Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[MustangMike]

Wow, that is a nice contraption!

 

[zogger]

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!

The area in which I live is rich in Revolutionary War history. Several of the mountains my wife and I hike were previously used as lookout points for British ships & troops during the war, and some of the hiking trials were previously used by revolutionary war troops.

Plaques on the road mark the routes of both the British Major John Andre, who met with traitor General Benedict Arnold at West Point (Andre was captured in Sleepy Hollow), and Sybil Ludington. Sybil (our local Paul Revere) was 16 when she rode 40 miles on a rainy night to alert 400 local militiamen (under the command of her father Col Henry Ludington) of the Battle and burning of Danbury CT. Sybil was the oldest of his 12 children, and a statue in Carmel NY commemorates her action.

I've attached a picture of West Point from Mt Taurus in Cold Spring that reflects the strategic importance of that location in controlling the Hudson. NYC is on the skyline (hard to make out), and the Bear Mtn Bridge is at the furthest point where you can see the river.

Hope everyone enjoys the Holiday and appreciates the freedom we have.

Ya, happy 4th!

I guess you are referring to those terrorists, who needed to be detained, hooded, and renditioned someplace secret where they could be interrogated using harsh methods. How dare they, refuse the lawful commands and edicts of their betters in the official central government! They dare to assault any of the lawful legal officers and bureaucrats of the government. Inciting to riot! Unlawful assembly! Failed to pay their gazing fees! Dared to build a structure without paying for the lawful permit and having it inspected! Home schooled! Carrying illegal assault muskets and concealed pistols! Not paying the lawful taxes! Terroristic threats against the legal government!

Mostly civil war stuff around here, same deal a century later. Proly happen again sometime.

Just seems to be, the natural nature of government to become despotic one way or the other, and it doesn't seem to take very long, especially when they are career full time government "leaders" and order following employees.

 

[CTYank]

Not been actively scrounging for a few months. Got enough c/s/s for a "****'s age" and been working on getting a bum shoulder back in shape. However, 7/3 as I was heading out to run a bunch of errands, I heard saws and a chipper almost dead across the street. Immediate change of plans.

Crew was taking down some dying black locust. 'Splained that I'd happily lighten their load, hauling off anything bigger than my ankle. They were happy with that, so I got my 40 cc RedMax w/18" and proceeded cutting the pieces they'd piled for me near the deceased, getting them to size to be loaded into my Ranger shortly. Giovanni and Arnold even helped load.

They even volunteered to help me unload across the street at my place, and cut it to length there. Thanks, but no, I needed the exercise for myself and a new 6100 Dolly. All told, two good p/u loads- about 2/3 cord. Gives a good workout, and the forks and knots get partial noodling. Looking forward to a few more hours of serious physical therapy, and multi months mid-winter heating.

I'll get to those errands presently. Stuff happens. Their chipper blades would have choked on the big sticks, so everybody made out.

 

[MustangMike]

Spent a few hours with my brother at his property in Garrison, we have been clearing trees for a driveway (the lot goes way back from the road). Took down a few small maples today, and started cutting up the big Tulip I dropped last time we were there. Tulip is soft, but that big fat trunk does not taper for quite a while.

Spent most of the time running the 046 with the 24" bar, and my clothes were drenched from the sweat!

 

[marcy-m]

There's a lot here, so forgive me if I missed this question. I'm looking for strategies for dealing with wood that has been cut with no regard to placement of knots and forks. I see CtYank does some partial noodling on those pieces. I don't know what exactly that means, so I'll be looking that up in a minute.

I guess it's because these are subdivision trees rather than forest grown, but we don't often get straight grain.

Most of our wood has a lot of limbs/ knots.My daughter and I worked for 45 min on one piece that was forked. Sycamore maybe? She pounded with maul and wedges until she couldn't, then I worked until I couldn't. Back and forth. We tried taking bits off the outside edges etc. We ended up getting both wedges buried, and one is still in there. I got 2 good splits, but it's still too big. My electric chainsaw laughs when i try to noodle this piece.

There's got to be a better way to deal with problem pieces. How do y'all do it?

I know it's better to have a fork/knot at one end vs middle, and I cut the problems out when I can.

We also split around the outside on bigger pieces and look for strategic places in each piece where it's already splitting/ likely to split. I know we're missing something, though. Do y'all toss the hard ones?

Thanks!


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[MustangMike]

Noodle it with a gas chainsaw or get a good mechanical spliter. Elm is sometimes almost impossible to split.

