Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[chipper1]

I started my post earlier in the day and then finished it later. That's why I missed your posts about cutting trees.
I see black locust around, just not where I cut.
I have an 8 pin sprocket on my MS 650. I'll swap it onto the 460 and give it a try. Maybe I'm a bit too aggressive on the rakers. I try to keep the hook to a minimum. When I first started filing I went to deep and put too much hook on the tooth. I thought they were really sharp. Then I cut some dead ash and all the thin sharp edges broke off. It's a good feeling to hand file and have it cut straight and pull nice chips.
Have a great day!

Been there and done that lol.
Well maybe you can stop by and ask if you can cut some, it's great wood, but so are those ash trees.
If you look closely at the new x-cut chains, they have a standard hook, then just at the leading edge of the top plate it's sharpened very aggressive. They seem to get into the fiber quicker and easier, but because it's only that aggressive on the leading edge they cut fast and very smooth. And because the chain is much harder than the older Oregon chains it stays sharper much longer out of the box. And to all the guys who touch a chain up out of the box(sometimes I do too), you should try one out, great cutting chain for sure and if you square grind or file they will hold a nice edge once converted. I have a nice pile of them in 20" here, and I'm watching on a deal for 24".
Semi skip doesn't seem to need quite as much off the rakers, if you just file the cutters back a touch that may be all you need. Also if a chain isn't smooth cutting bigger wood(I know you said yours was), then the saw may not have the power to pull it hard enough to overcome an aggressive hook if the wood is hard.
This is an aggressively filed semi-skip chain in very hard wood, it would be very rough in the same wood with a stock 70cc saw. You can even see it grabbing onto the knot on the top of the smaller cherry, that's also where technique can "help"(it still needs to be fixed) on a chain you just want to run until you can refill and file the cutters back a little. A chain that chatters because it's too aggressive is not as fast as a smooth running chain.

 

[U&A]

That's impressive. I have yet to have a good experience burning red oak. However, to be fair, I've never had "choice" wood to use. First tree was a monster that fell across my father in law's driveway. I cut huge rounds, took them home and split them. They were way too wet, so they did not burn at all (I was so used to burning dead standing ash that we would cut up, I figured it was good to go since it too was dead standing then blew over. Nope!). I was super green back then, and had just started burning firewood to help heat our house.

Now that I have a TON of red oak on my property, many that need felled, I'm gonna try some again.

I generally pack the stove as full as I can without touching the secondary burn baffle up top. Ends up being about 3 layers of splits.

I cant do that with maple or cherry though. Burns way to hot to fast.

Black locust is a great long burning wood for me.


Sent while firmly grasping my Redline lubed Ram [emoji231]

 

[Jere39]

In another part of PA this much smaller Spruce tilted slightly 2 weeks ago, then the snow and wind over the weekend took it down further. No damage to anything at all. But, I kind of liked the location and line of sight screen it provided. So, yesterday my son and I set a 3" heavy canvas strap on the Spruce, a snatch block on a nearby Poplar, and an anchored come-along on a handy Dogwood and pulled it up straight and tied it off. I am hopeful the roots take hold and this lives a long life:

(5 minutes of an old guy and his son climbing ladders, rigging anchor points, and ratcheting a come-along on a sunny day)



And, a couple views of snow covered stacks in the background

 

[chipper1]

We have a SIGNIFICANT power sub-station a few miles from where I live.
Over the weekend, the high winds blew down a tree,, A PINE!

The tree fell along side of the sub-station, if it had hit, we would have been out of power for a week!!

If the wind had been blowing about 15 degrees more toward north, the tree would have hit.

I would bet the tree guys are already there this morning,, taking down the other trees that are close to the sub-station.

Hard to believe that they wouldn't have cleared the area better.
Our power supplier is a small local company, they do a nice job keeping things cleared back(except at the supply line to our house lol), and if there is a problem, they are right on it!
I like these two.

 

[djg james]

..... I dropped another ash today, it was a pretty big one. I think I'll get this one milled.View attachment 973137

Nice Ash, but what causes the dark center? Most I've seen are all white. I was told that dark centers come from growing in wet conditions. Any ideas?

 

[chipper1]

In another part of PA this much smaller Spruce tilted slightly 2 weeks ago, then the snow and wind over the weekend took it down further. No damage to anything at all. But, I kind of liked the location and line of sight screen it provided. So, yesterday my son and I set a 3" heavy canvas strap on the Spruce, a snatch block on a nearby Poplar, and an anchored come-along on a handy Dogwood and pulled it up straight and tied it off. I am hopeful the roots take hold and this lives a long life:

(5 minutes of an old guy and his son climbing ladders, rigging anchor points, and ratcheting a come-along on a sunny day)



And, a couple views of snow covered stacks in the background

Nice job.
It stinks to loose a mature tree like that.
I would have guessed the tree you put the snatch block in to be a maple, that's a nice sized tree. Do you have many that size at your place. There is a small group of them just down the hill going to the creek on the neighbors property, they are very large and they are very tall(for poplar).

