Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[KiwiBro]

I'm thinking I need a longer bar for Limby. The 25 inch bar is great for wood up to 30 inches with a bit of overbuck but I fairly regularly cut 40 inch wood that needs cutting from both sides and that sucks when you get low in the log when you need to make the choice between cutting dirt if you keep the bar tip low or severe kickbacks if you keep the bar horizontal as you get low down. I think I need someone to convince me that Limby needs a 40 inch bar. Help please.

Also, should I get Limby ported? I would rather get it done in Oz if possible but I don't know any local porters of repute. My 241 was ported by Randy and he did a great job but it was done new and I don't really want to send any of my existing saws overseas. Are there any Aussie porters that will do a neat job without turning it into a hot rod that burns out in 5 tanks time?

Can you borrow a 40-ish" B&C off someone first to see if it's right for your needs? But yeah, sounds like a bigger bar seems in order.
Can you get a rope under the bigger logs, put a few wraps around the logs and roll them over with the ute, to finish off the cuts and keep your bar tip out of the dirt?
Sorry mate, don't know anyone in Oz that I know for sure is both good and works on others saws.

 

[Jeffkrib]

Stihl 36” light, I have a 28” light for the Dolmar and a 14” light for the Ms201. But be warned, the Stihl dealer said keep the chain sharp as heat will delaminate the resin core out of the centre. Said to be particularly bad on Aussie hardwood like Iron bark.
As for porting, buying a saw out of the US is out of the question now with the $Aud as it is.

 

[square1]

After restacking the woodpile I knocked over, and between the rain drops yesterday, I was able to just walk the property and unwind from the week. Spring always brings new discoveries.

About 3 sets of 70s/80s GM keys, several building & padlock keys. A few were nothing but the heads, the "key" parts had rusted away. Somebody probably lost these 40~50 years ago.

 

[LondonNeil]

Cowboy, I think you need to listen hard to Mustang Mike and consider an huztl/farmertec 660, but one of the kit ported p+c combos and build it up with no base gasket and a teenie timing advance. That's all just big boys MEC as Mecanno and would be far cheaper than getting porting work done. You then have limby as is, AND a saw to pull a big bar when you need it.....4 saw plan! Win win.

 

[MustangMike]

Don't know any porters down under, you can likely do a muff mod yourself, and maybe even a timing advance. 661's run pretty good stock, so they don't need porting as badly as most 660s.

I agree that a 36" light bar is great to have, but I would not want longer, they get very unwieldy.

 

[MustangMike]

Cowboy, I think you need to listen hard to Mustang Mike and consider an huztl/farmertec 660, but one of the kit ported p+c combos and build it up with no base gasket and a teenie timing advance. That's all just big boys MEC as Mecanno and would be far cheaper than getting porting work done. You then have limby as is, AND a saw to pull a big bar when you need it.....4 saw plan! Win win.

Great idea if you want to learn saw porting. I printed my own timing wheel, and there are lots of "how to" videos. If you go this route I would get an OEM piston pin bearing, Meteor piston and an OEM Elastostart pull rope.

 

[djg james]

Hinerman,
Whoa! How do you split those big boys? I use to go after 24" ones, but I'd have to saw in half just to load (by hand) into my little 5x8 trailer. I'd have to saw them in half again just to get under the splitter. I only cut for myself so there's always smaller stuff for me to deal with. If I sold firewood, I'd go after the big ones; hard to pass on them.

 

[farmer steve]

These are the new ones I'm looking at. Don't know whitespider?
View attachment 811984

It was a great "discussion" with spidey. Here's one of the threads. https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/bias-truck-tires.250394/

 

[rarefish383]

It was a beautiful day here. I made two loads to the dump. The dump was empty the first time and absolutely slammed later in the morning. I suppose people are doing house cleaning since they are stuck at home. There was a big fat mouse in one of my garbage cans, I closed the lid and he went to the dump too, LOL. I’m sure he’s in high heaven now with all the trash to scrounge lol.

Cleaned out the trash shed and sterilized the floor and all of the trash cans. My dad and I always joked about “hantavirus” which is carried in mouse droppings. There was a lot of them in the shed lol.

Then threw one of the new tires on the truck and a number of other small projects before dinner.


New tire on the truck
View attachment 811951

We got every mile out of the old one.
View attachment 811953

Found this dime, heads up on a little leaf in the ice.View attachment 811954

I’m paying my youngest son to sort all of my nuts and bolts. This is about 1/3 of my collection. He got about a third of the way through it this afternoon. It will be nice to have them sorted by diameter.View attachment 811958

Stuffed pork chops for dinner.
View attachment 811959

Chops look gooood!

I had several 5 gallon buckets of nuts and bolts. It's hard to push them around and dig for what you need, The only way to really do it is dump them out and flatten the pile. I figured by the time I dumped them and found, or didn't find, what I needed, I could have gone to the hardware store and got them all new and matching. I've told this story before. My cousin took his Kubota to the farm to mow and grade the driveway. After mowing he found out he couldn't drop the grader blade unless he pulled the mower. Being 8 years younger, I got down on my replaced knees and reached for the push pins to drop the mower. I looked at the lift arms and the pins were gone, the one nearest me had a standard 1/2 inch head. So, I asked if the had a half inch socket and end wrench? He said yes, and came back and handed me an adjustable wrench and a pair of pliers. I said a wrench and socket would work better. He said all he had was what he gave me, one size fits all. Then I saw what he meant, all four lift points had different bolts in them. One had a brass counter sunk wood screw, straight blade screw driver slot with a square brass head on the other side, the half inch set, a 9/16 head set, I forget what was in the fourth hole. I said, "you know, this would be a lot easier if you had the correct pins.". He said, "yeah, but these were free." I said, "Yeah, but all of your lift arms are getting egged out from the wrong sized bolts." He said, "I don't care, I'll be dead before they break through." As soon as we got home I took all of mine to the scrap yard. That Christmas I was in Tractor Supply and I saw a blister pack of the correct size pins with clips, for $1.99, and bought them for him. In the Spring I asked if he put his new pins in. He said no he had taken them back for a refund, the bolts were working fine. He drove 10 miles each way for $1.99 refund. I also had several hundred pounds of different size nails, they went to scrap. Now if I build something, I use the DeWalt and deck screws. When we built the 8'X12' addition on my hunting cabin I screwed it together. MY BIL law said, just let me nail it with my gun. Now, 5 years later, we are turning my 12'X40' garage into the new bunk house. I can take the whole addition apart and reuse all of the plywood and 2X4's. Bolt Bucket Rant over>

