All that left over wood...

taylorsmissbeehaven · December 16, 2012, 11:15:34 AM

This is an interesting thread. I am not aware of the laws in my area, pobably should be. It is raining here today so I am headed out to burn a large pile. I hope not to see any federalies!! Brian

pineywoods · December 16, 2012, 02:25:45 PM

Quote from: Cypress Sam on December 15, 2012, 01:42:12 PM
Arkansas dept of polution control and ecology came to visit me. After sawing slabs are considered industrial wast and cannot be burned!!

Nobody ever accused them arkansas bureaucrats of being overly bright...Just cut the slabs into shorter lengths, then they are firewood, no longer slabs... ;D

beenthere · December 16, 2012, 02:51:32 PM

A previous thread touches on some of the same problems with governing bodies of various kinds thinking they need to be involved in they offall from a sawing operation.

You may find this thread of interest.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,31036.0.html

ElectricAl's input at post #49 is one in particular.

SwampDonkey · December 16, 2012, 04:12:49 PM

The sawmills up here used to have burners that looked like an upside down ice cream cone. It was mostly for getting rid of sawdust. I don't think it was regulation on burning that ended the era of sawdust burning in mill yards. I tend to believe it was utilization standards of every spec of wood that was brought from public forests. Any commercial mill up here depends on public timber, and in the 80's the government instituted total utilization, including sawdust. It became a saviour for most of these mills actually because they had another revenue stream for the sawdust and the hog fuel. This was apparent how dependent they have become when pulp demand and pulp markets dropped from closed pulp mills. Some sawmills had to shut down because the sawdust revenues died. Some mills used or still use the hog fuel themselves and was/are selling the ashes for farms. Nothing was given away.

captain_crunch · December 17, 2012, 12:15:49 PM

The DEQ got the wigwam burners around here. Lots of rules about burning Logging slash but Ifn you call it agricutral debris (as in land clearing) they don't know what to do with you and ask you not to burn unless it is a burn day ??? ??? ???

reride82 · December 17, 2012, 12:46:25 PM

Happt Birthday Captain!

Levi

Magicman · December 17, 2012, 01:11:50 PM

Happy Birthday Captain.

Bogue Chitto · December 17, 2012, 03:02:18 PM

I make a small fire then add the slabs on the fire as I cut. When the fire gets hot then the saw dust goes on. The saw dust will burn for days even in the rain.

beenthere · December 17, 2012, 03:23:45 PM

QuoteI don't think it was regulation on burning that ended the era of sawdust burning in mill yards.

SD
It was the smoke in the valley's and the enviros that was the demise of the teepee burners, I'm quite sure. And near everything went up the elevator to the teepee to burn.
The regulators took them down, not an overt interest in utilizing all but the squeal. ;)

SwampDonkey · December 17, 2012, 05:14:34 PM

Couldn't be that here, as with all the smoke from houses didn't change anything. We don't have EPA here. All I gotta do is look across the road... EPA. :D No as I said in the mid 80's they told the licenses they had to use it all. If you recall it was tough recession years then to. And it was also then that tree planting and thinning became more intense because of large tracts of clear cuts and jobs lost in the sector. They knew we were heading for a wood shortage, too much capacity. Kept right on as usual and over time kept increasing AAC. But the silviculture didn't start soon enough. Mechanization in the woods was beginning to take of then. Many loggers (skidder/chainsaw) or company men ended up either doing silviculture, mostly thinning, or left for other part of the country. There are still some of those old throw backs with one company here that are union men and they stuck it out even when there was no job full time. I don't know how. Wives must be teachers and nurses I guess. But anyway they called a bunch back beginning a couple years ago to go thinning under the union. They know if they quit the union they will not get back on with the company. They get all the best ground to.

Warren · December 17, 2012, 07:25:56 PM

Quote from: thesawyerswife on December 12, 2012, 03:01:43 PMI am looking for some ideas on what to do with all these extra log sides etc. before our pile becomes a another a mountain in itself ???

As most folks stated, selling as firewood is the leading candidate for slab and edging disposal. If you choose to go this route, one thing to keep in mind is how to bundle or package the slabs. When I first started out, I cut all of my slabs into 16" sections and dumped into two 12 ft bents in my barn. I sold the firewood by the pickup truck load with folks loading their own wood. What I found was that given free choice, they would "high grade" and pick out all of the larger pieces. After a while, all that were left were the smaller, less attractive, harder to sell pieces. Now, I either sell a 1/2 cord bundle 8+ ft in length ($15 each), or, I cut 16" pieces plus odds and ends into 1 cord baskets ($50 each). When folks pay for the "full basket", they tend to take everything in the basket, long or short, because "they payed for everything in the basket".

Also as mentioned above, you need to be aware of the laws in your state. When the EAB originally hit N.KY, we were not allowed to move any firewood (Ash or no Ash) out of the county. However, any non Ash wood products longer than 48" were not considered firewood. So, precut firewood was a "no no", but, 8 ft bundles of all oak slabs were O.K. And yes, the laws change from year to year. Check with your local Extension Office to see if they have information on the current regs, or contact info.