Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[EchovsStihl63]

I had DNR do an evaluation of my 30 acres in WV. They are paying me to clear 16 acres of Autumn Olive. Then the rest of the property is mature White Oak. They said it was ready to log and there was a small "Fortune" in veneer lumber in there. Being DNR they don't give any values. I thought about calling a logger then I found out you have to pay capital gains on logging so I just said to heck with it.

Autumn Olives are the bane of my existence. I take great joy in shoving them into the chipper and plucking the stumps out of the ground.

Someone planted my property in white pines in the mid 80s and they never got managed or harvested. Now they are crowding their self out and dying and all of the undergrowth is autumn olive or honey suckle bush. Power company came in and laid a bunch down and left them laying a few years before I bought, what a mess........

 

[MustangMike]

White Oak Veneer should be quite valuable! Capital gains rates are generally lower than normal tax rates (unless you get pushed into a higher bracket) and may even be -0- of your income is low (in the 15% bracket). Selling it on the installment basis may lower your year-to-year tax liability.

Or you could just let them harvest a little each year. You may also have some costs deductible as a cost basis (property taxes not deducted, travel expense, etc.).

I'm sure the value of your White Oak is much greater than the value of my (dying) Ash! They took everything over 12" diameter.

 

[MustangMike]

Square filing glitch!

I square filed the chains on two saws I brought up to the cabin. I thought I did them both exactly the same. My little ported 261 cut like a light saber, my more powerful ported 462 seemed to struggle to cut. If you dogged it in, it cut just fine, but it was not self-feeding and did not feel nearly as nice as the 261.

I checked the raker depth and trust me, there was no problem there.

After careful examination, I decided to try something. I re-filed the chain making sure the tilt the file was 45*. Walla! The 462 now cuts like a light saber also!

Mind you, the difference between what I did initially and what I did to correct the problem was VERY MINOR, but the difference is performance was GREAT! The side plate still had some angle to it (before I refiled), just not quite as much, but the additional bit of angle made a big difference in how it self-feeds.

So, if anyone square files their chain and has lackluster performance for no apparent reason, check to make sure this is not the problem.

IMO, nothing feels better (when cutting) than a sharp self-feeding chain! You just touch branches, and they fall off as if you were using a light saber!