# Woody mustash



## mustash29 (Jun 16, 2013)

So here's a long standing thread for my piles, scrounge adventures, etc.

The 13-14 piles are done.  3.5 cords of red oak and 1/2 maple.  Most of it came from the end of this load that I bought in Feb 12:









And the free maple that my GF scored fall 12:


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## mustash29 (Jun 16, 2013)

Today we worked on a new score.  My work has a remote pump house, 4 shallow wells drilled near a river bank.  It looks like a bomb went off down there, blowdowns gallore thanks to Irene, Sandy and a few other lesser storms we have had.  My manager gave me permission to beging cleaning up the mess because we need to clear the access to the well heads just in case.

Allmost took out the gate:


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## mustash29 (Jun 16, 2013)




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## mustash29 (Jun 16, 2013)

We filled the truck with some smaller top wood then had lunch at my work.  The DOT scales said we had 2000 in the bed.  That red oak is HEAVY.

After lunch we rolled the big ones up the trailer ramp.  We had to center them over the axels due to having more in the bed than I thought.

The truck is 7000, the trailer is 2500 (14 K GVWR).













Not a bad days work.  6500 lb of mostly red oak.  All the small stuff is split & stacked, just have to roll the big-uns off the trailer and onto the splitter table,


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## mustash29 (Jun 16, 2013)

After doing the limby top stuff with a professionally re-sharpened "homeowner" (POS) Oregon chain I swapped on a brand new Stihl full chisel chain.  Holy freaking cow batman, that thing RIPS.  The saw is an 18" 55 cc Craftsman / Remington pro running 93 octane and Polaris full synthetic sled oil.  It smells purdy.


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## bogydave (Jun 17, 2013)

Impressive pictures & work effort.

When all that is CSS'd, you'll be getting way ahead for sure.

Good job cutting the rounds  to the same length, 
Will look great stacked & seasoning


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## mustash29 (Jun 17, 2013)

The best part was the Mrs. didn't even break a nail, LOL.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jun 17, 2013)

Great mustash!!  Lots of firewood available there.


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## mustash29 (Jun 20, 2013)

After 3 nightshifts, I woke up to my neighbor banging around, then heard his saw and 32 hp tractor running the 6" chipper.

So I did a little trimming around the perimeter.  I had some low hanging crap that was blocking too much sun from my piles.  Tomorrow it will be gone when I get home from work.  I believe an ice cold 30 pack will be in order.


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## northwinds (Jun 20, 2013)

Exposure to sun and wind does make a difference in seasoning times.  Great pics and thread.


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## Paulywalnut (Jun 22, 2013)

Nice pics. Nice functional trailer too.


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## firefighterjake (Jun 25, 2013)

mustash29 said:


> After doing the limby top stuff with a professionally re-sharpened "homeowner" (POS) Oregon chain I swapped on a brand new Stihl full chisel chain. Holy freaking cow batman, that thing RIPS. The saw is an 18" 55 cc Craftsman / Remington pro running 93 octane and Polaris full synthetic sled oil. It smells purdy.


 
Love the smell of that Polaris full synthetic sled oil . . . smells like bubble gum to me . . . when my brother-in-law was running with it (before he got a Yamaha four stroker) I could often gauge about how far behind him I was in the woods by how strong the smell was . . .


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## ScotO (Jun 25, 2013)

All the way around GOOD STUFF here brother......
Keep up with what you are doing, you're heading in the right direction.....the path to woodburning elan......


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## MasterMech (Jun 28, 2013)

I want his truck....


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## mustash29 (Jul 26, 2013)

I'm at about 6 cords now. Just finished a little cutting and splitting. My other half is falling behind, she has about a cord to stack. 

I gave the tractor and splitter a quick rinse and blew the saw off, can't post dirty pics.....

21 hp crapper, custom trailer hitch welded to the bagger mount & the MTD 31 ton with 8 hp Briggs I/C & table extension wings. When I split the big stuff right off the truck or trailer, I remove the left wing and attach a 4 foot 2x10 ramp.













And the 55 cc Craftsman / Remington Pro with Stihl full chisel:


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## mustash29 (Jul 28, 2013)

Someone has been breaking the lock on the security gate to this area, they scammed some of my score.    It was just limb stuff though and it was under a lot of tension the way it fell.


