Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
Come on over. Bring your saws!
Me and my big mouth!
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Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
Just catching up on some pics I had on the camera. I was having a hard time with my card reader for a while, and didn't get some posted.
Anyhow, I worked up some of the 4' pile for campfire wood. Veddy simple, veddy easy. Stack it pretty, add the chainsaw of your choice (my little Dolmar PS-420 got the honors, I'll do the rest with the big saw and long bar), make two cuts, and voila! firewood:
Two cuts gets ya this much camping wood:
That stacked too well, and would have stayed wet/damp forever, so over to the splitter I went, and split about a third of em to get varied sizes, and a little kindling. Splitting 5 pieces at once went pretty quick. Much better airflow through this stack:
I also made a couple pounds of noodles for firestarter. The little 420 does not noodle all that well, the clutch cover clogs too easily. I'm gonna make a frame to hold a stick or two at a time for bulk noodle making, and a couple sawbucks, when I get time.
I'm gonna get some more processed up today, as it's a nice cool morning for doing that kinda stuff, and I've burned up what I had split already. I also have another 1/2 cord I brought home from work, and I'm monitoring the wood bins at work for enough for another truckload. I think I'm gonna give campfire wood sales a try with this stuff. It's just so simple and cheap to do, and although they're not optimally dry yet, they're easy to light and burn fairly smoke free. My thought is not bundled, more of a mini-bulk sale for those that burn often. (I have 5 lakes, and lots of cabins, within 3 miles of the house) Build a small rack, say 10-15 cu ft, delivered and filled for $5/cu ft, and just call for a refill when you're ready. Of course this is cheaper than $5/.75 cf bundles around here, but I don't have to mess with wrapping. Delivery will be very local only.
Somebody shoot holes in this idea before I start to count my newfound firewood fortunes!
Anyhow, I worked up some of the 4' pile for campfire wood. Veddy simple, veddy easy. Stack it pretty, add the chainsaw of your choice (my little Dolmar PS-420 got the honors, I'll do the rest with the big saw and long bar), make two cuts, and voila! firewood:
Two cuts gets ya this much camping wood:
That stacked too well, and would have stayed wet/damp forever, so over to the splitter I went, and split about a third of em to get varied sizes, and a little kindling. Splitting 5 pieces at once went pretty quick. Much better airflow through this stack:
I also made a couple pounds of noodles for firestarter. The little 420 does not noodle all that well, the clutch cover clogs too easily. I'm gonna make a frame to hold a stick or two at a time for bulk noodle making, and a couple sawbucks, when I get time.
I'm gonna get some more processed up today, as it's a nice cool morning for doing that kinda stuff, and I've burned up what I had split already. I also have another 1/2 cord I brought home from work, and I'm monitoring the wood bins at work for enough for another truckload. I think I'm gonna give campfire wood sales a try with this stuff. It's just so simple and cheap to do, and although they're not optimally dry yet, they're easy to light and burn fairly smoke free. My thought is not bundled, more of a mini-bulk sale for those that burn often. (I have 5 lakes, and lots of cabins, within 3 miles of the house) Build a small rack, say 10-15 cu ft, delivered and filled for $5/cu ft, and just call for a refill when you're ready. Of course this is cheaper than $5/.75 cf bundles around here, but I don't have to mess with wrapping. Delivery will be very local only.
Somebody shoot holes in this idea before I start to count my newfound firewood fortunes!
zogger
Tree Freak
No shooting here, sounds like a plan to me! Small rounds of lesser species would work as well, pine, etc. Then smoker/cook/BBQ wood, cut smaller and split more, whatever you have for smoker wood up there. Maybe find used/free onion bags to fill up with that small stuff.
Looks to me like someone looking for an excuse to run a new splitter?
Philbert
Philbert
ShaneLogs
Addicted to ArboristSite
If I was closer I would come over and hang out and cut with you!
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
More pics coming after work late tonight. Got that pile sawed and in the truck, but the splitter tractor didn't have enough gas in it to show on the "guage" stick, so splitting and stacking will happen tomorrow or Friday.
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
Here's more pics, as promised. First a little catchup on the comments, my cell phone posts from work tend to be pretty short.
Zogg, appreciate the comments. I do have some cherry from time to time that could be sold as cooking/smoking wood, along with red oak, but I'm not interested in that market just yet. I also ain't interested in bagging, wrapping, baler twining, zip tying or what else have you if I can make the "mini bulk" idea work - less handling and packaging cost = more $ in the bottom line.
