The Douglas Fir trees out at my cabin area are dying faster than I can process them so I mainly go after the biggest and easiest. I mostly burn white and black oak, madrone and pepperwood and give the Doug Fir to family and friends. Tried to load a couple pics but it said they’re too big.
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Maggie’s The Woodchuck and Firewood Hoarders Thread
- Thread starter bogeybrown
- Start date
Finally got to cut some wood in the snow. I know it’s not a foot and half of snow, but at least it’s not warm and dry. 
A couple of loads of gum today.
Winter is coming.
Winter is coming.
It's a love hate relationship that most will never understand. Coupled with my Geothermal, it's like buying a form 4 MP5
DAYUMMMNNNNN. That thing is a beast. I bet it gobbles the wood down. Makes my wood stove in the basement look like a baby.
Cut up another oak yesterday that the wind pushed over. The bottom had heart rot but a lot of good white oak firewood was made.
I cleaned up the 440 and 261 and sharpened the chains today. I also tightened the gap on my 28” bar and trued it all back up. Should get a couple more years out of it.
I sold my 241 and 362, I just didn’t need em. 2 saw plan for me and I am good with my choices. 440 is an almost perfect medium saw and there isn’t a more all around useful saw than a 261.
Cold here this week
I cleaned up the 440 and 261 and sharpened the chains today. I also tightened the gap on my 28” bar and trued it all back up. Should get a couple more years out of it.
I sold my 241 and 362, I just didn’t need em. 2 saw plan for me and I am good with my choices. 440 is an almost perfect medium saw and there isn’t a more all around useful saw than a 261.
Cold here this week
Just got my 261 back, should pair well with the Zoo City 044.
You're gonna love that saw my 261 is ported by Canadian farm boy and it absolutely rips even with a 20" bar. Just don't forget yer ears.
Woods ported by TM aka Scott Kunz, waiting on a 3/8 sprocket rim so no run time yet. I've had a few other 261s built from different guys so no doubt his will run good. He is on the saw forums but better to reach him on FB page, TM Performance saws.
There are many other builders out there also, PM me if you need a list.
Oh yeah, been running ported saws since '07. I had another canadian build a piped 026 race saw, pretty wild for 50cc.
Randy at mastermind is just about the best to do it- some may be as good but none are better.
His 261 is about $1200 for a new 261 saw included out the door. Or at least it was this time last year. That's top of the "fair" price range.
I found one already ported on another forum like this for ~$700 or so. If you're looking for another money pit hobby checkout ope forum.
They have dyno charts and stuff
I've seen $350-$475 for the service, add shipping to that also.
CaptArab made a good point on watching the forum classifieds, used saws come up often and sometimes cheap vs buying and shipping one off. Saws are no different than guns in a hobby sense; buy, trade, sell.
Good sized white oak down in the woods. It’s about 24” at the base. I started cutting it up and got it down to the main trunk now with all of the top cut up into firewood.
A limb under tension sprang up and busted my dang lip…..probably improved my appearance.
I have a chainsaw helmet with face shield…sitting on the ATV so I am a dumbass too…
A limb under tension sprang up and busted my dang lip…..probably improved my appearance.
I have a chainsaw helmet with face shield…sitting on the ATV so I am a dumbass too…
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Worn bar, worn chain, worn spur/rim
How much does the chain rock side to side in the bar?
Have you ever dressed or trued the bar?
Newer saw, maybe 12 hours on it. This is the 2nd chain, bar looks good.
How tight to snug nuts on chain cover.
Nuts don’t provide tension, they hold it. You need more tension, there is a flat head (or torx) bolt below the cover, there is a hole to access it, that changes tension. You can see it with the cover on.
You need to either hold the bar to put upward tension on it or prop the very tip on something to be sure it is not sagging down. Adjust the chain tension screw to remove all droop from the chain (then I tighten just a pinch more, some people do not). Then firmly tighten the bar nuts while maintaining upward tension on the bar.
What saw are we talking about BTW?
Also as a new chain gets used it stretches some so it will need to be checked and adjusted.
Don't adjust the chain hot. It will shrink when the saw cools down.
I thought this was a joke at first. After watching the whole clip, I don't think it is.
There's a song about it for this time of year. "You better watch out, you better not cry, I'm telling you why,............ Tension will kill your ass."
Haha! That’s funny!
I keep an extra bar and chain behind the seat in the truck in case I sail a bar into a place it will never get out from. It’s not hard to remove the motor and install the other bar.
First paid job as a side gig.
Neighbor wanted these 2 cherry trees down.
Climbed partly to give me the practice.
How it finished
What I left. Everything bigger than 3/4" cut so it can fit in a fireplace.
What I took. Most of it is going to my FIL who lathe turns.
Neighbor wanted these 2 cherry trees down.
Climbed partly to give me the practice.
How it finished
What I left. Everything bigger than 3/4" cut so it can fit in a fireplace.
What I took. Most of it is going to my FIL who lathe turns.
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Out on the Eglin res helping my buddy harvest some Oak. Good to get that saw out and run it.
Hadn't got to run my 462 in a while. Fired it up in the barn earlier and gave it a good piss revving. Felt good.
In doing so I discovered my anti vibe grommets are gone. I guess it's time to place an order with west coast saw.
In doing so I discovered my anti vibe grommets are gone. I guess it's time to place an order with west coast saw.
I asked before, but I'm going to do it again. Any of you have experience or second hand knowledge of sawmills? We bought a new place and I would like to build a few things here. Our last place was way too thick with trees. So it seemed like if not endless amounts of wood I had plenty. The new place is well enough tree'd, but it isn't so thick that I think I'll be chopping them down left and right. I'll be way more selective here. The old place was mostly Ponderosa pine which I've come to find out isn't all that great. Depending on what you're trying to do with it anyway. And the new place...I'm semi ashamed to say I have yet to identify what this stuff is? Got a couple different species here.
