Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Sierra_rider]

Well, LW bars have made a big impact in helping out with that achievement! Definitely more delicate than a Solid bar, but boy what a back saver!

I've almost completely switched over to lightweight bars. The only ones I haven't are my big bars that they don't even make lightweight versions of and my small 20"> bars. I do have a lightweight laminate narrow-kerf bar on my little 2511t and I was thinking about getting the same bar for my 201t.

Before I climb, I have the same internal debate about weight vs power with my top handles as I do when falling with my 70-80-90cc saws. It may sound silly, because the 201 is so light, but the 5ish lb 2511 saves so much energy in the tree compared to the 9ish lb 201. If I'm climbing conifers, I'll choose the 2511 every time. If I get into a broad oak, the decision is much more difficult. The 2511 requires finesse in hardwoods, while the 201 is like the 661 equivalent of a climbing saw.

I actually bought the 2511 early this year, just because I was dealing with bad tendonitis in my trigger elbow, so the lack of weight was appreciated.

Very interesting! Man, power saws have really coming a long way in power to weight ratio!

Just compare your 661 to a 660 or even an 066. It's almost like the same comparison as the 462 to an 044/46. Except the 462 is actually considerably lighter than the 044/046.

 

[mountainguyed67]

the addition of the bark box made a big difference as well, at the cost of a very noisy saw.

On one of our early summer 4WD trail clearing projects we had several saws in use alternately. One was a MS362C with a bark box, it was crazy loud compared to the other saws.

 

[Logger nate]

On one of our early summer 4WD trail clearing projects we had several saws in use alternately. One was a 392 with a bark box, it was crazy loud compared to the other saws.

392?

 

[mountainguyed67]

Waiting for a freeze so I can start hauling them home to process next year.

Why wait for a freeze? Mud?

 

[Sierra_rider]

And you thought us 400c fan boys were full of it lol. They really are a great saw. Don't know how many tanks are through it, but mine really came around between 8 and 10 tanks, the addition of the bark box made a big difference as well, at the cost of a very noisy saw. Still debating on ordering another muffler to mod or leaving it on.

I make my own muffler covers, I call them fartboxes lol...similar in design to a bark box, but not stainless and I put smaller outlets on them for a bit less noise. I have an actual bark box on the 462, but I welded a piece of sheet metal over part of the outlet...that seemed to do the trick. All of them are still loud, but at least my head isn't ringing even with ear pro.

My 400 muffler when it was new:

This 064 triple port is actually pretty obnoxious:

 

[Kodiak Kid]

Morning fellers, I caught up! You blokes don't make it easy. Anyway, here's the first instalment from last weekend's scrounging adventures.

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We took several cubes out of this tree last year and it has remained unmolested since. E. Sieberi AKA Silvertop Ash, which is one of the 700 odd eucalypt species over here. There's a fair bit left.

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All Limby action today.

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Plenty more to come but I have to go and do other things so it'll have to wait until tonight. Hang in there wheelbarrow fans!

Is all Ash a eucalypt species?

 

[mountainguyed67]

Your big machine should be able to pick up a whole tree full of brush.

Of course, it has a payload of 15,000 lbs. I want to use it to skim across the forest and pick up all the debris, stuff that would fall between forklift type forks. And pick up bigger stuff As well.
I also have areas like this with dirt mixed in, I can pick it up with the forks I have and most of the dirt will fall through.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

33" forest burn Sitka Spruce dry snag. Vs. Pro Modified Stock 661 with 32" .50g bar spinning 3/8 semi skip square grind.

View attachment VID_20221124_125437335~3.mp4

As you can see in the video. I tripped over the throttle shortly after the start and restricted waste flow at the end.

Chain was sharp, but not fresh off the stone. Im going to time this buck tomorrow with the log up off the ground and less or maybe even no dawg'n in. I think I'll shave 5 seconds. I bucked three more rounds off the log after the video, so I'll be bucking probably around 35" maybe 36" in the next demo. I'll try and post the video tomorrow.

Cut safe, stay sharp, and be aware!

 

[Cowboy254]

Is all Ash a eucalypt species?

No, it's a misnomer really. It is not an ash, despite the name. It is a bit hard to standardise the names when people have been calling the same tree by whatever their great-grandpappy called it back in 1890 because he thought it sounded good so you end up with 5 different common names for the same tree.

There is a type of eucalypt about 4km from me (but 1000m higher in elevation) called a Mountain Ash (a very large eucalypt, not an ash) which silly Tasmanians (look at a map and see the island that was pooped out of the arse end of Australia) call a Tasmanian Oak. It is not an oak. It is also not an ash. It is a Eucalyptus Regnans. But what can you do?

