Nothing like a good fire

[Backyard Lumberjack]

turnkey - you have done it again! imo, statement of all times: nothing like a good fire!

count me in - I have them all the time. had one tonite tending garden... I have them year round, mid agust and 98F out... yepper! I got me a campfire!!! believe it... ah, heck what's all the firewood for anyhoo? if u don't burn it? for a southern life-style, I more than burn my share... wish I had been born 200 yrs earlier...

in my neck of the woods, when the Fire Ban flags are out, one don't dare violate the banners. regrets is just the beginning of it all!

nice pix turnkey, nice campfire!

 

[Red Elm]

Here is another reason I don't burn a lot of the lower BTU species. I have an endless supply of honey locust and the land owners want them GONE!!!

 

[svk]

View attachment 486727

Here is another reason I don't burn a lot of the lower BTU species. I have an endless supply of honey locust and the land owners want them GONE!!!

Great wood but I fail to see how it's worth it when you have to remove all of those nasty things!?

 

[crowbuster]

I like hackberry. But then again the owb aint picky

 

[Red Elm]

Yes, my apologies to Mr. Turnkey, didn't mean to derail your thread.

 

[Hinerman]

View attachment 486727

Here is another reason I don't burn a lot of the lower BTU species. I have an endless supply of honey locust and the land owners want them GONE!!!

How do you even begin to process that satanic species? I have seen it but have never processed it. I know it is excellent firewood but not sure I would touch it if I had the chance.

 

[Red Elm]

Great wood but I fail to see how it's worth it when you have to remove all of those nasty things!?

Like a lot of things in life there's a secret to it.

Begin by girdling the trunk close to the ground, less than 2' above ground. I do this w the TOP of the bar, that throws thorns away from you. Saw kerf wide and 1/2 to 1 inch deep. Spray or squirt Tordon RTU in kerf. In three years nearly all the thorns will be laying on the ground at the base of the tree. Simply rake into a pile and burn. Process as normal. There will be very little to no decay of the wood in three years standing.

Prolly my favorite wood.

 

[svk]

Like a lot of things in life there's a secret to it.

Begin by girdling the trunk close to the ground, less than 2' above ground. I do this w the TOP of the bar, that throws thorns away from you. Saw kerf wide and 1/2 to 1 inch deep. Spray or squirt Tordon RTU in kerf. In three years nearly all the thorns will be laying on the ground at the base of the tree. Simply rake into a pile and burn. Process as normal. There will be very little to no decay of the wood in three years standing.

Well that makes it more understandable!

 

[turnkey4099]

Yes, my apologies to Mr. Turnkey, didn't mean to derail your thread.

Not a problem. Turned into a very interesting thread.

Harry K

 

[turnkey4099]

Had doctor appointment at 9am (routine followup - no problems and down dto 226 from 248 a year ago) and decided to check on that fire. Figured sure it would have burned outside the foot print. Nope, idt didn't, the rotten log was still all there. Amazing thing was the big log 24"dbh small end, dthat the brush pile was built againsdt. Clean burn! only a very small piece of each end of thelog was still there. I was dreading haveing to cut up a half burned log of that size to get it out of the way.

Sat or Sun accordeing to wx I will be back cleaning up dthat pile and one next to it. Then it will be on to beginning the season with cleanup of deadfall in the next 100 yards of that row of trees. Not planning to cut a lodt of 'firewood' this year, I got carried away last year and I have more than enough to cover the orders plus my use already - I'll do about 8-10 cord.

 

[Red Elm]

Does that willow absorb moisture after being cut, if left out? Here I would think it would rot before it would cure, but we are high humidity.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I have said it before, and I will say it again!...

" nothing quite like a good fire! "

 

[turnkey4099]

Does that willow absorb moisture after being cut, if left out? Here I would think it would rot before it would cure, but we are high humidity.

Nope, but then I am in a semi arid climate. Annual moisture around 16" in a good year. I generaly view any willow that is laying down not worth cutting if it has been over a year. I stack rounds in the summer/fall and save the splitting for the winter time. Still got about 1 cord left to do from last year. I have had willow in the stacks, directly on the ground for 3 years with no detioration and that includes the pieces right on the ground. It does cure fast, Stuff I split/stacked last fall is ready to burn now and that went right through what passes for our wet season.

Of course there is always the caveat, there are many different species of Willow and I have no idea what ours are.

 

[turnkey4099]

Great workign weather next week but I puished it be a day and went back to the site this morning. Cold breeze blowing developed in to a stiff breeze by the time I quit. Every thing cleaned up from that burn plus two other burns I did back in Dec. I went a bit longer than I should, over tired. My work "day" is down to about 3 hours and I think I went over 1by the feel of it. Did feel good to fire up a saw and do some real cutting make small chunks that I could pick up. Got another burnable pile built but there is an old snag what will be added to it when I drop it. Next planned burn will probably be next winter when the fire can't get away.

Can see the next job, an old old small brush pile that is in the way of pushing my logging road andother 50 yeards, I'll clean that up next go, probably toward next weekend and then start dropping snags and assorted junk.