Official Connecticut Firewood Thread

[mike van]

Flurries are fine. We had enough last winter, don't want to be selfish you know - Planning to tap trees this coming week -

 

[DUMF]

2 things,

first - what do you guys do to sharpen your chains, i have my stihl kit and do it, but it doesnt take long before the wood chips turn to wood dust. how often do you get your chains properly sharpened?

Not too hard to learn how to hand sharpen chains; not rocket science. Does take some practice. Most chains have a "witness line" on the top of each cutter. We use a Husky hand sharpener made by Pferd, that does the edge and the raker with each pass following the angle of the line. Touch up the chains with every second fill, or as soon as you get dust, or when you hit dirt or metal in the cut. We carry a stump vise in the kit that is pounded into the top of a stump for holding the bar.
When you can 'see' light on the chain edge, it needs a touch up. Yes, wear gloves when sharpening...chains love flesh.
No need to pay for sharpening; better job to DIY.
BTW: does it snow in Connecticut ?

 

[mike van]

A 3 chunk load of maple - But, these were real chunks - average 36" diameter, 6 ft long. 2 miles from home & free.

Dumped, they still look heavy -

 

[Beer Belly]

A 3 chunk load of maple - But, these were real chunks - average 36" diameter, 6 ft long. 2 miles from home & free. View attachment 173474 Dumped, they still look heavy - View attachment 173475

WHOA !

 

[DUMF]

A 3 chunk load of maple - But, these were real chunks - average 36" diameter, 6 ft long. 2 miles from home & free. View attachment 173474 Dumped, they still look heavy - View attachment 173475

Noodle time.

 

[Enzo's Dad]

Sledge and wedge once those are in half they will split easily

 

[Beer Belly]

HOLY CRAP !.....look at the size of the stuff in the background !....definitely have experience with this big stuff, eh

 

[DUMF]

Sledge and wedge once those are in half they will split easily

Noodle

 

[MJSully]

question, received some, shall we say, over seasoned oak from a friend. It was roughly piled in his back yard, uncovered. There is some fungal growth and a little bit of rot. Is it worth splitting and stacking, in to my newly built wood shed, for it to dry out? Will it ever be good enough to burn in my indoor wood stove? Or should I just stack and save for the out door fire pit?

 

[MJSully]

Stratford
New wood burner. Bought a house in September and installed a Quadra-fire Insert. In progress building a wood shed. Hoping it will hold 3+ cords.

 

[mike van]

HOLY CRAP !.....look at the size of the stuff in the background !....definitely have experience with this big stuff, eh

The oak in the background is just over 4' diameter, that was all one tree. That was 2 miles from here too, but a different direction -

 

[rygar]

OK. i gotta ask.

what is noodling?

also, loving this weather. not only am saving wood and seasoning it, but i am starting to catch up on my splitting. probably added another cord or two this weekend


as a reference point, shed doors are 6" and are the shed is about 8" off the ground. the pile goes back about 15-20'.

the rounds go about 10' deep

 

[Dieselhead]

When you cut end to end instead of the normal crosscut, it produces long wood "noodles" instead of the normal size chips.

 

[DUMF]

When you cut end to end instead of the normal crosscut, it produces long wood "noodles" instead of the normal size chips.

Sorry, we should never assume nothing (Yogi Berra).
Big butts deserve this technique which as said is cutting through the bark sides of large butts, rolling the piece over to finish the cut.
The chain cuts long pieces of wood, not chips, because of the grain called "noodles". They will clog the chain if not cleared as you cut.
The basic idea for large pieces is to make it easier to transport, season, split. A normal chain works fine for this since it's not cutting with the wood grain. Big maple chunks like Mike has would be tough to split.
Noodles are used for animal bedding, firestarters, Amazon packages,....or, for noodle fights in the woods.

 

[Beer Belly]

They will clog the chain if not cleared as you cut.

......and could even bring the saw to a dead stop

 

[Dieselhead]

(broken link removed to http://newhaven.craigslist.org/for/5440184979.html)

Factory seconds in waterbury

 

[mike van]

This link shows pricing - http://woodpellets4me.com/bioprod-allnighterlogs.html

 

[mike van]

Get ready for the coldest weather of this winter - There will be no sap running this weekend for sure -

 

[Beer Belly]

Get ready for the coldest weather of this winter - There will be no sap running this weekend for sure -

Yup, we already decided to shut down the stove Saturday afternoon and burn Oil to keep everything warm....just in case

 

[Tom123]

I'm with you Beer Belly. My house has oil/baseboard heat and I don't want to freeze a pipe.

 

[Enzo's Dad]

The only zone that can freeze on me is the second floor, I just set it to 68. When it gets this cold my stove only gets that floor up to 63 64 degree's. By turning that zone on it makes my house far more efficient. Less heat rises upstairs, and the first floor is in the 70s

 

[mike van]

It's 0 here this morning, but it's a dry cold - ha ha - The wind died at least. My neighbor got oil 2 days ago, 1.60 - Hard to imagine it was over double that a few years ago. Hang in there, for this coming Tuesday it's showing 50F and rain - New England, if you don't like the weather, just wait a minute -

 

[chazcarr]

(broken link removed to http://newhaven.craigslist.org/for/5440184979.html)

Factory seconds in waterbury

Bought these last year, they burn amazingly well.

 

[chazcarr]

Tree bonanza in Wolcott, CT right now. I'm grabbing all I can. Eversource is here and just cutting down any tree within 10 feet of an electrical wire. My neighbor's huge maple is down and bucked. I've been splitting it and stacking, there is probably 4 cords in this tree.

I see 3-4 new pick ups in the neighborhood following the tree crew around. If it wasn't for the cold and snowy weather they probably would have picked the trimming clean by now.

According to the tree cutting crew, anything left in April will be picked up by a log truck.

 

[Tom123]

Wood in Bloomfield/West Hartford. There is a good amount of wood along the side of Rt 189 between Cottage Grove Rd and Rt 44. Looks like allot of big maple that EverSource took down.