I really thought hard about getting a nice high end bar for my 550 when it came back from porting but chose to drop 40 bucks on an Oregon RSN and save the difference for more bars and chains.
Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)
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I really thought hard about getting a nice high end bar for my 550 when it came back from porting but chose to drop 40 bucks on an Oregon RSN and save the difference for more bars and chains.
From what I remember seeing, the Stihl light bars are about the lightest out there, and if you are running a long bar that is important.
Mark (mcobb2) may be able to give you some decent prices on the light bars. Why settle for second best?
My 28" light bar even balances well on an 044, but the 36" light is too front heavy on the 460s (even though they pull it well). I plan to put it on a ported 066 I'm getting through Randy.
Mark (mcobb2) may be able to give you some decent prices on the light bars. Why settle for second best?
My 28" light bar even balances well on an 044, but the 36" light is too front heavy on the 460s (even though they pull it well). I plan to put it on a ported 066 I'm getting through Randy.
All this CAD and saw talk. I make do with just an MS180 and 14" bar with semi chisel pico chain. Okay okay...I'm not in your league, not dropping trees just processing stuff i scrounge up and only doing a couple of cord a year....i guess its right and proper you guys have more saws. carry on!
If that is what works for you, that is great! Still beats a dull handsaw . . . .
Philbert
G'day Jeff, yes, you're right, they are a bit different. Southern bluegum (e.globulus) is a bit denser at 900kg/m vs Sydney bluegum (e.saligna) 850kg/m. The big difference is in the hardness when dry as they're similar-ish when green. Certainly extremely noticeable when I hit green wood in this tree compared to the bone-dry branches and upper trunk. There are a few eucalypts that are harder when dry, but e.globulus is up there and certainly the hardest in my area. Candlebarks grow next to the bluegums here and while they're both big eucalypts, e.globulus is twice as hard when dry.
For anyone interested, here are some stats for a few species:
Species, Green hardness (kN), Dry hardness (kN)
Southern bluegum, 7.3, 12
Sydney bluegum, 6.4, 9
River redgum (e.camaldulensis), 7.7, 10
Red ironbark (e.sideroxylon), 11, 13
Alpine ash (e.delegatensis), 4, 4.9
Candlebark (e.rubida), 5, 5.9
Sugar maple, 5.2, 7.3
White oak, 4.7, 6.0
Those are impressive. Dried out sugar maple seems tough so I cannot imagine what your species are like!
benp
Addicted to ArboristSite
I really wouldn't call Tsumura/Total bars second best. I believe they rank up there with Cannon.
$109 for a Total Light Weight vs $199 for a Stihl Light Weight in 28" .050. Kinda a no brainer to me for a good quality light weight bar.
Hope it's cool to post these here?
Pulled some more snag Birch and Spruce out of the gulch today...
Pulled some more snag Birch and Spruce out of the gulch today...
i think there is a "you suck" thread somewhere on AS.
i'm in the why not me club.
good score @cantoo .
Hi Cowboy.... What size bar you running on your 661?
I see, the southern blue gum gets up into the same league as Iron bark when its dry.
Most of my scrounge wood is Iron bark, my mate just bought 15 acres of Iron bark wooded land about 30mins from my house, he's happy for me to help myself any time.
The Iron bark is hard but I have cut dry Mulga and Gidgee acacia, they are off the scale in comparison, also the best firewood for energy content. I can get 10hrs burn time out of Iron bark, Gidgee will still have hot coals for 24hrs. We should fill a 40ft shipping container with a collection of our best hardwoods and send it over to the states for one of their GTG's.
A pic of Mulga and Gidgee.
benp
Addicted to ArboristSite
Hi Cowboy.... What size bar you running on your 661?
I see, the southern blue gum gets up into the same league as Iron bark when its dry.
Most of my scrounge wood is Iron bark, my mate just bought 15 acres of Iron bark wooded land about 30mins from my house, he's happy for me to help myself any time.
The Iron bark is hard but I have cut dry Mulga and Gidgee acacia, they are off the scale in comparison, also the best firewood for energy content. I can get 10hrs burn time out of Iron bark, Gidgee will still have hot coals for 24hrs. We should fill a 40ft shipping container with a collection of our best hardwoods and send it over to the states for one of their GTG's.
A pic of Gidgee and Mulga.
The whole non resident invasive species deal puts a cabosh on that.
Last thing we need is you guys putting together an ark of kick a*s hardwood and mating pairs of critters that want to kill you yesterday hitchhikers for our fun and enjoyment.
The brown snake introduced into MN would be a bad deal let alone the bears that fall from the sky.
The airborne bears start talking to the grounded bears then all hell breaks loose.
I inquired about a midnight bomb run to MO with the gooseneck for some Hedge Apple/Osage Orange trees. Absolutely not worth it if you get pinched somewhere outside of MO.