I've never seen any smoking deals on a used mill anywhere nearby. Should I abandon my dream of milling my own stuff? Our last place was about 10 acres and was thick as hell with trees. This one is just under 30 acres and is a little more sparse. Still a bunch of damn trees, but I don't need to thin them as much as just selectively cut some here and there for making trails, driveway improvements, and just general aesthetics. I would bet I'll only need/want to cut down 20-40 trees in the 60-100' range. The rest will be little guys. There would be more big ones over time, but the 20-40 would be the bulk of it that I'd be working with right off the bat. I have a bunch of timber I'm considering hauling over here from my other place. But just considering. I'm just trying not to be dumb (hard to do). I could buy a bunch of lumber for what it will cost dicking around with a spendy mill.
Thoughts?
I've never seen any smoking deals on a used mill anywhere nearby. Should I abandon my dream of milling my own stuff? Our last place was about 10 acres and was thick as hell with trees. This one is just under 30 acres and is a little more sparse. Still a bunch of damn trees, but I don't need to thin them as much as just selectively cut some here and there for making trails, driveway improvements, and just general aesthetics. I would bet I'll only need/want to cut down 20-40 trees in the 60-100' range. The rest will be little guys. There would be more big ones over time, but the 20-40 would be the bulk of it that I'd be working with right off the bat. I have a bunch of timber I'm considering hauling over here from my other place. But just considering. I'm just trying not to be dumb (hard to do). I could buy a bunch of lumber for what it will cost dicking around with a spendy mill.
Thoughts?
Buy one and cut some wood! Have fun with it and sell it when yer done if you don’t want it.
Boss bought a grizzly (think it’s g0901) and the extra track length. Looks nice on paper, but like all grizzly stuff, nearly everything about it needs adjusted, tweaked, massaged, and modified for it to work like it should.
Wood-mizer seems nice! I’ve never used one, but they sound like quality saws.
Edit to add this pic of a cool old saw at the Miracle of America museum in Montana. At their ‘living history’ weekend in July.
Boss bought a grizzly (think it’s g0901) and the extra track length. Looks nice on paper, but like all grizzly stuff, nearly everything about it needs adjusted, tweaked, massaged, and modified for it to work like it should.
Wood-mizer seems nice! I’ve never used one, but they sound like quality saws.
Edit to add this pic of a cool old saw at the Miracle of America museum in Montana. At their ‘living history’ weekend in July.
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I have no useful info for you but as I peruse either X or Facebook there is a dude that posts videos of his saw mill producing boards from raw logs and it draws my mind in and mesmerizes me with how these things operate and amaze.
From the machine positioning the log, the saw making its cut, the "one way" fingers that push the cut board from the log as the saw re-sets to make its next cut......
Buy one with capacity to cover your own needs and than process wood for others nearby for investment recovery and the entertainment of watching your machine make lumber.
If all you plan on milling is 20-40 trees buying a mill would be nuts. You probably waste half of it learning how to cut the best boards. Find someone local that has a mobile mill. Get them to come look at your property and figure out where to best set up the mill and the capacity of the mill. Then cut and stockpile your logs where they can easily be loaded on mill.
Cut the logs 6-12in longer than what you want the finished board to be. Paint the ends of the logs with a mix of white glue and water or better yet one of the wax products made to prevent checking. You will also need a bunch of sticker material (1×1 or 1×2) to allow airflow as the boards dry. Then be prepared to wait 5-10yrs for the boards to air dry.
Woodmizers are great. I've probably helped cut 100000 board ft on a for hire mill over the years.
Cut the logs 6-12in longer than what you want the finished board to be. Paint the ends of the logs with a mix of white glue and water or better yet one of the wax products made to prevent checking. You will also need a bunch of sticker material (1×1 or 1×2) to allow airflow as the boards dry. Then be prepared to wait 5-10yrs for the boards to air dry.
Woodmizers are great. I've probably helped cut 100000 board ft on a for hire mill over the years.
I wouldn’t try to think of it as a way to save money, if that’s what you’re doing. Cutting 20-40 logs won’t save you money now as was mentioned, but I would suggest look at this as a long term endeavor. If you have the time, energy, and resources to buy a good mill and keep it working then I think you’d probably enjoy the hobby. They are a good investment and can be a good form of self reliance, or even maybe a small amount of income. Seems like about half the population around here has a mill and many of them sit for long stretches of time, but they still have them and turn out lumber when they have some logs to cut or the time to do it. If you can afford a really good one I’d say do a little research and get one and enjoy!
As a side note, maybe post a few pics of the trees you’re not able to identify. Sure as shooting you’d get a few answers on here.
As a side note, maybe post a few pics of the trees you’re not able to identify. Sure as shooting you’d get a few answers on here.
Listened to this podcast a few months back. There was some good info in it.
Shop talk live #325 from Fine Woodworking
STL325: From logs to lumber - Shop Talk Live - Fine Woodworking
Fine Woodworking magazine editors and contributors answer your questions and share woodworking tips and techniques.
It’s been about 2 years since getting to do any cutting, I’ve missed it. Had a blowdown at the little spot I hunt that needed cleaning up….
A fresh tank of fuel and the old Stihl got happy. Could have used a little longer bar.
Took the 300bo for a little fresh air. Seems like everytime I’d cut without a rifle I’d see a yote watching me.
Felt good to run the saw again…..
A fresh tank of fuel and the old Stihl got happy. Could have used a little longer bar.
Took the 300bo for a little fresh air. Seems like everytime I’d cut without a rifle I’d see a yote watching me.
Felt good to run the saw again…..
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