The Daily Firewood Picture Thread

[barbender]

Unless processors have a hard stop, they aren't any more accurate than a chainsaw really. Mine just has a dangling chain for a guide. Not to mention that when the wood is crooked, things get off pretty quickly.

[B.C.C. Lapp]

Never quite thought of it that way BB.   Wee bit of an eye opener.  

[Big_eddy]

Glad it worked for you mudfarmer.  It isn't as accurate as a processor would be but for us guys that either don't really need one or cant quite swing a processor yet it gets most pieces awful close to the length we're after.

Edit to ad that I'll bet if the guy selling these laser's became a sponsor here he'd sell some product.  Think of how many firewood cutters come and go around here on a regular basis.

You can count me on the Laser Pro-Sizer fan list. I bought one for each saw and love them. One of the lasers slowly got dimmer after a year or so, and he quickly sent me two replacements no charge (into Canada). I now have both red and green versions. 

I set them at 15 1/2" and my quality inspector will send back anything over 16" for a trim. The reject pile is very small now, much smaller than when I'm eyeballing.
You can buy direct from the inventor.  

[B.C.C. Lapp]

Well boys, Ive been busy these last few weeks.  Ive still got that job I'm skidding with the tractor going. I'm almost done there.  Another few loads but I have to move my arch over there for a hand full of logs just two big to skid with out it. I also had my skidder on a job that went south suddenly when the landowner told me to stop cutting till he said otherwise.  Apparently he and the forester are arguing over some issues and it got ugly. I moved my skidder out .
I doubt they will work it out and I'm not getting in the middle.   
Moving my arch tomorrow.  Looked it over and greased the bearings.  I love this thing.

The firewood end is going good.  Selling lots of dump trailer loads. Im splitting and stacking today. Here's what the wood yard looks like on this beautiful july morning.
I am so lucky to be outside and working with my tools, on land I own "as much as any mere man can own land really" and with my own equipment.  Days like this I remember how blessed I am.  I'll never be wealthy in the traditional sense, but I am quite rich.

[Bert]

Great looking setup! I envy your flat ground and open space. My humble firewood operation is confined to a 120X120 pad of fill dirt. 

[SwampDonkey]

A man can certainly keep busy enough with firewood. 

[barbender]

Great looking yard, BCC. The condition of mine keeps me from posting more pictures😬😂

[cutterboy]

BCC, you have a great attitude on life and a good appreciation of what is really important. I'm glad things are going well for you.

BTW, your wood yard looks great.

[Al_Smith]

The last of the big ash trees .Was about 100 feet when it was standing ash borer and the wind got it .I had whittled on the top for two or three years then procrastinated attacking the main .Stihl 038 Mag ,modified with a 24" bar got er done this morning .6 8 footers because of the weight and a skid loader .About 3.5 cords more or less ,30 inch stuff .

[GRANITEstateMP]

Al,

Looking good, but boy am I envious of your nice shady area to work in!  Got a.cord done up yesterday, but the sun zapped any gumption of a second cord!

[Al_Smith]

It might take me a week to do those logs .Being retired I'm my own boss and I work at my own pace .Plus the fact I'm just a skinny 180 pounds where I used to weigh 220 .I sure do miss those days but you have to play the hand you are dealt .Cut some.take a coffee break do some more .About 3 PM put the saws away pop a top and enjoy the nice weather under the shade of a big tree and watch the squirrels .

[GRANITEstateMP]

Al,

I think you have a solid plan!  Better than e yesterday, I should have stoped when my doc henderson saftey device (sweat stains on my shirt started to reach each other) went off.  Lucky for me, I threw a chain shortly after that then had some lunch and a tea

[SwampDonkey]

Too hot for fire wood'n for me. I'm just watching the firewood dry in the shop. Humidity is not real bad today, 60%, but it's 87°.

 

[Al_Smith]

I'm just about the opposite ,high 80's or low 90's usually don't bother me .I just don't over do it .Now cold weather indeed does get to me ,I very much dislike it .I will say when the temps drop to below 20F those saws really run well on that condensed oxygon rich air ,I just don't run too well .

[SwampDonkey]

When I'm cut'n firewood the temperature is in the 35-55° range, not freezing and not hot. Unless it's an emergency cleanup, which could be either.   Did some in the freezing last fall when those big winds rolled through.

I do lots of cut'n with a brush saw in the heat however, got no choice, can't thin small regrowth in deep snow.  Today was first day back to work since I healed up from two operations, it was 80° today. A bull moose decided to bolt down past me as I was cutn away at a maple clump with the clearing saw. Seen where he laid down in the grass last night', earlier in the day.

My grandfather never wanted a fan or air conditioning on him during them heat waves. He'd be shivering cold from that air blowing on him.

[barbender]

 It's funny how we all have different temperature preferences. There was a day when I was a 6'6", 175# bean pole. I hated the cold and loved the hot summer. Now I weigh a bit more lol (and shrunk a bit in height too) and the hot weather tears me up.

[barbender]

 One of the features that I do not care for on my Dyna processor is the mount for the winch that operates the conveyor. It is in the way whenever you need to resplit pieces, and then this happens from time to time- a large split will kick up and get wedged underneath the mount. Sometimes you can lower the wedge a bit and get the pressure off. Sometimes you get to whittle it with a chainsaw and beat it out with a hammer.

