Thread: Big stuff, is it worth it? Poll, kinda.

The hackberry I asked you guys about last week has been a project. It's big, lots of knots and just plain tough to split, so I have been sawing it, have a decent saw for the job, a 660 but man thats a lot of sawing, lots of butt busting getting those huge disks up where we can keep the bar out of the dirt etc but we have 3 cords stacked at the house and a couple trailer (4x5) loads left. Wish I had pics but camera is still broke. What do you guys think, is the big stuff like this realy worth the time and effort? I find myself wishing for a tall, straight,, 18" tree to cut up, LOL

My back is sore this morning

I feel your pain Butch. For me, I usually do take the big stuff up too a point. If I can can load it with two guys and ramp I'll take it but I do try too take/saw the pieces too keep them fairly branch/crotch free. For me it's mostly hard maple which splits hard (takes some power) but straight. It's not stringy but it does pop some if it's been down and drying. I'd avoid the elm and the real tough/stringy big stuff (much as I hate too) as it's just too much of a pain and slow too deal with.

Use the better stuff first. If I dont have better, then yes, its worth it to me.

Well, call me a glutton for punishment I guess. The bigger they are, the better I like em.
I hauled home some pieces a while back that got left by other firewood cutters.Averaged about 2 rounds to the rick. I just threw a cable over em, dragged em into the trailer,and dragged em home, and cut em in half. Rolled each half off the trailer on to the splitter, and kept letting the pieces fall back into the trailer. It was some work, but it was amazing how fast those really big pieces added to the woodpile.
It took my 24 inch bar from both sides to cut em into rounds, but I really enjoyed the day.

Big wood is a pita! Even with equipment to handle the blocks it's hard work. Sometimes ripping it into quarters isn't enough to make it manageable.
I've cut it for years, simply because nobody else wanted to fight with it or they didn't have enough saw for the job.

Ed

I processed some huge stuff this past spring, like you are describing. My splits are all crooked and it was a real chore! I actually had the wood sitting in my yard for 2 years and tried to get rid of it a few times before I took on the task. BUT, I ended up with 2-3 extra cords of dry wood. I really would hate to do it again, but if I needed the wood, I would take it.

It depends on my state of need, or of someone else's need.

I"ve accepted and dealt with 48" dbh and larger maple, oak, willow, and it really can seem a pain to wittle down to splitter size, or manageability size. They sure do produce some of the best wood though.

Once they are cross cut to ideal length, I go with the shortest bar for the job, goes pretty fast, and easy to touch up the chain during the process.

On saturday, I still had the 30" maple rounds on my trailer, and was mustering up the ambition to get them back on bark edge, once that was done, the 20" bar and freshly sharpened chain took only a few minutes to rip/noodle them into quarters so I could easily handle them on the splitter. I've given up on wrestling matches with big pieces just to use the splitter, even in verticle mode.

That little twinge behind the giggle berries really makes a guy think out his technique so things are smarter/easier.

I think it is, as long as I don't have to handle it big. I'll take the splitter to the site and split and load. Have a splitter that pivots to vertical, so all I need to do is get the splitter close and move the pieces any way I can. I've never run into such a big piece that I can't move it to the splitter. Cant hooks are a must.

When loading and unloading they make you wonder. When they are done and in the strack waiting to be burned you can crack open a cold one and appreciate how much it took. They finally gave in and you won.

Originally Posted by wdchuck

It depends on my state of need, or of someone else's need.

I"ve accepted and dealt with 48" dbh and larger maple, oak, willow, and it really can seem a pain to wittle down to splitter size, or manageability size. They sure do produce some of the best wood though.

.

That's a big +1 Chuck. Once down too managable size you can click off some beautiful splits that stack like lumber!

I prefer the big'uns. A lot of wood all in one place. As long as you don't cut it into small sections and leave it laying there, you can be realatively assured that no one is going to steal it out from under you. It does depend on species though. I'll take a red oak as large as they come because I can split a huge round into managable chunks with my maul fairly easily. I'd have to be a bit more desperate to take the same size of white oak or other harder to split species. If I had as much saw as you do I would probably turn up my nose at anything under 36".

big wood is great! the amount of logs you get outta a few pieces is unreal. i wish i came across more of it as its a rarity for me.

This past weekend I worked up a 36"dbh water oak with my 441 and 361. I used the 441 to cut it in to rounds and the 361 to rip them into quarters so I could get them on the splitter. Good solid rock hard oak will be great in next years wood pile!

I usually use the "I'll take the big stuff too" as a negotiating tool when begging for firewood.

I recently acquired a hyd. lift gate for my ton dump so I will be eliminating the "buck and quarter" method and trying the "buck and roll" approach.

Sure , I would love 12"-24" dia. Red Oak cut and stacked at the curb but who wouldn't!.... I've never passed up wood due to size.

Jeff

It's all worth it, I leave nothing behind. The big ones can be a challenge for sure, but the alternative is waste & I just can't do that. I had some ash a few years ago a little over 4 ft diameter, quartered with wedges, then split. Every 24" section had 100+ pieces of wood. Not kindling, good useable firewood.