Also, wood will often split better on cold days when it is frozen.

 

[MountainHigh]

There's a lot here, so forgive me if I missed this question. I'm looking for strategies for dealing with wood that has been cut with no regard to placement of knots and forks. I see CtYank does some partial noodling on those pieces. I don't know what exactly that means, so I'll be looking that up in a minute.

I guess it's because these are subdivision trees rather than forest grown, but we don't often get straight grain.

Most of our wood has a lot of limbs/ knots.My daughter and I worked for 45 min on one piece that was forked. Sycamore maybe? She pounded with maul and wedges until she couldn't, then I worked until I couldn't. Back and forth. We tried taking bits off the outside edges etc. We ended up getting both wedges buried, and one is still in there. I got 2 good splits, but it's still too big. My electric chainsaw laughs when i try to noodle this piece.

There's got to be a better way to deal with problem pieces. How do y'all do it?

I know it's better to have a fork/knot at one end vs middle, and I cut the problems out when I can.

We also split around the outside on bigger pieces and look for strategic places in each piece where it's already splitting/ likely to split. I know we're missing something, though. Do y'all toss the hard ones?

Thanks!


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Noodling is simply cutting with the grain - the saw will spit out large noodle like wood chips. Like Mustang Mike said, for the really tough knotty ones, noodle them with a strong saw and sharp chain first, and then split the smaller chunks with an axe/maul or better yet a decent gas splitter. If you don't have a splitter and there is LOTS of hard to split usable wood available to you, it might be worth renting a good splitter for a day. You sure can knock yourself out on those knotty chunks, so let your saw do the hard grunt work first.

I used to noodle stuff with my 346xp but find a 60cc saw far more capable at noodling just about anything I need. Many a stubborn bucked up log, that I couldn't even penetrate its surface with an axe of maul - they just bounced right off it - has succumbed to first noodling it down into more easily handled chunks.

Good luck

 

[marcy-m]

MustangMike not too many frozen days here, although we have cold days. We saw some elm on Saturday. Thanks for the heads up. We'll try a few before we get the whole load. Hopefully it's an elm that will split well.

MountainHigh I was wondering the specifics on partial noodling ie where to determine to put the cuts. I don't see us renting a splitter. My daughter would be mad since she really likes splitting. Thanks!


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[marcy-m]

...explains why the electric saw has a fit when noodling and why the 40cc took it's time. Good info to know. Thanks!

 

[MountainHigh]

MustangMike not too many frozen days here, although we have cold days. We saw some elm on Saturday. Thanks for the heads up. We'll try a few before we get the whole load. Hopefully it's an elm that will split well.

MountainHigh I was wondering the specifics on partial noodling ie where to determine to put the cuts. I don't see us renting a splitter. My daughter would be mad since she really likes splitting. Thanks!
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Only hard wood I cut in my neck of the woods is Maple and some varieties of Birch. I get some large Fir rounds with tons of knots - it's technically a soft wood, but those knots can be like concrete to an axe. If you're into harder species some others may have more to say on this but with my 562xp, I just cut wherever I want and bob's yur uncle. Key is strong saw and very sharp chain - cut the rounds in the middle, right through knots, down the side or cut it like a pie or a cake if you want - wherever suits your fancy to make the wood more manageable. 562xp doesn't care where I cut - I just keep the chain sharp and the oil flowing - it is an angry little beast

Here's someone noodling with a 372xp

 

[marcy-m]

Oh ok, so there's no wrong way. I' m just doing whatever is more manageable. Makes sense.

I don't know about the 562xp, but I'm working with an electric 16" and then a gas mucolloch 16" if we can get it going again. Weak i know, but this is pretty new for us.

Chains were sharpened recently. Maybe we'll get the northern tools sharpener this week since I watched a video on that. Then we won't have to wait for the shop to sharpen our chains.

Thanks for the tips.


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[MountainHigh]

Oh ok, so there's no wrong way. I' m just doing whatever is more manageable. Makes sense.

I don't know about the 562xp, but I'm working with an electric 16" and then a gas mucolloch 16" if we can get it going again. Weak i know, but this is pretty new for us.

Chains were sharpened recently. Maybe we'll get the northern tools sharpener this week since I watched a video on that. Then we won't have to wait for the shop to sharpen our chains.

Thanks for the tips.


