Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Cowboy254]

I got going on my closest ever scrounge today. That's my driveway over there with the big pretentious gates. This big peppermint log had already been docked up into rounds and is about half dry.


Most of it was clean, a few rounds had some minor termite action but nothing major. One hit splits for the big rounds with the Fiskars.



I was confident I would be able to avoid the highway patrol on the drive home so I didn't bother tying it down. Took two loads over to the wood shed.

 

[Toy4xchris]

That sir is a million dollar picture !

Thank you.
Thats my little Boogie, shes a handful and definitely daddies little princess ( Praying she never grows up)

 

[LondonNeil]

Hey Dancan! 'Chuffin' heck! Did ya like that! I almost posted a link to some Fred Dibnah youtube last week! I remember seeing the TV programmes....there are quite a few spread over some 30 odd years but a good few from the 70s when i was just a small boy and Fred as a steeple jack was in his hayday. by the mid 80s i guess virtually all the 'Dark satanic mills' had closed down or had their chimney's demolished. Fred was an interesting character. My mind boggles at the chimney climbing techniques,. YouTube has programmes that show how he laddered a chimney and erected his scaffold ring, all held by a few bits of kindling basically.

 

[Philbert]

a few rounds had some minor termite action but nothing major.

Do you just split off those sections, or store it separately from your 'good wood', then burn the termites?

Philbert

 

[Cowboy254]

Do you just split off those sections, or store it separately from your 'good wood', then burn the termites?

Philbert

G'day Philbert,

I don't mind a few termites in there. I don't like lots of termites mainly because the more termites you have, the less wood to burn and the more dirt to dull your chain. If there's lots of termites I'll split out those bits just because it's not worth bending down to pick it up.

I used to reject any wood that had termites in there because I was worried about a wider infestation but I have had two pest controllers separately assure me that it doesn't work that way. Termites need moisture and higher CO2 levels so with wood that is CSS off the ground dries out and the termites eat enough to sustain themselves for a bit but eventually perish. That happens faster if you completely destroy the nest by putting the axe through the middle. We also have other ants on our property that pick out the termites from the wood as well so I have several reasons not to worry about it.

 

[MustangMike]

By the way Cowboy, we have scarier critters than you right here in downstate NY. Little tiny ticks, no larger than a pin head, that carry about 6 different real bad diseases, at least one of which they have no treatment for, and it can be fatal! Talk about scary, you may never even see them! You may even still find them on you after you shower, and they can survive a washing machine cycle!

Bet ya got nothin to match that!

 

[JustJeff]

And there’s a new one who’s bite makes you allergic to red meat. May as well smoke your shotgun at that point!

 

[dancan]

Hey Dancan! 'Chuffin' heck! Did ya like that! I almost posted a link to some Fred Dibnah youtube last week! I remember seeing the TV programmes....there are quite a few spread over some 30 odd years but a good few from the 70s when i was just a small boy and Fred as a steeple jack was in his hayday. by the mid 80s i guess virtually all the 'Dark satanic mills' had closed down or had their chimney's demolished. Fred was an interesting character. My mind boggles at the chimney climbing techniques,. YouTube has programmes that show how he laddered a chimney and erected his scaffold ring, all held by a few bits of kindling basically.

He had an awesome sendoff , as big a gathering as royalty lol

" 7 or 8 pints and then up the chimney he'd go"

Balls of steel I'd say !

 

[James Miller]

And there’s a new one who’s bite makes you allergic to red meat. May as well smoke your shotgun at that point!

I could switch to shrimp, lobster, and crabs and be happy.
We call it suck starting your 12 guage around here

 

[pdqdl]

G'day Philbert,

I don't mind a few termites in there. I don't like lots of termites mainly because the more termites you have, the less wood to burn and the more dirt to dull your chain. If there's lots of termites I'll split out those bits just because it's not worth bending down to pick it up.

I used to reject any wood that had termites in there because I was worried about a wider infestation but I have had two pest controllers separately assure me that it doesn't work that way. Termites need moisture and higher CO2 levels so with wood that is CSS off the ground dries out and the termites eat enough to sustain themselves for a bit but eventually perish. That happens faster if you completely destroy the nest by putting the axe through the middle. We also have other ants on our property that pick out the termites from the wood as well so I have several reasons not to worry about it.

Around here (midwest USA), termites always nest underground. They build little tunnel to get to all the above ground wood. Any termites that happen to get lost when some wood is moved are just goners. They cannot start a new nest, and they don't live long away from the ground.

Our termites also require moisture. Arid parts of the US don't seem to have any termites. Southern USA has some house dwelling termites that don't nest in the ground. I only know a little bit about them, but my impression is that they are hell to get rid of once they decide to eat your house.

 

[KiwiBro]

Anyone tried pouring molten alu into termite/ant hills/mounds/holes/nests? Some pretty amazing sculptures result.

 

[James Miller]

Looks like fun.

 

[Lowhog]

By the way Cowboy, we have scarier critters than you right here in downstate NY. Little tiny ticks, no larger than a pin head, that carry about 6 different real bad diseases, at least one of which they have no treatment for, and it can be fatal! Talk about scary, you may never even see them! You may even still find them on you after you shower, and they can survive a washing machine cycle!

Bet ya got nothin to match that!

We did a camp Ripley bow hunt one year late October. It was in the low 20's when we hit the stands early morning. When we got back to camp for lunch my hunting partner had 5 or 6 of those deer ticks crawling on his legs. They are some tuff SOB's.

 

[Lowhog]

Anyone tried pouring molten alu into termite/ant hills/mounds/holes/nests? Some pretty amazing sculptures result.

Fire ant mounds in Florida I used ant bait. When that stopped working I used fire.

 

[JustJeff]

Hate fire ants!

 

[Philbert]

I have had two pest controllers separately assure me that it doesn't work that way.

We don't have termites up north, where I live. But I have seen the damage down south.

I was cleaning up some debris down near New Orleans, and bent my knees to pick up a 6" X 12" X 12 foot long timber, and could not believe how it flew into the air! It felt like styrofoam! I though it was a stage prop or something. But I was assured that the termites had eaten it all, leaving just the cell structure. Very eye opening.

Philbert

 

[Deleted member 149229]

We don't have termites up north, where I live. But I have seen the damage down south.

I was cleaning up some debris down near New Orleans, and bent my knees to pick up a 6" X 12" X 12 foot long timber, and could not believe how it flew into the air! It felt like styrofoam! I though it was a stage prop or something. But I was assured that the termites had eaten it all, leaving just the cell structure. Very eye opening.

Philbert

Those termites in that area are an invasive species, Formosa. The termites also close the opening to the ground nest and are able to survive being submerged in flood waters.

 

[Philbert]

Those termites in that area are an invasive species, Formosa. The termites also close the opening to the ground nest and are able to survive being submerged in flood waters.

!!!!!!

Philbert

 

[Deleted member 149229]

!!!!!!

Philbert

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/termites/formosan_termite.htm

 

[Deleted member 150358]

Got the ported Jred 70e out and made a couple cuts on that snagged up oak. Just seemed like the correct tool for the job.

Then neighbor stopped so he grabs the saw and made a 90% vertical cut at chest height while I backed the tractor up. Chained the now free end and pulled the log and snag down. He finished the cut and I pulled the log out to the splitter. He was on a roll and chunked it up as the sun went from dusk to dark.

Was nice to have a hand getting the snag down safely. Opened up a lot more cutting and splitting for sure!