Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[MustangMike]

Trees 4-5 feet at the stump are exceedingly rare around here... those 30-36" are rare... 20s are much more common but teens and smaller dominate.

Agree with you 100%, but Tulip trees are becoming more popular, and they get big fast. I've dealt with a few that easily exceed what my 36" bar will cut in a single pass.

I wish I could claim that I can make a straight line when starting from both sides (like my tree guy used to), but I am not nearly as good at it as he was.

Several years ago, I dropped a large Red Oak that had a bit of a lean in the wrong direction. It easily exceeded the length of my 36" bar, but I was glad I had that bar just the same as getting the hinge right was critical, and it was easier to do with a 36" bar than with a shorter one. I just thinned the sides of the tree a bit before felling it.

The Elm trees also used to get really big, but they are all gone (except some smaller ones that have not died yet).

 

[GrizG]

I'm glad we don't have the "wolf" problem depleting our big game like SVK describes. Unfortunately, EHD had been eliminating pockets of our deer, and I had to change my local hunting place to score this year.

We have, unfortunately, seen major declines in small game, specifically grouse and rabbits. I used to hunt grouse down here but have not even seen one down here in decades, and there are far fewer of them up at my Cabin than there used to be.

Also, we used to see cottontail rabbits down here all the time, but now they are very infrequent. Up at the cabin I used to see Snowshoe rabbits but have not seen any in years.

While there are numerous predators, like fox, coyote and bobcat, I think the most overlooked (and protected) predators are birds of prey. Hawks are protected and seem to be in the sky perpetually. I think something needs to be done about this. Predators, that are no longer endangered, should not continue to be protected. Would be cool to bring a hawk to the taxidermist!

Yeah.. things have changed. My sportsmen's club in the Catskills (near Woodstock) is old... and had even older taxidermy mounts and skins on display. Among them was a mountain lion skin and a full mount red tailed hawk. Those are no longer on display -- they didn't age well in the old unheated and mouse prone club house. The development and maturation of forests where farm land once existed changed habitat related things a lot. There are too many bears now, essentially no grouse or wild pheasants, and the deer live in the residential neighborhoods. Even song birds are scarce now... The tree die offs have increased the wood pecker populations significantly. Fisher are back, lots of squirrels, few rabbits, lots of fox, the woodchuck populations swing depending on the predation. Lots of raptors and crows. In the recent years the wetlands have increased along with the reptile populations.

 

[.358 win]

We have tons of coyote around here, people seldom see them, or hear them. Even less are smart enough to shoot them. Hear pretty often at work, I saw this wild dog walking down the rail trail.... no, it's not a dog it's a fricken coyote. Even open season and no bag limit hasn't hurt them much. Doesn't help there's lots of areas that arnt hunted, for various reasons, they hole up in. My neighbors 14 acres of woods being one of them.

Around my place in SW Pa, Wile E Coyote can be heard sometimes like there is a full on parade. Can actually be kind of eerie. But almost never see them.. Once in awhile one will show on a trail cam, but very seldom.. They are some serious hiders. My luck hunting them is worse than terrible. I dunno..

 

[GrizG]

Agree with you 100%, but Tulip trees are becoming more popular, and they get big fast. I've dealt with a few that easily exceed what my 36" bar will cut in a single pass.

I wish I could claim that I can make a straight line when starting from both sides (like my tree guy used to), but I am not nearly as good at it as he was.

Several years ago, I dropped a large Red Oak that had a bit of a lean in the wrong direction. It easily exceeded the length of my 36" bar, but I was glad I had that bar just the same as getting the hinge right was critical, and it was easier to do with a 36" bar than with a shorter one. I just thinned the sides of the tree a bit before felling it.

The Elm trees also used to get really big, but they are all gone (except some smaller ones that have not died yet).

The biggest tree I felled was a mulberry of all things! Close to 5' at the stump and easily 4' DBH. It was all busted up due to storms and was a hazard near a trail on land trust property so down it came. I've noticed expanding pockets of poplar around here but nothing huge yet... biggest were maybe 26-28" DBH. I need poplar boards for my whole house renovation (casing, base, and crown moldings and cabinets) so I've got my eyes out for "targets."

 

[chucker]

Yep, some people use rick, rack, rank, or face cord. In reality, there are only cords or fractions thereof.

Also, logger cord means a cord worth of 8 foot logs turned into firewood which actually ends up being less than a full cord of split wood. Back when I sold wood, people with occasionally ask for a logger cord and I would say sure, and just give them a regular cord of split wood. They think they are getting extra wood and they were actually getting themselves shorted if somebody follows it to the letter of the definition. But so many guys try to sell face cords as real cords, that’s where the other issue comes in.

