Maggie’s The Woodchuck and Firewood Hoarders Thread

[tnichols]

Dead oak leaner is on the ground (set up a couple of weeks back). This tree is 60 feet+ with 2 limbs.
Out of the pic, the 441 is idling to warm up. Almost too warm for me today as it hit 70 degrees.

 

[tnichols]

I scaled this load passing through town on the way home. This tree yielded 3,080 lbs. Got about 2/3 of it split this afternoon. It’s tough stacking this crooked stuff ??

 

[dallas34]

Stacked my first Holz Hausen. Not exactly right but will still get it dry in a couple of years. 8' diameter and around 5' high where the top cover starts. Center is full of the odd shape stuff. The splitting axe is there for scale. Some of the sticks are a little large. I got tired of splitting but I justified it by saying that you still need some big stuff for overnight burners. Hand planted 1000 white oak trees in the same field this year. It should be great hunting in a hundred years or so....

 

[tnichols]

Stacked my first Holz Hausen. Not exactly right but will still get it dry in a couple of years. 8' diameter and around 5' high where the top cover starts. Center is full of the odd shape stuff. The splitting axe is there for scale. Some of the sticks are a little large. I got tired of splitting but I justified it by saying that you still need some big stuff for overnight burners. Hand planted 1000 white oak trees in the same field this year. It should be great hunting in a hundred years or so....

My hat off to you! A lot of work and time, especially running a hand held “splitter”.

 

[tnichols]

Finished up the second course with oak and a bit of red elm. Just got a start on a third course. I’m ready for a day or two break. Have a half cord or so of silver maple to split from a small tree job I did for some old folks.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Stacked my first Holz Hausen. Not exactly right but will still get it dry in a couple of years. 8' diameter and around 5' high where the top cover starts. Center is full of the odd shape stuff. The splitting axe is there for scale. Some of the sticks are a little large. I got tired of splitting but I justified it by saying that you still need some big stuff for overnight burners. Hand planted 1000 white oak trees in the same field this year. It should be great hunting in a hundred years or so....

There's many who don't appreciate what that "Hand planted 1000 white oak trees in the same field this year" means. Good Job man.

And no, I ain't no tree-hugger. I worked maintenance in a sawmill. 300,000 FBM a shift, 3 shifts a day.

 

[Trevor300wsm]

I bought this today. MS271 Farm Boss. Probably pretty small compared to some of the saws y’all have, but I don’t cut wood for heat. Mainly just for cooking in my smoker and clearing trees on my property.

 

[tnichols]

I bought this today. MS271 Farm Boss. Probably pretty small compared to some of the saws y’all have, but I don’t cut wood for heat. Mainly just for cooking in my smoker and clearing trees on my property.View attachment 7073611

That will be an excellent all around saw. ??

 

[tnichols]

Helping out the old folks today with lightening struck blown out Walnut. Power lines behind, septic pipes, and Dish satellite creating a snug felling zone. Spent a fair amount of time with setup and rigging. Once it hit the ground ?, put Ty to work bucking the main stem. Cleaned up, brush hauled away, and a small jag of stove wood.

 

[Geno C.]

I would have taken a 10’ stick of the main stem...

 

[tnichols]

I would have taken a 10’ stick of the main stem...

Next good one I get is all yours. This stem wasn’t the best as the carpenter ants had gotten to it pretty good on the other side out of view in the picture. The mills local to us will NOT take yard trees as they’re usually full of metal bits and pieces. I removed 9 3” deck screws out of this one prior to cutting on it.

 

[Geno C.]

I’m really looking for a piece of hickory with a little color in it. I need a 2x8 about 8’ long... walnut would look good too

 

[tnichols]

The official end to the wood burning season is when the stove loading glove gets tossed.

 

[oneshot86]

so let me revive this thread, bring it to the top, and say, i dont know what the hell is going on.
we are thankful, indeed, but man have we sold some firewood today.

its the 8th of june, in florida...
prolly 90, humid as fuck, rained like hell and now the sun is on number 11...

but all day, people are buying our cubic ft bags of wood, maybe 30, and at least 5 wheel barrow loads...
just out of the blue
thankyou lord...

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

Beach bonfires?

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[oneshot86]

fire pits in back yard and cooking, just higher demand today, by alot.
ill get my fire going here in the front of the building

 

[tnichols]

Just curious, what do you get for a bag?

 

[oneshot86]

Just curious, what do you get for a bag?

6 dollars, its the best thing in town... the box stores are selling what they say is hard word and i only put oak in the bags, and at 6.99
ace gets 6.99 to 7.99.
our bag has always been better and cheaper.

 

[tnichols]

6 dollars, its the best thing in town... the box stores are selling what they say is hard word and i only put oak in the bags, and at 6.99
ace gets 6.99 to 7.99.
our bag has always been better and cheaper.

?? And a bag holds about how much?

 

[Mike Casselton]

?? And a bag holds about how much?

I don't know, they are pretty heavy. I'm still burning from the last bag I got from him.

Of course the bag took up 3/4ths of the bed on my F-250

 

[tnichols]

I don't know, they are pretty heavy. I'm still burning from the last bag I got from him.

