Dismember Large Root

[MtnHermit]

I have a large ponderosa root roughly 4-feet on a side that I'd like to dismember into chunks small enough to feed it to my wood stove. My largest saw is a Husqvarna 455 with a 20" bar. The root is setting on the ground maybe 50' behind my house. Photo added, bicycle added for scale.
One thought is to purchase a stick of dynamite, drill a hole into the center and blast it apart. Since I know nothing about where to purchase or use dynamite, seems risky.
Looking for suggestions. Thanks for looking.

 

[old CB]

Pondo root (or any tree root) makes poor fuel. It'll burn, but poor fuel. Cutting roots in general usually means dulling your chain with embedded dirt, and Pondos grow in sandy, gravelly stuff that is destructive of good chains. Unless you have a strong need to remove that root I'd leave it to nature to dispose of.

 

[sb47]

Stump grinder

 

[angelo c]

tannerite

 

[MtnHermit]

@ old CB

While you are correct about the chain, I see the wood as high quality fuel.

Responders missed that the root is ON the ground, NOT in the ground. Added photo to clarify.

The ponderosa was a deadfall between two granite outcrops. When it fell the tree lifted the root ~10-feet. The face you see was my last cut ~10 years ago. I hauled the root home in the S10 and its been setting next to my wood pile to have the rains flush the dirt.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Del_]

I wouldn't want my chainsaw anywhere close to that nasty old root.

 

[derwoodii]

input energy required to break it up vs energy released as fire wood if your happy with this then your 455 husky and few old sharp chains should break it down into block sections 1st give it a good hose clean off the dirt let it dry take your time

 

[old CB]

So there's a chance that what you're dealing with IS good fuel, altho the photo is not detailed enough to show it. Certain ponderosas when the tree is removed from the stump continue to pump sap/pitch into the remaining stump in an effort to protect the tree that no longer exists. Then, over a period of about 10 yrs that stump cures out to a gray barkless condition, and the dirt washes off. This remaining thing that I call "buckskin" for its gray color is very heavy (while root material is very light compared to the wood of the tree). I collect these things from the woods and split them up for fire-starter--same thing as "fat wood" sold in the south.

If what you have is the buckskin I'm talking about, you'll know when you cut into it because it's 1. very hard material and 2. the chips that fly from your saw and the face of the wood you reveal will be saturated with pitch and smell strongly like turpentine.

I hauled home a large pondo stump like that from a camping trip last summer. Damn thing weighed a little over 200# and my wife and I struggled to get one corner onto my pickup tailgate and then roll it on. I made numerous bundles of fatwood out of it, xmas presents for various folks, and I still have some chunks buried under the pile of wood that remains to be processed for next season's firewood.

But if it's just common root material, you'll get the fuel equivalent of bundled newspaper.

 

[old CB]

Oh, and if it's the super-saturated type of wood I'm talking about, DO NOT burn a big chunk of it in your stove. It burns way too hot to be used except in small quantities for kindling.

 

[Del_]

Oh, and if it's the super-saturated type of wood I'm talking about, DO NOT burn a big chunk of it in your stove. It burns way too hot to be used except in small quantities for kindling.

I made that mistake once in my Jotul F600 CB. Never again.

Like you have said, fat wood is it's best use. It is loaded with terpenes!

 

[jetsam]

There's a reason to have a stumping chain. Wood that is full of sand and dirt and the occasional rock really does a number on the cutters. Carbide chains are made for this, but while they deal better with dirt and sand, they're still not great at cutting rocks.

 

[MtnHermit]

So there's a chance that what you're dealing with IS good fuel, altho the photo is not detailed enough to show it. Certain ponderosas when the tree is removed from the stump continue to pump sap/pitch into the remaining stump in an effort to protect the tree that no longer exists. Then, over a period of about 10 yrs that stump cures out to a gray barkless condition, and the dirt washes off. This remaining thing that I call "buckskin" for its gray color is very heavy (while root material is very light compared to the wood of the tree). I collect these things from the woods and split them up for fire-starter--same thing as "fat wood" sold in the south.

I've encountered the high pitch wood at most a few times in my 10+ years of harvesting ponderosa deadfall, but never in a root. My sense is that this root will have none. What I do expect is very dense complex grain that will make awesome splitting blocks. Straight grain blocks are destroyed in weeks or months, whereas root blocks last for years. So if I can carve out a suitable splitting block that will be a goal, with the balance being fuel wood.
My next step is to drag the root to the opposite side of the house where a hose will reach. Then start the pressure washer and blast away. I'll post some pics if I have any success dismembering the beast.