Maggie’s The Woodchuck and Firewood Hoarders Thread
- Thread starter bogeybrown
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Had about 2.5 hours before picking up Ty from school, so I loaded up the ol’ Dodge with saws and headed for the timber. Dead standing oak near the edge of the timber looked like quality wood with the time alotted. 60+ feet tall with not a limb for awhile (Jerry Clower reference). Put it where I wanted it, bucked and loaded the stem. Left the top for Ty to work up for the fire pit. Temps in the low 50’s made for comfortable weather.
Picked Ty up from school and headed back in. Had him clean up the top, then started him on a blown out Black Cherry top. I’ll tip the stem next time I’m down there. He had fun. Good work for a newbie. Ended up with a nice jag before the rains come again.
ETA: Please note I am NOT the person this question was originally directed to.
I do that on sweetgum stumps and pour straight concentrated roundup in the cuts. If you don't kill the stump/roots, a sweetgum will sprout again and you'll wind up with a thicket.
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Until recently I had a 200 yd shooting range in the woods behind my house. About 00:30 or so on Nov 1, a tornado came through and changed all that. I now have about 4 acres of hardwood timber laid down. Several species of oak, hickory, and a lot of sweetgum and pine as well. Lifetime supply of firewood if I had a place to preserve it.......
Here's a pic of my shooting bench and shed:
My 100 yard target frame:
Looks like my Husqy 365 is headed for a workout. Many of these red and white oaks are 3 feet + across the butt.
Here's a pic of my shooting bench and shed:
My 100 yard target frame:
Looks like my Husqy 365 is headed for a workout. Many of these red and white oaks are 3 feet + across the butt.
Ah, man, I sure could use some of that White Oak up here. Alas, I'm in Canada and you KNOW all the super-secret ninja-squirrel spy-stuff that happens when you try to bring wood across the border.
Almost easier asking for a reprieve from a Senator.
I'm betting that there's cooperages who'd LOVE to get their hands on the White Oak, and furniture supply companies are looking for the Red, no?
Almost easier asking for a reprieve from a Senator.
I'm betting that there's cooperages who'd LOVE to get their hands on the White Oak, and furniture supply companies are looking for the Red, no?
Sorry to see your damage. Plenty of work in front of you for sure. Be safe.
My son has a Woodmizer sawmill about 75 yards away from these trees. I'm sure some of it will be processed into lumber right there onsite. There are mills around that will buy the logs, but for some reason I don't think any of them supply any hardwood lumber to the furniture industry. Or maybe they keep that secret so they can get by with paying chump change for local timber and then sell the wood for premium prices.
About a year and a half ago a similar tornado tore through the neighborhood on the Eastern boundary of my property. I lost maybe 3 big trees right on the fenceline. This recent one followed the Western boundary line and encroached heavily onto my property. I feel I and my family are under protection because the only losses suffered were just timber etc. The massive damage from this latest one came within 30 yards of my daughter's new home without so much as a loose shingle. There are probably 50+ downed/shredded trees within a rock's throw of her house. Many neighbors lost everything but their lives. This one left a 200yd-wide path of destruction for several miles with only 2 injuries and no deaths that I've heard of.
Thanks guys.
I've read about people drilling stumps and adding salt/ diesel into the holes. Supposedly the salt helps the fuel soak clear into the roots and then it'll burn clear out. Anyone tried that?
I’m hitting highs of 15 right now and getting ready for wood. I use stihls and split with back power. I was lucky enough to marry into a homestead family up here in Alaska. Spent plenty of days from sunup to sunset felling big beetlekill spruce and hauling it across the lake by snow machine. I’ve found birch bowls bigger than basketballs and Chaga all over. I still battle with p.t.s.d. And can’t stand the summertime crowds even in this small town fishing hotspot, but let it snow and suddenly I have the playground all to myself. Weather it’s cutting, hunting, picking cranberries, ice fishing, or just chugging through the snow, it returns my sanity.. we all know I’ve lost enough that I need whatever I can get. You can never have enough wood or ammo.
I'd heard of putting saltpeter in the holes. Back in the day you could buy saltpeter in drug stores but I don't know about now. I gave it a half-hearted try once but couldn't tell if it helped or not. As far as diesel and salt-looks like it would work just as well, but this is the first time I've really heard of it.
PS-you can make saltpeter the old fashioned way by boiling wood ashes etc. But never tried that either. Seems it was always something I never had time to mess with right now.......
