THE firewood thread

[Beekissed]

We had a guy deliver us a dump truck load of punky oak once, even though we had warned him we don't like punky wood....that was the last time we hired him. Our current oak guy gives us an honest and huge load at a good price and it's all good wood.

Today we fired up the splitter for the first time this season and I had to grin when it roared into action....feels good when machinery starts up when you need it to and last year we had to break it down, change the oil, change the spark plug and, finally, clean the carburetor and replace some seals to get it to this point, so I'm glad that's all paying off. Have a small pin on the handle that's broken off...need to rig up something for that, as what I had temporarily rigged up broke today on the last log I split today...glad it lasted that long, at least.

My uncle had a HUGE dead oak cut down at his place and said we could have it, so today we took the splitter over and Mom and I went to work on that pile. Never saw so many creepy crawlies in a pile of wood in my life!!!

Carpenter ants, roaches, HUGE black beetles and their grubs, pill bugs, yellow jackets, you name it and it had been living in this tree.

Brought home two truck loads and haven't even scratched the surface of this huge tree. Will continue to work on that pile until it's gone. I LOVE working the splitter...something about that big maul splitting the resistant wood is cathartic to me.

 

[Ole and Lena]

Splitters can be lots of fun. Especially the homemade ones cobbled together out of barnyard steel and broken machines. My uncle had one made from an old skid steer auger. He got it on auction in non-working condition and repurposed the hydraulics to a strong pushing action with the addition of the ram off an old backhoe. The carriage and wedge were made from pieces of railroad rail and a differential gear welded and ground to a wedge. Mounted to the skid-steer boom for portable splitting.

Dangerous as hell, no safeties, no check valves on the hydraulics. Perfect for a couple 12 year old farm boys to complete wood chores with, complete with a couple of crappy chainsaws and a 4x4 dodge with no brakes. A few times we took a bath in hydraulic fluid splitting especially gnarly elm logs.

Amazing what creepies live in logs. My chickens love wood splitting, despite the proximity to the chopping block. Favorites are frozen carpenter ants (interesting, they eat them in winter, not summer when they're mobile) and the big fat white grubs that live in the "dirt" in hollow spots.

Worked on my cabin firewood this weekend. Still need to build the cabin, but wood is a timing game, have to get ahead of that now. Totally different ballgame. Jack pine and black spruce. No time to dry out any of the birch and maple available on the land before hunting season. Been able to find some nice solid dead-standing stuff that should dry nicely by late October. Racked in the open sun and breeze one layer deep with a scrap plywood cover angled to slough off the rain. Over the winter, plenty of small birch available that can use a thinning. Site was logged some years ago, and birch re-grew in clumps. Planning on removing all but the best tree from clumps to allow more space for the chosen tree and harvest firewood in the process.

 

[lazy gardener]

Splitters can be lots of fun. Especially the homemade ones cobbled together out of barnyard steel and broken machines. My uncle had one made from an old skid steer auger. He got it on auction in non-working condition and repurposed the hydraulics to a strong pushing action with the addition of the ram off an old backhoe. The carriage and wedge were made from pieces of railroad rail and a differential gear welded and ground to a wedge. Mounted to the skid-steer boom for portable splitting.

Dangerous as hell, no safeties, no check valves on the hydraulics. Perfect for a couple 12 year old farm boys to complete wood chores with, complete with a couple of crappy chainsaws and a 4x4 dodge with no brakes. A few times we took a bath in hydraulic fluid splitting especially gnarly elm logs.

Amazing what creepies live in logs. My chickens love wood splitting, despite the proximity to the chopping block. Favorites are frozen carpenter ants (interesting, they eat them in winter, not summer when they're mobile) and the big fat white grubs that live in the "dirt" in hollow spots.

Worked on my cabin firewood this weekend. Still need to build the cabin, but wood is a timing game, have to get ahead of that now. Totally different ballgame. Jack pine and black spruce. No time to dry out any of the birch and maple available on the land before hunting season. Been able to find some nice solid dead-standing stuff that should dry nicely by late October. Racked in the open sun and breeze one layer deep with a scrap plywood cover angled to slough off the rain. Over the winter, plenty of small birch available that can use a thinning. Site was logged some years ago, and birch re-grew in clumps. Planning on removing all but the best tree from clumps to allow more space for the chosen tree and harvest firewood in the process.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post. You had me smiling all the way through it. Thank you for enriching my already blessed day!!!

 

[Beekissed]

The other day one of our jimmy rigged parts gave out at the end of a splitting session with the wood splitter. Last year I lost a piece off the handle and had used an Allen wrench and a bolt and nut with a zip tie and length of wire to keep it going until I got a new pin. I forgot about it until this year, as so often happens.

