How Big is Too Big

[groundup]

I were near you I'd have pm'd you by now and offered to hack that beast up with my 394.

Many guys buy big equipment specifically for situations like yours. Somebody will come along. Until then keep working at it. You'll be surprised how much will come off.

 

[iceman7668]

You sure that is Red Oak? From looking at your limb wood it looks like White Oak to me. White Oak tops Red Oak for burning btu's. I just got a 40" white Oak from the neighbor. My avatar has a pin oak in it. That is a 36" bar on my saw. If I remember right, that was a 51" round.

 

[Whitespider]

I'm not fully understanding how you can cut the crotches up.

I do it one cut at a time...

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[jthornton]

You sure that is Red Oak? From looking at your limb wood it looks like White Oak to me. White Oak tops Red Oak for burning btu's. I just got a 40" white Oak from the neighbor. My avatar has a pin oak in it. That is a 36" bar on my saw. If I remember right, that was a 51" round.

Yes, it is red oak. The bottom was hollow and rotted out. My local expert ID'd the tree for me.

JT

 

[jthornton]

I do it one cut at a time...

Ok, I see now... I just assumed it was not possible.

Thanks for the photos.

JT

 

[JeffHK454]

You sure that is Red Oak? From looking at your limb wood it looks like White Oak to me. White Oak tops Red Oak for burning btu's. I just got a 40" white Oak from the neighbor. My avatar has a pin oak in it. That is a 36" bar on my saw. If I remember right, that was a 51" round.

Does that mean the dude in the avatar is like 8' tall?:jester:


In the years I've been on this site the "little saw big wood" thing has been talked about ad nauseum , if you're gonna mess with big wood you need the right tools or a lot of time.

 

[Whitespider]

...if you're gonna mess with big wood you need the right tools or a lot of time.

I've had bigger saws in the past... a lot bigger.
I haven't noticed that giving them up has added all that much more time to the work. Ya' still haf'ta stop and set wedges, stop and reset them, move the cut rounds out'a the way, etc... and now I ain't stoppin' near as often to refuel. I suppose for those that are into it, ya' do lose the "fun factor"... but I'm way past that. Yeah, the cuttin' itself takes just a bit longer... but that really ain't the time consuming part of the job when ya' think about it.

 

[BrokenToys]

A couple of tree companies I hooked up with won't keep anything over 18" diameter and they call me. I feel it is well worth the time going ofter the big rounds...espially with red oak which is about the best and easiest wood to split. whack from the ends and make your way to the middle is what most people I read do; myself I start to go right across the middle splitting it in two halves and after 10-15 shots they blow right open.
Biggest one I did this to was roughly 59' diameter and had to split it right on the trailer in order to get it unloaded.

 

[jrider]

I sell wood so for me, time is money. If its slowing me down, it's too big. If I can't throw it on the splitter in a timely fashion or there are huge knots (which happens more with big stuff) which split like a bear, it's too big. It doesn't mean I don't mess with the big stuff but I certainly don't go looking for it like some guys do.

 

[captjack]

Biggest oak I have seen - this one fell in a storm - the top is gone now and just this truck remains. My friend is looking for a mobil mill work place to come make him some boards - the farm has been is family for 380+ years so it would make a nice table or something for the farm house.

 

[groundup]

I've had bigger saws in the past... a lot bigger.
I haven't noticed that giving them up has added all that much more time to the work. Ya' still haf'ta stop and set wedges, stop and reset them, move the cut rounds out'a the way, etc... and now I ain't stoppin' near as often to refuel. I suppose for those that are into it, ya' do lose the "fun factor"... but I'm way past that. Yeah, the cuttin' itself takes just a bit longer... but that really ain't the time consuming part of the job when ya' think about it.

I have to disagree. Anytime I get into a big tree I am loving life because I have big saws that are built to do the job.

I find no satisfaction in working up a giant tree with an under powered saw.

I understand if your only option is the saw you have because you don't cut much. However, if you do it often then you need big saws for big wood.

 

[VW Splitter]

I enjoy the big wood because I have the tools to deal with it. I dont think I would feel the same way if I didnt have the big saws and big splitter. If you cut a lot of big trees you need a big saw. If this biggen is a one time deal, then get what you can with what you have to work with. You will probably find that you can get it all. I worked with a 20" bar for years, but now I am a firm believer in the 2 (or more) saw plan. Never saw down both sides if you can grab a bigger saw and do it in one cut.

