New guy in Maine

[trukn2004]

Well, I had a couple friends up this weekend, and they wanted to lend a hand around the house. I took advantage of that at we got more wood out and stacked! Friend was happy, I let him and the wife drive the tractor. It was around another three bucket loads, but that cleaned up one of the piles out there. All stacked and ready for a tarp.



Overall look at the stacks:


The wife and I also raked out the back hill of small rocks, rolled out some burlap and planted some plants. We are trying to get stuff to grow to hold the dirt back. Hopefully the stuff will do it. Its a tough area because it gets a ton of sun. Plus side, all the rock we raked down I scooped up with the tractor and dumped into that muddy section of my woods road. Worked like a charm. I definitely need more, but it turned a swampy patch into a nice sold road. Didn't get pictures, but ill grab some tonight.

 

[olyman]

Well, I had a couple friends up this weekend, and they wanted to lend a hand around the house. I took advantage of that at we got more wood out and stacked! Friend was happy, I let him and the wife drive the tractor. It was around another three bucket loads, but that cleaned up one of the piles out there. All stacked and ready for a tarp.



Overall look at the stacks:


The wife and I also raked out the back hill of small rocks, rolled out some burlap and planted some plants. We are trying to get stuff to grow to hold the dirt back. Hopefully the stuff will do it. Its a tough area because it gets a ton of sun. Plus side, all the rock we raked down I scooped up with the tractor and dumped into that muddy section of my woods road. Worked like a charm. I definitely need more, but it turned a swampy patch into a nice sold road. Didn't get pictures, but ill grab some tonight.

unless its really rainy there,,id put nothing on top of those stacks, till first hard frost....air has to move thru, in every direction,,to dry it out..the top pieces may not dry much, with the tarps on there

 

[Woodyjiw]

Looks like u have a good system. The equipment is definitely nice to have around!!

 

[trukn2004]

unless its really rainy there,,id put nothing on top of those stacks, till first hard frost....air has to move thru, in every direction,,to dry it out..the top pieces may not dry much, with the tarps on there

Yea tarps were put on late last fall to handle snow, and I never took them off. the wood was stacked and uncovered for about 5 months before that. I have been on the fence about pulling the covers.

Looks like u have a good system. The equipment is definitely nice to have around!!

Thanks, the tractor is definitely a fantastic piece of equipment. Everything can be done without it, but nowhere near as fast or as well. I don't think I will ever go back to not having one.

 

[trukn2004]

Man oh man, this summer has gotten away from me! I have done very little in the way of firewood-related work. Most of my time has been in road maintenance, bush-hogging, and trying not to melt in the heat. I finally have a couple more pictures to share though!

Tractor just crested 50 hours on the motor. Sent it in for a full fluids work up and checkup. Came back pristine. no real problems. bucket has lost its shiney new paint, but i can live with it.


Had a fire last night, its been quite a while since i ran the little pit. Was great just sitting around and enjoying the outside. Bugs we minimal, and it has cooled off significantly.


I dont think this limb wood is seasoned well.




Put this on repeat and time melts away


Not all of it is relaxing and serene though. Wife and i finally got out the last of the cut and split wood. American beech and some sugar maple. Going to get it stacked, split or pass along the bigger pieces and make plans for the next batch.





That big burl. Still need to figure out what im going to do with it. picture is deceiving, but that bad boy is hefty. It will either fall to the noodling, or maybe ill put it on craigslist and see if any wood-workers want it. hell, if anyone on here is local and interested, hit me up.



That about wraps it up for me! Next step is the dead red oak i had cut up a while ago and its counterparts that are out there. Going to be a lot of tractor runs getting it all out, but that stuff is great once its split and stacked for a year or two. Hope you enjoyed this installment and as the weather cools i hope to have plenty more pictures for you guys and gals!

 

[trukn2004]

Did a little bit more the other day, and sweat my kiester off while doing it!. A work friend just got a Shop Smith and was looking for some logs to test the lathe out on. He had worked up some of the cedar for me before, so I offered him some to try out. ended up cutting down tow dead standings and getting 5 6-footers and a 3-footer for him.