 

[rarefish383]

I'm thinking I need a longer bar for Limby. The 25 inch bar is great for wood up to 30 inches with a bit of overbuck but I fairly regularly cut 40 inch wood that needs cutting from both sides and that sucks when you get low in the log when you need to make the choice between cutting dirt if you keep the bar tip low or severe kickbacks if you keep the bar horizontal as you get low down. I think I need someone to convince me that Limby needs a 40 inch bar. Help please.

Also, should I get Limby ported? I would rather get it done in Oz if possible but I don't know any local porters of repute. My 241 was ported by Randy and he did a great job but it was done new and I don't really want to send any of my existing saws overseas. Are there any Aussie porters that will do a neat job without turning it into a hot rod that burns out in 5 tanks time?

I keep the 25" on my 660, and have a 36" for bigger wood and milling. The 36 cutting firewood gets to my back much faster than the 25. The 25 ballances just right for me on the 660.

 

[Hinerman]

Hinerman,
Whoa! How do you split those big boys? I use to go after 24" ones, but I'd have to saw in half just to load (by hand) into my little 5x8 trailer. I'd have to saw them in half again just to get under the splitter. I only cut for myself so there's always smaller stuff for me to deal with. If I sold firewood, I'd go after the big ones; hard to pass on them.

I have a splitter with a lift. I split the whole trailer load yesterday; no noodling needed.

 

[svk]

Not sure who needs to know this, but theres quite the storm rolling thru the midwest right now, starts down SW of here and it's splitting here, part is going east into Canada and another is going NW and back into MN, the main front is moving east.
Lots of nasty looking rain with it, and on the back side I would suspect a lot of wind.
Might want to check out the radar for your area.

It hit just south of us overnight. The Laurentian divide is 35 miles south of us and the slight elevation rise held all of the weather to the south. Two hours to the south of us has 5 inches of wet heavy snow.

 

[svk]

After restacking the woodpile I knocked over, and between the rain drops yesterday, I was able to just walk the property and unwind from the week. Spring always brings new discoveries.
View attachment 812083
About 3 sets of 70s/80s GM keys, several building & padlock keys. A few were nothing but the heads, the "key" parts had rusted away. Somebody probably lost these 40~50 years ago.

I was going to say, the very first thing I noticed was the GM keys.

 

[svk]

Well I think I’m going to go bang together some more duck houses and maybe build a few birdhouses too.

 

[djg james]

I have a splitter with a lift. I split the whole trailer load yesterday; no noodling needed.

I'd like to see that. When I split the 24" ones, my splitter would only split the log on one side. Then I'd have to spin it 180 to break it in half.

 

[Philbert]

I had several 5 gallon buckets of nuts and bolts.

I have mine sorted into 2-pound coffee cans, or smaller, by type (sheet metal screws, lag bolts, nuts, etc.). So I never have to dump out more than that onto a cookie sheet, etc.
Really helpful when the hardware store is closed. Or sometimes, just to verify a thread (e.g. take a sample to the hardware store, "I need 3 more like thins, but 1/2" shorter").

I also keep an old, metal pant can on my work benches to toss any stripped, rusted, bent, etc. fasteners in, so there is no attempt to re-use those. It also gets any small, metal parts (bearings, springs, drilling chips, etc.). When full, I put the top back on, seal it with some duct tape, and put it out for the metal scrappers for recycling.

(P.S. I got paid $25 for this tip! https://www.motherearthnews.com/nat...ities/how-to-recycle-scrap-metal-zm0z15jjzkin )

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

BTW, this 'stay in your home' stuff makes me really glad that I have battery operated chainsaws!

Philbert

 

[H-Ranch]

I have mine sorted into 2-pound coffee cans, or smaller, by type (sheet metal screws, lag bolts, nuts, etc.). So I never have to dump out more than that onto a cookie sheet, etc.

^ This ^

I *hate* having to go to the hardware for a couple fasteners when I'm in the middle of a project (or they are closed or whatever.) I have received several buckets of bolts from guys like rarefish383 and sorted them into the appropriate drawers. The only searching I have to do now is by length, grade, and sometimes appearance if it has to be purty. Anything bent, rusty, crusty, or otherwise questionable goes in a 5 gallon bucket to go to the recycling yard every few years.

*If* I do buy hardware it's usually at an industrial supply place or a place that sells by the pound so I can get plenty for the next time I need that particular fastener. It's rare that I don't have what I need though.

 

[MustangMike]

I agree with Joe, usually keep a 24 or 28" bar on my 660s unless I plan to cut real large wood, stump or mill.

The 660 with 24" is a fantastic Noodler!

 

[H-Ranch]

2 more loads before the wind started picking up.
Will go after more of this oak when I can get back there with the saw and less wind. The stuff laying on the ground will stay there.

May also lay a chain on this one to see if the suspended parts are too soft.

The oak so far.