Maggie’s The Woodchuck and Firewood Hoarders Thread

[bogeybrown]

It seems as though at least a few of us share a second addiction of chainsaws, log splitters (thanks to you wonderfully generous deplorables), firewood hoarding and stacking, and in general just making trees our bitches.

tnichols and I are both on at least one other forum specific to this field, but like us with precision rifles, the guys over there are maniacs for this shit. You can't ask a simple chainsaw question without the general consensus instantly being that you have to have a custom-built pro saw ( and many of them) for every application. I figured there might be some fun in those of us who don't make a daily living at it (with the possible exception of oneshot86 earning his Natty Light money) just sharing some knowledge and pictures of our setups.

I'm also WAY overdue in following up on Splitzilla's status, so this is as good a place as any.

I know we've got pics related to this spread all over "what's my view" and a few other threads, but feel free to duplicate / consolidate them here as you see fit.

So come on 1J04 , MtnCreek MontanaMarine , vh20 , sirhrmechanic, Tucker301 , and all the folks I've seen post up homestead pics, but apologetically can't remember all the user names. Show Off Your Wood!!!!

 

[bogeybrown]

As many of you have brought to my attention, I have been unforgivably derelict in posting up a Splitzilla follow up.

She's been busy at work and I've already blown out the valve once, which Rugged Made replaced on their dime. There were several of y'all who didn't tell me what you wanted on her, so if you're not represented, let me know what you'd like.



<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XLGBjhP1H8U" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[tnichols]

I like it, however I don’t know how much traction it will get here. Running a saw (especially the larger ones), processing, stacking, etc... is a LOT of work. I’m not a hunter so I guess maybe it’s my way of being out in the timber and enjoying the great outdoors. I love running a nice saw, Miss Lori enjoys the byproduct, which is high quality seasoned firewood which feels good up here this time of year. It was -12 F last night. I’ll see if I can find a pic or two of some of our stash.

 

[demolitionman]

I don't have too many pics of back when I used to do some arbor work, but here's one I had handy for the thread. The saw was either an ms180? or a Husky 346xp....

 

[sirhrmechanic]

I don't post pictures of my wood... You remember what happened to Anthony wiener when he did that...

Cheers, Sirhr

 

[1J04]

Great idea Brother. Let's do this. This is gonna be fun.

 

[TheGerman]

Did we ever see a picture of the 'finalized' wood chopper?

 

[tnichols]

Never leave an ugly stump...

 

[sirhrmechanic]

I only burn the good stuff....

 

[tnichols]

My absolute favorite is Black Cherry. Doesn’t have the BTU’s of Oak, Hickory, etc... but the smell is intoxicating...

 

[diverdon]

I had a Stihl MS-230 and a Stihl MS-460. Fucking Stihl's! About three years ago the 460 grew legs and walked off the farm. I have been getting by with just the little saw. I have about 120 acres of woods when a hardwood blows down or dies where I can reach it with the log chains I have to pull it into the field then I pull it out and chunk it up and pile it near the house. Then when I get bored I'll go split it and toss it into one of two circular 20 food metal grain bins I have. For splitting I have a Buffalo Turbine splitter. Buffalo Turbine has not made a splitter in about 25 years, now they just make debris blowers and sprayers. The splitter has a US built Wisconsin Robin that runs and starts like a champ. As far as power goes I have seen splitters four times as large stall out on Dutch Elm but this one just grunts and pushes till they give up.

The wood I split is just for campfires and fires in the yard with the kids. I'de rather sit outside with them than let them turn their brains into sponge candy in front of the idiot box. We burn three to four face cord per year, I guess I try to keep twelve to sixteen cord on hand, that way if ever I don't get to it for a few years we will not have to curtail the campfires.

When I get a black Cherry tree I cut it short and give it to my brother to use in his wood fired pizza oven. You are right the smell of that smoke is out of this world. I been thinking about splitting some about as small as tooth picks then putting three of em into a bundle and pouring bees wax over it in a jar and seeing if it would work as a candle wick. The honey smell form the bees wax and the pungent cherry smoke should go nicely together.

 

[demolitionman]

Too many Stihls, I'm gonna have to get some Swedish orange up in here.....

 

[tnichols]

Another favorite is dead standing Red Elm. In the timber, they’ll grow tall with not a limb “for awhile” (shameless plug for JC). Bump two pieces together and it has a metallic sound to it...

 

[tnichols]

Add it all up, process, stack, and you end up with a little stash like this. I view ammo and firewood in the same category. I like to stay years ahead.

