A noodling we will go...

[turnkey4099]

Fun time working with Mike again. Cutting up a big Willow into 12" rounds. He is almost as old as I but can't handle heavy stuff. Noodle them down to about 35-40 lbs. Anyhow:

Set up my MS441 with a 16" bar and used the MS310 clutch cover. That fits perfectly and has no chain catcher. With that set up and fresh chain no noodle jams, they just go shooting out behind me and the saw just sinks right down through the round. A few seconds on a small round 10-20 seconds on a a 30 incher.

Didn't have my camera with me. Will the next time.

 

[rarefish383]

Sounds like the time a friend gave me an old Homelite XL924, 82CC's. The only sharp chain I had laying around was on an XL 12, 16". It was fun running that big of a saw with that little bar. I was going to build a set of rails just to mill 12" cants. Never got a "round tuit". Maybe I'll put it back on the list, Joe.

 

[svk]

Big saw noodling softwood is lots of fun. I did two main trunks from 44" willow last fall. Literally had to hold back the 2186 to prevent jamming the cover. If you cut at an angle it makes the noodles shorter and it will spit them out much better.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

I really know how to set up a saw to noodle just fine, What is hard to understand is why? Most chains cut a cross cut really well, then why would any body waste 2 minutes of time to cut the other way. There have been times when I had a wood round that was just unmanageable and for one reason or another splitting tools were not available so noodle away. It seems ridiculous to spend an extra minute to noodle more than to move a round, Also milling logs into planks and lumber is similar to noodling, but hard work. Is it just to get the long chips to use around the garden or a bed for a pet? Thanks

 

[rarefish383]

Milling is not like noodling. It is cutting on the third side, the hardest side, and does not make noodles. Milling makes small chips. I got 21 planks from 3 logs, and you can see, no noodles, Joe.

 

[rarefish383]

Sorry, I didn't answer the question, why noodle and not split. I might not be the average small time personal use firewood guy. I have saws from 70 to 130CC's. I would never pick up a maul and wedge to beat on a big round when I could stick the Homelite 1050, 100CC saw with a 24" bar into a 30-36" round. It probably takes less than 20 seconds, not 2 minutes, to noodle a round. Those 8 foot planks only took about 2 minutes each with the Stihl 660 and a 36" bar, Joe.

 

[turnkey4099]

I really know how to set up a saw to noodle just fine, What is hard to understand is why? Most chains cut a cross cut really well, then why would any body waste 2 minutes of time to cut the other way. There have been times when I had a wood round that was just unmanageable and for one reason or another splitting tools were not available so noodle away. It seems ridiculous to spend an extra minute to noodle more than to move a round, Also milling logs into planks and lumber is similar to noodling, but hard work. Is it just to get the long chips to use around the garden or a bed for a pet? Thanks

To get the rounds down to a size we can load. I can noodle a 30" round a lot faster than splitting with wedge/sledge.

 

[Heffalump]

Wife loves it when I noodle out fresh cedar and fir. She likes it for her gardening stuff, and for the nice smell.

Makes great firestarter, too!

 

[Red Amor]

For me I will noodle as required
If takeing a load of rounds home some may be to big to life and to narley to split
Im 60 and nowere near fit my body a lot older than I am
sometimes I would do what I would
or take no wood :O)

 

[benp]

For me I will noodle as required
If takeing a load of rounds home some may be to big to life and to narley to split
Im 60 and nowere near fit my body a lot older than I am
sometimes I would do what I would
or take no wood :O)

I agree.

I process on site. If I can't split it by hand with the fiskars it gets kicked over and noodled.

 

[unclemoustache]

To get the rounds down to a size we can load. I can noodle a 30" round a lot faster than splitting with wedge/sledge.

Yup. Although some woods split easier than others. Right now I have a ton of huge oak pieces - I think most of these will split faster than noodling, except where crotches are. Once they are down to size where my kids can pick them up, then they get run through the SuperSplit.

 

[dancan]

The shorter the round , the easier to split but harder to stack in the rows of longer rounds when split .

 

[rarefish383]

I mark every thing at 18". Short pieces go in the fire pit. I got in the habit when I was working. I split my wood kind of small and all of it at 18". That way I could stuff my stove as tight as it would go. I would get a 12 hour burn. My buddy always asked why I split it so small. He said a big piece burns longer than a small piece. Maybe, but if I can only put 60 pounds of wood in the stove, because they are so big, and I can put 100 pounds in split small, in a controlled burn stove, 100 pounds burn longer than 60 pounds.I retired last year and that was the first time in 30 years I actually brought in a couple buckets of shorts. I might try to save a few more this year, Joe.

 

[srb08]

Occasionally, after cutting a bunch of logs into rounds, I'll make a pile of noodles, just for fun.

I have a neighbor who had never seen noodles. When I got my 562, I cut a bunch, just playing around.
When he saw them, he commented on the really long chips from the saw and how powerful it must be to cut like that.
I just smiled.

 

[turnkey4099]

Wife loves it when I noodle out fresh cedar and fir. She likes it for her gardening stuff, and for the nice smell.

Makes great firestarter, too!

I have a neighbor who takes it for her chicken's nest boxes. Tried to give some to a vertenarian but she didn't want it. Gotta reember to take a garbage bag with me on my next outing, neighbor must be about out by now.

 

[Marshy]

I have a neighbor who takes it for her chicken's nest boxes. Tried to give some to a vertenarian but she didn't want it. Gotta reember to take a garbage bag with me on my next outing, neighbor must be about out by now.

Some animals might have an allergy to certain species of wood. I know horses are and so people buy chip that is guaranteed not contaminated.

 

[jr27236]

Thats true, i remember having two Iguanas when I was younger and you couldnt use aspen or cedar in their enclosure.

 

[muddstopper]

Thats true, i remember having two Iguanas when I was younger and you couldnt use aspen or cedar in their enclosure.

Cant use cedar or Hemlock in chicken beds either