Of course, the cedar grows at the opposite end of my property from the house, and I cant get there other then on foot. Started the journey in.


Carried out to the road, about halfway back. While relatively light, cedar posts got some heft! I was sweating like a banshee.


Along the way, I couldn't help but take down a small red oak that was in the way. it is growing in the roadway, and I snagged the cab with it before. Since I had the saw, I figured might as well lay it out!



Only cut 8 rounds off for now. just enough to keep the trail clear. I will get to the rest another time.


I cut the burl off and loaded it all in the truck. On their way to a better home.


I also noodled one of the bigger rounds I had left to split so that I can go out and give it hell later on.


the oak rounds and some misc. beech pieces I have to work over. you can see the stack that resulted from the previous haul.


that'll be it for now, waiting for a little bit cooler weather to make some more chips. Felt good to run the saw again. it needs a bit of tinkering on the carb, and a bit of cleaning, but overall ran well for sitting for several months.

 

[trukn2004]

And another one.

The MIL pile. Mostly some semi-punky stuff i dont want to process. Maple, some ash and some unsplittable (for me) beech rounds.


The final stack. this has the red oak rounds and the all the beech.




Noodles!

 

[trukn2004]

Whats that? it's Tuesday and you guys were looking for some more pictures to brighten your day?

This weekend the wife and I went out and decided to pick up the Oak rounds I had cut back in December. All of it is dead and down red oaks. I failed to remember my camera, but I took the tractor down the end of the woods road and began. Got a bucket full, went to drive it to the landing/splitting/stacking area while the wife worked her way to the next pile. Before I left she asked me if I still had my sled. my sled? Crap! I totally spaced on even attempting to use the JET sled I bought this winter. Went back, unloaded, grabbed the sled and worked back into the woods. By the time I got there, the wife had cleared a path from the rounds to the tractor so we could use the sled with ease. Man, is that a nice tool. Loaded it full, then let gravity pull it downhill to the tractor. Two sleds full and the bucket was overflowing! Thankfully my wife uses her brain, as I would have been humping those rounds out one by one.

20 minutes total and I had everything that was cut out. Need to do more cutting, but that is for another day.

Yesterday I got home and decided to put in some work since it was nice outside and the bugs seemed to be at bay.
The pile. As you can see, these bad boys have been down quite a while, but minus missing the bark and sapwood, the heartwood is solid as can be.


The tools of the trade. No fancy splitters here, but luckily my health and tree quality makes this part of the job not too bad.


Close up of the victims.






A break a little way through. Popping splits with ease, nothing too crazy or difficult. I love working Red Oak.




Side by Side comparision. The lighter split is from a young, just cut live red oak. Split on the left is from the dead. It is cool to see how much the color comes out as the tree ages.


Split!




The result of maybe 20 minutes of work. Yes, most of the rounds have punk attached to the outside, and they probably wont burn like a wildfire, but Last winter I burned 6 month split and stacked dead red oak and was quite impressed! This stuff will sit for a couple years, top covered and safe. It burns hotter then dead ash and longer then maple, plus it helps clean up the forest and gives my live red oaks a chance to get just a littler bigger. On top of that, it does season very quickly.


Hope you all enjoyed and I will try to get more posted as I move along!

 

[Ronaldo]

That down and dead Oak will burn beautifully! You have two X27's or is one a thinner axe?

 

[trukn2004]

That down and dead Oak will burn beautifully! You have two X27's or is one a thinner axe?

Both are x-27's The all black that I bought off amazon was listed as a super split. I thought it was going to be the older style head and wanted to try it. Came in and it was actually the newest one. I paid 35 for the orange and black one and 40 for the all black.

 

[Woodyjiw]

Good thing u have the wife around to keep u plumbed up... Nice job..

