Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
By considering things like energy-efficient mechanicals, window orientation, and renewable energy sources, homes can be evaluated to meet the energy codes. Here's what the IRC has to say.
Featured Video
How to Install Cable Rail Around Wood-Post CornersHighlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
Tim, cut some yesterday. My azz is dragging today. Stihl with 24" bar is too heavy for more than a couple hours.
I need to clear a 20' path for new power line so I guess I have my wood needs covered for a long time if I survive.
Glad I'm not doing it with an axe.
Joe H
I still have three pieces left from last year, Im good.
If someone hasnt stole it Ive got some cut since last year at this time in long lengths .
I was thinkin today I need to get out there before folks be thinkin bout it.
Tim
I have several chainsaws (for a variety of reasons), but the two I use most are a Stihl with a 24" bar for the light stuff and for some of the log construction work I do.
But for cutting firewood, I use my Stihl 44 with a 36" bar because it's much less tiring.
I don't have to bend over to cut the stuff laying down; I can reach into those messy piles of big limbs and tops without getting slammed by a kickback; and I get more volume cut before I have to sharpen or change the chain.
I'm closing on 60 yrs., and, hard as it is to admit, I'm slowing down a bit.
But the long bar, IMO, is much less tiring than the small saw in the wood cutting game.
I have to have a few so that I can cut out the ones that get hung up when the log pinches the bar. What's your excuse?
A 36" bar? How about this one?
Da Yoopers Tourist Trap has a gift shop and a small "museum" of artifacts -- but the best attractions are outdoors. Big Gus, the world's largest working chainsaw, sits on a rise pointing towards the highway. Billy, our guide, fires up Big Gus, which is 23 feet long and is powered by a V-8 engine. The large chain cycles with a terrifying rumble, though Billy holds back on revving it up to forest hewing velocity. "Jim's always worries about the chain flying off across Highway 41," he says.
LOL!
Actually, a 36" bar is nothing special. I use mine a bit because most of the timber on my property is 2' to 6' in diameter, plus the ease on the body when cutting firewood.
A long bar is also an asset when ripping logs, which, when I had my Woodmizer, I had to do on occasion to chamber large logs (3' dia. or larger) in the mill and I still have a 5' bar hanging in my shop for that purpose.
Timber fallers out here commonly use 4' and 5' bars, though when there was a heavier Old Growth Doug Fir harvest just a few years ago, 6' and 7' bars were common.
And in Redwood country, 10' bars with stingers were common. (and probably still are).
The first chainsaw my Dad bought, in the late 50's, was a commercial Homelite (used) that came with, among other things, a 9' bar with stinger (handle on the nose end for a helper).
When I worked in the Old Growth Doug Fir mills in the 70's and 80's, we had stationary cut-off, or bucking saws on the log decks ahead of the headrigs that sported 16' bars, hydraulic motor driven, with a chain that took a one inch kerf and could buck a 7' diameter log in about 10 seconds.
Hi Notchman,
I hear you. You have second growth trees out there that are somewhat like a few of the virgin trees, used to be, east of the big river back in the pioneer days.
I just inserted "Big Gus" as a joke. It sure if funny with the Chevy V-8 as the engine.
Virginbuild
Like big chainsaws? Here's one I saw at a farm show. Didn't have a way to measure the bar length. But since it's sitting next to a pickup you can get a rough idea...
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.
In the late 50's and into the 60's, those big ole Mac gear drives were really common. They were heavy as a dead priest and the reason a lot of 40 year-old timber fallers looked 20 years older than they were.
Some of the canyons those things were packed in and out of would boggle your mind.
But they did lay a bunch of big timber down.
Here's a vid.... don't get in this bad boy's way...
http://www.guzer.com/videos/v8_chainsaw.php
Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
Bosshog,
That one is out of my league. I'd be laid up in bed for a week trying to handle that one. I wonder how long a seasoned logger can go without stopping with that thing. It is awesome for sure.
Have a great day! I just had a rough all nighter at work and on my way to dreamland now.
Virginbuild
Up in these parts the women help with the wood while the men sit around and watch. Photo of my girlfriends sister in action.
So, is the GF and her sister up to the menage a whatever you call it?
"Let's go to Memphis in the meantime, baby" - John Hiatt.
GRANTT LOGANN - THE LEXINGTONVILLE COPPERWRIGHT
http://grantlogan.net/
Joe , Im getting to be an old mansooner than I had planned .
Thats why I got this one for all it will do.
