Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

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Wood snobs don’t like Box Elder. Low Btu’s. But there are people that seek it out for the red streaks in the wood. They will make bowls, knife handles, etc.


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But, we were talking about a 14 year old Boxer Dog. We called him Box Elder, because he's the oldest Boxer we know, so we don't want to burn him, He's a nice fellow.
 
Sorry, that's a She Box Elder.

And then there’s Petey. They both love the wood and hanging out while I cut, split, and stack.
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Beautiful pic, looks like a great day.

I'm heading out on Saturday morning to look at a pile of (what I have been told is) black locust that one of my farmer clients has stacked up ready to torch when the fire season closes 1st May. He said I could take what I wanted since "he's not burning that $hit". Seems many/most Australians will only burn eucalypt and turn their noses up at any other hardwood, and I'll admit that I was a bit the same prior to joining AS. Whether Aussie grown black locust is as good/better/worse than US grown locust I don't know but in the spirit of scientific inquiry I am going to find out. If it is as good as US locust then it would be comparable to the typical firewood species in my area so I'll be more than happy to take it when I can drive right up next to a pile and start cutting.
Gotta love the “drive right up to the pile.” option.
 
Got to try it. I reckon a lot of your woods are only so insanely dense because of environment/climate. Any eucalyptus grown here is about as light as softwoods like pine. The locust I've had was still heavy, bit didn't burn super hot... More a long low burn for me. Surely 2 examples of climate affecting the wood significantly.

This is what I am hoping. Clearly the climate plays a part almost as great as the species so hopefully the locust will be a bit denser than in its home environment. That said, while it is certainly hotter and drier in summer we are also in a (relatively) higher rainfall area compared to other parts of Aus, so who knows. It might be the most awesomest firewood in the world just sitting there in a burn pile. One thing I would say is that in the locust thickets that are around, there aren't many big specimens there, most would be under 12 inches diameter. I'm looking forward to making its acquaintance.

Prepare for lots of pics!
 
This is what I am hoping. Clearly the climate plays a part almost as great as the species so hopefully the locust will be a bit denser than in its home environment. That said, while it is certainly hotter and drier in summer we are also in a (relatively) higher rainfall area compared to other parts of Aus, so who knows. It might be the most awesomest firewood in the world just sitting there in a burn pile. One thing I would say is that in the locust thickets that are around, there aren't many big specimens there, most would be under 12 inches diameter. I'm looking forward to making its acquaintance.

Prepare for lots of pics!

The small stem size in groves is natural to the species, it "copses", puts up new trees from the roots. Around here they are not native, all were planted originally by settlers for fence posts and the like. I have cut some big ones but they were 'fence row" types, not in groves. Biggest I have ever seen was around 6 foot DBH but it was 3 cojoined stems. Jusst watch out for the thorns. They are only present on young wood, mostly gone by the time a branch is 3 years old. From teh pile you are looking at there shouldn't be any thorns unless there are a lot of small guage limbs.
 
I ran this one yesterday, got a couple buckets and 8 sticks to cut up for firewood unless @Sawyer Rob wants to make me up a bunch of smaller boards :innocent:.
I hear Sawyer Rob mills logs on shares, you probably should get ahold of him and when warms up a bit, ger-r-done!

SR
 
This is what I am hoping. Clearly the climate plays a part almost as great as the species so hopefully the locust will be a bit denser than in its home environment. That said, while it is certainly hotter and drier in summer we are also in a (relatively) higher rainfall area compared to other parts of Aus, so who knows. It might be the most awesomest firewood in the world just sitting there in a burn pile. One thing I would say is that in the locust thickets that are around, there aren't many big specimens there, most would be under 12 inches diameter. I'm looking forward to making its acquaintance.

Prepare for lots of pics!
That's the way they grow around here. The farmers would get them about that size and a little smaller for fence posts. As good as they are for firewood, they are better for fence posts. They will last 40 years in the ground with no rot. We had a barn built in 1976. The contractors showed up a week early, after we had dispatched for the day. We got home and they took the dozer and pushed a dump truck load of 24" Black Locust over the hill, then leveled the pad by pushing the dirt over the hill, covering the Locust. We got home and all the poles for the pole barn were up, and the wood pile was gone. In 96 my parents moved, and I was cleaning up the wood and chip yards. I hooked a piece of that BL and wound up digging it all out. The bark was still on, but loose. Split, stacked it, and it was ready the next fall.
 
1AE686F5-0C28-4037-997E-30CDB46C3F20.jpeg 94B5B790-6C75-41CF-84E2-B57DB5DEDE9B.jpeg Maybe shoulder season somewheres........ with the doc on my back and limited mobility gotta burn to keep warm

I have to say after 21 tanks of fuel that little saw has impressed the hell outta me. A little weak on the clutch side but hey its 25cc, have blocked 20" oak with it because i could, and it hurts to pick up my other saws (oaks staying where it is till next year!).
 
View attachment 729290 Today’s scrounge. Black ants had the first 10’ of core wood eaten, snapped off where the ant infestation ended. Came down in the wind last night 15’ from the guy’s house. 2 truckloads.

What kind of wood is that?
 
I hear Sawyer Rob mills logs on shares, you probably should get ahold of him and when warms up a bit, ger-r-done!

SR
What's up my fair weather friend lol.
I thought I had some on retainer there already :p.
I probably could bring them up that way, not sure what we could get out of them, but something I'm sure.
 
My wife is weak. I fear tomorrow morning when she looks at it and realizes that it can't be used for my boiler wood because I cut it all 32" long. She sent me to buy a side x side and I brought this home. I have no time to ride it anyway, my Can Am Renegade just sits in the barn. Her birthday was last week, yup I never got her anything but she did say she didn't want anything. 20190411_194200.jpg 20190411_194147.jpg .
 
My wife is weak. I fear tomorrow morning when she looks at it and realizes that it can't be used for my boiler wood because I cut it all 32" long. She sent me to buy a side x side and I brought this home. I have no time to ride it anyway, my Can Am Renegade just sits in the barn. Her birthday was last week, yup I never got her anything but she did say she didn't want anything. View attachment 729656 View attachment 729657 .
That's a clean looking rig. You scaling up the side gig ?
 
sixonetonoffun, it was a decent deal and I was weak. Too bad I have all my 16" wood all cut and split for the year already. It only has 57 hrs on it, it's a Wallenstein prototype. I told her I could sell it and buy 2 side x sides but she isn't believing it. I might consider a year of doing some custom splitting with it, we have so much ash around here that needs to come down. People are giving logs away just to be rid of them. It's killing the firewood market but maybe if I can make a few bucks splitting for people it will make up the difference. It has the log lifter on the live deck and is pretty quick to set up so even a few logs might be worth doing. I know a couple of tree guys and could follow them around. Now I just need to buy more time. I just missed this 2 weeks ago, she was standing beside me when I stopped bidding, it was a quiet 2 hour ride home with an empty trailer.
20190328_113100.jpg
 
What's up my fair weather friend lol.
I thought I had some on retainer there already :p.
I probably could bring them up that way, not sure what we could get out of them, but something I'm sure.
You probably do, but I'm always greedy when it's something I have a hard time getting! lol lol

We just need some warmer weather...

SR
 
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