Of course the bag took up 3/4ths of the bed on my F-250

That's a good value then for sure.

 

[powdahound76]

@oneshot86

Is this a slower time of year for everything or just that much firewood is a nice boost of business?

I know nothin about FL nursery stuff.

I do know you have shown (through others posting) some crazy wood pile pics.
Invite @tnichols down and he will stack it all pretty for ya! ?

 

[tnichols]

@oneshot86

Is this a slower time of year for everything or just that much firewood is a nice boost of business?

I know nothin about FL nursery stuff.

I do know you have shown (through others posting) some crazy wood pile pics.
Invite @tnichols down and he will stack it all pretty for ya! ?

He sells it so fast, no stacking needed ??

 

[oneshot86]

?? And a bag holds about how much?

we have 2 bag sizes.
the typical red bag of wood you see everywhere that is a cubic ft, about 7 to 8 pieces in it, and
our big white bags for 150.00, which is a face cord of wood. a super time saver as we split directly into the bag and move, stage and deliver with our knuckle boom crane and truck. ill ask Mike C to post a pic for me in a bit.

 

[oneshot86]

@oneshot86

Is this a slower time of year for everything or just that much firewood is a nice boost of business?

I know nothin about FL nursery stuff.

I do know you have shown (through others posting) some crazy wood pile pics.
Invite @tnichols down and he will stack it all pretty for ya! ?

we are slowing down. when it starts to get real hot, the retail nursery business falls off, but work here in the nursery continues on.
its weed season, right now about a third of resources go into taking care of the place, let alone new production and we have to start getting ready for wood season which starts heavy again in Oct.

no wood stacking necessary here... we split into big piles in the sun and it seasons fast, come sept, we start to cover the piles to keep the rain off of them to give the customer a good product...

the customer buys then pulls his own wood. of course we help if its wanted but most folks prefer to load their own wood.

while we sell wood steady through the year, yesterday was a little surprise

 

[Sean the Nailer]

^^^ Ammo fund!

 

[Mike Casselton]

we have 2 bag sizes.
the typical red bag of wood you see everywhere that is a cubic ft, about 7 to 8 pieces in it, and
our big white bags for 150.00, which is a face cord of wood. a super time saver as we split directly into the bag and move, stage and deliver with our knuckle boom crane and truck. ill ask Mike C to post a pic for me in a bit.

@oneshot86
Send me that pic Mikey, I'll post it up. I tried to find the pic I had but I must have accidentally deleted it.

 

[Mr. Z]

The only good mulberry

 

[CJS-6.5]

I've been forgetting to get you guys some pics of my firewood operation...was stacking yesterday and decided to entertain those overhead by making my stack spell a word...?

 

[Geno C.]

We did 10, 4x4x4 baskets yesterday. Worked the 441c hard!! Lots of solid oak in the 20” range

 

[oneshot86]

im getting ready to bust a move right now...

its hot as fuck but lets see what i can do. a little more to cut up into rounds, throw in pile then split like a bastard...

 

[Mike Casselton]

im getting ready to bust a move right now...

its hot as fuck but lets see what i can do. a little more to cut up into rounds, throw in pile then split like a bastard...

Mikey,
I'm gonna guess your humidity is just a bit higher over at your place.

Says 53% here.

Here's what we're seeing right now.

It was hot as fuck at the range an hour ago.

 

[oneshot86]

94 here, sun full blast, im waiting for it to get hotter before i hit the pile, i should have practiced this first
fuck it thats what cold beer is for and i can take anything

 

[tnichols]

Dang Locust at the little church by us had a limb blow out earlier this week. Second time I’ve cleaned up this tree. Another storm or two and it’ll be nothing but a stick. My good deed of the week. Too hot for an ol duffer like me to be climbing around in a tree and running saw.

 

[powdahound76]

@oneshot86

I got to experience your weather a little bit this week.
Each morning working on a few little projects for Aunt Susie around her place.

Yesterday at 0900 it was 92F and 75% humidity according to her overly fancy weather station.

This AM in CO walked out at 0725 to 64F and was so happy.........

 

[Geno C.]

Our cool down started yesterday. Been hot and humid for a week and now about a perfect day.

 

[LeftyJason]

Having finally read through this thread you guys are impressive.

One thing though. It must be so nice to cut a tree and let it fall. Most of the chainsaw work I've done is after hurricane cleanup or other tropical storms. Did 77 hours over multiple weekends for months volunteer cleanup after Katrina/ Rita in East Texas with church groups. Tons of fun. Also lots of work. Lots of times coming on a lot with trees looking like a giant game of pickup sticks. Generally no power equipment. Crews of 10-15. The other fun thing is when lodge poles hinge 2/3rds of the way up. Oaks like to pull up roots and topple over. Just like the one a few pages back. Many times having to cut out a bound saw bar with another saw. When everything is in either tension or compression it's lots of fun.

One thing that I can say from experience is that 1 stihl 210 will out cut 5 of any of the big store brands (poulan, craftsman and the like). The only other brands that could even hope to keep up were the echo's or husky pro's. Stihl 311's are fun. We had 2 of those that were owned by the church that were stored at our house because my dad is the emergency response coordinator guy.

