Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[chipper1]

I'm going to be dropping four to five of them this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

Must be the ones in the picture from earlier in here?

I kinda like the grey on the huskys just wish it would stay grey.... Would like to try a 346 sometime sounds like they are a great saw.
No we don't have any hardwood here except for yard trees in the "valley" (about 75 miles away). Burned some birch when we lived in Alaska, sure liked that stuff, long burn time, smelled good, bark was great fire starter could lite it with a match even if it was wet. And it just looked good in the wood pile.

The 346 is a great saw just as the 260 is, but both only cure certain portions of "the disease", other saws are still necessitated to get the best results, but understanding that "the cure" is ultimately never to be found is something that should always be remembered LOL. A 550 will smoke a 346, so if I was looking to keep a saw I would have a 550.
My keepers list would be ms201 rear handle, ms241, 550xp, 562xp, 461, 395 (this is in stock form).
Orange is my favorite color, but the grey does have a nice contrast.
That's a long drive for hardwood. We have some birch not for from us, but I've never had an opportunity to give it a try.
Noodles work great for starting a fire, but I have heard what your saying in regards to the birch bark being a life saver in a survival crisis.

The grey on the newer saws seems to hold up better.

Out of the box my 550 grey was already scuffed in transit. My 562 (about a year newer) has held up much better.

That's good to know as all mine have got torn up quickly, I think I scratched the one on the 550 when I looked at it funny lol. The one saw that has eluded me is the 562 . I ran one at Randy's gtg on the 3rd, I also ran a sweet 360 from up Mikes way, done by a doc .

 

[nomad_archer]

I'm always playing if I can get someone all excited, then I've won . You know I play both sides, but orange is my favorite color .
This one should clear the chips all right, what do you think Mike.View attachment 547007View attachment 547008View attachment 547009

Yay I like them both and occasionally an echo. Ok who am I kidding I like all saws some more than others. I think you need to send that 461 this way for an extended field test. You know to make sure its running right.

 

[nomad_archer]

My keepers list would be ms201 rear handle, ms241, 550xp, 562xp, 461, 395 (this is in stock form).
.[/QUOTE]

You really do like the ms201 ugly duckling. That's a funky looking saw

 

[Philbert]

It's a technique that has been perfected through the years(mainly by another member of AS who is quite experienced . . .

I have seen a short 'holding strap' used with a bore cut, that is released with a cut slightly lower than the back cut, but not with as big of a step as your stump shows.

Philbert

 

[svk]

Thanks. I sold an oe a couple months ago that was way cleaner . I just picked up another ne recently as well which I'd rather keep than this oe even though it's not as clean. I would rather have the orange side cover though rather than the grey, like I said I like the orange better, I'd even rather have the orange top cover clips .
Do you get much hardwood out there.
Here's a little pine I took out on a small job I did.
Video title is because I've been told countless times by another member how dangerous the step cut technique I use with my tractor/skidding winch is.

Here's how the stump of the larger one on that job looked after falling it. I couldn't believe it held all the way to the ground and even after I cut the top from the butt section. You can see I had a rope on the butt just in case the whole tree wanted to roll down the hill after being dropped because I thought for sure it wouldn't hold as it did.View attachment 547031Here's the boy(he just turned 9) trying hard to get the tip of his fiscars into a piece of black locust .
I cleaned up and hand split a little pile that was in the way of putting the sides on my wood shed. Now my wood storage in the house is full of black locust , my choice of wood to burn when it gets colder .View attachment 547032View attachment 547033

Interesting. Assuming this helps it fall forward without twisting?


And yes that photo I posted on/around Monday are the victims.

 

[chipper1]

@farmer steve Mini york/lancaster invite only GTG? We can cut measured 16" cookies for you.

Good afternoon Trevor .
BYOH .

Thats how it should work. My MS271 chokes on noodles, Farmer steve's 036's last year got backed up and necessitated periodically stopping to clear the clutch cover. Maybe you need to get to 70cc's for that to stop being an issue. It doesnt happen on my husky or the little baby echo. I kinda hoped stihl would have had that figured out for all of the saws.

That's the joy of a west coast cover which is way wider than a standard one.
Rocking the saw in the cut helps greatly with many saws that don't have the ability to clear larger chips/noodles as it will make the noodles smaller and help to clear them quicker.
On many race saws they will cut the cover up higher to help clear chips too.

Yay I like them both and occasionally an echo. Ok who am I kidding I like all saws some more than others. I think you need to send that 461 this way for an extended field test. You know to make sure its running right.

I wish I could make a few bucks off the echos as I'd like to run some of them.
I have a 461 with the standard cover in the TP right now. Send me a little electronic cash and I'll ship it your way .
Then may be next yr some time I will do the same with the new 461R .

My keepers list would be ms201 rear handle, ms241, 550xp, 562xp, 461, 395 (this is in stock form).
.

You really do like the ms201 ugly duckling. That's a funky looking saw[/QUOTE]
Ugly is as ugly does.
I may be getting a 339 husky so I can have an ugly orange saw too .

 

[chipper1]

I have seen a short 'holding strap' used with a bore cut, that is released with a cut slightly lower than the back cut, but not with as big of a step as your stump shows.