Philbert, you know I have a want for a little brother splitter for my big one, but the big guy works real well for this. I can get 4 or 5 pieces stacked up in one stroke, a smaller splitter would likely only get two, maybe 3 at a crack.
Shane, if you or anyone else is ever in the area and feel the need to cut wood, there's always something around that needs to be made into firewood, sawdust, and splitter trash. I won't stop anyone from helping!
Now back to the day in pictures. The 7300 with the 24" bar works much better than the 420/16" did. The little saw cut 4 rows (plus most of a fifth, but not through), the big one does 6 at a time. The dogs are almost a hindrance doing this though, I might take em off the next batch I do.
Compare what I cut in one cut in this pic to the earlier one showing 2 cuts with the little saw (1 16" row vs 3). Much more efficient, and about the same cut time (by guess, it's been a couple weeks since I did the first batch, and didn't time the cuts - the chainsaw guys would have a fit!):
That's a decent sized truckload there, and the fastest pickup load of wood I can remember making. Of course, I had time loading it at work, unloading at home, removing plastic from about 1/2 of them, and reloading the truck, but in all, I'd say maybe an hour's work.
A happy saw is a saw in a pile of sawdust!
Next batch, I need to add a 3rd fencepost to hold the middle row up after cutting. They fell back against my rain gauge post as I was cutting the last row, minor PITA. I'll also stack em 6 rows deep so I can get em done in one pass. It's a learning experience, but so far pretty easy learning.
Zogg, appreciate the comments. I do have some cherry from time to time that could be sold as cooking/smoking wood, along with red oak, but I'm not interested in that market just yet. I also ain't interested in bagging, wrapping, baler twining, zip tying or what else have you if I can make the "mini bulk" idea work - less handling and packaging cost = more $ in the bottom line.
Philbert, you know I have a want for a little brother splitter for my big one, but the big guy works real well for this. I can get 4 or 5 pieces stacked up in one stroke, a smaller splitter would likely only get two, maybe 3 at a crack.
Shane, if you or anyone else is ever in the area and feel the need to cut wood, there's always something around that needs to be made into firewood, sawdust, and splitter trash. I won't stop anyone from helping!
Now back to the day in pictures. The 7300 with the 24" bar works much better than the 420/16" did. The little saw cut 4 rows (plus most of a fifth, but not through), the big one does 6 at a time. The dogs are almost a hindrance doing this though, I might take em off the next batch I do.
Compare what I cut in one cut in this pic to the earlier one showing 2 cuts with the little saw (1 16" row vs 3). Much more efficient, and about the same cut time (by guess, it's been a couple weeks since I did the first batch, and didn't time the cuts - the chainsaw guys would have a fit!):
That's a decent sized truckload there, and the fastest pickup load of wood I can remember making. Of course, I had time loading it at work, unloading at home, removing plastic from about 1/2 of them, and reloading the truck, but in all, I'd say maybe an hour's work.
A happy saw is a saw in a pile of sawdust!
Next batch, I need to add a 3rd fencepost to hold the middle row up after cutting. They fell back against my rain gauge post as I was cutting the last row, minor PITA. I'll also stack em 6 rows deep so I can get em done in one pass. It's a learning experience, but so far pretty easy learning.
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
I use em to stack my wood on, but haven't made racks out of em, yet. I could see em working though with some easy to make brackets and some 2x uprights. "Someday", I'll play with that idea.
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
Finally got a pic of the stack I got from that bundle. 3'x4'x4' (48cf) turned into 12'x44"x16" (58.6CF). I'd consider it to be "well stacked", but with enough airspace in there to let that last bit of moisture out.
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
Is that a hay conveyor you got sitting back there in the woods ? It looks like you could get some nice production in with that thing
Yes it is. It's gonna become part of the firewood equipment one day, but first my splitter is gonna get a makeover that includes extra valves for a log lift and to run a hydraulic motor to power the conveyor. Once I get that far, I'll cut the elevator down, and build a hitch to tow it directly behind the splitter.
I'm still hoping to do the splitter this summer, but other projects keep getting to the top of my list before that one does. "The List" is a never ending battle here.
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
Another load followed me home Friday, hope it cools off sometime this week so I can get it worked up. Over 80° already when I got up today, that's not doing anything outside I don't have to do territory.
I'm gonna track just how much time and money I have in a load like this. So far it's $20 (the difference in fuel between taking the car to work vs the truck), and a 15 minute break spent loading.
I'm gonna track just how much time and money I have in a load like this. So far it's $20 (the difference in fuel between taking the car to work vs the truck), and a 15 minute break spent loading.