 

[demolitionman]

TnNichols ^ Nice work bud!

 

[Veer_G]

Did we ever see a picture of the 'finalized' wood chopper?

I begged for that Ricky Bobby NASCAR shot to no avail.

 

[tnichols]

Too many Stihls, I'm gonna have to get some Swedish orange up in here.....

Show ‘em. I’m not a Stihl fanboy, but get along fine with them and most importantly have a GREAT dealer. Tough to find a Husky dealer around here that carries their professional grade saws. Husky makes a fine saw.

 

[diverdon]

Add it all up, process, stack, and you end up with a little stash like this. I view ammo and firewood in the same category. I like to stay years ahead.

Sweet! You might want to think about putting an old board on the floor to stack it on. In my experience sometimes the bottom layer or two or wood can draw moisture thru the concrete. When I was a kid my first job was helping the Old Sawmill Operator in our neighborhood put a wood over concrete floor in his drying barn because the bottom several layers of lumber never got as dry as he prefered for his kiln.

 

[tnichols]

diverdon mentioned involving the kids which is another reason I do it. It gets them out of the school house, gym, and away from WiFi. From a productivity stand point, they’ll slow ya down, but it’s a great opportunity to spend time together, learn, and enjoy each other’s company...

 

[tnichols]

It’s ok to put ‘em to work too...

 

[bogeybrown]

Okay gents, and Veer_G and TheGerman , that second post marked "place saver" now has a video of the bitch herself at least partially NASCAR'd with some of her handiwork. I couldn't do the thumbnail thing for YouTube so it's just a link. If y'all tell me how to do the other method of posting a video I'll try to swap it.

demolitionman , here's my Xmas present that the missus picked out all on her own for me, just to get some Huskies represented.

 

[diverdon]

Tnichols, my kids are the reverse of yours. My son is two years older than my daughter. Looks like good times.

 

[tnichols]

Sweet! You might want to think about putting an old board on the floor to stack it on. In my experience sometimes the bottom layer or two or wood can draw moisture thru the concrete. When I was a kid my first job was helping the Old Sawmill Operator in our neighborhood put a wood over concrete floor in his drying barn because the bottom several layers of lumber never got as dry as he prefered for his kiln.

You’re correct, it sure does. It’s usually 2-3 years seasoned by the time I get to burning it and with dry winter air we get along ok. That old floor really “sweats” during the spring thaw though.

 

[tnichols]

As many of you have brought to my attention, I have been unforgivably derelict in posting up a Splitzilla follow up.

She's been busy at work and I've already blown out the valve once, which Rugged Made replaced on their dime. There were several of y'all who didn't tell me what you wanted on her, so if you're not represented, let me know what you'd like.

https://youtu.be/XLGBjhP1H8U

Fricken’ awesome!

 

[Long_Action]

 

[Long_Action]

I burn a lot of wood! It's -4 outside currently, and I can keep the house as warm as my wife likes. I had a zone valve stick open a few weeks ago and the basement pegged the stats at 90+. Luckily the wife went downstairs to do laundry I'm running 3 saws, a stihl 660, 260 and a husky 338xpt. At the Heart of my system is a Portage and

Main Ultimizer coal boiler. Though it is a coal boiler, I mostly burn pine, ash, and less desirable woods.

 

[bogeybrown]

Thanks tnichols , I'm a tee ball player amongst major leaguers here, but I'm having a blast. In my own mild defense, I'll say that I don't have a tractor or loader, so moving logs and loads around is all with my own asspower. I've been through an insane amount of wood so far this year using the fireplace. The mechanical heating hasn't been switched on once, but as y'all know a fireplace is hugely inefficient compared to pretty much anything else.

Long_Action , that's a mind blowing setup for guys like me. I really wish those systems were more common down here, I'm confident I've never seen one in person and am not even really sure how all the different fossil burners operate. They seem to be incredibly effective though, judging by the relatively small amount of wood I hear of people using to heat their homes through REAL winters.

Before I broke down and started noodling down these bigger rounds, I was lugging them around myself. I don't have a scale but after they're cut into quarters they probably only weigh 50-75lbs or so. I had a few that at 16" long were too heavy for two grown men to lift and carry before being ripped down. The moisture content in that Water Oak is brutal, I've been told it's near 90% but until I get a new meter I can't confirm.

 

[1J04]

That Bed Don't Look Right.