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## mustash29 (Jul 28, 2013)

Spent about 3 hrs working on the larger stick yesterday, it's 24" in the middle, so about 27" at the base.  I got 15 rounds pre-cut to a depth of 18", blocked it off the ground with some small rounds, 2 new felling wedges came in mighty handy, etc.

After re-fueling the saw for the third time she refused to re-start.  Talk about getting PO-ed.  We only netted 4 rounds, 20 x 24.  I dropped the saw at the shop on the way home to have it gone through.  If it's toast he said he'd waive the $40 diagnostic fee if I go with a Stihl.  Seroiusly contemplating that move.  This thing sometimes starts right up, but sometimes it's a tempermental POS.


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## mustash29 (Jul 28, 2013)




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## thewoodlands (Jul 28, 2013)

Lots of nice work going on, cutting chaps are in order.

Nice work
Zap


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## mustash29 (Jul 28, 2013)

At least we got all the gear put away + 4 huge rounds split & stacked.  I've gotten 1.45 cord from this area so far, the stack behind the trailer.





Also got the lawn mowed and stacked another big pile of splits, only one more little pile (background) of splits to stack.


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## mustash29 (Aug 2, 2013)

R. I. P.  I killed it.





I was hoping for a carb cleaning or something, but it is worse.  Saw shop took a look at it for me, found the flywheel had come in contact with the ignition coil, ground a good 1/8" off the coil, so it has no spark.  Needs $70 in parts.  I should have looked into it myself, could have saved 40 bucks.....





The good news is that he had a nearly complete parts saw with bar & cheap chain (scored piston & cylinder, only 30 psi compression, missing 1/2 of the muffler, missing air cleaner & top cover).  I picked that up for 10 bucks, hoping for a miracle.

I tore into mine and found the cause.  One of the mount studs for the ignition coil sits on this blob, which is cracked and wiggles around.  That is what allowed the coil to float around and hit the flywheel.  This must have been going on for some time.  Sometimes it would start right up and sometimes it would simply piss me off.  The saw was lightly used, maybe cut 10 or 12 cord with it but it is 7 yrs old.









I know I will eventually wind up with a good saw, shop recommended either a Stihl MS 250 or 290 Farm Boss.

But I have it in my head I am going to make this thing run again, maybe for short term use, maybe fix it and sell it.  I now have:  3 bars, 4 homeowner chains (3 sharp, 1 from parts saw) and 2 Stihl full chisel chains (1 barely used, 1 new in box) and a storage case.


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## mustash29 (Aug 2, 2013)

I'm thinking a large blob of high temp epoxy may beef that area up so that it can accept the used coil and flywheel? Temp and vibrations would be my concern for longevity.

I already have some Permatex # 765-1248 liquid metal epoxy on hand. I used that to repair her Focus. I did the timing belt job on it and stripped the threads out of 1 of the 4 holes that holds the water pump into the alumnium block. This stuff cures so hard it requires a file or grinding wheel to sand it down.

Adheres to alumnium, iron, steel, brass, magnesium, copper. Resistant to most solvents, oil, motor oil, glycol, diesel, not for use with brake fluid.

Temp range -65 to 300, intermittent to 350.

Any other high heat epoxy out there?

The other option would be to have my buddy at work do a little alumnium welding project for me.


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## Blue2ndaries (Aug 2, 2013)

Man you've been cranking  Awesome work and even more awesome set-up---yard, trailer, stacks, truck....


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## lukem (Aug 2, 2013)

I didn't see a single 'stache in all those pics.


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## Ashful (Aug 2, 2013)

Yeah... what gives?!?  No mustache.

No advice on the saw, other than you won't regret buying a Stihl.  Before buying one new from the local Stihl shop, I'd PM member DexterDay to see what he has to offer.  Another new member, Big Donnie Brasco, can give you a reference on his work.


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## mustash29 (Aug 2, 2013)

My last name is Beard.

At 18.5, after boot camp, I was in my 3rd week of navy school.  Instructor handed back a math test and refered to me as "Seaman Mustache."  Needless to say, I never lived that down.  Just to spite my buddies, I did this, but had to mispell it so it would fit.


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## mustash29 (Aug 9, 2013)

A well placed blob of JB weld on that cracked coil mounting stud beefed it right up.  I swapped the flywheel and coil from the $10 parts saw and we have IGNITION.  

If only it wasn't pouring rain today.


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## mustash29 (Aug 10, 2013)

Another successfull day of storm damage clean up.