Philbert

I use that technique often when working on slight leaners up to solid heavy leaners. The tree in the video was back leaning about 4-5' total and was weighted with branches on the same side it was leaning towards. The tree was notched with an open face and then bore cut to set the hinge, then an offset back cut made under the bore cut that crossed into the same area as the bore cut, but not to far past it.
The size of the step can be adjusted depending on the pulling capabilities of the equipment you are using as well as the condition of the tree. Just as with any other saw related work it all has cause and effect consequences and should be done in stages of learning. I use this technique on a very normal basis and feel confident using it, if someone doesn't feel confident then they should not attempt it.
Here's a video of said member showing a few of the places he uses it he's done it once or twice and was in the past looked at like , as I have as well for many things more than using this particular technique, but it hasn't slowed me down as there are many was to skin a cat, and I like to try them all (within safe parameters of course).
Hope this helps, be safe whatever your doing out there guys.

 

[Hoosk]

Had a crew helping with vine cutting this morning.

 

[chipper1]

Interesting. Assuming this helps it fall forward without twisting?


And yes that photo I posted on/around Monday are the victims.

The hinge is set when making the bore cut and can be adjusted at that time, even an allowance made to all twist once the direction of fall has been determined by the hinge by cutting one side of the hinge thinner to allow the tree to twist as it's falling. So the same basic methods are applied to the initial face cut and bore cut allowing most all controls that you would have through standard techniques just that you are tripping the trigger (which is the holding fibers between the bore cut and the back cut) buy pulling the tree with whatever equipment you have. The initial pull is only breaking the holding wood, after that the hinge controls everything just as normal.
Check out the video. Edit; everyone please watch the video as he does more to explain it in there than I can.
He has one or two others you could spend a couple weeks watching, I'm not sure if I've watched them all yet .

 

[Wowzer]

This is the new section I'm starting on. Lots of dead and dying poplar, tons of curved cedar and a few ash among them. For now I'm only taking the poplar if it's in the way. The cedar can wait until I have time to deal with it. Last thumnail pic is the new landing I cleared out on the edge of the mess. The pic of the ash logs is an area that I'm pretty much done with for now. I hope the owner is happy with the way I've left it. Large cash crop farmer who doesn't care about bush but I hope he logs it for the cherry, maple and all the big ash I left before they die completely. Says it isn't worth his time to deal with.
View attachment 546933

Looks like you are into a lot of fun there. Are you selling some of the logs?!?!

If your into more cedar's i'll take some of the cut offs, don't mind lending a hand too, to get them out of the bush

 

[MustangMike]

Hey, I got 50 acres in Hancock, right next to the PA border.

But it is 2 mi in on a 4wd road.

 

[Philbert]

Here's a video of said member showing a few of the places he uses it he's done it once or twice

Yep. OK. I recall seeing that video of 'said member' now. His point is to create a release initiated by the pull of the tractor (etc.) so that the sawyer is well clear of the stump.
Does not provide any 'stump shot' protection, so I guess that it has to be used in the right situation.

Philbert

 

[dancan]

Not one for me , way too many variables for my liking , when the strap wood breaks you're past the point of any control with that tiny hinge on a full tree , if you have a rope pulling on a tree you can give it as much hinge wood as you want so you can let the puller pull the tip in in the direction you want then trim the hinge .
YMMV

I'm no expert btw , just a hack .

 

[cantoo]

Wowzer, it's been fun so far and a lot of work. Most of the bush is really wet so only a few short weeks to get in there and get as much out as I can. Now that it is finally freezing up I'm going to be busy as heck at work for the next month so won't have much time to cut or haul. I agreed to cut out all the poplar but it's falling down faster than I can get to it. Too wet in that section and no access all summer. The ash is dying quickly too, when felling now the tops are flying all apart due to being dead. Only sell two loads of logs a year to a buddy. I sell split firewood, well I try to sell split firewood nobody wants to pay for it. Are you wanting cedar for kindling? I have a few logs already home if you want some.

 

[zogger]

Nice red oak today, shaking down my poulan pp5020, works fine. not bad for the money, got mine 1/2 off new price (translation one smilin Ben) from a pawnshop last year, never used it until today.

bonus pics are Jethro logic-Bart, Bart's "coop", must be a Bart egg!

 

[Philbert]

Must be raising 'bird dogs'?

Philbert

 

[MustangMike]

That pup just looks eager to please ... Great!

 

[PSUplowboy]

Hey, I got 50 acres in Hancock, right next to the PA border.

But it is 2 mi in on a 4wd road.

That's not too far from me

 

[cantoo]

I'm pretty decent at falling trees but I should likely park my tractor farther away when I'm cutting trees down. And I managed to bend my grapple enough that it wouldn't close properly. I didn't get the pivot points quite perfect so wasn't able to weld a brace between them so tomorrow I'll straighten them and weld a brace on the outside. I pulled a couple of trees out with a chain but got tired of that crap quickly. And a pic of the working pile of logs, it was storming pretty decent at times. Nice in the except for the wind swirling the trees around. .
Just kidding about the tractor, I always park far away.

 

[svk]

Cut a few trees this afternoon for my birth dad.

A couple of ash (not sure of the subspecies yet), a chunk of blowdown Chinese elm, and a blow down columnar poplar.

Tried out the Isocore as well. It laid waste to all but one twisted chunk of elm. The rest were one or two strike splits.

Elm


Ash


Splitting elm


Three generations of saws. My dad said I could have my grandpa's XL


Helpers


A chain only @Philbert could love.


241 with new 14" GB bar from LCS.


Tomorrow my sister's BF is coming over to help me pull down the larger poplars.