Old Tim's saw looks like the kind. I got a little Husky 142 at Lowes last year, they had 3 of them sitting out in front marked down to $100. They were returns, got the cleanest one in the pile.
It's pretty light but the chain is kinda wimpy. I need to see if there's something a little faster cutting for it.
My Stihl is a 034AV Super, it cuts good but it's just heavy after awhile. Hard to start the first time too.
Joe H
Got my shed filled about three weeks ago. Five to six chords. I forgot how much work bucking and stacking wood was. It's no fun on a hot day.
At least I split it in the Winter when some heat-generating exercise is welcome.
Scott.
View Image
Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
Edited 8/23/2006 8:40 pm by Scott
Tell us about the wood shed ?
Where it is too I wanna steal it . <G>
Tim
LOL.
Everyone builds stuff out of logs around here. I'm planning a three bay carport of a similar construction.
Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
what kinda logs is it ?
there aint no knots or nothin.
The logs are cedar, hand peeled with a drawknife, the slats are 1x8 fir. Everything has two coats of Sikkens Cetol 1, color 996.
I'm pretty happy with the design, the open slats do a great job of letting air flow through for drying. This year's wood started to check on the ends after only two weeks in the shed.
The only thing I'd change would be to use 2x for the slats (the 1x bows outward).
Scott.
Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
The only thing I'd change would be to use 2x for the slats (the 1x bows outward).
Thats what I thought when I saw it . Very nice wood shed though.
Tim
Cut, split and delivered, hardwood is $180/cord green, $225/cord seasoned, in southern Maine. Seasoned doesn't mean ready to burn, just drier than green. That's a huge increase over the last four or five years, Demand is up and supply is down. How much for commercial firewood down your way, Tim?
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
It was 35 per fire wood rick last year .
Tim
Been a good summer so far, have gotten about 100 cord from a tree trimmer for this year. He calls and we show up with dump trailers and load up. He also did a 100 acre lot clearing, so we plucked 40 dump trailers of nothing but logs(10' x 12-24") that we will work on for the next year and the year after.
Nothing is split yet, but we have a monster splitter with a log lift and 6 way wedge, so we can do a cord in 20 min.
Let those gas prices soar....my highest bill last winter was $33...that's for 2 gas dryers, the rest of the house, shop and all our water is heated by the outside wood fired boiler.
thats pretty cool.
we finished cutting/splitting/stacking the coming season's wood last March -
and a beautiful woodshed it is - mostly oak and ash, a little hickory and elm -
I'll start on next years this december -
I've got a older 16" echo (351 VL with 1/4" chain) that I love dearly - a 24" echo (602) and a 36" stihl (077) and a deer hunter and his two sons to split/haul/stack
life is good -
That little Echo is a tree trimmers saw that can be ran in one hand .
But as hard as I want to work it will cut firewood as fast as I care to work. Ive got the bigger saws but the little one ends up doing most of it . Of course I dont pick big ones to start with and normally fall small ones Tee pee style. I dont split much that way and my insert doesnt seem to care.
Tim
I never cut firewood in the summer except out of sheer necessity. It's just too danged hot. Cutting firewood for me generally means cleaning up brush around fields during the winter. The crops are out, and there isn't too much going on. Having the crops out leaves you a lot of room to work, which is an added benifit. The firewood we cut THIS year is what we burn NEXT year. That gives you plenty of time to split and stack it.Where you have mud or a creek to deal with, you wait until the ground is frozen. That means you don't get the tractors stuck, and the wood doesn't get mud on it. We pile the brush up and burn it. That way we can stand around the fire and BS while we take breaks. We sometimes make it a family affair. Take the kids along and let them mess around somewhere. Or give 'em a hatchet and a small tree to cut down. If the Wives go along, they pile up brush while the guys cut.
The man who lives in the past, robs the present.
due to hurricane debis, I just go to the landfill and pick what I want already cut coming in on power company trucks.
>>>>>>>>>>>>If the Wives go along, they pile up brush while the guys cutI keep trying to put my little cookie cutter in that scenario and her image keeps bouncing off.
"Does this motel give discounts to the clergy?" - Gunner, Conneaut, OH '06
http://grantlogan.net/
77779.25 in reply to 77779.21
>>>>>>>>>>>>If the Wives go along, they pile up brush while the guys cut
I keep trying to put my little cookie cutter in that scenario and her image keeps bouncing off.
Yup, wont download into pics.
Tim
Some women do well with stuff like this, others don't. My own Wife is pretty useless doing stuff like this. But Mom and many of my Aunts can really hustle.
Little strokes fell great oaks.
