Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

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I use a wedge for both felling and bucking. Saves a lot of bar pinch. I don't however have any use for an axe or hatchet while cutting. I prefer a sledge hammer for tapping in wedges. Also take along a good sized pry bar which has saved my bacon a time or two.
Not dissing anyone's axe. Lol. This is just what works for me.
 
I restore plastic wedges after saw contacts and flights:
(Before)
View attachment 537906

(After)
View attachment 537907

View attachment 537908

(These were not my wedges - I just 'cleaned them up' abit).

Philbert
What do you use? I recall you telling about fixing them before. I was in a hurry and used a flap wheel on a die grinder in a pinch. It worked on but if you let it get too hot it could melt a little and flow and make a hard black blob. Stinky.
 
Well, when I'm cutting a 80' pine with a 24" bhd and there's a house 45' away in one direction and a power line 30' away on the other side I wedge. Hell, I wedge when I'm in the middle of the woods. Takes a second to use and protects me a my saw and helps control the tree especially if your felling g against a lean. Having them on your body while cutting saves time.
If any doubt, I hook a cable in the tree and winch the direction I want it to fall. More control that way. But to be honest, I dont cut trees around peoples houses and most of what I cut in the woods, I can let fall the way they want to go. I also dont cut trees for a living, if I did, I would probably have a bigger tool box to pull from.
 
I don't cut for a living either but can tell you that people who do don't rarely hook cables winches or come-alongs o the trees. You can tip a tree quite will with just one wedge. Matter of fact, I can count one hand the number of trees that I've even used a rope on.
 
What do you use? I recall you telling about fixing them before. I was in a hurry and used a flap wheel on a die grinder in a pinch. It worked on but if you let it get too hot it could melt a little and flow and make a hard black blob. Stinky.
I have a small woodworking shop, so I use a fine tooth bandsaw to cut the ends off flush, and a stationary belt/disc sander to round over the mushroomed heads and reshape the bevel. *The trick I leaned (accidentally) is to sand into the wedge for the final bevel! Sanding away leaves a gloppy mess of melted plastic that has to be cut off; sanding into the wedge leaves that nice finish shown in the last photo, above.

IMG_5322.jpg

If I did not have these tools available, I could still cut off the wedges flush with any fine tooth hand saw (hacksaw, coping saw, Japanese pull saw, etc.), and reshape the bevel with most portable, power sanders (belt, orbital, etc.) with the right sandpaper - I would have to experiment. I have also done this with a sharp block plane, which leaves a very smooth finish, but it takes a little longer.

Philbert
 
I have roped many trees that are near houses, power lines, roads, etc. Better safe than sorry, you never know what the wind will do, so don't take unnecessary chances when it matters. If you don't have a rope on a tree that gets blown the wrong way, you are F***ed.
Every tree I attached a rope or cable to never fell anywhere except where I intended it to!
 
I have roped many trees that are near houses, power lines, roads, etc. Better safe than sorry, you never know what the wind will do, so don't take unnecessary chances when it matters. If you don't have a rope on a tree that gets blown the wrong way, you are F***ed.
You are exactly right. It might take 15 minutes to rig up a tree but would take a lot longer to fix what went wrong if it didn't go where you wanted it to.
 
Moving right along, my blue gum is starting to look a bit less like a deformed spider, a tank or two at a time.

15th Nov 3.jpg

I'm loving those big split free rounds that I can shoehorn into the fire. Just. Or maybe not, I'll find out I guess.

15th Nov 4.jpg

Well, it's slightly less like a deformed spider. A tank even with a freshly sharpened chain doesn't go that far in dry blue gum. Lots of BTUs though per round and they're good to go.

15th Nov 5.jpg

Still solid!

15th Nov 1.jpg

I went to hook up the trailer today to find that one of the tyres was delaminating. Buggrit :angry:. Well there's the spare. Buggrit :angry:. It's so old that it's cracked and deformed. Lady farmer has a trailer, as well as the 4WD as well as the farm as well as the wood I've been cutting on it and turns out she's happy to let me go nuts. Picked up a coupla trailer loads and it was stinkin' hot and humid which made it less fun than usual but at least it wasn't raining like it did through most of October. I measured the dimensions of the trailer, loaded with the peppermint I cut last week that I thought was about 1/3 cord for 1 tank in the 460 and it turned out to be 1.25 cubic metres. Lucky guess.A third of a cord.jpg

:)
 
Oh you NEED a 70cc saw alright! I didn't think I needed one till I got one in my hands.

I second this opinion. I didnt think I needed a 70cc saw until I had one. If it needs a 20" bar or more I pick up the 70cc saw. Otherwise the 50cc or 40cc saws get the call. But I run the 365xt more than the others. You really do need to 70cc saw.


I thought the same thing at first but it just lacks the weight, handle length and poll to make a good wedge pounder IMO. plus I don't feel it's ideal to carry a razor sharp implement on my side in case I stumble and fall on it.
I recently acquired this hatched and look forward to giving it a try. I painted the handle red.
View attachment 537876
View attachment 537877

I dont plan on keeping it on my hip. Just to help carry it to where I am working. I dont like any handled tools on my belt when I am working wood because they catch on everything. Also I use my wedges mostly for bucking so the x15 is sufficient. When felling I have a 5lb maul, mini sledge, x27 all available if needed. I dont do much felling, I prefer that the tree already be on the ground if possible.
 
For real on the 70cc though. I dropped a large elm last year and I was working on it with a friend. He had my 50cc saw (albeit a poulan but with a muff mod and full chisel) while I ran the 70. I was at least twice as fast from limbing to moderate size up to say 12". Saw is heavier, yes but does so much work. I think back to what I was doing a couple years ago cutting 30" ash with that stock poulan and safety chain. Thank you arboristsite and CAD.
I remember running that 70cc husky and thinking "jeez, I'll never need more power than this". That was before I got my hands wrapped around the handles of the ms460! Lol.
 
So I may get the huztl 372xp next and build it and may just get an already preassembled crankcase too cause I am pretty sure I can do everything but that. I can probably do that just don't know how the wife feels about a crank in the freezer and the case in the oven lol

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
Just good practice so that it is there when you need it. Also good when bucking to avoid surprises.

Philbert

Yep!!!! I always have one in my back pocket when out cutting in the woods.

I restore plastic wedges after saw contacts and flights:
(Before)
View attachment 537906

(After)
View attachment 537907

View attachment 537908

(These were not my wedges - I just 'cleaned them up' abit).

Philbert

You never cease to amaze Philbert!!!!!

Good job.
 

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