I got pretty good at reading what the trees would do. My dad and I were the ones that most of the people listened to that handled alot of the tricky trees.

My dad also bought tree spikes and also non destructive tree methods. Btw my dad is a chemical engineer. He only trusts me or my older sister as ground crew. He bought them so we could take a pine tree that was eaten up by beetles. The tree was 3 ft away from the house with no room to lay it down. He climbed up and we topped it and roped it all down except for the last 15ft or so. On one section I was glad that I in my harness was tied off to another tree because I was lifted off of the ground.

Also did the same thing for some friends. The tree was another pine that winds made lean. Base was 6ft away from the house and leaning so the top was more than half way across the house.

Will have to ask my dad to send me what pictures he has of all of this.

Oh and be nicer to the millenials. Or at least get the age range correct. 38 to 24 in 2019. Or born between 1981-1996. I am an older millennial. I will be 34 in December and know how to work. Btw anyone 23 or under is not a millennial.

 

[Mr. Z]

I’m 32 and most of “us” don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground. It amounts to a serious lack of discipline and common sense.

 

[DaveinCO]

Having finally read through this thread you guys are impressive.

One thing though. It must be so nice to cut a tree and let it fall. Most of the chainsaw work I've done is after hurricane cleanup or other tropical storms. Did 77 hours over multiple weekends for months volunteer cleanup after Katrina/ Rita in East Texas with church groups. Tons of fun. Also lots of work. Lots of times coming on a lot with trees looking like a giant game of pickup sticks. Generally no power equipment. Crews of 10-15. The other fun thing is when lodge poles hinge 2/3rds of the way up. Oaks like to pull up roots and topple over. Just like the one a few pages back. Many times having to cut out a bound saw bar with another saw. When everything is in either tension or compression it's lots of fun.

One thing that I can say from experience is that 1 stihl 210 will out cut 5 of any of the big store brands (poulan, craftsman and the like). The only other brands that could even hope to keep up were the echo's or husky pro's. Stihl 311's are fun. We had 2 of those that were owned by the church that were stored at our house because my dad is the emergency response coordinator guy.

I got pretty good at reading what the trees would do. My dad and I were the ones that most of the people listened to that handled alot of the tricky trees.

My dad also bought tree spikes and also non destructive tree methods. Btw my dad is a chemical engineer. He only trusts me or my older sister as ground crew. He bought them so we could take a pine tree that was eaten up by beetles. The tree was 3 ft away from the house with no room to lay it down. He climbed up and we topped it and roped it all down except for the last 15ft or so. On one section I was glad that I in my harness was tied off to another tree because I was lifted off of the ground.

Also did the same thing for some friends. The tree was another pine that winds made lean. Base was 6ft away from the house and leaning so the top was more than half way across the house.

Will have to ask my dad to send me what pictures he has of all of this.

Oh and be nicer to the millenials. Or at least get the age range correct. 38 to 24 in 2019. Or born between 1981-1996. I am an older millennial. I will be 34 in December and know how to work. Btw anyone 23 or under is not a millennial.

Hurricane cleanup is something else. I got my first and only chainsaw scar cleaning up after hurricane Andrew in south Florida. I kicked a Stihl 440 running a 30" bar out of a cut and just kissed the top of my boot. Other than having the shit scared out of me the worst part was having it stiched up in a National Guard tent. I think I was 10 at the time, and yeah some people would call me a millenial but not to my face...

 

[Barneybdb]

 

[Barneybdb]

 

[DaveinCO]

View attachment 7111205

Those are some bad mofo's. I just wish it was me. OSHA has taken all the fun out of work now.

 

[Mr. Z]

Those are some bad mofo's. I just wish it was me. OSHA has taken all the fun out of work now.

They’re wearing hard hats. What’s the problem?

 

[DaveinCO]

OSHA will find one. Or make one if they can't.

 

[Barneybdb]

I still hold a Dogger's ticket, but it has been a long time since I rode the hook....

 

[Barneybdb]

 

[DaveinCO]

I still hold a Dogger's ticket, but it has been a long time since I rode the hook....

Only place in the world that I wasn't allowed to signal my crane op directly. Is the whistle thing because eveything is upside down so standard hand signals are backwards?

 

[Barneybdb]

Only place in the world that I wasn't allowed to signal my crane op directly. Is the whistle thing because eveything is upside down so standard hand signals are backwards?

Only ever used the whistle in training / testing. Hand signals or radio on the job.

 

[acudaowner]

just to ask anyone with all that wood ever try making there own rifle stock ? I wish 25 years ago I had thought about it while cutting trees for the power company sadly i never did .

 

[tnichols]

Simple before and after. 17 year old Willow in the way of a new building site on our little slice of hell. I hate them. Dirty, good for nothin’ things. Short version is, day clean up with Ty on the small saw and me on the 441 for the big stuff. 28-30” DBA on the butt log. Ty is whipped as XC practice started this week. He did 7 miles this morning and cut the rest of the day.