Processing firewood for beginners

[bholler]

Agree all around. I've used the trimmer saw, and it definitely makes better marks under many conditions, and more permanent. It is a little more time consuming and effort, but definitely part of the complete marking toolkit. And I really don't like using the bar of the saw, as you said, it's just too heavy to be swinging it around like that.

Regarding the extra time it takes, I have tried to strike a balance between expediancy and deliberation. Marking the wood strikes the right balance for me.

I just use a hatchett or billhook to mark with

 

[jetsam]

I just eyeball it. Usually it turns out okay. When I find something that I cut too long, I usually set it aside with the odds 'n' sods, and burn it diagonally on my next day off. (I COULD trim it down, but burning it always seems easier.)

 

[Chas0218]

For measuring I use a piece of round stock bent in a vise to the length I need and ends sharpend to a point. Stick one end into the bark drag the other across and repeat all the way down the log. Make sure you use a little pressure or you won't see the marks. Keep an eye out for a trailer on craigslist for now you could load your Jeep with it on a tarp or blanket (tarp is better because it's waterproof). If you're limited to scrounging then it will be tough at least is in my area. If you can afford or have the room a log length firewood delivery you would be cutting out the hauling or scrounging part. You would also possibly have 2 years supply.

 

[Ashful]

In my area there is a lot of free “firewood” on craigslist, usually a felled tree in someone’s yard they want gone without paying someone. I’m don’t think I can process the 4 cords I need for next year without making a big time and $ investment, but I figure with some basic gear and a little weekend warrioring I get 1-2 and save a little money.

I don’t plan on felling trees basically ever, and I don’t plan on messing with rounds more than 18” in diameter until I have more experience. I figure I will need to get pretty good and limbing and bucking. I really don’t want to bleed to death in someone’s backyard. I feel pretty good about my splitting technique

I’ve starting a course of study at the University of Google and Youtube.

What I have so far:
Maul
Axe (probably won’t use it, I’m guessing)
Chainsaw
Wedges
Sledgehammer
Grand Cherokee (with tow package)
Eye and Ear Protection
Steel toed boots

What I’d like to save up for in the next year or two:
Splitter
Trailer
Log holder

I figure the cargobed of the grand Cherokee can hold about a week’s worth of wood. So if do one load over 8 weekends this winter, I can get a decent amount ready for next year and build a cheap kiln

What other gear should I consider? Chaps? Other clothing?

What’s the best way to buck the right lengths for my stove? Tape measure and score?

Any other advice you experienced pros can hand down?

Helmets are mostly for felling, definitely prioritize the chaps over the helmet.

For marking, I carry a stick cut to the max split length for my stove. I spiral-tape it with masking tape and shoot it with blaze orange paint, so I can never lose it in the woods. I did the same with my cant hook and wedge hammer.

Some use driveway chalk or a surveyors crayon with the stick for marking, but I prefer to just score the log with my top handle saw. Run what you brung.

Regarding the extra time it takes, I have tried to strike a balance between expediancy and deliberation. Marking the wood strikes the right balance for me.

If you’re trying to get the most out of your stoves, then you need every split to be exactly what will fit and fill that firebox. No sense in cutting random lengths, when it only takes a few seconds to mark out a 1 cord log. Mark away!

 

[jetsam]

Here's a beginners' tip for us old guys: Be nice to your back.

When you throw it out trying to rassle a 48" oak trunk around, you won't be processing any wood at all. Not very fast, anyway.

Use your brain and your gear instead of trying to be Hercules. A block and tackle/power winch and a cant hook/Peavey can help with big stuff. If you buck in the woods, take a maul with you- why heave huge rounds into the truck when you could be lifting splits instead? And have a plan B (I am not splitting that gnarly old 36" crotch with a maul; I'll drag it up the ramp with a come-along and feed it to the splitter later.)

Safety too- if you drop a tree on yourself, you will probably be very sorry, and you may not even be able to reach your beer to help with the pain of all the shattered ribs. Always plan for the hinge to break unexpectedly, and plan for the tree to fall in any direction. This is a good practice in general, but with rotten standing dead stuff, it really does often break and fall in a random direction. I have seen rotten stuff rotate on the stump and fall in a direction they weren't leaning a second ago once the hinge goes. Sometimes cutting dead trees higher up can get you better wood to hinge with.

Learning to drop a tree right where you want it is great, but things don't always happen as planned. Have at least two escape routes, hopefully with good cover nearby, planned. (In this context, 'good cover' is a tree that is larger than the tree you are dropping so you can hide behind it as a last resort.) Stop before the bar starts getting even a little pinch and use your wedges. Don't be afraid to say that a tree is too dangerous to drop and you're not going to do it.

