Tips for cutting Large trunks

[firewoodcutter]

I have recently found out my local parks dept. has an area that they take the trees they cut. During business hours they open the gate and allow the public to cut on them. I have not seen very many there compared to the trees that are there.

Of course most of easy cutting has been long gone.


What is left is very large stumps that are several feet in diameter.
Many piled on top of one another Not the best work area for certian.
I am fairly new to cutting my own firewood and could use any tips and pointers.

I am running a 20" bar and am un able to cut through these trunks.

My first attempts involved cutting as far in and as far around as I could manage and then try to wedge out what ever would break away. The outer edges that was seasoned a bit did split out with a quite a bit of effort.

For the most part this was very ineffective. I spent almost 5 hours and had a small load. Scraping the money together for a load of wood sounded soo good after the first day till I looked in my wallet so off I went for a second day.
It is a shame to see most of this wood just rot away but being physically limited at the moment I have to work smarter and not harder. :bang:

If anyone has any tips or suggestions as how to approach these it would be much apperciated!

 

[upandcommer]

grab a big bar and a full skip tooth chain

grab a 32" bar for your saw assuming one is made for it then grab a full skip chain she will cut half as fast but twice as wide so you get bigger cuts in half the time but you get the cut done and your power head isn't pulling any harder assuming your oiler will put out enough oil for the bigger bar (if it is adjustable crank it all the way up)

 

[computeruser]

Well, sounds like you need a longer bar on your saw (or a bigger saw and a longer bar) and a better working environment. Is there any way that you can drag these large pieces home and cut them there? Do you have a trailer or can you borrow one, so you could push/drag/winch the wood into the trailer and take it away?

In my limited experience with huge logs, there is a point at which the effort-to-benefit ratio starts looking less appealing. As a general rule, I have found that 36" wood is about all I care to deal with - any bigger and it is a LOT more work to cut, split (I'm a maul/sledge/wedge splitter), and handle. Beyond that size, I can understand why nobody else wanted it, and the only way to make processing the wood efficient would be to use a VERY large saw. If you have such a saw already, then you're set; if you don't and would have to buy one, then that rather defeats the purpose of trying to get free wood.

Assuming that buying a bigger saw is out of the question, I would try to get the wood home where I could keep track of its condition and cut it at my own pace.

 

[firewoodcutter]

Well, sounds like you need a longer bar on your saw
Yes that is an option

and a better working environment.
that is an understatement lol
Is there any way that you can drag these large pieces home and cut them there? Not sure moving them would be an option unless i were to be there on a day they were bringing more in and was able to get them to load one on a trailer. I am not to sure if it would be manageable or not as they are the main trunks and are better then 8 feet long on most cases.

Do you have a trailer or can you borrow one, so you could push/drag/winch the wood into the trailer and take it away?

In my limited experience with huge logs, there is a point at which the effort-to-benefit ratio starts looking less appealing. As a general rule, I have found that 36" wood is about all I care to deal with - any bigger and it is a LOT more work to cut, split (I'm a maul/sledge/wedge splitter), and handle.

That is about where I am at on these, effort compared to outcome!:bang:



Beyond that size, I can understand why nobody else wanted it, and the only way to make processing the wood efficient would be to use a VERY large saw. If you have such a saw already, then you're set; if you don't and would have to buy one, then that rather defeats the purpose of trying to get free wood.

Assuming that buying a bigger saw is out of the question, I would try to get the wood home where I could keep track of its condition and cut it at my own pace.

Thanks for the reply
hoped there may be a better way of dealing with them, they may just become compost like the ones further in the back that never got touched!

 

[firewoodcutter]

I see some marks on some of the stumps where other have cross cut the stumps, re sharpening a chain after every other cut doesn't seem very realistic to me. I was always told you don't cross cut!

 

[computeruser]

Thanks for the reply
hoped there may be a better way of dealing with them, they may just become compost like the ones further in the back that never got touched!

I hear ya. I would be really disappointed to see good stuff like that go to waste, but I am also a realist. If these logs are in 8foot lengths, I can see how that would be a problem unless you can efficiently section them into moveable pieces.

I picked up some freebies that were 40"diameter x 48"long earlier this year, so with a lot of effort I was able to roll them up the ramp and into my 5x8 trailer. But had they been any bigger, there's no way I could have moved them. By the time I got them home, cut them to into 16" discs, quartered the discs, and then split the quarters into fireplace sized pieces, I was thinking really hard about why I Thought it was a good idea to bring them home in the first place.

That said, I'd gladly pick up trunk pieces like that again, if the opportunity presents itself - free wood is free wood, and it sure beats going to the gym. Well, that's not entirely true, because I live in a college town and there is some great viewing at my gym, but y'all get my point.

 

[firewoodcutter]

grab a 32" bar for your saw assuming one is made for it then grab a full skip chain she will cut half as fast but twice as wide so you get bigger cuts in half the time but you get the cut done and your power head isn't pulling any harder assuming your oiler will put out enough oil for the bigger bar (if it is adjustable crank it all the way up)

It is a Jonsered CS-2171 Turbo
The saw is more then capable of running a larger bar.
However not as sure about the operator!

 

[West Texas]

First tell us something about your saw besides bar length. What type and size saw are you using; that determines how much bar you can run. Well you were typing at the same time I was.