We got a good solid 1/2 cord today, 2900 lbs in the bed.  

I was not too impressed with the noodling performance.  The big rounds I cut 1/2 way, then whacked 'em with the maul.  The 1/2 were cut 1/4 and whacked.  It's all split & stacked already.  We are over 1/2 way done with 14/15 wood now.


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## mustash29 (Aug 10, 2013)

Then we topped the load off with some easier to process limb wood.


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## chvymn99 (Aug 11, 2013)

Nice truck load.


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## basod (Aug 11, 2013)

Are you weighing the truck as a requirement or just rubbing it in to the Ford guys


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## mustash29 (Aug 11, 2013)

This stuff is from near my work, behind a locked gate.  I have to pick up & drop off the key, so it's easy to drive over the scales.  It's a great way to learn "how much = how much the truck sags".

When I started hauling in my S-10 years ago, I "calibrated" the amount my hitch dropped / rose when I was hauling bags of lawn lime.  That gave me a good idea how much wood I could load without "overly" taxing the suspension.  A bed full was more than enough weight, so I installed a set of add a leafs.


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## WellSeasoned (Aug 11, 2013)

Awesome tons of pics!


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## Ashful (Aug 14, 2013)

mustash29 said:


> I was not too impressed with the noodling performance.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 

Your first photo is noodling. The third photo is ripping. Ripping is painfully slow compared to noodling, at least in ash and oak, where I have the most experience doing this. When noodling, your saw should be throwing a rooster tale of 5" long strings (noodles) so fast it'll sometimes jam up in the chain guard. The photo may be deceiving, but it looks to me like your chain is throwing small chips / dust, even when noodling. If so, that chain is dull.

Some sharpen a chain every tank of gas, others every two tanks. I'm not so fanatical, but I've never gone more than half a day on the same chain.  Get yourself three loops of chain for that saw, so you can swap them out as they become dull.  Then, you can sharpen at home in the evening, rather than wasting time doing it in the woods.


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## mustash29 (Aug 14, 2013)

Cross, noodle & rip cuts.  Makes sense.

The chain is a stihl full chisel, with about 3 cords on it.  I still cross cuts fine but is probably in need of a dressing, it was throwing a lot of dust.

Next time I'll just take the 31 Ton MTD along.


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## mustash29 (Aug 20, 2013)

I just finished an 87.5 hr stretch:  sun, mon, tues, wed night shift, barely slept thurs due to the tree crews hacking away at the power lines in front of my house, then fri, sat, sun day shift.  12 hr shifts + shift change / turnover usually means 12.5 to 12.75 hrs per day.

Gotta love summer vacation season and the OT covering for each other.  We're basically either on vacation or covering someone else.

So I started MY week off yesterday, and went to "work" and filled the truck with another 3100 lb of oak.  My other half was working so I drug the splitter along.  I would up with 4 very good rows in the bed, the last one was sitting on the tailgate a few inches.

We had some quick leftovers for dinner and got it all stacked.

Sorry, no pics this time, I didn't think about the camera untill we were sweeping the bedliner out.  I told her we had to put it back in the truck to take pics.  

I've gotten 2.5 cord out of these 2 trees so far, probably another bed full or two yet to go when I finish the limb stuff.


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## basod (Aug 20, 2013)

mustash29 said:


> Gotta love summer vacation season and the OT covering for each other. We're basically either on vacation or covering someone else.


 
Used to call it trading days off, kicker is my company has a policy where you can purchase an additional week of vacation and all the guys on the opposite shift participated in the program


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## mustash29 (Feb 1, 2014)

An excavation contractor is clearing land for a 12 unit subdivision.  He had a post on craigslist for 145 c/s/d or 100 c/d.  I ordered 10 cord so we got it for 85.

Unable to post pics at this time, having some pc issues.


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## aussiedog3 (Feb 1, 2014)

Wow, nice work. Thanks for sharing all the pics.
You know you are not making all of the Stihl fans on here very happy by showing off that Craftsman Beast!
Us Craftsman guys need to stick together.


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## mustash29 (Feb 4, 2014)

I've been listening to everyone rave about how awesome the Fiskars X-27 is, and keeping my eye on the prices.

Sears had it listed on the web for $44, same price as Amazon.  Went to the local Sears at the mall today and it rings up as 58.  No way man, web says 44.  Oh, we match the online price.  Cha-ching.

