Douglas Fir score

[4fire]

Round 2....

Went back again today for more and still will have to go back yet again. This log is about 18" in diameter and probably 20 ft long.

Most importantly, it's up hill from the road. [emoji106]

 

[Jeffm1]

One had fallen across a hiking trail and was blocking it so this was a win/win...Round 3 and 4...cut,split,stacked!

 

[Jeffm1]

Went back for more DF again and came back with an armful of gambel oak and half a quaking aspen that had fallen right on the shoulder of the road. It was right there...I couldn't stop myself.

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

Rules can be different for each national forest. Where I go it's $20 for a permit and each permit is good for 2 cords. They give 4 load tickets with the permit. Each ticket is for a half cord and has to be visible on the back of the load. There's a long list of rules but I think they're fair. The main ones are no driving off the roads, no skidding/dragging, no cutting standing trees, no cutting within 100ft of a stream, and you can only cut within 50ft of the road.

And no cutting anything over 36" in diameter!

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

Went back for more DF again and came back with an armful of gambel oak and half a quaking aspen that had fallen right on the shoulder of the road. It was right there...I couldn't stop myself.

Very nice! I can see you have the firewood collector's disease too!

Here's my latest USFS Douglas Fir find:

There is also some Garry Oak and Big Leaf Maple.

People not familiar with Douglas-Fir often are turned off by the fact that it's called a "fir" not realizing it's not a fir tree at all. It's in it's own category. Very large, majestic trees with very attractive grain and a beautiful warm-tawny color that darkens and hardens with age. It has a good strength/weight ratio, is very rot resistant (unlike the true firs) and leaves behind less ash/btu than any wood I know of. The thick cork-like bark of mature trees burns like coal.

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

Most importantly, it's up hill from the road. [emoji106]

I know. Thats why I only have 3 rounds of the large DF in the previous post. The monster was laying down a very steep slope (at least 45 degrees). I started cutting rounds off the uphill end by the edge of the Forest Service road. Once the monster rounds were cut free they wanted to fall down the hill (I almost lost the last one). Then I had to roll them a few feet up the steep slope while kicking steps for traction, the whole time making sure I didn't lose it as it would have run over me like a steam roller. But it was beautiful Douglas-Fir and I had to have it! This is what I love about getting wood. It's like hunting, weight-lifting, wrestling, logging and sometimes off-roading, all rolled into one grand sport!

Very manly, but some women like it too. And I've never met one that didn't appreciate the results!

 

[MrWhoopee]

Here's the last few rounds from my most recent DF score. I didn't have the hoist installed when I got them, rolled them up a ramp. It was on private land and flat ground. Had to noodle them in the back of the truck, my little splitter just wouldn't pop them. Dead long enough to be dry and the bark loose. I brought the bark home anyway, it makes great barbecue fuel. Going back for 'nother load as soon as the weather cools off.

 

[Jeffm1]

Very nice! I can see you have the firewood collector's disease too!

Here's my latest USFS Douglas Fir find:





View attachment 198545

There is also some Garry Oak and Big Leaf Maple.

People not familiar with Douglas-Fir often are turned off by the fact that it's called a "fir" not realizing it's not a fir tree at all. It's in it's own category. Very large, majestic trees with very attractive grain and a beautiful warm-tawny color that darkens and hardens with age. It has a good strength/weight ratio, is very rot resistant (unlike the true firs) and leaves behind less ash/btu than any wood I know of. The thick cork-like bark of mature trees burns like coal.

I am drooling!

 

[4fire]

It's like hunting, weight-lifting, wrestling, logging and sometimes off-roading, all rolled into one grand sport!

I look at it a lot like hunting. It's going out on public land, looking for something to take home, and not knowing if someone else got there first.

 

[Jeffm1]

People not familiar with Douglas-Fir often are turned off by the fact that it's called a "fir" not realizing it's not a fir tree at all.
...Very large, majestic trees with very attractive grain and a beautiful warm-tawny color that darkens and hardens with age. It has a good strength/weight ratio, is very rot resistant (unlike the true firs) and leaves behind less ash/btu than any wood I know of. The thick cork-like bark of mature trees burns like coal.

...and they think they are small, spindly Christmas trees 6-8 feet tall, lol.

 

[Jeffm1]

I always find it interesting how different the bark looks on DF depending on the age of the tree. It's smooth and gray with resin blisters when young and becomes dark brown, or almost black and deeply furrowed with edges that can even get a bit flakey as it gets older. And then the really old ones loose those flakey edges and the bark just becomes really, really hard and solid.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Some of the hardest "softwood" lumber I've ever encountered is old DF from demolition. It's sometimes necessary to pre-drill to drive nails into it.

 

[Sprinter]

Some of the hardest "softwood" lumber I've ever encountered is old DF from demolition. It's sometimes necessary to pre-drill to drive nails into it.

True. I once built a two-story 30' x 30" pole barn with salvaged lumber from an old mill building at Woodland, WA. The lumber was so hard, it was like concrete. But worth the effort. Difficult, but strong as hell. Not to mention cheap. The 1/2" ply sheathing was all of 75 c. per sheet and clean. Yes, it was a while ago...