Went asking about that particular pin at TSC and Lowe's, as the splitters they carry have the exact same pinning for their handles. I had already found a similar looking doodad at TSC, a whole little baggy of pins and cotters for $3.99 that looked like they would fit and do the job but were links for roller chains, like the ones on bicycles and such. TSC couldn't order that part and Lowe's said they couldn't order that pin but I'd have to order the whole handle assembly....$80. :faint

I took my little roller chain link home and said a prayer to the Lord for it to work...and He answered!!!! It fit perfectly. No joke. Like it was made for it! :high five Time will tell if it holds under heavy usage but if it doesn't I have a whole little baggy of the same pin to use for replacements. :joy

Here's the roller chain link....except they were much cheaper at TSC than at Wally World and I still can't believe they had them at Wally World too! So, if you ever have to replace that pin on your splitter and they tell you to buy a whole assembly, roller chain links just may do the trick.

 

[microchick]

This thread just caught my eye. We heat with wood and do our own processing. Two years ago we purchased our first wood splitter at TSC. We love that machine.

My husband looked at your link, beekissed and said that should do the trick and be stronger than you probably really need. The box stores are really silly. They sell the stuff but do not keep the parts on hand for the customers. But HEY! We can order it for you at considerable cost to you.

Several years ago one of our outdoor hydrants sprang a leak. We dug down and found that a washer had given way. Trip to town. They did not have the part. Trip to nearest city. Where we found out that the brand of hydrant we had was no longer being manufactured and therefor there were no repair parts available. That was definitely not the solution we were hoping for. DH decided that the part needed was simple. Just a silly washer. We spent a good hour at Ace Hardware where a clerk helped us comb through every washer they had until we finally found one that looked close enough to the damaged one to take home. It worked and the repair cost waaaaay under a dollar. Sure beat having to replace the entire hydrant at the time, but the MacGyvered repair worked. We don't use the hydrant and it is scheduled for replacement in the future.

Good job on your repair. We have 10 cords stored in our barn, mostly oak and hickory with some honey locust. We have 20 acres of timber that needs thinning so we are never at a loss for wood. What we do not chain down, mother nature does the job for us. Over the course of 2 years we had storms bring down a twin trunked old growth white oak tree. The trunks were over 36"in diameter each. We are still harvesting off of the last trunk. Last year its mate provided us with about 60% of our heating wood. DH and I enjoy harvesting our own wood. We laughing say it keeps us in shape.

So bring on winter is all I can say. We are ready for it.

 

[Ole and Lena]

MacGuyvered repairs are the best kind. Usually something that says John Deer, Case IH, Vermeer or MTD on it has a hardware store or junkyard equivalent for a fraction of the cost. Either that or a bit of time with a Dremel tool or file will adjust the specs as needed.

A large bin of worn out dull drill bits are a wonderful thing to keep on hand. Can match almost any size of pin with hardened steel. Turn the ends blue with a torch if you need to mushroom it in place. Anneal the whole thing if you need softer steel. Also works to turn the shank of a nail or mild steel or brass machine screw down by chucking it in a drill and grinding it against a file if you need a soft pin of custom size. Flat one side with a file for key pins on hubs and clutches. I ran my chainsaw on a homemade clutch pin from fence nail for a week. When you work out in the bush and a hardware store is not an option, you learn these tricks.

 

[microchick]

MacGuyvered repairs are the best kind. Usually something that says John Deer, Case IH, Vermeer or MTD on it has a hardware store or junkyard equivalent for a fraction of the cost. Either that or a bit of time with a Dremel tool or file will adjust the specs as needed.

A large bin of worn out dull drill bits are a wonderful thing to keep on hand. Can match almost any size of pin with hardened steel. Turn the ends blue with a torch if you need to mushroom it in place. Anneal the whole thing if you need softer steel. Also works to turn the shank of a nail or mild steel or brass machine screw down by chucking it in a drill and grinding it against a file if you need a soft pin of custom size. Flat one side with a file for key pins on hubs and clutches. I ran my chainsaw on a homemade clutch pin from fence nail for a week. When you work out in the bush and a hardware store is not an option, you learn these tricks.

My husband says don't forget a good welder. His is his most valuable tool and I can attest to how many times he has saved the day with it.

 

[highonrunning90]

Love this thread! Being a forester, and practicing currently in Maine plus we also heat secondary with wood.

We're all set for the season. Mostly soft maple and birch. Where my wife works ( also a forester) she get 4 full cords a year.

 

[lazy gardener]

Hi. Been to the Maine thread???

 

[highonrunning90]

Hi.  Been to the Maine thread???

Yes.