And it begins

[hareball]

A few weeks ago I saw an ad for log lengths and made the call. It's a bit of a haul for them to get to me but for some extra fuel cash we made the deal. They are landscapers so on days when it's raining and the guys are being sent home these days we agreed on delivery this way at least one of the guys can make some money.
Today it was the boss that made the delivery and after a short chat I found out that the guy invested in equipment to process firewood as desired by the workers so that they could work through the Winter. All his guys got geared up and found t was too much work and too cold!! He told me he'd make me a nice deal on his splitter. Poor guy is not happy.

This first load is a mix of logs and rounds and really dirty. He sent this since everything else is still in log length and green and he hoped I can burn some of thiis now. I can't wait to get through this stuff and get to the good stuff next load.

 

[hareball]

The mess lol

 

[mainstation]

good luck, better use the old chain.

 

[hareball]

I'm gonna pick my way through it and put the dirty stuff to the side. Hoping for a few good spring showers for that lol

 

[gzecc]

I got a load like that once from a friend that runs a farm. I drove around and tagged stacked piles they had in the woods. I tagged ash, locust, and hickory. His guys loaded a dump trailer and he delivered it. These were rounds, probably 10 yrs old.
Probably was a cord and a half. Lot of work but great wood and partially seasoned.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Doesn't look horrible. After your spring shower strategy runs its course, wait for whats left of the dirt to dry and scrape off where you want to cut with a hatchet. Looks like you don't have many cuts to make anyway.

 

[Larrys land]

If you can get a pressure washer to the pile suit up and have at them. Just roll then over along the cut line. Safety gear is mandatory a couple of cocktails as needed makes the task more enjoyable

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Pressure washer indeed should work good. Remember you only have to clean the area you are going to cut. Don't wash the rest otherwise you won't have anything to get your gloves dirty...

 

[hareball]

So far so good. Going through the rounds that are already cut to size and making a pile of logs that need one cut then another pile for ones that need multiple cuts. Going back out now for another hour then shower and off to my godsons B-day party.

 

[hareball]

I split all the rounds today and came up around about shy of 2/3 of a cord. Tomorrow I have all the limbs to cut and split and the larger logs. The sun yesterday and today dried all that surface crap and I hit it with the old straw broom and cleaned up nice. We have some big rain coming so I'm thinking about leaving them till after the rain.

Anybody want to guess the dirty round?

 

[hareball]

All done!
Came out about 2 cord total. 1/3 cord I sent over to the Cub Scout camp for their weekend camp and the rest is in the rack and garage.

 

[rdust]

Good work! How much wood do the racks hold?

 

[Battenkiller]

Anybody want to guess the dirty round?

Appears to be red oak.

 

[hareball]

Good work! How much wood do the racks hold?

Thank you! The rack can hold 2 cord if all splits were are full 24" long.

 

[hareball]

Anybody want to guess the dirty round?

Appears to be red oak.

yes! Can I ask what sticks out that let you know?

 

[olafsenpn]

Thought it was red oak, also. I think it was what the round looked like on end and where the bark has come off. My son often has asked how a person knows what a tree is when there are no leaves. There are so many variables that one knows just because they do.

 

[hareball]

You'd never know I grew up n the woods by my ID skills haha

My goal was to go past and around trees as fast as I could and tried like hell to never get up close and personal with one while doing it.

 

[Battenkiller]

Anybody want to guess the dirty round?

Appears to be red oak.

yes! Can I ask what sticks out that let you know?

Well, everybody's been guessing ash lately, so I thought maybe oak was due. :lol:

Seriously, the appearance of hard grain lines, relatively thin but distinct sapwood and, in particular, medullary rays (thin, lighter lines) radiating out from the center all spell red oak. In the splits, you can see the rays from the side as they span across the grain lines, giving the wood that distinctive "oakey" look. Looks like the sapwood is a bit punky as well.

I can tell a lot better from pics of the wood itself rather than from all the bark shots everyone always shows. Bark can be confusing, wood grain is definitive.

 

[hareball]

Anybody want to guess the dirty round?

Appears to be red oak.

yes! Can I ask what sticks out that let you know?

Well, everybody's been guessing ash lately, so I thought maybe oak was due. :lol:

Seriously, the appearance of hard grain lines, relatively thin but distinct sapwood and, in particular, medullary rays (thin, lighter lines) radiating out from the center all spell red oak. In the splits, you can see the rays from the side as they span across the grain lines, giving the wood that distinctive "oakey" look. Looks like the sapwood is a bit punky as well.

I can tell a lot better from pics of the wood itself rather than from all the bark shots everyone always shows. Bark can be confusing, wood grain is definitive.

Thanks man! This load had a lot of red oak. Most had punky sap wood and a few other big rounds were punky to the core.
This load has me covered for the rest of the season and next month will be all green and hopefully cleaner than this one.

I also scored a big pile of small branches from the neighbor who was trimming a few oaks. That is coming in real handy now that it's warm and I have to light a fire every night.

 

[aussiedog3]

Thank you for supporting the Cub Scouts and the Boy Scouts. There are so many boys that need leadership, direction, role models and experiences.