Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[DFK]

M. Mike:
You going to mill that "Humungo" Oak log????

David

 

[MustangMike]

M. Mike:
You going to mill that "Humungo" Oak log????

David

That is the plan, but I am still contemplating how to get it done! If I mount the guide in the usual manner, the bar will likely not reach through.

I'm thinking of starting the cut free hand, go deep enough to bury the bar, then mount the guide on the outside of the log. I can then insert the bar in the cut w/o cutting my support and the bar should reach through the edge.

That Red Oak is over 40" diameter and 12' long. I also think I may make 2 - 6' plus pieces out of it to make it easier to handle.

That log is located next to his septic fields, so I could not get heavy equipment in there even if I had it. What ever I decide to do with it, I'm sure it will be a challenge.

I also plan to make a few smaller "Table Tops" by just cutting a few rounds. I have saved several rounds for that purpose, including the stump.

I also still have most of the Shag Bark Hickory trunk, another large Pig Nut Hickory trunk, and another large Red Oak trunk still to be processed. And everyone thought I was going to have all this "free time" in retirement!

 

[dancan]

I would not burn that dimensional lumber!

Mike , there was handy 30 2x4's in there , from 7' to 14' and a bunch of 2' ones , they're all safe LOL
I delivered the "rick" of short ready to burn stuff this morning .

 

[svk]

Had planned to rip the back up saws in some aspen Sunday but my 4 hour roofing project turned into a 12 hour project.

I did split and haul out a half cord of aspen on Saturday. Checked my full sun stacks and they are crispy dry after two months.

 

[dancan]

Well , the temps are still in the mid 80's up here , bleh ...
I had some logs that I saved for sawing so I figured I'd go get them .
Some of them I was able to load by hand , a couple of the others were the reason I setup the crane for .

It worked quite well
Until the battery pack for the winch died
Had to grab the manuel backup winch and got it done

I did bring a few rounds home for firewood and got them split up .

I sure wish LoggerNate and his son were here , I wouldn't have needed to work that hard to load the trailer LOL

 

[farmer steve]

Well , the temps are still in the mid 80's up here , bleh ...
I had some logs that I saved for sawing so I figured I'd go get them .
Some of them I was able to load by hand , a couple of the others were the reason I setup the crane for .

It worked quite well
Until the battery pack for the winch died
Had to grab the manuel backup winch and got it done

I did bring a few rounds home for firewood and got them split up .

I sure wish LoggerNate and his son were here , I wouldn't have needed to work that hard to load the trailer LOL

nice haul Dancan. only 80's? that load would have looked good in the old Danvan

 

[svk]

I love when boxes of saw parts and chain arrive from fellow AS members!

 

[woodchip rookie]

I'm glad somebody started this thread. I know I'm late to the party but I brought wood!

So I have been hunting down free dead ash for months. I cant cut/haul it fast enough. Its everywhere. (Central Ohio). Couple questions, and I'm not even going to bring that spider guy in for a moisture meter war but these trees are dead standing. Excellent wood. 2 weeks after bucking/stacking most of this ash is deeply dry cracked and *LOOKS* as if I could split it and throw it right in the stove. When I'm cutting this stuff in the feild it doesnt look good enough to burn quite yet but a couple weeks sitting here stacked and it looks like its been sitting here for a couple years. So if I get as much of it split as fast as I can and let it sit out through our 2 dryest months (Aug, Sep) will this stuff be good by December? I have burnt a little of it when I was test burning my craigslist stoves and after it got hot all I got out of the stack was a little steam and heat. No thick smoke. No garbage.

 

[svk]

Should be good to burn. Ash normally dries fast.

 

[woodchip rookie]

Another thing I noticed was it leaves alot of ash in the stove. I burnt for just a couple hours and I shoveled quite a bit of ash out of the stove the next day. Is that just how ash is? Is that why they call it "ASH"?!