Just kidding benp, there's no way we'd risk you guys getting any of our dangerous critters.... Some you know about, there's also some you've never seen before like this guy. They have an interesting distribution
benp
Addicted to ArboristSite
I knew IT!!!!!
That's not the known habitat/range of the drop bear, either. That's an actual satellite picture of Australia soaked in the blood of drop bear victims.
So, does a drop bear, um, . . . you know what, in the outback?
Just curious.
Philbert
The Stihl Light bars are lighter, and I did not pay that amount, not even for my 36" light, so do your homework. I am not saying the other bars are not good, but...you search for a deal on one, but not the other.
Hey, we got ticks with Lyme disease, and worse, and your worried about a little spider???
Lyme can be debilitating, and that other disease they carry can be fatal, and there is no treatment.
Can't tell you how many ticks I've pulled off myself this year, and even more off of the dogs. One had already bit my stomach. Removed it over a month ago and still got a swollen mark, but luckily no symptoms.
Lyme can be debilitating, and that other disease they carry can be fatal, and there is no treatment.
Can't tell you how many ticks I've pulled off myself this year, and even more off of the dogs. One had already bit my stomach. Removed it over a month ago and still got a swollen mark, but luckily no symptoms.
Trapper_Pete
ArboristSite Operative
been at this about 12 years
first year or two the city compost , I live in a small rural city but the city has a place for towns people to drop off brush , and lawn clippings the city has all the trees taken down in town taken there in the size the truck can move usually 8-10 foot sections and all over 5 inches in diameter or it went through the chipper some times this is good findings other years when we have just had a hard winter and the economy stinks it is not so good
---so if you live in a city , village or town check if they have a place that removed trees are taken
then I did some craigs list scrounging and got some good wood and a bunch of garbage but enough to get me through , had one developer who advertised free wood , yeah it was all standing green silver maple full of leaves and he wanted it down before the end of July , man was that hot I cut it and hauled way too much brush for what I got in wood
wife put an add up in the company classifieds when she worked at the phone company got a guy with 10 acre about 2 wooded he mostly wanted dead pine and a few boxelder but enough to mostly fill my 14 foot utility trailer they appreciated me cutting and helping with clean up not to hard he drove by with his garden tractor and small traier I piled the brush on and he drove it to his burn pile , and then a few months later a storm came through and dropped a huge oak on his garage it wasn't a direct hit but boy was it some nice wood accept for that nail I found about 7 feet up and 10 inches into the trunk at full throttle ripped 7 cutters off the chain , oh well the price of good wood some times
the next year a church friend realized I was looking for wood , he had 5 acres of woods and didn't burn , also had several down from storms and a lot of standing dead I cut there for about 5 years till I was starting to get to the neighbors property I marked a bunch of standing dead on the neighbors place with orange tape I like this because it makes it easier to find when all the leaves are off and lets the owner know what I plan to cut , sometimes there is that dead tree that ll the birds sit in that they want left alone . the neighbor called him up and said he is over the lot line my friend said your in a wheel chair you want it cut or not he works for free and hauls the wood away , sure cut it , this was a hill side and I had to wheel barrow the wood out , it was a lot of work
then I scored the sweetest of wood lots , it is a friends farm and he wants it cleaned and thinned , and he runs the skid steer moving 8 foot lengths of log out to the road and piling them up for me while I cut , and how did I get this sweet spot , I asked we happened to be out there one day for a bbq and I said you sure have a lot of trees down he said yeah bad strait line winds the year before , been cutting on that 3 years now.