 

[trukn2004]

Good thing u have the wife around to keep u plumbed up... Nice job..

haha, yea. She is a lot smarter then me, and it helps a lot. I usually rush right in to get things done, halfway through figure out the easier way to do it. She will take the time to look at the whole situation and figure out the best solution. Only time I really do that is when im running the saw, and that is due to a healthy respect for that machine.

 

[trukn2004]

Well, I seemed to have a good bit of productivity going, so I decided to keep the train moving. Grabbed the saw, some fuel, safety gear and the sled and headed back out to make more progress on the red oak.



Got to my spot, loaded up the sled and headed up the hill to the wood.





halfway through cutting. Its kinda hard to tell, but I walked up that first shallow slope, parked the sled, and then was cutting on a much steeper grade. Footing was a bit treacherous, so photos were limited. You can see the rounds scattered below, and the stumps of two of the trees I was working. The saw is resting on the third and fourth that I cut up.



I kept reminding myself to get a photo of the full sled at the top, to show you my path down. Failed each time. This is the last bucket full. Each bucket took about two sleds, and that would put some pressure on the front end. Ended up taking two buckets out, And only left two huge rounds that I didn't quite cut through before they rolled off the steep hill. I will get those another time.



Dumped it all over by the splitting area. Just need to stack what I split last time, then split and stack this group. A little at a time, and it is adding up!

 

[Erik B]

Well, I seemed to have a good bit of productivity going, so I decided to keep the train moving. Grabbed the saw, some fuel, safety gear and the sled and headed back out to make more progress on the red oak.



Got to my spot, loaded up the sled and headed up the hill to the wood.





halfway through cutting. Its kinda hard to tell, but I walked up that first shallow slope, parked the sled, and then was cutting on a much steeper grade. Footing was a bit treacherous, so photos were limited. You can see the rounds scattered below, and the stumps of two of the trees I was working. The saw is resting on the third and fourth that I cut up.



I kept reminding myself to get a photo of the full sled at the top, to show you my path down. Failed each time. This is the last bucket full. Each bucket took about two sleds, and that would put some pressure on the front end. Ended up taking two buckets out, And only left two huge rounds that I didn't quite cut through before they rolled off the steep hill. I will get those another time.



Dumped it all over by the splitting area. Just need to stack what I split last time, then split and stack this group. A little at a time, and it is adding up!

Your woods look a lot like mine, right down to the road you cut into it. Nice to have your own woods to cut from and gravity to get the wood to your tractor with FEL

 

[trukn2004]

Your woods look a lot like mine, right down to the road you cut into it. Nice to have your own woods to cut from and gravity to get the wood to your tractor with FEL

Thanks! Having my own wood lot literally surrounding my house is one of the main reason I burn. Due to work and my schedule, driving somewhere or having to spend 6 hours one day working wood is not feasible. The ability to hop in the tractor, drive out, cut for 45 minutes, and move the wood back to where I can work it is amazing. That along with a non-exisitent scrub and brush layer makes it almost unfair.

 

[trukn2004]

Well, today was a bit of a putz around day. I just purchased a husqvarna tune-up kit, stump vice and Granberg file guide. Decided to give it a go. Saw got a new plug, and new fuel filter. I put the file guide together and gave it a go. I can tell right now that i have not been filing at a consistent angle between teeth. Some filed nice, others filed like garbage. This is a old chain, its been beat, nicked, ive lost two depth gauges, and has cut a ton of dead wood. Going to keep practicing on it with the file so that once i put on a new chain, ill be a champ.

After that was all done, i went out to the wood pile and split the remaining red oak. Ill just have to take some time and stack it in the future. Definitely got some great splits out of these rounds. Going to be awesome in a couple years.




After that was done I decided to get going on a idea ive had floating in my head. Ive wanted a carry-all, but i like keeping my weight box on. Decided to get the best of both worlds and do it for free.





Two ratchet straps hold it on, after a couple tightening and moving it around i got it quite snug.


I built two uprights as my big plan is to use it to transport brush. I also can see adding some edging and using it to transport rounds out. A bucketful and this should help cut down trips.