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Yep - no wrong way to noodle in my book - but as you likely know, just always be cautious watch for saw kickback whenever working with tip of saw - do homework if you're not sure how to treat the tip of your saw. Safety first.
You might need stronger saw for successful noodling in your hardwood. 60cc and up seems to work best for nasty wood.
cheers

 

[marcy-m]

Good Lord-the size of that saw!


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[marcy-m]

I've read about kickback and know the danger area. What I don't know is whether this happens even when nose is buried deep or just mainly when starting a cut.



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[MountainHigh]

I've read about kickback and know the danger area. What I don't know is whether this happens even when nose is buried deep or just mainly when starting a cut.



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mainly when starting the cut but any upward push of saw tip and she can try to push out of cut on you even when burried.

Yes larger saw makes for easier work in knotty wood.
Late here - signing off now,
TTYL

 

[dancan]

Instead of full length , buck the crotches and knotty pieces a lot shorter , easier to split that way and takes less time than trying to noodle with a small saw .

 

[MustangMike]

Great video Mtn, but I'm going to me your Mother for a moment "Wear some darn gloves, especially when clearing noodles on a running saw!"

Always remember safety first, some of us tend to do some things that someone new to saws should not do. Remember, fingers & toes do not grow back!

Marcy-m, in the price range of your equipment, you should learn to hand sharpen an put your money toward a better saw (not a sharpener). Files are very low cost, and it is not that hard to learn how to sharpen a chain. In fact, it is easier than splitting wood by hand.

 

[nomad_archer]

Great video Mtn, but I'm going to me your Mother for a moment "Wear some darn gloves, especially when clearing noodles on a running saw!"

Always remember safety first, some of us tend to do some things that someone new to saws should not do. Remember, fingers & toes do not grow back!

Marcy-m, in the price range of your equipment, you should learn to hand sharpen an put your money toward a better saw (not a sharpener). Files are very low cost, and it is not that hard to learn how to sharpen a chain. In fact, it is easier than splitting wood by hand.

Actucally Mike is very right here. I have the norther tool grinder and it is a good tool for the price but I only use it when rocks decide to attack my chain and the chain is in really bad. I got a stihl filing kit and the stihl file guide holder that goes on the bar and I file my chains 99% of the time becuase it is quick and you get a sharper chain when it is filed especially as a novice with a grinder. Grinders can do some serious damage to a chain when used improperly. I found that out the hard way. Filing is quick and easy with the right tools. The tools I linked to cost me around $50 or less total and I use them most of the time. I even hand file my chains after they come off the grinder because the angles from the round file cut better in my mind then the angle from the grinder even when the grinder is used properly. As a bonus I dont have to clean my chains when hand filing as I would if I used the grinder. For a grinder you want the chains clean and oil free so as not to gum up the grinding wheels. Good luck with your decision but I would go the hand filing route to start with. I wish I had.

Stihl File Guide Holder: http://www.stihlusa.com/products/chain-saws/accessories/filing-tools/ff1fileguide/
Stihl Filing Kit: http://www.stihlusa.com/products/chain-saws/accessories/filing-tools/completefilekits/

Filing Setup:

 

[nomad_archer]

The neighbor a few houses down felt bad for me using my x27 to split the huge pile of wood this weekend so he brought his home made log splitter down for long term use. So I guess I have to get the wood split soon and get back into wood processing.

I have spent a lot of time recently on my bike pulling my daughter behind me and generally having a great time doing it. My wife and I have really gotten bitten by the cycling bug and she is not looking at doing benefit rides and getting a more dedicated road bike for benefit rides. Her hybrid is nice but not really designed for longer 25+ mile rides. I guess that is also an excuse for me to get another bike as well. The mountain bike is great for the rail trials etc but on the road it is a real bear to get and keep moving. Yay for new toys but I need to find a cheaper hobby. I keep stumbling into more and more expensive hobbies.

 

[MustangMike]

Tell me about it, I'm riding a Madone 7 with Carbon A3 D3 wheels. Love it, but it was a "lot of chainsaws". I did save many thousands by going with Ultegra instead of Dura Ace, and aluminum aero bars and stem instead of carbon, etc. My 60 cm frame w/o pedals is still under 16 lbs. It does help to keep you in shape, especially if you start riding with a group and "get addicted".

Regarding the kickback questions, it can occur whenever the bar tip makes contact with anything. Metal fences, etc, will really cause a violent reaction. A dull chain will also make it worse. The low kickback bars have smaller noses. IMO, a sharp chain always causes less kickback. Always have a firm grip on, and control your saw. There are no second chances.