Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Marine5068]

Here's some of my recent fun.
View attachment 536201
View attachment 536202
View attachment 536203

what size bar is that?
I've got a Stihl 440 with a 28"(big saw)
and an Ms290 with an 18" (the go to saw)

 

[Logger nate]

Happy New President, USA. I've been watching the reactions and head explosions today with great amusement.

I had to take my new limbing saw in to the dealer today, there is a problem with the spark. It started suddenly. I was doing some cutting and stopped the saw probly half a tank through. Then when trying to start it a few mins later, it turned over a couple of times then died. I put up a full post in the ms661 no spark thread in Chainsaw. In any case, the 661 is in the infirmary for a few days. The dealer is 45 mins away and I have to drive over a range approx. 3000ft high to get there. A range full of trees. Well, if I have to drive over there, might as well take the 460 just in case. Wasn't optimistic enough to take the trailer but perhaps I should have, there was plenty of roadside scrounge.

View attachment 536135

So the 460 was pressed into service. It did a creditable job on the peppermint log but I'd have preferred to have the limber.

View attachment 536136

You'll note the other big log there. Woulda needed the trailer for that one but it's a less desirable species. So I set about loading up the Outback.

View attachment 536137

But nagging in the back of my mind is: "Would dancan think that was enough"?

View attachment 536138

That's better. And safety first for the passengers in the front!

View attachment 536139

And ok, the tow hitch wasn't dragging in the snow but she was squatting down pretty low.

View attachment 536140

It worked out to be a bit over half a metre which was very acceptable for a 30 min scrounge.

That's awesome

 

[Cowboy254]

Hell no havnt got any cut since the beginning of spring. Probably will get to in about 3 more weeks. We have been busier than hell getting the crops harvested and the ground worked for next year. We have 200 acres of wheat left to plant and then I should be back at it. I think there's about 12 to 15 cords left to get that I didn't get done. I sure can't wait to get back at it. To me it's peaceful and relaxing something a little different than farming. Oh yeah and it get to try out the 460 I got off Deets from that raffle. Looks out boys the chips will be flying LOL

Well make sure you put up the pics when you get into it! I love red gum, beautiful wood. Makes great looking furniture if you've got the skill but also top firewood that burns for a long time, great coals and leaves barely any ash.

 

[Marshy]

what size bar is that?
I've got a Stihl 440 with a 28"(big saw)
and an Ms290 with an 18" (the go to saw)

Both are 24" bars.

 

[nomad_archer]

Morning. Back at it again. Late setup today. Almost took until 8 to be set. Had a hard time picking at tree and I needed to wait out the flock of Turkey that came through. Climbers take a lot longer to setup than a ladder stand.

 

[MustangMike]

Did not see any deer this am, but a chickadee landed on me, and I had a plaited woodpecker 20 yards away. He seemed to be just snatching bugs off the branches, no drilling.

 

[nomad_archer]

Day 4 still no deer. This must be what it's like to hunt northern Minnesota.

 

[chipper1]

Day 4 still no deer. This must be what it's like to hunt northern Minnesota.

Wow NA, I'm feeling bad for you. I guess it's much easier here with the higher deer population.
If someone here says they can't get a deer(not a trophy, just meat) I laugh at them, really( I will offer a few suggestions if they will listen). In the lower peninsula of Mi it's pretty easy to get on a good trail and bag a deer even if you have never been to a property before. I don't think I'm a great hunter, but if I wanted to put deer meat on the table here in Mi that is not a problem.
I hope you get one soon buddy.
If not you are going to have to take a couple day trip out this way. You can even bring that farmer with you and I'll break out a saw or two for him to run .

 

[chipper1]

The leaves are rich in a eucalyptus oil of phellandrene type used in soap and perfumes, and some disinfectants. Funnily enough, it smells like peppermint. The wood doesn't smell like peppermint but is quite pleasant, as is the smoke as it burns which is in contrast to that of some other eucalypts which make your eyes bleed. This was traditional peppermint splitting-wise. The log was 20 inches at the base and about 16 inches at the end and two hits with the maul on a round from the 20 inch end and it'd fall in half. A bit different to the tree I was splitting up on the ridge.