 

[Modenacart]

A guy we work with was killed a few weeks back felling trees before the hurricane.

Be careful.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jetsam]

I kind of dig running for my life with a chainsaw in my hand, but it's not for everyone. In particular, people who think it's fun probably shouldn't be allowed to do it.

 

[Ashful]

I hit a guy with a falling tree, once. His fault, I stopped and told him twice to get out of its path, but he kept wandering back to the spot where I was aiming to drop it. So, I finish my back cut, look ahead to where I’ve perfectly aimed it, and he’s standing there... again.

I yell, he looks up and turns to run, but too late. The tree caught him mid-jump, and sent him cartwheeling off thru the woods like a cartoon character. No permanent damage, but he was very sore for a few days.

He was lucky that it was only a small diameter tree, growing very tall in the dense woods, but probably only 8” - 10” diameter at breast height. I was dropping it to make a path to get the tractor to this monster:

 

[mcstatz5829]

No way am I felling trees. Plenty of free fallen ones around

 

[jetsam]

I hit a guy with a falling tree, once. His fault, I stopped and told him twice to get out of its path, but he kept wandering back to the spot where I was aiming to drop it. So, I finish my back cut, look ahead to where I’ve perfectly aimed it, and he’s standing there... again.

I yell, he looks up and turns to run, but too late. The tree caught him mid-jump, and sent him cartwheeling off thru the woods like a cartoon character. No permanent damage, but he was very sore for a few days.

He was lucky that it was only a small diameter tree, growing very tall in the dense woods, but probably only 8” - 10” diameter at breast height. I was dropping it to make a path to get the tractor to this monster:

View attachment 233813

Ooh, baby. Tow that one over to my place.

 

[weatherguy]

No way am I felling trees. Plenty of free fallen ones around

Yeah, it's been a while since I've dropped a tree, tons of wood already on the ground.

 

[woodhog73]

A guy we work with was killed a few weeks back felling trees before the hurricane.

Be careful.

Sorry to hear this. And good to remind everyone to be careful.

Dropping big trees can be very dangerous. I myself take it for granted as I have been felling trees since I was a kid. Just grew up with it. But regardless if your an experienced tree dropper or not, accidents can happen, and if you have doubts to your ability to safely drop a big tree, then don’t do it. In my experience if you have to think about it, as in the tree your wanting to fell doesn’t just come natural, if your second guessing it, then perhaps walk away and find a safer tree to drop. Firewood is not worth anyones safety.

 

[KJamesJR]

All of these folks have made great suggestions thus far for a solo fire wood processing weekend warrior.

You don’t need to spend mucho bucks on gear, you also don’t want to cheap out on the gear with moving parts. Like your chainsaw.

PPE. So safety glasses, chaps, earplugs, steel toes, form fitting gloves (not loose), first aid kit (with blood stoppers), cell phone on your person. Warm socks/clothes. You don’t need a helmet if you’re not cutting above your shoulders. Although if your timid about kickback, you may want a helmet with a face mask. Or just don’t put your saw in a situation where it’s going to kickback. I.e. don’t hit the top of the nose on something.

Good chainsaw. Don’t cheap out here. As well as bar oil fuel and additive. Files and extra chain.

Buck your logs maybe an inch or two under the manufacture specs for the stove. I cut a stick to length and use my daughters blue sidewalk chalk.

Also for small rounds, or large straight rounds (not full of knots), you really only need something like a fiskars. They work really nice. Just get the right size and it won’t be stinging your hands. Or man up.

In my opinion, bucking big logs is just as scary if not more than dropping the tree. There’s weight distribution and forces at work you can’t see when it’s on the ground. Hate for you to make a cut then have a 4000lb log roll up onto your shin.

 

[Montanalocal]

I consider a must-have to be a peavey or something similar to roll logs when bucking. I never go into the woods without one.

 

[tsquini]

Saftey gear is a must. Eye, chaps, gloves.
You have to decide is the effort is worth the reward. I don't drive more than 20 mins to pick up wood. The gas, effort and time is more worth it. It is better to get 9 cords of logs delivered for $900 a year. It's all on my land with in feet of stacking. I don't want to deal with craigs list bitches who want me to clean up their yard for free wood.

 

[woodhog73]

In my opinion, bucking big logs is just as scary if not more than dropping the tree. There’s weight distribution and forces at work you can’t see when it’s on the ground. Hate for you to make a cut then have a 4000lb log roll up onto your shin.

Just a reminder when bucking big heavy logs stand on the high side of the tree log. If it starts to shift and roll you want to be on the high side so it rolls away from you. Simple matter of gravity at work. It sounds obvious but people new to cutting trees, especially big wood, sometimes don’t think of small details. And I’m not talking about an obvious hill. When your dealing with a oak tree that’s 3 feet around and 2 stories tall it doesn’t take much grade to have it shift just slightly it if it has any kind of momentum.