Second, don't cut anything you can't split and some of that wood is a tiger to split.:bang:

Third, if the trunks are really big, you may have to saw them in both directions in order to get them in to pieces you can physically lift into your truck/trailer.

 

[clearance]

I have ripped big blocks with a 394 and a 2101, good saws but it just isn't worth it. Too much work, depends on how much time you have, I have a peavy, cant hook, little crane on my pickup, many steel wedges, pretty good shape but its still n-work no matter what.

 

[DeanBrown3D]

I dunno if you have a big enough trailer, but I got a Mile Marker electric winch on mine which, at 8000 lb, can pull just about anything I throw at it up onto the trailer. Winch was $400 new. Its a real PITA though to cut up 3-4' butts, even when its on a trailer, you may need another winch and skidding tongs to pull it off a bit at a time to cut it. Basically, its not worth it unless the wood is something great (i.e. not maple). I gave up on doing this years ago, better to find some other wood.

 

[Diesel JD]

ramble...

You are correct that you should not RIP unless you have RIPPING chain...they sell the stuff at Baileys,a dn with it you could quarter the wood.... only you can decide if this is worth the extra expense and work for free firewood. Personally I'd probably work with something easier since I have had problems with low back pain and abdominal strains(minor relatively speaking but don't want to stress anything) I just can't afford the downtime of being laid up recovering from hernia surgery or flat on my back with back spasms. If you can get it tow orkable size without hurting yourself or spendinga ton of money though it will eb worthwhile if the wood is good, and from my perspoective just about any hardwood is great firewood(with some minor exceptions).. clear as mud, I'll shut up now,
J.D.

 

[TimberPig]

It won't hurt anything to rip cut the wood without using ripping chain. Ripping chain may be slightly faster and smoother, but its not that dramatic, particularly for firewood. Rip chain is mainly for lumber production, with a chainsaw mill, not handheld firewood block ripping. Rip cutting oversize wood like that is often much easier than trying to split it with a maul or sledge and wedges.

Go ahead and buck then rip that wood. You won't hurt anything, although a longer bar and semi/full skip chain will make it a little easier to deal with big wood.

 

[Big Woody]

The Obvious

You guys are missing the obvious. I have a 700 lb dolly from harbor Freight I got when I moved to a diffferent house. Around 30-40 dollars, has bigger tires which goes over ground better. All you have to do is cut the trunks into 16" length and use the dolly and some ramps to load it on the trailer. Sometimes I use a ratchet strap to hold the chunk on the dolly while I tip it backwards. It helps to have another person help you but it is doable on your own. I have hauled a lot of big trunk sections home that way no problem. If it is too big (36" +) you can split the sections in half with some wedges and then use the dolly to load each half.

It is amazing how much wood you can split out of those big trunk sections.

 

[tek9tim]

All this talk of bars being too short sounds funny, my "short" bar is a 32". But I'm young (and dumb) still. Ripping big rounds up into quarters is pretty darn quick, if you make your chain run parallel to the grain. Takes less time (and way less work) than trying to split some big stuff. The biggest problem is keeping the long chips clear of your clutch. I even do it on smaller gnarly chunks of stuff I can't get the first split on. Then I use the chips for fire starter.

 

[turnkey4099]

It looks like your saw is big enough to do the job with a longer bar.

I see the basic problem is getting the chunks to where you can cut on them conveniently. I have worked a few piles like that by cabling and pulling them off (F150 2x). A straight pull might be a problem but a snatch block or two with an anchor solves that. It does take a bit of investment. Cable is not that bad, the hooks will run about $10-15 per cable. Snatch blocks can be reasonable or expensive depending on what you want. My wooding kit now consistes of 3 saws, 4 cables total of about 200ft and 3 or 4 snatch blocks. Of course that is an accumulation of a couple of decades.

Once you have them out of the pile, the cutting should be fairly easy. I do not try cutting stuff like that in situ except to cut one free to start with and I try to limit even that.

Harry K

 

[belgian]

I personally think it is not worth dulling your chains on trunks, not even mentioning the safety risks, looking at the way you described your situation.
I tried a few times to recover some wood from trunks (not really for the wood, but reducing the trunk remains for disposal), and have hit dirt inclusions every time, even while taking care.
my saw said 'no' from that point on.
roland

 

[Zodiac45]

Last summer a local Forester told me that his crew had finished a veneering operation and left quite a bit of big stuff laying round the yard. This was nice stuff, rock maple, yellow birch, oak etc. but all trunk wood. Too make things easier, I invited my wood burning neighbor along and the two of us (it took two too load!) brought our trucks, 2 saw's each and and went too work on it. We went in the mornings and were back at noon each with a full load.(pickups) We were forced to saw short in some cases due to weight but we stacked and stair stepped the rounds into the trucks both of us loading each truck. A cant dog was handy too, helping to bull the sticks a bit. I used a 20" bars and had too side to side but the old Dolmar 120si and Husky 257xp both got through the stuff ok as long as you took your time and let the saw cut without alot of pressure. Needless to say a fresh ground chain was paramount at the start of each day. We didn't kill ourselves and probably only took half cord loads on each truck but we did end up with some beautiful stove wood. The key for me is my splitter does verticle, or I'd have never bothered. These days my wedges make better door stoppers ;-)

Zee