Anyway, the silvertop ash was named because it has deep furrowed bark on the trunk but light coloured smooth bark on the branches. So there you go.

The Ash species in North Murica have been fairly widely planted in Australia. Funny thing is that Australians turn their noses up at them for firewood because they think that anything that is not a native eucalypt is trash.

 

[Lionsfan]

Playing with fire there. I won't take down any dead ash for the reasons you mention. Zero predictable outcome when felling.

No doubt there. I'm glad I took out most of ours while they were solid.

 

[mountainguyed67]

It is a bit hard to standardise the names when people have been calling the same tree by whatever their great-grandpappy called it

Around here most people think lodgepole pine is tamarack, there’s a Tamarack Ridge and Tamarack Lodge with no tamarack anywhere around. There’s no specific story, I assume it was misidentified long ago and the name stuck. I have people correct me when I call them lodgepole pine.

 

[JimR]

Playing with fire there. I won't take down any dead ash for the reasons you mention. Zero predictable outcome when felling.

I'm dealing with a lot of dead Ash one by one. When they get ready to go it is run like hell.

 

[JimR]

Interesting. Now you've got me myself curious! Have you tried googling it?

I'll do that. Thanks

 

[svk]

Good morning fellows. I think after the kids wake up we’re going to take a ride up to the cabin. Still trying to get my daughter her first grouse this year. Maybe shoot some guns too. It was well above freezing overnight and supposed to be over 40 today so I’m thinking our snow will mostly be gone which is fine by me. Hope all of you have a great day.

 

[JimR]

It's getting more dangerous in the bush as the Ash die off. I haven't been back much in the last couple of months so went back to clear some trails before deer hunting and then this week I cut a few down. I was skidding one out and noticed this 20" one broke right off at the bottom and hanging by a sliver. If I was skidding the other way and hooked I'm sure it would have fallen right on me the same as what happened to the old Hemlock by my log wagon last year. I cut a decent one down and was behind the tree just to the right of the picture. You can see the top of the tree on the left side of the base log. It broke off as it fell, then went straight down ( you can see the fresh split chunk in the ground at the far end) split again and fell towards the stump. I was peeking around the edge of the tree and a small branch flew thru the air and got me. My safety glasses worked good but my safety toque didn't stop much. When I'm cutting these ash down I prefer to have a tree between me and the stump rather than high tail it and risk getting hit by flying debris. This one fell against the side of the maple which acted like a slingshot and flung crap back my way. 2nd last picture shows the top of a tree broken off and laying across the tree. Last picture is a bunch of live deck panels that I picked up for some day. Going shopping for a better helmet next week.

Your trees look like my back yard and tree lot across the street. I'm not sure if you saw this one I dropped the other day. The whole top came tumbling backwards to where I was cutting from. I took off like a bat out of hell as soon as it started to go. The house in the backdrop is my daughters place next to our farm.

 

[JimR]

I absolutely agree....when the stumps have go, it's a very bad plan to saw the trees down....pushing em out is the only to go.
I was just saying I don't like the results.. but I know it's gotta be that way sometimes.
From a cutters point of view it's not as nice... and as a sawmill operator, I really hate the machanical de-grade that often results from pushing timber over.

In my teens I used to argue with my brother about this all the time.... until I got on his cat and tried to push one of my beautiful stumps out....
I learned real quick he was not dumb is I thought.

A piece of equipment large enough to push over trees is not cheap. It would make life easier to remove stumps versus grinding them down.

 

[Squareground3691]

I'm dealing with a lot of dead Ash one by one. When they get ready to go it is run like hell.

That’s all that I’ve been burning the last 3 years have burned many cord of dead ash .

 

[Sawyer Rob]

What chamberings is it?
My eldest brother has a double 16ga with the 9.3x74r underneath.
I really like those rifles!

It's 16ga, but I have some spl. made inserts that allow me to shoot 20ga. in it, to make it even more versatile.

I also have a couple Krieghoff insert bbls., to convert the right shot bbl. to 22LR or 22 Win. Mag.

It makes it pretty handy dandy.

SR

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Is all Ash a eucalypt species?

that is the 2nd time i have heard that word this morning.... never had heard of it before!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

It’s not the prettiest bird because it was cooked covered the whole time but it was quite tasty. I cook them breast down to keep that part juicy.

If you want a pretty bird, pull the cover 45 minutes before it’s done.

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thanks! wanted to see how it mite look done covered.