Until you learn about tension on the tree, how best to buck so you don’t pinch your bar, etc then I’d suggest having wedges for bucking. They will keep the wood from closing up on your bar and pinching it. Avoiding you the frustrating situation of yanking on your saw to no end. And if you don’t have a 2nd saw to cut out the pinched saw it sucks. We have all been there. That’s how you learn

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Just a reminder when bucking big heavy logs stand on the high side of the tree log. If it starts to shift and roll you want to be on the high side so it rolls away from you. Simple matter of gravity at work. It sounds obvious but people new to cutting trees, especially big wood, sometimes don’t think of small details.

Until you learn about tension on the tree, how best to buck so you don’t pinch your bar, etc then I’d suggest having wedges for bucking. They will keep the wood from closing up on your bar and pinching it. Avoiding you the frustrating situation of yanking on your saw to no end. And if you don’t have a 2nd saw to cut out the pinched saw it sucks. We have all been there. That’s how you learn

Wedges are great even after you learn about the tensions!

 

[jetsam]

Don't despair if you don't have wedges. Cut a little lopsided slice off of a branch, and boom, free wedge. They're arguably better for bucking (not felling,) because you don't feel bad about cutting them and you don't have to wander around looking for them later!

The above wedge discussion was about felling wedges, not splitting wedges. The latter is steel, used to drive into wood rounds to split them apart. The former is plastic or wood, used to drive into cuts to stop the bar from getting pinched or to control the direction that the tree falls.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Don't despair if you don't have wedges. Cut a little lopsided slice off of a branch, and boom, free wedge. They're arguably better because you don't feel bad about cutting them and you don't have to wander around looking for them later!

Great idea. Wish I'd thought of diy wedges before.

 

[KJamesJR]

Just a reminder when bucking big heavy logs stand on the high side of the tree log. If it starts to shift and roll you want to be on the high side so it rolls away from you. Simple matter of gravity at work. It sounds obvious but people new to cutting trees, especially big wood, sometimes don’t think of small details. And I’m not talking about an obvious hill. When your dealing with a oak tree that’s 3 feet around and 2 stories tall it doesn’t take much grade to have it shift just slightly it if it has any kind of momentum.

Until you learn about tension on the tree, how best to buck so you don’t pinch your bar, etc then I’d suggest having wedges for bucking. They will keep the wood from closing up on your bar and pinching it. Avoiding you the frustrating situation of yanking on your saw to no end. And if you don’t have a 2nd saw to cut out the pinched saw it sucks. We have all been there. That’s how you learn

Just to add to this...

If you're bucking a tree with a couple big co-dominant leaders, I've found it best to work from the top taking the leaders down to the trunk. Section them out as you go and if possible, roll the log to get the weight off them. Never put yourself between two big limbs when its on the ground. Cut them back keeping them in front of you. Think Pac Man.

For pinched chains, consider taking a long, maybe 6' pry bar or pipe. If you've pinched the chain, often times taking even a little pressure off the chain by lifting up from the bottom of the log, you can free it. You'll need the length of the pipe long for leverage.

 

[mcstatz5829]

How do I handle forks?

 

[Mojappa]

How do I handle forks?

View attachment 233886

I split as much as I can off of them, then the remainder goes into the ugly pile. basically you'll wanna "slice" the splits off parallel with the fork, or save them all and rent a splitter once you've got a good pile of them

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

How do I handle forks?

View attachment 233886

Chop chop!

 

[jatoxico]

How do I handle forks?

View attachment 233886

I'm stubborn (stupid) enough to have done a number of these. Only reasonable way it will split ist length-wise leaving two "Y's". Most will split up to the crotch then take advantage of how sharp the Fiskars and to cut through that. If you can stand it on the legs go at it from that end too.

Of course it's a complete waste of time and effort but I do it anyway. Smarter thing to do is halve it with a chain saw. Probably the smartest thing to do is burn it in the fire pit but as I said I've done a number of these.

 

[Montanalocal]

I had a bad experience with a crotch some time ago. I had a large crotch from a municipal Green Ash. My 16 T. splitter would not handle it trying to split up the center of the crotch, so I figured to just chainsaw down through the Y to get through the hardest part.

Well, the chain saw simply would not cut down through the crotch. I tried several times, but no go. Eventually by using a splitting wedge, I got it opened up, and guess what? There was a big rock that had fallen into the crotch and had grown over. I took the chain to my sharpener guys, and they said it was ruined and could not be resharpened. Just goes to show that municipal trees can have all kinds of things in them that forest trees do not. I have seen cloths line connectors, fencing, etc. you name it.