I think my eyes might be failing. I can't see wood that is less than 4 inches in diameter, no zogger wood for me. Sometimes I take some down for my brother cause he burns that stuff but I contend that when I pick that up it is purely accidental. I did however have some splits in my daughter's booster seat to round out the load! She wasn't in it at the time, I'd like to point out.

sorry to hear about your "limbing" saw, hope they take good care of you.
That wood reminds me a lot of the cherry we get out here. It's a hardwood, but soft by our standards here. If you cut/split it in the spring you can burn it that fall.
Nice job on the scrounge, love the right hand drive, one day I would like one .

I noticed that vehicle is equipped with a roof rack.....
lol. I might suggest a swivel wheel on the trailer hitch!

I thought the same thing about the roof rack, and then I was thinking some air assist on the suspension.
The swivel is a great idea. Now you have me thinking, I wonder if I could mount a swivel on air where the trailer jack goes on my trailer.

 

[Cowboy254]

Well, the most momentous event anywhere in the world* in the last few days has happened. The lady farmer told me she is moving away, she'll be gone by February and if I want wood I've got until then (summer not being my preferred scrounging time what with the 40 degree C days, the snakes, bullants and the scorpions...and the drop bears). The loser husband will probably re-take possession then until it is sold so there'll be no more farm scrounging for me unless I can find another tame farmer. What a disaster!

I already have 2017 and 2018's wood in the shed. There's nothing for it, I'm going to have to knock off work at lunchtime today and get started on 2019 .

(* of scrounging)

 

[chipper1]

Well, the most momentous event anywhere in the world* in the last few days has happened. The lady farmer told me she is moving away, she'll be gone by February and if I want wood I've got until then (summer not being my preferred scrounging time what with the 40 degree C days, the snakes, bullants and the scorpions...and the drop bears). The loser husband will probably re-take possession then until it is sold so there'll be no more farm scrounging for me unless I can find another tame farmer. What a disaster!

I already have 2017 and 2018's wood in the shed. There's nothing for it, I'm going to have to knock off work at lunchtime today and get started on 2019 .

(* of scrounging)

Wow cowboy, that's a scandal of a whole different sort than what I thought you were going to say.
Is heat that expensive there to warrant taking time off work and losing the pay to get firewood.
I truly hope things work out better than expected for you kinda like hilary and the email deal .
By the way what is a bullant and a drop bear, I get scorpions and snakes, and I wouldn't want to deal with those either.
You still have a bit of time before summer kicks in though right.

 

[Cowboy254]

sorry to hear about your "limbing" saw, hope they take good care of you.
That wood reminds me a lot of the cherry we get out here. It's a hardwood, but soft by our standards here. If you cut/split it in the spring you can burn it that fall.
Nice job on the scrounge, love the right hand drive, one day I would like one .

I thought the same thing about the roof rack, and then I was thinking some air assist on the suspension.
The swivel is a great idea. Now you have me thinking, I wonder if I could mount a swivel on air where the trailer jack goes on my trailer.

By and large the ease of splitting of eucalypt species varies inversely with the density, with the odd exception. The really heavy stuff like grey box weighs 1120kg per cubic metre at 12%MC compared to sugar maple at 730kg/m. If you're attempting to split grey box by hand you need to settle in for a very long session. Alpine ash (still a eucalypt) is at the other end of the spectrum at 620kg/m and you only need to threaten it for it to split. @Plowboy83 's red gum is about 900kg/m3 and can be difficult to split and blue gum is similar. Peppermint is 800-820kg/m depending on the variety and splits like a dream, and better than some of the less dense eucalypts so it is a great compromise between BTUs and splitting. Combine that with very little ash and you've got good burning wood. You'd normally want to give any eucalypt at least a year before you burn it, and the denser stuff two.

 

[chipper1]

Sounds like barn fire wood.

Howdy jr.
Not sure it's what you were saying, but one of my favorite fire starters is barn siding. I will build a stack of it kind of in a pyramid in the wood stove with crumpled paper in the middle, one little touch of the torch on the paper and before you know it I have a nice little pile of coals to start a fire with some larger pieces.
I cut the barn siding to 16" and 12" and then split it to various sizes for the "pyramid".
The other thing that has been mentioned here before and is very worthy of mentioning again is the noodles from noodling a round into quarters(or whatever is needed) makes a great fire starter.

 

[Cowboy254]

Wow cowboy, that's a scandal of a whole different sort than what I thought you were going to say.
Is heat that expensive there to warrant taking time off work and losing the pay to get firewood.
I truly hope things work out better than expected for you kinda like hilary and the email deal .
By the way what is a bullant and a drop bear, I get scorpions and snakes, and I wouldn't want to deal with those either.
You still have a bit of time before summer kicks in though right.

