Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

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So, I've been helping my Grandson with his Math homework lately, and I think I'm getting the hang of it, so here goes:

MustangMike split 1 & 1/2 cord of Red Oak on Sunday. If Red Oak weighs 4,500 lbs / cord, and MustangMike had 18 rounds that he quartered with his saw when he started splitting:

A) How much did the Oak that MustangMike split weigh?
B) How many pieces of wood did MustangMike lift into the splitter? and,
C) What is the average weight of each of the quartered pieces of wood he lifted?
A crapload,
A crappile,
And a crapton?
 
IMG_1200.JPG IMG_1202.JPG IMG_1199.JPG Hey guys got a load of hickory yesterday and used my trusty ms250.... had the bar damn near buried in shagbark a few times.... I just took it easy in her, and she cut just fine!!!
I haven't used her much lately so I figured might as well get her out...the pile behind ol red is pure shagbark hickory...
 
I called the Kubota dealer about ordering the bolt on part for my 3 point hitch that I broke off. Didn't bother to ask the price because I need it. I figured I might as well ask how much the arm would be in case I couldn't straighten it enough with heat. Parts guy looks it up then says to me "are you ready for the price" I said "yup". He says " are you sitting down" Hmm damn this isn't going to be good. "it's $529 for the one arm". Ok well thanks, give me a call when the other part comes in I have a bit of torch work to do. Took an hour or so, lots of heating, some steel tubing, some sledge hammering, a forklift driving over a steel bar for weight and a lot of cursing and swearing. I think I got it good enough until the next time.
IMG_20161024_163834.jpg IMG_20161024_163825.jpg
 
I've been for another saw laden stroll along the ridge out at the lady farmer's place. I had already spied another dead branch off the monstro-blue gum which I cut up. How's the serenity?

Blue gum cut 11th Sep 16.jpg
I wandered on, and saw a dead fallen peppermint. One problem with peppermints, great firewood that they are, is that they are very susceptible to termites so by the time they have fallen over, they're normally riddled with the little b@stards. I'm not mad keen on bringing wood full of termites to stack near my house. I put a few cuts in it and it was wet through and more termite by weight than wood. I didn't bother taking a photo of that one and moved on because I saw another peppermint lying down.

A helpful wombat had dug a thoroughfare under the log which conveniently allowed me to cut right through in one go. Helpful wombat 11th Sep 16.jpg

Yes! It's solid!

Well, almost.

Peppermint mother lode2 11th Sep 16.jpg

Still, plenty of BTUs in this one.

Peppermint mother lode 11th Sep 16.jpg

And a few seconds later...

Peppermint cut 11th Sep 16.jpg

Some not-so-good bits in there, but more good wood than bad. :)
 
Like the reference to one of my favourite Ozzy movies, cowboy.

"So much serenity."

For those interested, the quote is from a '97 Ozzy movie called The Castle, about a simple family with good values who take on big brother rather than get pushed around. All they wanted was fair suck of the sav. :)

It's an absolute classic. Here are a few clips from the movie:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL18929780E92D0BDF

Here's a few quotes from it:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118826/quotes
----------
Farouk: He say plane fly overhead, drop value. I don't care. In Beirut, plane fly over, drop bomb. I like these planes.
---------
Darryl Kerrigan: This is going straight to the pool room.
----------
Dale Kerrigan: Dad reckons fishing is 10% brains and 95% muscle, the rest is just good luck.
------------
Darryl Kerrigan: Dale dug a hole. Tell 'em Dale.

Dale Kerrigan: I dug a hole.
---------------
Dale Kerrigan: If there's anything Dad loved more than serenity, it was a big two stroke engine on full throttle!
 
You still splitting it with the farmer?

Yep. I cut for her in April/May coming into our winter down here so she has plenty of good firewood before she needs it. Through winter/spring I cut for me for 2 winters ahead and top her supply up if needed. But she'll burn anything. I've cut wood for her that has sections of termitey wood in it and said to her not to bother with those bits because they're full of termites and they can eventually work their way over to the house from your woodshed if the wood sits there for long enough and she says "I don't care, they'll burn too".

Ok then.

So when I'm cutting for me and I come across some not so good bits, I split and pile them up and she picks them up when she needs them. The difference between us is that I generally prefer cutting green wood that generally is in better nick and I have a big shed to dry it out for two years. I don't want termites sitting in there for two years because eventually they'll infest the shed permanently. She picks up and burns the wood I cut for her (normally dead standing or fallen) in the winter when termites are largely dormant so there's less risk of that. The parts that have termites that I just posted here could also use some drying but it can do that in the paddock and she'll pick it up next April after our summer. So, yes, I'm a wood snob but she isn't and she's happy to have my rejects as well as the better stuff I do for her each year.
 
Like the reference to one of my favourite Ozzy movies, cowboy.

"So much serenity."

For those interested, the quote is from a '97 Ozzy movie called The Castle, about a simple family with good values who take on big brother rather than get pushed around. All they wanted was fair suck of the sav. :)

It's an absolute classic. Here are a few clips from the movie:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL18929780E92D0BDF

Here's a few quotes from it:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118826/quotes
----------
Farouk: He say plane fly overhead, drop value. I don't care. In Beirut, plane fly over, drop bomb. I like these planes.
---------
Darryl Kerrigan: This is going straight to the pool room.
----------
Dale Kerrigan: Dad reckons fishing is 10% brains and 95% muscle, the rest is just good luck.
------------
Darryl Kerrigan: Dale dug a hole. Tell 'em Dale.

Dale Kerrigan: I dug a hole.
---------------
Dale Kerrigan: If there's anything Dad loved more than serenity, it was a big two stroke engine on full throttle!

I thought you might pick up the reference, Kiwi. One of my favourite bits is



Classic aussie fillum. Wouldn't get past the PC police now.
 
IMG_1221.JPG Got a load of oak with some hickory, ash, and iron wood thrown in....I tell ya my 91 Chevy is a badass.... she always does what I ask and never complains....I love the old damn truck...anyway got this load using just the old trusty ms240 agian!!!'
 
View attachment 533411 Got a load of oak with some hickory, ash, and iron wood thrown in....I tell ya my 91 Chevy is a badass.... she always does what I ask and never complains....I love the old damn truck...anyway got this load using just the old trusty ms240 agian!!!'

Despite my moniker, C&W is not really my thing but your trusty steed did remind me of this one...

 
Buddy of mine decided to come along for a scrounge. Woods behind an office park has some downed (and dead!) trees. So I pulled a half cord out today so I don't have to dip into my personal stock. Loaded back up for a delivery bright and squirrley tomorrow.
 

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