Methods for cutting the fire starters

[DJ4wd]

For actual natural kindling I use a pair of loopers,but I hate messing with that small stuff. There is a few Amish close by ,and they give me all the slab pieces they cant use and then I put them in the wood cradle and have at it with the saw. The best stuff I've ever used is old paneling from a house trailer or camper you can catch it a match! Yet another good source is lav catchers from old homes it's the stuff they coat down with plaster before drywall was popular.

 

[Jon E]

Pile as many as you can in your 'X' crossbuck, wrap with bungy cord, cut thru all at once. The bungy will prevent you from getting a whack in the melon. Don't cut the bungy.

 

[WES999]

This might be one application where the Chainsaw Buddy that Bailey's sells would work. You could cut them on the ground and the Chainsaw Buddy would keep them from climbing the chain.

That's what I use, I have a small electric MAC chainsaw with a chainsaw buddy
form Baileys. Works quite well.
http://www.baileysonline.com/itemdetail.asp?item=CB41&catID=

 

[logbutcher]

I hardly bother with small sticks now, usually I just gather up the larger "splinters" from splitting and use those along with a chunk of fire starter. We use about a 1/3 of a brick so two $10 boxes lasts a season.

Part ditto: there's always plenty of scraps around after felling, enough "organic" firestarting wood from dead spruce/fir/pine droppings. Go to any older softwood stand to pick up sticks. Maybe spend a couple of hours when nothing else is on the plate, to pick up kindling enough for a season's worth of starting. The splinters from splitting are enough for many many starts. Butt--when the 24/7 heating begins, the fires go until out, or we're gone for more than a long day.
We use the blowdown softwoods for shoulder season fires, now that the market for pulp here has died. So much down that much of it is just cut up to rot in place. A waste.

JOMWTB

 

[Steve NW WI]

I hear ya logbutcher. I'll never be a softwood hater like some on here. It's great firestarter and if I don't need it in the winter it's snap crackle pop in the firepit is great ambiance.

Heck, you want the world's best firestarter, it's last year's Christmas tree. Painted on needles go up just looking at them!

 

[redprospector]

4" is my cutoff point, because that's what they say I have to go down to. Otherwise I'd stop at 6".
For fire starter I use the splinters & junk from splitting. I also gather up some pitch pine, or solid rocket fuel as we call it here. I split it up to regular firewood size and split it up with a hatchet as needed. You don't need much "rocket fuel" to start a fire pretty quick. Heck, you don't need any paper either.

Andy

 

[Nosmo]

I use a chop saw on the smaller ones if I keep them. For those of you who use a sawbuck and your chainsaw on a group of smaller ones try wrapping them with a bungee cord in each group you're cutting off.

Nosmo

 

[KD57]

1. pick up phone and call buddy who works at the mill.
2. have buddy bring home a couple of pallets of 1/2 x 2 x14" red cedar drops
3. after off-loading cedar, give buddy 24 pack of beer
4. drink some of buddy's beer I just gave him
5. everybody is happy, repeat as necessary

When cutting fire wood, I don't keep anything much below 2-3" diameter. Sometimes I get a load of 2x4's and split them up w/ a hatchet, if I get caught w/o any cedar drops.