be prepared to take down a bunch of junk wood in a fence row to get at the sweet wood lot when it's dry it all burns
--- have some cards made up with your contact info a pile of wood is just a storm away
--- ask , be polite , clean up after yourself , call or text them to make sure it is ok to come cut you never know if they just worked a week of nights and they want to sleep or have the inlaws over to sit on the patio
--- if the cows got out and you see them in corn field make sure you help get them back in call them first this is not a one person job
--- sometimes they don't have a wood stove in the house but have an outdoor fire pit ask if they would like some wood for the camp fires if your scoring several cord a half a face left for them cut and split is a small price to pay for free wood
--- go over what they want cut and mark it with survey tape , paint fades much to quickly or the stuff I tried did
I will cut most any tree not in danger of landing on anything of importance
first year or two the city compost , I live in a small rural city but the city has a place for towns people to drop off brush , and lawn clippings the city has all the trees taken down in town taken there in the size the truck can move usually 8-10 foot sections and all over 5 inches in diameter or it went through the chipper some times this is good findings other years when we have just had a hard winter and the economy stinks it is not so good
---so if you live in a city , village or town check if they have a place that removed trees are taken
then I did some craigs list scrounging and got some good wood and a bunch of garbage but enough to get me through , had one developer who advertised free wood , yeah it was all standing green silver maple full of leaves and he wanted it down before the end of July , man was that hot I cut it and hauled way too much brush for what I got in wood
wife put an add up in the company classifieds when she worked at the phone company got a guy with 10 acre about 2 wooded he mostly wanted dead pine and a few boxelder but enough to mostly fill my 14 foot utility trailer they appreciated me cutting and helping with clean up not to hard he drove by with his garden tractor and small traier I piled the brush on and he drove it to his burn pile , and then a few months later a storm came through and dropped a huge oak on his garage it wasn't a direct hit but boy was it some nice wood accept for that nail I found about 7 feet up and 10 inches into the trunk at full throttle ripped 7 cutters off the chain , oh well the price of good wood some times
the next year a church friend realized I was looking for wood , he had 5 acres of woods and didn't burn , also had several down from storms and a lot of standing dead I cut there for about 5 years till I was starting to get to the neighbors property I marked a bunch of standing dead on the neighbors place with orange tape I like this because it makes it easier to find when all the leaves are off and lets the owner know what I plan to cut , sometimes there is that dead tree that ll the birds sit in that they want left alone . the neighbor called him up and said he is over the lot line my friend said your in a wheel chair you want it cut or not he works for free and hauls the wood away , sure cut it , this was a hill side and I had to wheel barrow the wood out , it was a lot of work
then I scored the sweetest of wood lots , it is a friends farm and he wants it cleaned and thinned , and he runs the skid steer moving 8 foot lengths of log out to the road and piling them up for me while I cut , and how did I get this sweet spot , I asked we happened to be out there one day for a bbq and I said you sure have a lot of trees down he said yeah bad strait line winds the year before , been cutting on that 3 years now.
be prepared to take down a bunch of junk wood in a fence row to get at the sweet wood lot when it's dry it all burns
--- have some cards made up with your contact info a pile of wood is just a storm away
--- ask , be polite , clean up after yourself , call or text them to make sure it is ok to come cut you never know if they just worked a week of nights and they want to sleep or have the inlaws over to sit on the patio
--- if the cows got out and you see them in corn field make sure you help get them back in call them first this is not a one person job
--- sometimes they don't have a wood stove in the house but have an outdoor fire pit ask if they would like some wood for the camp fires if your scoring several cord a half a face left for them cut and split is a small price to pay for free wood
--- go over what they want cut and mark it with survey tape , paint fades much to quickly or the stuff I tried did
I will cut most any tree not in danger of landing on anything of importance
Hi Cowboy.... What size bar you running on your 661?
I see, the southern blue gum gets up into the same league as Iron bark when its dry.
Most of my scrounge wood is Iron bark, my mate just bought 15 acres of Iron bark wooded land about 30mins from my house, he's happy for me to help myself any time.
The Iron bark is hard but I have cut dry Mulga and Gidgee acacia, they are off the scale in comparison, also the best firewood for energy content. I can get 10hrs burn time out of Iron bark, Gidgee will still have hot coals for 24hrs. We should fill a 40ft shipping container with a collection of our best hardwoods and send it over to the states for one of their GTG's.
A pic of Mulga and Gidgee.
Hey Jeff, I had to get home before I could check my reference book for the info. I love this book, has almost all the stuff I need to know about Aussie species and some of the imported species we have here. The information is more complete with the main species that are used for construction, woodworking or firewood.
Mulga - Air dry density at 12% MC - 1100kg/m. Doesn't list the hardness but when you look at the country it grows in, you'd probably have more luck sawing up the rocks it grows out of.
Gidgee - ADD 12%MC - 1250kg/m. Hardness when dry 19kN! My bluegum is at 12kN and bugger me, it's hard. Even Gidgee still isn't the hardest around, with Belah (casuarina) at 20kN Janka hardness. Georgina Gidgee from further inland is denser than the regular flavour at 1330kg/m, don't know the hardness but it's probably harder again. Makes my bluegum look positively lame in comparison. Osage Orange - 950kg/m and dry hardness 12kN.
You're lucky to have such easy access to ironbark, that's good stuff at 1130kg/m. Make sure you stay mates with that guy! I have the stock 25in bar on the 661. It flies through green wood but in the drier sections of this one, 25in was long enough.
G'day Hoosk, I've never burned jarrah. It doesn't grow over our way, it's from Western Australia which is a fair drive from here. It is what they generally burn over there I understand and it is well regarded. My handy reference book tells me that it has an air dry density (12%MC) of 820kg/m (sugar maple 730kg/m) and dry hardness of 8.5kN which is similar to our peppermint over here. Based on that, I'd expect it to burn pretty well.
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