 

[Jere39]

Nice job.
It stinks to loose a mature tree like that.
I would have guessed the tree you put the snatch block in to be a maple, that's a nice sized tree. Do you have many that size at your place. There is a small group of them just down the hill going to the creek on the neighbors property, they are very large and they are very tall(for poplar).

As the big 100+ year Red Oaks were cut for charcoal making for the iron forges the Tulip Poplars, Beech, and finally the Gray Birches have started replacing them. The biggest (DBH 40+") trees in this area now are the Poplars. That one that I hitched the snatch block to is not all that big compared to many in the area. I am still a standing dead Red Oak snob for firewood, and the Poplars are not dying, so on the rare occasions that a Poplar comes down, I give them away in log length for milling by a friend. He provides me raw sawed lumber when I need it.

 

[farmer steve]

Nice Ash, but what causes the dark center? Most I've seen are all white. I was told that dark centers come from growing in wet conditions. Any ideas?

That's a sign they are dying or dead. Have cut a bunch like that. Just cut one like that and it had the brown center and green wood on the outside. Most of the sawmills around here aren't buying any ash logs because it.

 

[chipper1]

As the big 100+ year Red Oaks were cut for charcoal making for the iron forges the Tulip Poplars, Beech, and finally the Gray Birches have started replacing them. The biggest (DBH 40+") trees in this area now are the Poplars. That one that I hitched the snatch block to is not all that big compared to many in the area. I am still a standing dead Red Oak snob for firewood, and the Poplars are not dying, so on the rare occasions that a Poplar comes down, I give them away in log length for milling by a friend. He provides me raw sawed lumber when I need it.

I see, tulip polar do get quite large, I was wondering that's what it was seeing the lower branch structure, not normal to see that on the other poplars. There's a tulip polar at the neighbors across the street, its about 3', we get some of his leaves in our yard. It's one of the tallest trees on this portion of the river valley. The ones out back are taller, but they are the "normal" poplar lol.
Back to cutting, bathroom/ snack break is over says the boss, he's a tough guy to work for .

 

[Jere39]

I see, tulip polar do get quite large, I was wondering that's what it was seeing the lower branch structure, not normal to see that on the other poplars. There's a tulip polar at the neighbors across the street, its about 3', we get some of his leaves in our yard. It's one of the tallest trees on this portion of the river valley. The ones out back are taller, but they are the "normal" poplar lol.
Back to cutting, bathroom/ snack break is over says the boss, he's a tough guy to work for .

I measured this one at about 44" DBH, and didn't even guess at a height:





This one might be the biggest on my property, but it is growing typical of the rest of the hundreds here. That's a 24' ladder I am using against the one in the video, and it is about half-way to the first limbs. I guess the ones along the edge of the woods have lower limbs than the ones in the middle of the woods.

 

[old CB]

Busy doing a bit of sharpening, just finished the 14" picco chain on the ms200 rear handle, now working on one for a 550mk1. This must be a chain from a saw I acquired cuz I don't file them like this .

View attachment 973015



But she'll be cutting real nice when I get finished with it .

View attachment 973016

That chain may have come from someone who cuts conifers. When I'm cutting all in pine and other conifers, I sharpen with a more pronounced angle (like on that chain) which works well in soft wood. Anytime my chains will or might encounter hardwood, I'm back to the 30* angle or thereabout.

 

[chipper1]

That chain may have come from someone who cuts conifers. When I'm cutting all in pine and other conifers, I sharpen with a more pronounced angle (like on that chain) which works well in soft wood. Anytime my chains will or might encounter hardwood, I'm back to the 30* angle or thereabout.

If that was the case he was only cutting them with the left cutters . All the left were closer to 35 and the rights were at about 25, but dull. I brought them all to 25 and it's been thru two tanks in black locust and it's still throwing nice chips. I could have lowered the rakers a little more so it would self feed better, but then it wouldn't bore cut as well even though I've only done one bore cut with it, that could have been avoided. I take that back, I bore cut to set the hinge too.
Got this load done and bucked most of the tree and a buddy stopped over. I'm heading to his lake property tomorrow, anyone want any cottonwood , guess that's what I'll be cutting there. Heading out to buck the rest and split it.