 

[MustangMike]

Ash is one (if not the) fastest drying hardwoods out there, and if it is already dead when you are cutting it, I'm sure it will be good for this year.

But if some of the trunks are large & straight, you may want to mill some of it. Don't forget, this stuff likely will never grow back again. Properly stored lumber could be a very valuable commodity. Conversely, it has no "extra" value as firewood.

 

[MustangMike]

Another thing I noticed was it leaves alot of ash in the stove. I burnt for just a couple hours and I shoveled quite a bit of ash out of the stove the next day. Is that just how ash is? Is that why they call it "ASH"?!

Ash has high BTUs, but does leave a lot of ash, and does not coal as well as some other woods (maybe because it dries so fast). For example, Black Cherry has less BTUs, but seems to coal up better.

Ash is very hard and relatively light, splits easily, and is often used for things like wheelbarrow and shovel handles.

 

[woodchip rookie]

What do you mean by "properly stored"? Like locked up in a bank? Or the the tops of the stacks covered outside?

 

[MustangMike]

Covered outside, or in a garage or basement. Has to be off the ground with spacers between the wood.

 

[Woodyjiw]

Today's scrounge. I helped a friend of mine today haul his wood to his house. This was at his dad's house 11 miles away. The power lines run through his dad's property and the power company came through and clear cut 30' on both sides of the lines. They cut all the trees down and chipped the brush then piled all the logs at the edge on the woods.
My buddy skidded all the logs out and bucked them up and we met up this morning at 8am and I loaded my Bobcat back in the trailer at 10pm.... Good long day of log hauling, we ended up with 8 full trailer loads. 7'x14' dump trailer

 

[woodchip rookie]

Oh dear....I'm gettin ONE TREE at a time. Thats a serious score.

 

[chipper1]

I am on the north east side of Atlanta. This is the first year burning for me. I figure I will burn about 2 maybe 3 cords myself and that is just because I have a 110 year old 1800 sqft house with no insulation in the walls. I am shooting for 6 cord total as I am going to be keeping an elderly neighbor and friend in firewood this winter. I forgot that all the wood from my coworker was cut to length ( too long for my stove) and stacked for the last 5 months.

Sent from this thing that doesn't ever seem to work right.

The main thing is good dry wood. Makes up for a lot of other problems.
Bummer it was all the long length, but free is free.

 

[chipper1]

I did a muff mod and timing advance. Cuts very fast in the small & medium stuff, but the AM cylinders are known for modest compression, which likely hurts the torque (it may improve a little with more break in, but I'm not going to be unrealistic).

I do square by hand, with a six sided file (don't use the triangular ones, they hit the straps on the opposite side too much). File from the outside in, and try to maintain 45 degrees back and 45 degrees down for hardwood.

I found this to be very helpful: http:www.madsens1.com/bnc_cb_angles.htm

Yes, the AM cylinders look very similar to stock ones in many instances, but are sometimes lacking in performance.
I have one on a 357xp athat was on it when I bought it and it does well.

Thanks Mike. I have never done square before, but want to learn.
i have seen that link before and I already have it saved, now it's time to be reading back through all those older linka I've found.

 

[chipper1]

Oh dear....I'm gettin ONE TREE at a time. Thats a serious score.

Welcome to AS WC rookie.

It's ok, don't try to keep up with us michiganders yet LOL.
No doubt you will catch up someday.

 

[chipper1]

Today's scrounge. I helped a friend of mine today haul his wood to his house. This was at his dad's house 11 miles away. The power lines run through his dad's property and the power company came through and clear cut 30' on both sides of the lines. They cut all the trees down and chipped the brush then piled all the logs at the edge on the woods.
My buddy skidded all the logs out and bucked them up and we met up this morning at 8am and I loaded my Bobcat back in the trailer at 10pm.... Good long day of log hauling, we ended up with 8 full trailer loads. 7'x14' dump trailer

Nice score neighbor.