My 8 lb maul is 33" long.  The X-27 is 36".  Other than having to re-learn my aim, that sucker is indeed AMAZING.  It takes fresh cut red oak and SCARES it into splits.


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## Backwoods Savage (Feb 5, 2014)

No disrespect meant but you would save a lot of time if you stopped to sharpen that saw chain a bit more often. I also believe you would save a lot more time and even effort if you stopped the noodling and split the logs. It does look like you have the tool for doing that too.


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## mustash29 (Feb 5, 2014)

I'm still learning the art of hand sharpening & doing it efficiently.  Need more practice.

Those big rounds were a bear to move, wound up towing the splitter in there to break them up.


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## Ashful (Feb 7, 2014)

Backwoods Savage said:


> No disrespect meant but you would save a lot of time if you stopped to sharpen that saw chain a bit more often.


... or stop to swap the chain.  I prefer not wasting valuable daylight time in the woods fiddling with a file.  I carry a toolbox full of individually boxed chains, at least 3 for each of my saws.  As soon as a chain starts going dull, I swap it out.  I do my sharpening on a chain grinder in my warm garage one evening during the week, while listening to the radio.


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## BoiledOver (Apr 10, 2014)

Joful said:


> ... or stop to swap the chain.  I prefer not wasting valuable daylight time in the woods fiddling with a file.  I carry a toolbox full of individually boxed chains, at least 3 for each of my saws.  As soon as a chain starts going dull, I swap it out.  I do my sharpening on a chain grinder in my warm garage one evening during the week, while listening to the radio.


My way also. Using a cheapo harbor freight sharpener and 6 chains all the same age and usage means adjust one time and sharpen all. They will all die together and be replaced as a team.


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## Flatbedford (Apr 10, 2014)

mustash29 said:


> I'm still learning the art of hand sharpening & doing it efficiently.  Need more practice.
> 
> Those big rounds were a bear to move, wound up towing the splitter in there to break them up.



You can easily bust those monster Red Oak rounds into quarters or smaller with your new X27. Ne need to drag you hydro splitter around. In fact, with some practice, you could probably split all that Red Oak just as fast by hand as you can with the machine...and you will be able to hear the birds chirping while you work.


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## Flatbedford (Apr 10, 2014)

Next time you are at the saw shop pick up one of these sharpening kits in the correct size for your chain. Makes sharpening pretty easy. Any brand will do, this is the image I got from Google.


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## mustash29 (Apr 10, 2014)

I have a sharpening kit like that, but it takes forever.  I believe my files are cheap & dull.


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## ailanthus (Apr 10, 2014)

mustash29 said:


> I have a sharpening kit like that, but it takes forever.  I believe my files are cheap & dull.



With some practice,  a quick touch-up really shouldnt take much longer than swapping a chain.  A couple extra dollars for quality files does make a big difference.

Great thread , BTW!


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## mustash29 (Aug 31, 2015)

I haven't added any eye candy to this thread in a while so.....

For the 14/15 winter, I had about 2 cord of good dry oak from my last log load still under the deck + about 2 cord of tulip poplar that I got from a CL scrounge.  The guy had switched to pellets and had a pile of logs for "free".  It was in 4 - 6 foot chunks for 2 years.  He did a great job of loading my trailer with his BX-2200 so I gave him 50 bucks for it.  I got it in June '14, bucked, split & stacked it in the sun right away.  It did pretty decent for re-lights from coals, shoulder season fires & when mixed with the good oak.

Pretty soon I will be loading my "under deck shed" with 2.5 cord of oak from Sandy & Irene.  I got this stuff summer of '13 so it will be good to go for the 15/16 season.  It's the cube in the back right of the pic below.

The stuff in the front left I got in Jan '14.  It was fresh cut red & white oak, 10 mason dump loads cut in rounds & delivered for $850.  We got that all split & stacked late spring '14.  I stack pretty tightly so it came out to about 7.5 cords.  It should be good to go by late 15/16 season, and will be the staple for the 16/17 season.


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## mustash29 (Aug 31, 2015)

I got a good CL score in late May.  A guy on a cul-de-sac only had about 30 feet from the back of his house to the rear fence line.  He had a few trees topped, dropped & the brush cleaned up.  His 32 cc Stihl and his bad back was no match for some of this stuff so he put it up on CL.

