". they've already eaten$500 or more worth of sweet corn.

 

[nomad_archer]

Sounds great man! Just be realllly careful cutting from a machinery chunked up pile, really think about gravity and stuff, how logs will twist and roll etc.

And watch your bar tip. It's easy to get into other logs you don't intend to and kickback is a real concern.

 

[nomad_archer]

i don't get to set the date. up to the host. haven't got a doe tag in years."crop damage". they've already eaten$500 or more worth of sweet corn.

I understand the date is set by the host. Its unfortunate that the dates don't work for me but that is what it is.

If you need any extra help with the furry garbage disposals on 4 legs let me know.
$500 is a lot of corn to eat already.

 

[farmer steve]

I understand the date is set by the host. Its unfortunate that the dates don't work for me but that is what it is.

If you need any extra help with the furry garbage disposals on 4 legs let me know.
$500 is a lot of corn to eat already.

i'll let you know. i'd be glad to get rid of a few dozen. just walked out and looked around but didn't see any. ripped off a 20 ga. round anyhow just to let them know i was watching the corn patch.

 

[JustJeff]

This is my operation. Little thought went into it other than it is within hucking distance of where I am stacking. I now have 10 face cord stacked up for this winter. Elm hell! Lol. Most aren't as bad as this piece.

 

[SteveSS]

Not sure if this counts as a scrounge as a whole but part of it is for sure. What did that mean for me? I got paid good money to cut up downed trees, drag brush to the curb and haul the wood away.

Wait, wait, wait.....so you got paid to cut up and haul away free wood, and you're not sure if it counts as a scrounge?? You're absolutely correct.....it's not a scrounge. It's a full-on caps lock.....YOU SUCK!!

Very nice!

 

[chucker]

been awhile since I have posted any of the free scrounges I picked up... still have one more truck load plus a double wide snowmobile trailer to pick up yet on Saturday...... these were 3 Norway pines that were dropped in trade for a 2011 wave runner by someone else...

 

[mainewoods]

Not sure if this counts as a scrounge as a whole but part of it is for sure. Tuesday June 30th our entire area had some strong thunderstorms come through and cause damage ina 30-40 mile range. Lots and lots of downed trees and plenty of tops blown out and hangers way up in the trees. The tree companies have had so much work to do, many of them stopped answering their phones or were giving 3 weeks to even come look at jobs. I was able to pick up plenty of jobs where trees were fully on the ground. Pretty much all towns around offer brush pick up once or twice a year but when storms like this happen, they offer another round. What did that mean for me? I got paid good money to cut up downed trees, drag brush to the curb and haul the wood away. I was hoping to score more oak jobs than I did but still managed to get about 5-6 cords of it. I also got close to 10 cords for my owb. Depending on the day, I was hiring 1-3 teenagers to drag and help load while I mostly ran the saws.

That is a serious scrounge! It also put some cash in the kid's pocket and taught 'em a lesson on work ethic. Winner all the way around.

 

[JB Weld]

One of my neighbors had his lot cleaned up from last years tornado. On the north side it is very steep and kind of like the side of a bowl. The dirt man used a great big track hoe and pulled down the twisted trees and piled them alongside the trail he blazed back in there. I can go cut all I want! I think I am going to start cutting this evening.

So here are some pics of the scrounge. This location is only about a 1/4 mile from my house, and the wood has been on the ground since April 2014. The first picture is the pile I tackled yesterday evening. It was a tough scrounge because it is a sloped area. It is down hill on the left of the pile, and that proved to be a little challenging. It is also down hill from the truck and trailer, so all of it had to be carried or rolled up to the truck. In the second and third pictures, it does not look like much, but believe me it was a hard fought battle to get this wood to the splitting yard. It was 92 degrees with a heat index of "Damn Hot and Humid". The 361 did a GREAT job cutting. The more I use that saw the more I like it. It even feels better to know that I fixed that saw myself (with some good advice from my friends on AS of course). I still have to go back this evening and get the other half of that 20" diameter Hickory log. I just could not pick up or roll one more piece of wood yesterday evening. The last picture is of a big log I hope to go get tomorrow. I will probably start cutting it today. Thank the good Lord that I can get this free wood right near my house. It is a really blessing to be able to fix saws, cut with saws, and get free firewood to boot. Now if I can just get my Hydro splitter back from my buddy.....

 

[Philbert]

. . .It is also down hill from the truck and trailer, so all of it had to be carried or rolled up to the truck.

If it is a rich motherlode for scrounging, it may be worthwhile to consider investing in a winch and skidding cone? Payback in time and Tylenol might be pretty quick.

Philbert

 

[dancan]

Funny you said that LOL
I'll put up a pic of the new to me replacement tomorrow .
Clint will be proud of me

Sorry but I forgot the pics , have to wait till I get back to the shop .

 

[mainewoods]

I'm proud of you already Dan, even without a pic!

 

[JB Weld]

I went back this morning and got the rest of that big log. I had to Noodle the rounds so I could lift them into the truck. My Dakota was squatting. I was back at the house by 730. Now if I can just get Ms. Weld out of the bed, I will have done something.

 

[MustangMike]

Got some more splitting done yesterday. Actually, finished up the first pile and started a second one further up. Weather was great yesterday, and looks good today for the BBQ my daughter is having.

I think we got a good amount of wood here, and it is all good quality wood. In order: Black Birch, Red Oak, Hard Maple, White Oak, Ash, Beech. No soft hardwoods at all.

 

[blades]

 

[nomad_archer]

You know you need to stack that eventually. As someone who used to split 1-2 years of wood at a time. I feel for you. You have a ton of stacking to do.

 

[MustangMike]

It is just there temporarily, mostly on wood chips. It will get stacked when it is delivered. There is a limit to how many times you want to stack the same wood!

My priority was to get it all cut first, then split, then stacked.

I am very glad to have that splitter, the Black Birch is very stringy stuff.

I've already delivered over 3 cords in addition to this (and that is all nicely stacked). I would have never been able to split this all by hand.