I also got a kick out of the story from @chucker when he said people from the city often call him and ask for quarts of wood. Haven’t seen him around here lately. Hope he’s doing all right.

!HELLO! MY FRIEND... yes i am still alive and kicking abouts... Merry Christmas to all! Steve on a side note i will be officially retired as of midnight 12/31/2023!!! but as we all know once logging/firewood is in the blood(woodchips or two cycle) there's never a giving up chucking wood like a woodchucker! WISHING EVERYONE HERE ON A.S. all the best in the coming year!.. and i will take a "QUART" ANYDAY TO SHARE WITH A GOOD BUNCH OF WOODCHUCKER'S.

 

[Sawdust Man]

I'm glad we don't have the "wolf" problem depleting our big game like SVK describes. Unfortunately, EHD had been eliminating pockets of our deer, and I had to change my local hunting place to score this year.

We have, unfortunately, seen major declines in small game, specifically grouse and rabbits. I used to hunt grouse down here but have not even seen one down here in decades, and there are far fewer of them up at my Cabin than there used to be.

Also, we used to see cottontail rabbits down here all the time, but now they are very infrequent. Up at the cabin I used to see Snowshoe rabbits but have not seen any in years.

While there are numerous predators, like fox, coyote and bobcat, I think the most overlooked (and protected) predators are birds of prey. Hawks are protected and seem to be in the sky perpetually. I think something needs to be done about this. Predators, that are no longer endangered, should not continue to be protected. Would be cool to bring a hawk to the taxidermist!

There you go... talking common sense again....

 

[turnkey4099]

Yep, some people use rick, rack, rank, or face cord. In reality, there are only cords or fractions thereof.

Also, logger cord means a cord worth of 8 foot logs turned into firewood which actually ends up being less than a full cord of split wood. Back when I sold wood, people with occasionally ask for a logger cord and I would say sure, and just give them a regular cord of split wood. They think they are getting extra wood and they were actually getting themselves shorted if somebody follows it to the letter of the definition. But so many guys try to sell face cords as real cords, that’s where the other issue comes in.

Bringing up an old issue. When you split a rick, rack, pile, whatever of wood you will come out with a larger, not smaller measure. I know, look at all those big holes. But your new stack has more volume in those all those small holes,. every time you split a pieced you increase the square surface footage of the new piece. I used to estimate the increase as about 10% but it is probably more like 5% or less. There used to be a sticky on the subject.sg

 

[turnkey4099]

After reading some earlier posts, I know who the "Absolute Idiot" is.

I also constantly hear them refer to how powerful the Black Rifle round is ... I guess they just never saw a 308 or 30-06! Maybe they should test fire a 45-70 gatling gun!

I also shake my head when I hear them say they will never come after your shotguns! A pump action shotgun is one of the most formattable close-range weapons out there!

Oh, by the way, they did define "assault weapons", and we banned them a long time ago (full auto Tommy Guns). The trouble is, now they want to re-define them. It seems every time they "keep us safe", we are not!

What they don't undersand is that the AF15 style rifle hey buy over the counter is no one wit more lethal tha a standard hunting rifle. The only accurate description that would suit them is "painted black and is ugly"

 

[sean donato]

Around my place in SW Pa, Wile E Coyote can be heard sometimes like there is a full on parade. Can actually be kind of eerie. But almost never see them.. Once in awhile one will show on a trail cam, but very seldom.. They are some serious hiders. My luck hunting them is worse than terrible. I dunno..

They are a paint to lure out for sure. We started with bait piles, whatever meat scraps we could get from a local butcher, peanut butter, cat/dog food, tuna etc. It all worked but not for long. Or they would wait till we were gone to get the stuff. Tried calling and the stupid little rabbit in destress dummy. Just found its easiest to not be looking for them and then you'll find them, ie deer season.

What they don't undersand is that the AF15 style rifle hey buy over the counter is no one wit more lethal tha a standard hunting The only accurate description that would suit them is "painted black and is ugly"

Trying to explain that to some people is hard. My grandma is pretty against any black rifle, but doesn't think there's anything wrong with grandpa's (now dads) m1 garand or Springfield. She just can't accept that they all were designed for the same thing, and the black on just doesn't feature a wood stock.

 

[JimR]

I'm glad we don't have the "wolf" problem depleting our big game like SVK describes. Unfortunately, EHD had been eliminating pockets of our deer, and I had to change my local hunting place to score this year.

We have, unfortunately, seen major declines in small game, specifically grouse and rabbits. I used to hunt grouse down here but have not even seen one down here in decades, and there are far fewer of them up at my Cabin than there used to be.