 I've seen rental machines where that mount has been completely sheared off and rewelded😁

 Overall I'm happy with the machine, they are built heavy. But there are some aspects of the design that leave something to be desired, imo. The aforementioned winch mount. One major gripe I have is when you get down where you are feeding the second to last block in to make the last cut on the stem, the whole thing tends to want lean and fall into the splitter box. It creates a dangerous situation that it takes a strong person to be able to fix.

 If this happens to my wife, she has to come get me to lift the piece out. It's the kind of thing that makes me hesitant to teach anyone to run the machine.

 The solution, as far as I can see, is a raised lip on the end of the feed trough, and a flip up last piece support. So I need to get some blue paint and make a few mods😊

[Old Greenhorn]

This may not be the right thread for this but I'll take a shot. My buddy Bill is looking to switch over to bags for his wood that hold 1/3 cord each thinking this will make storage and handling easier. He can still do dump loads for clients that want it but is thinking the bags are neater for the clients that don't want to stack, etc. 
 So the question we came up with tonight is what does everybody charge for a 1/3 cord bag? Some of the suppliers around here are getting $225 per bag, which is $675/cord and that seems way high to me. He figures that when it's in bags, folks will only order a bag. I am thinking if they order a full cord and it comes in bags, there should only be a slight upcharge over the dump load cord charge (assuming the bags will be returned at some point). For folks that order one bag, I agree that there should be a higher price, of course, given the delivery costs and handling, etc. Much easier to park the dump under the conveyor and let the processor fill it up, then drive and dump, then handle bags.
 He has a skid full of bags coming in a week or so and when the dirt work slows down in the coming weeks, firewood will pickup. We are just talking this through now, so this is a good time for ideas from any direction.

[doc henderson]

my BIL did horse and cattle feed and owned a feed mill.  He charged 10 bucks for the bag.  if you returned a bag in good condition, you were not charged for the next one.  Many or the ranch hands would lift it up and slash it with a knife and let it fall out.  easy to lift with a forklift, and if on a pallet a pallet jack could move it.  the bottom open with a tie and comes out like a funnel.  wood chunks may catch on the material to flow out the bottom but could be pulled or dumped out the top.  It is a breathable fabric, but not to let the wood dry.  I would not put wet wood in there to be stored as an example.  I had one filled with corn one time, and halfway through it molded and clung together.  I have seen in videos them being filled off a conveyor and it seemed ok.  figure materials and extra time and charge accordingly.  

[barbender]

 I've used a few of the bulk bags. I bought half a dozen of the ones that can fit a face cord if you really mound them up. Those ones have vented fabric spaced around the bag, and wood actually dries quite well in them. I suspect a little bit of a chimney effect. 

 Those bags are made for firewood, and they cost about $80 for 6 several years back. I don't know how much they are now. If I sold more face cords of wood, I would probably use them more. Either dump them in a customer's truck or trailer, or let them take the bag with a $20 deposit.

 I also have a pile of smaller bags, that will fit about 1/4 cord. They are not vented, but they were FREE😁 I think the trick I've seen is to get a piece of pipe red hot, or just use a hog burner. Get it hot, turn it off and stick the hot end into the bag to melt 2" diameter holes through the fabric. 

[SwampDonkey]

My cousin usually has the tree farm crew bag up wood. Wood is a loose term, because most is not typical firewood species. About like myself, I burn about anything, but it has to be dry. He said it's not very good to dry wood that way, in bags. But his father will burn wood in any condition. Damper wide open most of the time. Can you test the moisture? 1/3 of a cord is often 16" wood we sometimes call face cords. Anything longer, I don't call face cords, I call part cords. And 16" wood is not typical furnace wood length, that's more like 20" in these parts. A lot less handling and bigger pieces as there are lots of half slabs or quarters depending on the tree.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well these bags are strictly for firewood with no bottom chutes and let air flow through. Not sure if they are 1/3 or 1/4 cord. He cuts wood to order mostly so the lengths vary from 12" to 18" or so, anything longer would likely not go in a bag, that would be OWB wood and bulk dumped near the clients boiler.
 We'd be filling these and standing them on pallets to keep off the ground. We are discussing hanging these to fill them and then short term storage. But I am thinking about trying some out for my seasonal storage by the house and shop. I have to do something to make it easier as I get older and weaker. 20 minutes with a chainsaw today and my back is screaming again. Dang! This sucks.

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, things don't get easier as we age, that's for sure. I'm sure you'll come up with a solution with the bags and maybe how to save your back.

[Big_eddy]

We don't really sell face cords, but if we did, a face cord would sell far half the cost of a full cord. That would be a fair price in our mind taking into account the delivery time is identical.

I've seen pictures of folks hooking the bag handles on their output conveyors to fill. No manual filling.

I've also heard used bags never come back up in reusable condition, so better to just include them in the cost and take them back for free if anyone asks. 

[mudfarmer]

What is the plan to unload the bags at customer location? A skid steer on truck or trailer will take up the space of one bag, two bags? Moffett? One of those casket trailers with a gantry? Truck already has a knuckleboom? Just thinking and wondering about how big of a PITA that would be rather than dump&run