 

[Mike Casselton]

That Bed Don't Look Right.

I think it's bent. Again...

 

[TheBigCountry]

If you are pretty savvy with a welder, and can get access to some spare metal bar stock, and don’t mind modifying your splitter, a UTV or small truck winch is a godsend to getting the logs to the splitter. When I worked for my cousin, he had a splitter he built himself. He rigged it with both a winch to drag th the wood to us, as well as a hydraulic lift to literally lift the logs off the ground onto the splitter. We would burn through a lot of wood quick without busting our backs.

Ran the hell out of a Husky 365 working for him, and with the new gig I’ve been running all sorts of Stihls for falling ops. Still prefer the older Huskies and am shopping for one now.

 

[missed]

Y'all have some extensive setups. I burn my 1-2 cords a year in the tough north Texas winters....

Couple husky 346xp and 385xp chopping up oak, pecan, and mesquite. I ran across a commercial splitter last year. The splitter is awesome, can split twice as much as my 26t husky splitter.

 

[tnichols]

Thanks tnichols , I'm a tee ball player amongst major leaguers here, but I'm having a blast. In my own mild defense, I'll say that I don't have a tractor or loader, so moving logs and loads around is all with my own asspower. I've been through an insane amount of wood so far this year using the fireplace. The mechanical heating hasn't been switched on once, but as y'all know a fireplace is hugely inefficient compared to pretty much anything else.

Long_Action , that's a mind blowing setup for guys like me. I really wish those systems were more common down here, I'm confident I've never seen one in person and am not even really sure how all the different fossil burners operate. They seem to be incredibly effective though, judging by the relatively small amount of wood I hear of people using to heat their homes through REAL winters.

Before I broke down and started noodling down these bigger rounds, I was lugging them around myself. I don't have a scale but after they're cut into quarters they probably only weigh 50-75lbs or so. I had a few that at 16" long were too heavy for two grown men to lift and carry before being ripped down. The moisture content in that Water Oak is brutal, I've been told it's near 90% but until I get a new meter I can't confirm.


That's a couple of trunk sections a bit above the root buttresses. Some of the rounds from crotches and the base can be enormous on an otherwise medium sized tree.

I’m small potatoes too, especially up this way. Just doing it for fun and exercise. Folks up here with OWB’s will cut and process 7-10 cord PER winter! Im afraid that might ruin it for me, and I don’t have the timber to support that kind of volume.

For your fireplace, down the road you may want to consider a fireplace insert. I beleive they are about 75% efficient (about the same as an older gas/LP furnace) and depending on size, will put out 50,000+ BTU. In your climate I would think that would be sufficient.

Great idea for this thread Bogey and thanks. I’m going to sit back and enjoy now. Keep having fun you wood bugger!

 

[Tucker301]

Great stuff!
We burned wood for several years out of pure necessity when were just getting started.
I learned to not miss it at all.
The Geothermal does a fantastic job for us, and I like to push buttons.

https://imgur.com/a/ChnFT#0

 

[MtnCreek]

That saw's got some ass to it if it can cut big stuff like that with the grain!

 

[Long_Action]

Great stuff!
We burned wood for several years out of pure necessity when were just getting started.
I learned to not miss it at all.
The Geothermal does a fantastic job for us, and I like to push buttons.

https://imgur.com/a/ChnFT#0

I'm running a Geothermal setup as well. It cools the house, and I use it to heat the house till the temps drop below freezing. I usually turn the boiler on in mid November and run it till mid March. It costs on average about $200/225 a month for electricity while on Geo and $150/175 using the boiler. Not too bad since I'm heating 4000sqft @ 70 degrees, 2 water heaters, and I keep my pole barn @ 50. I have a small kubota tractor, and a 6.5hp ram splitter/log splitter. I don't really touch the weights too much anymore, spend my evenings running a 7hp chainsaw or carrying 100lbs + logs.

 

[bogeybrown]

That saw's got some ass to it if it can cut big stuff like that with the grain!

You can see those wood chips, which is Im guessing is where the term "noodling" comes from. Amazingly that little 55cc saw with a 20" bar absolutely buried in a log will do a helluva job. I'm using non-ANSI chisel chain that I keep as sharp as possible. The big headache is having to stop and clear the pile of shavings from under the saw and out of the clutch cover because they have no room to get out of the way.

ajv35XX , thanks for the suggestions. I use an ATV winch mounted to my trailer for dragging and loading logs, and added an extra pulley to it that I can use as a snatch block or attach it to a tree to unload the trailer and do some limited ground handling, but haven't gone much further. Splitzilla has an optional hydraulic lift, but that's down the road a ways if it becomes a financial priority. I like the solitude of the engine running, ear pro, and manually moving heavy shit around. I've worked out some plans for a simple gantry, but my needs will have to increase a bit before I build it.

