3 man Fir takedown

[Mick!]

Great job, well documented.

I had to check the sundown times in BC, 4.37 so not too bad a finish.

Long day in the spurs though.

 

[flushcut]

Yeah I went back in my own yesterday to cut and clean up. Truck load of sawdust but the logs stayed. That was the deal. He can sell the wood.
View attachment 90343

The round by the green shovel looks like a face drooling.

 

[cory]

. Truck load of sawdust but the logs stayed. That was the deal. He can sell the wood.

I'm not from those parts but IME there is nowhere that people would pay for those logs and come pick them up. Not in a million years. Are those rounds 200-300lbs each? Maybe if he broke his back splitting all that, folks would then come over for free and take it away.

Reminds of the sign I saw recently around here- some nudniks had a big stump in their front yard ground up, they stuck a sign in that mountain that said Free Mulch. No takers, so far

 

[cory]

Windchecks in old-growth fir can hold 10- 20 gallons of pitch. .

 

[pantheraba]

High altitude bombing there. Once you had that hole opened up it was impressive to see those chunks fall that far.

Being on the side of that "Y" it looks like you used the long tail of your rigging ring line to tie off to the other side of the Y...assume to stabilize that Y crotch while you were climbing and rigging from it.

Always a pleasure to watch your work.

 

[flushcut]

I'm not from those parts but IME there is nowhere that people would pay for those logs and come pick them up. Not in a million years. Are those rounds 200-300lbs each? Maybe if he broke his back splitting all that, folks would then come over for free and take it away.

Reminds of the sign I saw recently around here- some nudniks had a big stump in their front yard ground up, they stuck a sign in that mountain that said Free Mulch. No takers, so far

It always amazes me what people will take when it's free. When I lived in Milwaukee it didn't matter what I put out in the alley somebody would take it. Like gas cans with holes in them I even circled the hole and wrote a note in Sharpie. "Hole, it leaks"

 

[cory]

Agreed. But in a heavily wooded area like that, to believe peeps are going to come over and load up 3-4 cords of monster rounds, well, I'd have to see that.

 

[SeanKroll]

Some retired guy with a tractor, maybe.

I would bring my splitter to the wood.

 

[cory]

there's more wood in that area than you could, um, shake a stick at, why bother messing with giant rounds. Give that stuff a new home by the tub grinder.

 

[flushcut]

Somebody will rationalize the work savings: didn't have to cut it down or cut it up, or some strange thought process like that.
Before I started my tree biz and sold firewood I'd scavenge any wood I could find laying out by the curb. One oak tree was huge 36-40" rounds me and a few buddies showed up and broke down the rounds so we could load them in my Jeep TJ got about 3 cords, and being a broke collage kid I just saw 900 bucks laying there.
Would I pay to haul it away, no.

 

[cory]

You got 300$/cord?

Yes come to think of it I've done similar. Way back in the day, before I was a tree guy, neighbor had a huge silver maple removed and sawed into rounds. My buddy and I went over and split it all in 6 or 8 hours. Lot of it was wedge n sledge material. I remember not being sore the next day, thought hmm I must be in shape lol. Also remember getting hit in the cheek by shrapnel from the mushroomed wedge, no glasses, dooooh

 

[pete mctree]

Smooth as usual Reg. I take it the mask was for the dust from the bark. Only ever worn on whilst milling but there has been a couple of occasions on dead trees where one would have been welcome.

 

[flushcut]

You got 300$/cord?

Yep still do but I want to get out of firewood. Hard to compete with the processor guys.

 

[cory]

Thats good money for fw around here. Its hard to get 275 here, plenty of blokes moving it for 2 hundo

 

[RegC]

Thanks all. I should mention, perfect weather made all the difference. Its funny, you notice more that your in a tall tree when its windy

Cory, 3-400 id guess for the big ones. 5ft ×16 in. They are sold already $300, buyer collects as is.

Pete, the very fine dust from old doug fir bark should not be ingested. Soon as your saw passes through it theres a plume. That gnarly characteristic is typical in the veteran's. Worse nearer the bottom. Not so much in anything less than 100 years old. The rings on this one suggested it was about 230.

Yes Gary, I set it that way for the extra support.

 

[cory]

Well ok, shows what I know.

Lordy, cutting that whole tree to 16" lengths? I woulda seen God.

 

[RegC]

Firewood still a big thing here. And Douglas fir the most sought after

 

[Jed]

So weird to have a life that is so busy that my phone gives me a message from Reg Coates, that says something like "Big tree, and a coupla good men," or something like that; and to think, "Oh cool, I gotta watch that," and then to think that several more times thruought the week without actually watching it. And then to think, "Man, I've gotta click onto the Treehouse." And then to click onto it only to be reminded of the Coates vid that you've watched and still not watched. Man I gotta re-think my life.

 

[mike in pa]

And Douglas fir the most sought after

I am not familiar with fir. Why is it sought after, east to light, long lasting?

 

[flushcut]

Good to read ya Jed!

 

[RegC]

I am not familiar with fir. Why is it sought after, east to light, long lasting?

That and good heat. Grand fir as a comparison doesnt produce so much heat.

 

[squisher]

Also little ash in comparison to hardwoods.

Nice work as always Reg. A pleasure to watch, thanks for sharing.

 

[mike in pa]

Interesting. Thanks guys.

 

[SeanKroll]

About 24K BTU's per cord, IIRC and 1000's of btu's is the right unit.
Amazingly little ash, easy to split, and plentiful, super plentiful. Throw a rock around here, hit a fir.

Big rounds are hard to split across, but not around the circumference, barring knots. When you have it narrower, it will split radially, more easily.

If it were me, I'd work around the edges by hand before going across them.

Some guys are just up to the challenge, and/ or have kids who would rather split wood than be cold.

soft Bigleaf maple is about the same BTUs, but ashy.

Madrona is premium here, along with hard to come by oregon white oak.



<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EVxAQxFlGH0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Flat, wide 'plates' of wood stack easily and fit on top of a bed of coals and wood more easily in my small wood stove. Wedges, from radial splitting, are sometimes harder to fit.

I kinda like the idea of splitting the edges off into a 'cant' shape that barely fits the stove on top of a bed of coals. Edges to build the bed of coals, then a big block of wood to burn through the night.

 

[chris_girard]

Nice work Reg! Looked like a long day for sure.

Do you have to let Fir dry really good before burning because of all the pitch and potential for creosote buildup?