I see firewood, kinda like money, just because I have some doesn't mean I want to burn thru it. Figure I have about a 12-15 year supply; pile is so big I had to take the photo from the roof. I usually try not to start heating my house using the woodstove until the 3rd weekend in October. I had to fire the woodstove up in early-Oct due to cold and snow for a weekend, then took a reprieve until Nov 1. When the house thermostat reads in the low 40's its time to fire-up the stove.
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I’m kinda the same way. That sir is fricken awesome. Neat, clean operation ??
Yeah that may make an ugly mess of your chain. Lots of that around here in old homesteads. Thanks for the reminder. I'll have to remember to try using my metal detector when cleaning up tornado damage.
Nails, wire, bullets, etc... are soft and just dull a chain. Sharpen or throw on a sharpened replacement, and back to work.
Railroad spikes, ceramic insulators, farm implement parts, etc... might be the end of the line for that chain. Next time you’re over here, I’ll present “examples”.
A bit cool here today as our high never made 30 (20 degrees below normal). Hit the timber for awhile. Working a blow down area not accessible by a vehicle, so I huck it out, productivity and yield are low. High quality wood though. Dead standing Red Elm and Black Cherry.
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I've been working on the woodpile. This is where I ended up last week before rain and snow came in. I hope to burn as little of this as possible this year. It needs to dry out a year.
Do you put anything over for cover to help keep it dry from rain/snow?
Father in law was adamant that wood had to season under cover. Being a city kid, I never knew any different than what he told me.
I see some guys on here season in buildings, others just leave it to the elements.
Bark side up is a good way to start stacking wood 'under the stars'. As most here know. And yes, freeze-drying wood really is a "thing" that is done by practically every sawmill/lumber company in B.C. The kiln time is actually decreased if the lumber is left outside to freeze for at least a week. A lot has to do with the lath between the layers, too. Faster in the kiln in winter, than it is in the hottest of summer.
Thats a damn nice stack, looks like a couple cord in the barn as well. How much do you burn a year ?..
Started splitting this afternoon. Some clean straight Red Elm, Oak, and Black Cherry. I’m working in Bay 1 just inside the door. I only get 2-3 cord in this bay because the splitter sits in there too. Bay 2 and 3 hold about 6 cord each. Burning out of 3 right now, 2 is full. I try to stay several years ahead.
Ok boys, school me a bit on what type of chains the pros use. Or the best place to go read up myself. I’m due for 8-10 replacements. Stihl 440 “22, 660 ”26, husky 550xp “18. Save me from wading through the ocean of idiots please. I’ve just been running what they come with and replacing them with the same.
I use Woodland Pro skip tooth on my bigger saw's, I get it from baileysonline.com. call them up and they'll fix you right up. 800-322-4539
5 dump truck loads bucked and a flatbed full of logs pulled and loaded. 7.5 hrs running the 660 today, color me whooped.
That long on a big saw is a day for sure. Hope you get some hot chow and an abundance of adult beverage (along with some Motrin) ?
Wife took our son to play at grandmas, 1 week aged veni backstrap never frozen, quervo and coke, Bayer back and body. I got it down.
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Miss Lori went down to help an elderly lady clean up the flower beds of the tiny one room church in the burg of Morley before the next snow. Lori said this gal fussed over a blown out limb hung up in the Locust tree that is in the side yard of the church. My phone rang at about 1600. I said I’d come down and look at it. Ran back home after a quick look for saws and gear. With a little ladder work and my 192 top handle, I put it on the ground. Limbed out, branches stacked, etc... by dark. She was SO happy. I know they (the church) don’t have 2 nickels to rub together, so it was a holiday gift to congregation. Sorry I didn’t get pics. Happy Thanksgiving fellas.
Always a joy to help, even better to make an old ladies day.
I would say its an Iowa thing, maybe a Hide thing, but really its an American man thing.
Nice work tnichols
I would say its an Iowa thing, maybe a Hide thing, but really its an American man thing.
Nice work tnichols
There's Canuckians whom help out, too. And yeah, good job to ALL who help out. Being the better man....
True Sean. Very true.
I was just being an isolationist and nationalist......
I will say it is a Man thing. I think “old fashioned”, or honorable men in most any country act that way.
I can say that of the men I have met from many countries and cultures.
I was just being an isolationist and nationalist......
I will say it is a Man thing. I think “old fashioned”, or honorable men in most any country act that way.
I can say that of the men I have met from many countries and cultures.