Day one - 6 hrs - in the heat & humidity, I loaded the front of the trailer with all of the 4 to 6 foot limb wood, and filled the rear with larger rounds, it was a 30 mile round trip.





Day two - 5 hrs - still hot & humid, I bucked the big stuff, noodled some of it in half & busted some into quarters or eights with the fiskars, 8 lb maul & wedge.  That gave me a very full load in the bed.  I brought that home and went back for the last of it, about a half load of shorties & uglies.





Once home I had to finish bucking the limb wood, split the big stuff and get it all stacked out in my best spot, an area under the pines that gets good morning & afternoon sun.  I need to top cover it before too many needles & leaves start falling.  It's mostly 21" splits, about 2.35 cord.  The oddballs and uglies is the stuff on the front left.


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## mustash29 (Aug 23, 2016)

Long time with no updates.

15/16 was a relatively mild winter for us.  With oil cheap, and 2 new puppies in the house, we only burnt about 2 cord in the Englander wood furnace here & there.

Late spring I got a good 1/2 cord from a guy nearby me.  He had a nasty hilly back yard and had some white oak dropped the summer of 15.  It was a PITA winching it up the hill with the Jeep.  I declined to go back there because it was way more work than fun.

About 3 weeks ago we had a quick storm move through my work.  A nice pin oak snapped off about 6' above the ground.  It had some ant damage in the center where it snapped.  I still have to go back and get the 6' stump and about 12-15' of lower the trunk.  Today I got a health load (3000 lbs) of the main trunk up to the point where it crowned out.

Now for the eye candy.

Today's load is the fresh stuff on the right.  The stuff on the left is the white oak from this spring.





And the oak I got the summer of '15.





And my big cube of 7.5 cord I got in early '14.





And the new (1994) tractor/mower/blower/plow/splitter mover with my helpers, Patton & Kammo





I had the front of the D-max piled up pretty good, LOL.


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## osagebow (Aug 26, 2016)

Good stuff mustache. Did you kill that saw yet and/or get a new one?


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## mustash29 (Aug 26, 2016)

Yeah, the one mount for the ignition coil was cracked.  Beefing it up with JB weld only worked for a tank or 2 of gas.  Like a retard, I got another one.  55 cc "Remington Pro / MTD" that came with an 18" and 20" bar/low kickback chain combo.  Not too bad for what I paid for it + already having 2 parts saws with a slew of bars & chains.

I need to get the special tuning tool kit from Amazon so I can richen it up a bit.  I think it is set too lean because it runs stupid hot on long cuts.  It does a good job pulling a fresh homeowner chain.  With a new Stihl full chisel chain it will bite good but with any more than just saw weight for pressure it will easily bog down a bit.  Despite having a decent clutch guard, noodling with the full chisel chains clogs it up REAL quick, but that happens on a lot of saws doesn't it?

I'm positive that if/when this one gives up the ghost it's replacement will be orange & white.

I bought a Chicago Electric 9" pole saw a few years ago.  It works great for trimming low limbs around the yard.

What I really need is a nice lightweight 12-14" trimming saw.  My '98 Mac 32cc 14" quit on me long ago.


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## Ashful (Aug 26, 2016)

Yes, noodling with full chisel will clog the guard on many saws, esp. if you're working close to the ground.


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## blades (Aug 29, 2016)

Just sayin - there are 3 grades of those orange and white units so pay attention to what you are considering.


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## mustash29 (Nov 30, 2018)

I have a 2 year lapse in my thread, LOL.  It's funny how time flies.

Not sure if I have any pics of the 2 cord of free tulip poplar I scored in May of '17.  28" at the base so definitely the biggest stuff I ever processed myself.  Finally got that c/s/s in May '18 and burning it right now.

I have 15 - 18 dead oaks to drop thanks to the stinking caterpillars.

But I couldn't resist the urge to answer a recent CL add.  This guy has a 122 acre parcel of neglected land he is starting to clean up that is only 15 miles away from me.  He says he may have 10-15 cord to get rid of this winter.

Hopefully this load nets me about 1.5 after it's c/s/s.  Ash, cherry & maple loaded up with an excavator for free.


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## Ashful (Nov 30, 2018)

mustash29 said:


> I have 15 - 18 dead oaks to drop thanks to the stinking caterpillars.



Put another pot of coffee on, I’ll be there as soon as I can get my trailer hooked up to the truck.  [emoji16]


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