 

[chipper1]

I measured this one at about 44" DBH, and didn't even guess at a height:

View attachment 973278

View attachment 973279

This one might be the biggest on my property, but it is growing typical of the rest of the hundreds here. That's a 24' ladder I am using against the one in the video, and it is about half-way to the first limbs. I guess the ones along the edge of the woods have lower limbs than the ones in the middle of the woods.

That's a big one for sure!
Looks like it's starting to have some issues between the root flares.
I noticed how big it was in the video, sometimes it can be deceiving, but seeing the ladder up against it showed it's size well.
You sure have a great property . Awesome views and a nice clean floor in the woods, you've done a nice job there.

 

[bob kern]

If that was the case he was only cutting them with the left cutters . All the left were closer to 35 and the rights were at about 25, but dull. I brought them all to 25 and it's been thru two tanks in black locust and it's still throwing nice chips. I could have lowered the rakers a little more so it would self feed better, but then it wouldn't bore cut as well even though I've only done one bore cut with it, that could have been avoided. I take that back, I bore cut to set the hinge too.
Got this load done and bucked most of the tree and a buddy stopped over. I'm heading to his lake property tomorrow, anyone want any cottonwood , guess that's what I'll be cutting there. Heading out to buck the rest and split it.
View attachment 973304

You and that black locust!! Lol

 

[chipper1]

You and that black locust!! Lol

When God gives you locust, you make firewood, or posts lol.
Okay, back to work.

 

[James Miller]

Bummer.
Was the ground just saturated and the snow/wind took it out.
I'd be taking out those polar over there too, before they get any bigger, a few yrs from now they'll be breaking out tops or big branches when you get ice.
We tried to warn everyone about pine, but they wouldn't listen lol.

Wet ground, heavy wet snow, and a ton of creeper vine. I've pointed out trees to the FIL that are going to be problems and he doesn't listen. Maybe this will be a wakeup call.

 

[LondonNeil]

I measured this one at about 44" DBH, and didn't even guess at a height:

View attachment 973278

View attachment 973279

This one might be the biggest on my property, but it is growing typical of the rest of the hundreds here. That's a 24' ladder I am using against the one in the video, and it is about half-way to the first limbs. I guess the ones along the edge of the woods have lower limbs than the ones in the middle of the woods.

Wow, that is some tree!

 

[Lee192233]

Been there and done that lol.
Well maybe you can stop by and ask if you can cut some, it's great wood, but so are those ash trees.
If you look closely at the new x-cut chains, they have a standard hook, then just at the leading edge of the top plate it's sharpened very aggressive. They seem to get into the fiber quicker and easier, but because it's only that aggressive on the leading edge they cut fast and very smooth. And because the chain is much harder than the older Oregon chains it stays sharper much longer out of the box. And to all the guys who touch a chain up out of the box(sometimes I do too), you should try one out, great cutting chain for sure and if you square grind or file they will hold a nice edge once converted. I have a nice pile of them in 20" here, and I'm watching on a deal for 24".
Semi skip doesn't seem to need quite as much off the rakers, if you just file the cutters back a touch that may be all you need. Also if a chain isn't smooth cutting bigger wood(I know you said yours was), then the saw may not have the power to pull it hard enough to overcome an aggressive hook if the wood is hard.
This is an aggressively filed semi-skip chain in very hard wood, it would be very rough in the same wood with a stock 70cc saw. You can even see it grabbing onto the knot on the top of the smaller cherry, that's also where technique can "help"(it still needs to be fixed) on a chain you just want to run until you can refill and file the cutters back a little. A chain that chatters because it's too aggressive is not as fast as a smooth running chain.

Thanks for the filing tips! That's a nice running saw!

Nice Ash, but what causes the dark center? Most I've seen are all white. I was told that dark centers come from growing in wet conditions. Any ideas?

Like Farmer Steve said, sick and dying. Almost all of my ash trees bigger than 10" have a dark center. EAB is hitting them hard now.

I measured this one at about 44" DBH, and didn't even guess at a height:

View attachment 973278

View attachment 973279

This one might be the biggest on my property, but it is growing typical of the rest of the hundreds here. That's a 24' ladder I am using against the one in the video, and it is about half-way to the first limbs. I guess the ones along the edge of the woods have lower limbs than the ones in the middle of the woods.

That is a dandy tree!

 

[Lee192233]

I was able to take the afternoon off and got almost all of the trees bucked and stacked for long term storage.

I'll use these smaller/twisted tops first.
I have two more trees to take care of and a pile of branches to burn.
I wish I could find someone to sell these trees to but for the most part they are unmarketable to a commercial mill. Should've gotten them out 5 years ago. Live and learn. The main reason to get most of them out is I'd like to make the woods fairly safe for my boys. I don't want it to be full of death traps.

 

[H-Ranch]

Nice long sleeve shirt weather late this afternoon.