>>>>>>>But Mom and many of my Aunts can really hustle.Yeah, my mom is 83 and still mows her own yard.
"Does this motel give discounts to the clergy?" - Gunner, Conneaut, OH '06
http://grantlogan.net/
I try to have it all in by the end of May before the bugs take over. This is one of the few years I actually pulled it off to completion. Shed in photo hold almost 10 full cords, lasts 1 1/2 winters depending on temps. With LP gas near 2 bucks a gal cutting firewood pays more than my day job.
. With LP gas near 2 bucks a gal cutting firewood pays more than my day job.
I like a guy that tells it like it is .
Tim
My go to guy has 50+ cord ...veneer mill butts, split and heaped.
Walnut, cherry and Hmaple...
Then he has a heap of locust, hickory and ash..
I can fill my F350 to the brim with sides on the bed for 50 bucks..and he is about 12 miles away.
Almost free.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
" If ya plan to face tomorrow, do it soon"
Thats what I think too.
Its 15 dollars a pick load or 30 bucks for a 16ft utility tandem trailer of end cuts. Although I paid 15 bucks for my last trailer load. The trailer holds 5 ricks of firewood tossed on with out stacking. They load it with a front end loader.
Pretty much free since I would pay that for loading 5 ricks of firewood.
Theres no ash since its only heart wood.
Tim
Edited 8/27/2006 10:27 am by Mooney
I need a new barrel for my stove, I can't get a mason to lay the rock till next yr! I think Gunner is still a volunteer, but I'd rather hire a pro.
Even if my set up is inefficeint for another season, I'll be ok. But the saftey is my main concern.
You do know I have a kit stove from Vogelzang?
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
" If ya plan to face tomorrow, do it soon"
Yea , I had read that . You werent happy with it .
Tim
Well the Chinese parts are crap..the barrel is a 55 gal. drum. I had a Sotz many yrs ago, it was a class act. ductile steel, well made. The Vogelzang is cast, and the tolerances are way off.
Vogelzang sent me a whole new set up ( door, legs and pipe collar) but it still is crap. A barrel will last about 5 seasons if it was new..old barrels might last 3, before they pinhole or eat out.
My last Sotz was water heater tank ( 35 gal) and it was awesome...I left it behind in NC when I moved here..( insert jackass here).
This yr. I think I'll find a new 55 and run with the rock around it as a heat sink/storage/radiator type deal...then get the mason I met at a roof job to lay up the real deal next yr.
He's good..and booked, that is worth waiting for.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
" If ya plan to face tomorrow, do it soon"
Don't worry we'll be pros. By the time we get to the top we'll have it all figured out. The bottom three quarters is gonna look like heck, but that's what drapes are for.
"The thing that makes it great is the fact that any one of these guys could go off the deep end at any moment and start hacking at people with a deer antler right here on the subway."
Seeyou 06' When asked about his thoughts on going drinking with a bunch of guys that he met on the internet.
Yeaaahhh...that bottom is KINDA important.
I think I am stickin w/ hireing this one out...yer not a mason and neither am I. I can get thru another year.
Just in, the pilot took a short runway..ut oh.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
" If ya plan to face tomorrow, do it soon"
Im not flyin this one boys , Im goin to the house .
Roar.
Tim
Construction adhesive and cold beer can get us out of anything we get ourselves into.
"The thing that makes it great is the fact that any one of these guys could go off the deep end at any moment and start hacking at people with a deer antler right here on the subway."
Seeyou 06' When asked about his thoughts on going drinking with a bunch of guys that he met on the internet.
You don't know me very well...LOL
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
" If ya plan to face tomorrow, do it soon"
Come on. You'd make a great work of "living art" glued to the fireplace. We could start a webcam just like the chick in the window awhile back. Get the DW to feed you, do interviews with CNN all the cool stuff you'd never get to do walking around with the rest of us.
"The thing that makes it great is the fact that any one of these guys could go off the deep end at any moment and start hacking at people with a deer antler right here on the subway."
Seeyou 06' When asked about his thoughts on going drinking with a bunch of guys that he met on the internet.
I brought in enough wood last year to cover last winter and this coming winter. Just for the heck of it I cut another 1/8 cord last week. We only burn about 1/2 to 3/4 cord per winter to supplement passive solar.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." Voltaire
Id love that .
I love it, too, but it was a long time coming back. I built a passive solar in Montana in the early 80s, but we only lived there two years. It was 19 years before I got the pleasure of passive solar back again. This will be our third winter in our new house.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." Voltaire