LARGE maple for firewood

[celliott]

A neighbor had a very large (4ft.+dbh) old sugar maple taken down by a tree service because it was a danger to his house.  He had the tree service leave the tree, and is giving it to us for firewood.  Free firewood, great 8)  thing is, the trunk of the tree, probably 12 feet long, split when it fell, leaving 2 pieces, about 1/3 and 2/3.  My problem is that the longest bar we have access to is a 20" on my husky 357, and the 20" doesnt reach all the way through the smaller piece, cutting from both sides, and the top.  Any ideas to  make this hard job a little bit easier? don't say buy a bigger saw, I already suggested that to Dad and he vetoed that  :-\  We thought maybe splitting pieces from the end if the block wouldnt pop apart with wedges.

[Banjo picker]

Make your cuts line up as best you can then cut a square hole out between the two of them and put a bottle jack in there and jack it apart.  Tim

[tyb525]

celliot, good to see a younger member on here

If you make an end grain cut to the first crosscut that didn't make it all the way through, you should be able to cut a chunk out that way, and then that will open up room for deeper crosscuts.

[metalspinner]

Split off the wood after you make your cross cuts.  After splitting off the wood, you can continue cross cutting from deeper in the log.

[John Woodworth]

A larger saw is the only solution without creating yourself extra work and greif, haven't you a tool reanal you could rent one from or hire someone with a bigger saw to cut it up, shouldn't take that long and beings your getting the wood free would definatly be worth it.

[Rick Alger]

Split the log lengthwise by driving metal wedges down a seam.

Or buy a bigger bar and chain.

[JohnG28]

Id say get a bigger bar/chain.  The 357 will pull a 24" chain without much trouble.  It wont be fast as a bigger saw, but faster than hacking away at it a little at a time.  Should be able to get through it with 24".

[jim blodgett]

I'd say forget about cutting it up for firewood.  Roll that rascal into the bushes and forget about it for 5 years or so.  Let it spalt naturally.  I bet by 2015 you'll have a pretty valuable log, there.

[celliott]

I'm still working away at it.  I am liking the bottle jack idea, as well as wedges and splitting.  Just forgetting about them isnt gonna happen, its not a large property,(surrounded by fields) although it is on a back road.  I know its alot of work just for some firewood, but the property owner (a elderly man, WW2 vet)  had the tree service leave the tree there on the faith that we would cut it up for firewood.  It saved him about 400 bucks, and its a very kind gesture, so we are gonna get it cleaned up.  Just might take a while.  I do have an 18" bar for the saw, as well as the 20, and I wouldnt be too keen on buying a 24" bar just for this job.  The 20 is pushing the saw, and it really likes the 18 better.  I will be trying multiple methods, i'll let you know what works best for me.  Thanks again,
Chris

[fishpharmer]

Make your cuts line up as best you can then cut a square hole out between the two of them and put a bottle jack in there and jack it apart.  Tim

Kinda like this?  But with the square notch in the center (long wise) of the log.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIDLVhGN4eY

[Banjo picker]

Thats pretty much it James...one of these days I'm gona learn that picture posting stuff. ;)   I had to look at that other video of the black power...lots of stuff in the background...they must of been pretty sure of themselves...   On some of the other power wedges i have seen those logs move a lot more...Tim

[jim blodgett]

Hey Fishpharmer -

I had to watch that video over and over because I enjoyed the music so much.  Would you mind telling me who that is?  That's beautiful.

Nice job splitting that log, too, by the way!

Thanks - Jim

[fishpharmer]

i honestly can't tell you anything about the tune.  It is one of those available on Youtube free to assign to videos.  I liked it too.l

[donny hochstetler]

just cut as deep as you can ,with whatever you got ,then take your saw,  draw a line across the end of the log , make sure this line is not beyond , or lower then the other cut , then , go back and cut this line about 4 in. deep ,take 3 or four steel wedges, spaced out evenly,  have your wife drive in these wedges, while you take a break  :D I have a 390 husky with 24 in. bar and I do this occasionaly, works great, good luck .

[celliott]

just cut as deep as you can ,with whatever you got ,then take your saw,  draw a line across the end of the log , make sure this line is not beyond , or lower then the other cut , then , go back and cut this line about 4 in. deep ,take 3 or four steel wedges, spaced out evenly,  have your wife drive in these wedges, while you take a break  :D I have a 390 husky with 24 in. bar and I do this occasionaly, works great, good luck .

:D well, since I am 19 and lacking a wife, and my dad's got a bum shoulder right now, I wont get a break, I gotta drive the wedges.  :

I popped one piece apart with wedges, then the next one gave me trouble, ended up using a bottle jack and slowly got it apart. then the rain thwarted my cutting for the day. oh well, its not going anywhere. 

[ljmathias]

Celliot (interesting handle): welcome to the Forum and a word of advice- don't believe everything you hear here.  Some of the members are known to stretch the truth a little (see the section on lumber stretchers) and others are just not happy with a story unless they add their two-cents worth (as in embellishment, if you know what I mean).  So yes, this is a great place to get help, but sometimes the help isn't the right kind.   ;)

Lj

[Banjo picker]

I resemble that comment.... :D  but thats good stuff with the jack now...James even got a video... ;)  Tim

[celliott]

lj, my handle is simply the first letter of my first name (Christopher) tacked onto my last name. Figured it was pretty simple, and noone else had it!

Update on the log, I finished cutting through it today, I did try the wedges, and the jack on one piece.  Ended up getting all my wedges stuck without the piece coming apart, so I just finished the other cuts, as far as I could, then hooked a strap onto it and rolled it over with the F250, and simply finished my cuts.  Made things alot easier that way, shoulda thought of that in the first place  : now I got it all bucked up, just need to split it, thats gonna be a chore......

[fishpharmer]

You might consider renting a log splitter for a weekend.  Of course your young, forget the splitter ;).

[celliott]

We have a splitter (besides me, one that runs on gasoline) but it doesnt tilt to vertical, and I am not gonna bust my back lifting those chunks.  We do have a vertical splitter available to us to borrow though.  I am gonna work at it with the maul, and sledge+wedges.  Most of the pieces from the trunk look to have natural splits in them. I'll just take small pieces off the side, do what I can, then bring in the equipment.  I ain't no stranger to a splitting maul  8)

[fishpharmer]

Sounds like a good plan.

[Magicman]

Looks like you have successfully mastered the "old folks" way of handling a tough job.  Sometimes you just have to "worry it to death".  Nibble all of the way around it until the middle falls out.

I don't think that you are a stranger to hard work either.  Congratulations.  You will do well in life.

[timberjake]

cut with the grain a few vertical passes, then do the same horizontal.  Then cross cut off the blocks.  Lots of extra sawing, but it'll save on the splitting and keep you from having to bull around huge blocks of wood.