Also, we used to see cottontail rabbits down here all the time, but now they are very infrequent. Up at the cabin I used to see Snowshoe rabbits but have not seen any in years.

While there are numerous predators, like fox, coyote and bobcat, I think the most overlooked (and protected) predators are birds of prey. Hawks are protected and seem to be in the sky perpetually. I think something needs to be done about this. Predators, that are no longer endangered, should not continue to be protected. Would be cool to bring a hawk to the taxidermist!

We have plenty of Hawks in Mass. Everytime I mow our fields I have at least one following me around picking up mice and voles. Coyotes are all over the place near me. Just about every night they are out back screaming away. Rabbits are plentiful at our house and at our farm next door. It is almost like we are raising them. They love my wife's flowers and plants. I don't use fertilizer or weed killer on the lawn. There is always plenty of clover for them.

 

[MustangMike]

What about the grouse and rabbits?

 

[farmer steve]

We have plenty of hawks,owls and bald eagles. I stihl see lots of rabbits though. I have a red tail that hangs out near the pole barn and he's helping himself to the sparrows that come in when I have it open. Have a couple of smaller hawks but not sure which they are. Coyotes are around but have only ever seen one close to here.

 

[MechanicMatt]

At my brother in-laws for Christmas Eve

My pops sold him his MS460 when Uncle Mustang talked him into a new 462

Before that he was a 029/390 and 041 guy

Burns about 5 cord a year heating his home with wood

 

[farmer steve]

Merry Christmas, folks. Peace

View attachment 1138152

Just for you @Haywire. Merry Christmas.

 

[MechanicMatt]

Fake tree and his stove

The stone for his Mantle came from Uncle Mustangs property

 

[JimR]

What about the grouse and rabbits?

I heard that our grouse are down in quantity. I haven't done any bird hunting in over 20 years. I know we have a few on the 19 acre woodlot and some rabbits. I see them when using my tractor.

 

[Brufab]

Around my place in SW Pa, Wile E Coyote can be heard sometimes like there is a full on parade. Can actually be kind of eerie. But almost never see them.. Once in awhile one will show on a trail cam, but very seldom.. They are some serious hiders. My luck hunting them is worse than terrible. I dunno..

I've had decent luck with the game call right before and during mating season. Each time I got one they came right in right away after starting the game call usually within 15 mins.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

There are a lot of guys around these geographic parts, and I imagine elsewhere, that have no idea how to fell trees when their bar is "too short" to reach across. Bucking with straight ends is another issue when the diameter is more than twice the bar length.... Me, I get along just fine with a 25" bar on my 461 and 661 except for when milling. Trees 4-5 feet at the stump are exceedingly rare around here... those 30-36" are rare... 20s are much more common but teens and smaller dominate. I'd guess that out of the 1,000+ trees I've had my saws in while cutting on the rail trails and land trust properties no more than a half dozen exceeded 30" DBH. Definitely a different environment than the PNW but knowing how to deal with the bigger stuff can be handy.

Yes, I agree! I actually prefer shorter bars. When getting my scrounge on. I typically run a 28" on my 90cc saws. Even on my 260 I run a 16". I don't need anything bigger than a 16" on that saw anyway. When it was stock it struggled with a 20". After the hop up. It pulls a 20" just fine now, but a 20" STIHL robs power as apposed to running a 16. Don't really have much use for an 18". In an industrial setting cut'n timber. Seldom do I run anything but 32" bars on my 660's or 661's. Unless I'm cut'n bigger wood on steep ground, say 32" to 36" diameter. Then a 36" bar is really nice to have but STIHL not a "must have" and really required. That extra 4 inches dose makes a big difference when reaching out there though, believe you me! Furthermore, once A fella starts getting into 60" trunk diameters and bigger on the steep. A 42" bar really helps and makes things a whole lot easier and is almost a necessity when reaching way out there in the cut with one hand running the saw up above ones head. However, when I was cut'n timber for a living I'd only have the need for a 42" a hand full of days a year. A fella can do a lot of damage in bigger wood on moderate terrain with just a 32" bar. Long bars rob power and if your power head is over bared. It with shorten the life span of your saw over a period of time, if you run to long a bar consistently. "Slow Death" they call it. Just like over proping an outboard boat engine. The concept is the same.

Cut safe, stay sharp and be aware!

 

[Kodiak Kid]

Time to get my ice bike on Gentleman!

 

[WoodAbuser]

Time to get my ice bike on Gentleman! View attachment 1138452View attachment 1138453

Guess these pix r proof you r a stud. Even with the a$$less chaps.