I also found this weird Caterpillar hanging out on my firewood. No idea what it is.

 

[trukn2004]

Not necessarily firewood related, but I used a chainsaw!

The end of my road has two splits. They are directional depending on which way you want to go. The one used the most, the paved one is taken care of pretty well, the lesser used one, gravel, has been slowly growing in and getting tight. I decided to take it upon myself and open both up.

some before pictures




After all the cutting. At this point, my nifty carryall was called into play. there is nowhere to stash the brush, so I loaded it up to bring down the road and dump on one of the vacant lots.





One trip, and it worked flawlessly!


Looks 1000 times better. I want to take out two more trees, but they are bigger and are going to need a assist on falling


That will do it for now. After all this work I had noticed my saw was cutting poorly. Went back, fiddled with the Granberg and adjusted the filing angle to 25 degrees. filed a lot better this time and should be dialed in quite well now.

 

[trukn2004]

Did a little bit of firewood stuff, but nothing terribly too impressive. Got the oak stacked that had been split and then cleaned up the splitting area. Not too bad a quantity either for basically ground trash.





The big job that finally got done was fixing the main private road. myself and my neighbors gathered together and ended up spreading and smoothing 32 yards of 3/4 crushed gravel.

Some before shots






Road hadn't been topped in probably 15 years. We were down to some of the larger base material with some wicked ruts. My neighbor with a box blade spent some time scarifying the ground so that hopefully the ruts wouldn't appear as quickly.



Then, myself and another neighbor ran buckets of material down and rough leveled it. After about 50-60 feet, we would use the box blade to smooth and evenly distribute the gravel.





All spread.




We could really use a couple decent rains to help set the gravel, then another smoothing pass and it should be a top-notch roadway. The work went so well, we have plans to continue on with the next section before winter. hopefully this will make snow removal a breeze this winter.

 

[trukn2004]

Wow, I cant believe its almost been a month since I pestered you guys!

Work around the house has been slow. My job had me on the road, it was dry and humid and generally unbearable outside. I did end up getting some work done Saturday that turned into a less then ideal debacle. Attempted to bring down one tree, ended up taking down 4.

I will have photos later, but I figured I would give you the jist of it.

I have gone thru the easily accessible dead standing and laying near my woods road. I decided next step would be some forest management. I went to the end of the road, and picked out a massive, by my standards, red oak. had to be 24+" at the base. Took my time, read it, made my cuts and got to to start falling. gets hung up.... my father and I worked on it a bit. I managed to pinch the bar, get wedges stuck, and get tired. Pulled out the come-along and got it off the stump and un-hung and falling, right into another tree... This was a nice shagbark, not too big but that wood doesn't give for a damn. I ended up having to cut the hickory while under strain. Luckily I was not under the oak. Hickory barber-chaired, but slowly and controlled. Had to cut it all the way thru from the back. Now two tree we're falling!!!!! right into a maple and a twin-sticked dead birch.

At this point, things were a lot safter, so I began the game of pickup sticks and cleanup. Cut the oak into 6-8ft lengths from the butt, working towards the mess. Once I got that heavy weight off. I dropped the dead birch leads. using the come-along, I would cut up the oak branches, the hickory, and the birch, then pull the tops down and out of the maple so I could leave that standing. A 40 minute job turned into 4 hours!


Needless to say, 95% of it is on the ground and the rest will be handled once the much needed rain lets up. only positive is I have plenty of wood on the ground.

I know, I know, . I will head out today after work and take some of the aftermath. couple things I learned; I need a bigger saw. the 455 was slowing down in the cuts on that big oak. Just cant bury the bar in hardwood. I need to look into my filing and rakers. The original chain I had on was cutting like crap. I thought I had just sharpened it, but I was not getting good cutting performance. I have been filing rakers, but not sure if Ive filed enough. I did get to bust out the new semi-chisel chain though! That is some nice stuff. Cuts really well.

 

[benp]

Awesome Pictures!!!!

Great documention of your work!!!!