Here's a couple of what I'd hoped would be this year's firewood:



When full that rack holds a full cord. As of this morning I optimistically have 1/3 - 1/4 remaining, and have been burning a lot of green stuff from the pile shown the video in post #2 just to conserve what I have partially seasoned. My goal is to have 8-10 cords laid in by next Fall. My biggest challenge is sourcing the wood, the rest of it is the fun part.

 

[MotorOilMcCall]

I burn for pleasure... just have a wood insert in my fireplace with a couple blowers on it, nothing super efficient, but it helps warm the house up to a more than comfortable level on even the coldest days. I've had every saw brand out there... Loved my old 044 more than most. But a Dolmar 7900 is probably my favorite for all day cutting of big wood. Now I'm down to a 562XP and an Echo CS-355T tophandle for climbing/bucket work, plus it rides in the bed of my truck daily just in case...

I'm sure most of you guys are over on the wood cutting forum (ABsite). Great resource!

 

[1J04]

Now this is a country bumpkin bachelors living room. I need to find friends less primitive. This is really gonna be a fun thread. Hell, it already is. Way to go Bogey !!!!

 

[Fursniper]

Woodcutting forums? Who da thunk. Never knew suck a thing existed lol. Been heating my home (2400sf) for the last 15 years with wood exclusively. Burn an average of 4 cords/year I guess give or take. Get the house warmed up quick with ponderosa & then put on a slow burn with oak. The same 'ol Husky 350 (52cc I think) has served me well for 10 years without a hitch. With a good timber jack one chain will go a long ways between sharpenings. Have a 2-way splitter (splits both ways) and would never go back to a unidirectional splitter. Love the Woodcutting trips with the wife, take the dog, a gun or two and spending a day bringing in the bounty God provides. I can't help but laugh at the many neighbors who gripe about their $400-600/month heating bills for propane through the winter. They don't seem to get it... 'Course I spend all the savings on guns so not sure who's getting the best end of the bargin there lol!

 

[1J04]

Woodcutting forums? Who da thunk. Never knew suck a thing existed lol. Been heating my home (2400sf) for the last 15 years with wood exclusively. Burn an average of 4 cords/year I guess give or take. Get the house warmed up quick with ponderosa & then put on a slow burn with oak. The same 'ol Husky 350 (52cc I think) has served me well for 10 years without a hitch. With a good timber jack one chain will go a long ways between sharpenings. Have a 2-way splitter (splits both ways) and would never go back to a unidirectional splitter. Love the Woodcutting trips with the wife, take the dog, a gun or two and spending a day bringing in the bounty God provides. I can't help but laugh at the many neighbors who gripe about their $400-600/month heating bills for propane through the winter. They don't seem to get it... 'Course I spend all the savings on guns so not sure who's getting the best end of the bargin there lol!

Those propane bills are a real bitch. Just say'n.

 

[Fursniper]

Those propane bills are a real bitch. Just say'n.

Woodcutting mishap...?

 

[Sean the Nailer]

I hope he wasn't trying to siphon some propane, again.

 

[1J04]

I hope he wasn't trying to siphon some propane, again.

Oh hell no. I've swore that shit off damn near a year ago come Feb 23rd.

Fursniper I can't lie. Nah, just a little Propane & Dungeness Crab mishap. I'll leave it at that. But I live in the woods.

What a mess. But it's not my mess. My chit is a 'tad' more squared away.

 

[tnichols]

One of my little outdoor stashes. Usually store green, softer wood here for a quick 1 year season. Use it in the shoulder season and blend it with the good stuff when it gets cold. Box built on a pallet is for shorts and uglies.

 

[Dirty D]

Nice wood mr.

 

[1J04]

Nice wood mr.

Pervert

 

[Dirty D]

My name is 1J and I’m a jealous little man

Well there ya go.

 

[DuneBoer]

Family Heirloom from bygone days. Does this count?

 

[Major Wader]

Here's my saw. It's a Dolmar 510. I like it better than any other saw I ever ran.

Axe is a barn find that I reconditioned and rehung.

 

[Major Wader]

A quality axe is still effective, even when it's 80+ years old