 

[saxman]

Here's a 37" DBH white oak I worked up for my FIL in the summer of 2012. It was dropped by the power company and I used my 660 with a 36" bar, a 441RCM with a 28" and my 261 with a 18" bar. Lots of wood in this tree, and it's not to bad with the right tools

 

[jthornton]

I enjoy the big wood because I have the tools to deal with it. I dont think I would feel the same way if I didnt have the big saws and big splitter. If you cut a lot of big trees you need a big saw. If this biggen is a one time deal, then get what you can with what you have to work with. You will probably find that you can get it all. I worked with a 20" bar for years, but now I am a firm believer in the 2 (or more) saw plan. Never saw down both sides if you can grab a bigger saw and do it in one cut.

This is the first time I've had a tree this big and unless another one drops in his yard might be my last so I'll cut what I can....

JT

 

[JeffHK454]

This is the first time I've had a tree this big and unless another one drops in his yard might be my last so I'll cut what I can....

JT

I'm a scrounge..I never really get the luxury of being too picky and if its a good species of wood I'm getting it regardless of size.

Got this EAB kill .. 36" DBH. This was loaded with my compact tractor. If I had to deal with trees this size without the right equipment I'd sell my splitter and get a propane tank...heck with all that hacking and noodling.

 

[zogger]

I'm a scrounge..I never really get the luxury of being too picky and if its a good species of wood I'm getting it regardless of size.

Got this EAB kill .. 36" DBH. This was loaded with my compact tractor. If I had to deal with trees this size without the right equipment I'd sell my splitter and get a propane tank...heck with all that hacking and noodling.

I like mambo trees like that! Big saw sport! Splitting sport!

I like small saw and milking out branches, but man, I love splitting up the beasts!

I know it is only a matter time before our ash trees go, so haven't cut much of any, just some. but...got one larger than that here down by the creek.

 

[jthornton]

I'm a scrounge..I never really get the luxury of being too picky and if its a good species of wood I'm getting it regardless of size.

Got this EAB kill .. 36" DBH. This was loaded with my compact tractor. If I had to deal with trees this size without the right equipment I'd sell my splitter and get a propane tank...heck with all that hacking and noodling.

I heat my house with propane because it is not cost effective to add an outside wood boiler at this time in my life as I use ~300 gallons a year so I would not see a payback before I'm too old to cut wood and need to convert back to propane. I only heat my 2000 sq ft shop/garage with wood and use 1-2 cords a year. This one tree will heat my place for 3 years I'd bet. I have other standing dead red oak and other hardwood trees I can get that are in the 12" to 18" diameter range. So my point is there is no need for me to purchase big wood cutting equipment. It really depends on each persons needs.

JT

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

I guess for us it was always a wood supply thing. We didn't have a lot of wood to choose from so we worked up everything we could get our hands on. To give an example one time we cut up an apple orchard on the HALVES with the owner doing nothing. Big wood looks good, work wise, compared to that! That burns into your mindset not to waste anything when you have been hard up for a supply in the past.

Now we have more than we know what to do with but still work it all up. It wasn't until the last 10 years I got a saw with a 36 inch bar. Many a times before that we'd use 20ish bars and end up splitting a section out of the standing tree so we could finish dropping it. It is all possible if you want to do it and have the time.

We never noodled before and still don't. Used to split all by hand then made a smaller hydraulic. Hand split to workable size. Then got a homemade 3 point to go on the ground to do the bigger ones but still a pain to roll a 3 ft plus beech into position. After years of doing that I built another to do it all and should be the last one I need.

To me, it is more of a progression thing. I use the money savings from using wood heat to reinvest into making it easier to "gather the fuel". We all get older and slower so making it possible to KEEP on doing it as we age is an important aspect to me. Some would rather keep little to no costs in their operations but I'm more into the long term outlook of doing it. Been doing it for over 30 years now and hope to be able to do more.

Bottom line is I actually enjoy doing it, kind of a sense of accomplishment thing for me. Feels better to have a barn full of wood than to finally make it to level 10 in the latest video game.