Well, I'm self employed and the missus holds the fort while I get my scrounge on so we don't lose out at all. You're right, it's not too hot yet but there's not much time before it is. I can't believe you don't know about drop bears. Here's one:



Bull ants are a whole other proposition. Up to 40mm long - that's over 1.5 inches - they're evil and aggressive. I got bitten by one on the ankle once and my whole leg right up to my nutsack swelled up to gargantuan proportions.



Evil.

 

[svk]

Day 4 still no deer. This must be what it's like to hunt northern Minnesota.

Except for this opening day it is! I saw two deer the entire season in 2014.

 

[svk]

Well, I'm self employed and the missus holds the fort while I get my scrounge on so we don't lose out at all. You're right, it's not too hot yet but there's not much time before it is. I can't believe you don't know about drop bears. Here's one:

View attachment 536353

Bull ants are a whole other proposition. Up to 40mm long - that's over 1.5 inches - they're evil and aggressive. I got bitten by one on the ankle once and my whole leg right up to my nutsack swelled up to gargantuan proportions.

View attachment 536354

Evil.

Like those ants from the last Indiana Jones movie!

 

[chipper1]

Well, I'm self employed and the missus holds the fort while I get my scrounge on so we don't lose out at all. You're right, it's not too hot yet but there's not much time before it is. I can't believe you don't know about drop bears. Here's one:

View attachment 536353

Bull ants are a whole other proposition. Up to 40mm long - that's over 1.5 inches - they're evil and aggressive. I got bitten by one on the ankle once and my whole leg right up to my nutsack swelled up to gargantuan proportions.

View attachment 536354

Evil.

I am as well which allows me to get my scrounge on in other various ways that are much more productive than going to the woods .
Oh, those critters lol. Do the "drop bears" bother you much, I've been avoiding going there because of them LOL.
We have fire ant's here that can mess up your day pretty bad. The worse thing that can happen is that you fall from a tree stand while hunting onto their mound and break a bone or are in some other way not able to move and they swarm you, in very rare cases people have died.
Most people don't even believe me when I tell them about their mounds as I have seen them 5' wide at ground level and over 7-8' long.
I saw a crow one time on top of one of these mounds, I'm not sure if it was using the dirt granuals for a dust bath, or upsetting the ants to get them to come out and then eating them.
I'll get a picture of the mounds sometime when I think of it. I just saw a bunch of them at the place I voted at this week about a mile from my house.

 

[chipper1]

By and large the ease of splitting of eucalypt species varies inversely with the density, with the odd exception. The really heavy stuff like grey box weighs 1120kg per cubic metre at 12%MC compared to sugar maple at 730kg/m. If you're attempting to split grey box by hand you need to settle in for a very long session. Alpine ash (still a eucalypt) is at the other end of the spectrum at 620kg/m and you only need to threaten it for it to split. @Plowboy83 's red gum is about 900kg/m3 and can be difficult to split and blue gum is similar. Peppermint is 800-820kg/m depending on the variety and splits like a dream, and better than some of the less dense eucalypts so it is a great compromise between BTUs and splitting. Combine that with very little ash and you've got good burning wood. You'd normally want to give any eucalypt at least a year before you burn it, and the denser stuff two.

Very similar here too.
For the most part the cherry is like your alpine ash, but you can get into some that is a bit harder to split, but that's not the norm.
My favorite here is black locust which is not to bad to split if you can hit the exact same spot twice which the x27 helps to achieve.
A touch better for btu's is honey locust but it's a bear to split without a hydraulic unit and somewhat a pain even with as it is very stringy with strands going every which way that must be cut through not split. I'd rather not waste my time on it.
Most people here think that red oak is the best burning wood, but white oak is a bit better and seems to take less time to season. Another thing about the black locust is that it is right in between red and white oak for btu's, but weighs less when green because of a lower water content, did I say I like black locust .

 

[chipper1]

Except for this opening day it is! I saw two deer the entire season in 2014.

This is my back yard. This is my yard yesterday lol.
They haven't been hanging around my yard, but I'm sure if I wanted to "relocate" one I could have one hanging pretty quick.

 

[PA Dan]

My yard just about every day last week.