Big Chainsaw, Big Wood

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My phone rang the other evening and again it was a good friend who made an offer I couldn't refuse. A large oak had fallen on his property and he asked if I would like to come out and cut up the trunk with my big Dolmar. Of course I said "yes!"
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I think having a big chainsaw is like being the only person in your neighborhood with a pickup truck. People know who to call when they need something hauled, or in my case, a big tree cut up. I cannot think of a better way to spend my Saturday morning than running my Dolmar 7900 in big oak. This tree was on my friends lot line and was just about 24 inches at its base. He cut up the top of the tree and I did the big wood in the trunk. His brother ran the tractor and hauled the wood up to his trailer.


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It had just finished snowing when we got to the tree. The ground was frozen hard so the tractor and the truck made their way around the place without tearing up the ground. Honestly, I was happy just to run my saws but I was offered a trailer full of cut oak for my trouble. Despite the snow, the weather was perfect for woodcutting. The cold never bothered me at all and, at times, I removed my coat so I could cool down! The day was a perfect, beautiful winter morning here in my neck of the woods. I swear there isn't a nicer place to live in this world than right here in northeast Ohio!


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Below is an action shot of me running my big Dolmar. The saw is running a 24 inch bar so you can estimate the size of the trunk. I don't have much experience with oak for firewood but I can tell you it is VERY heavy to lug and oak has a very unpleasant smell when you are cutting it. The terrible odor from the wood chips reminds me of when our children were infants and battling a stomach virus. Not very aromatic...if you get my drift.


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So below is my wood score for 2 hours of work that morning. I had it dumped in my driveway as the snow was too deep for the truck to get to my wood shed. I don't cut much wood in the winter so I never had a need to keep clear the driveway leading up to the woodshed. I will split this oak where it rests and lug it over to the wood shed when the time comes. Again, sometimes firewood falls right into your lap as in this oak score and in my previous post. I have to be grateful for the Dolmar 7900 however. Without a saw as big and powerful as this one, I would not have been able to handle either of these scores.



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OWB

Firewood Score!

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The word is out in my area that I am always on the look-out for free trees for firewood. You would be surprised how many people come looking for you when you are known as a wood-monger.
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All the wood I burn is free to me. I refuse to pay money for any wood...this commitment was all part of my "return on investment" for purchasing the Hardy H2 and I wrote about this in an earlier post titled "The Wood Game." I sometimes have to go out and knock on doors for possible leads for trees...I sometimes ask my friends, or friends of friends for trees. And sometimes the trees fall right into my lap...or my yard...as in this case below.
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I was watching TV on a recent Sunday evening when my phone rang and it was a local farmer who had just tore down two big locust trees and he asked if I wanted them. The only stipulation was I had to be at his field in 15 minutes with my "big saw" to cut off the stumps, he would load them and dump them in my yard. His field bordered a cranky neighbor who would not tolerate the downed trees being burned next to his house nor would he appreciate the buzz of a chainsaw disturbing his peace. So...I jumped from the couch, grabbed by Dolmar 7900 and drove out to his field. The picture above shows the farmer's job site and one of the big stumps I had to cut off. He held the tree with his machine while I cut off the stump and then he loaded it onto his stake truck.

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Night time was falling hard as he dumped the locust into my yard, conveniently close to my wood shed. How nice is that? I didn't have to bust my back at all for this!


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Here is what my free firewood score looked like. Hey, just think...I can run my saws in the comfort of my own yard! All I have to do is cut these logs into rounds and split them up. Locust is a blast to split!

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Finally, I pulled out my Fiskars Super Splitter and quickly sliced the locust rounds into beautiful firewood. I think I will save this wood to burn for next season. It was a score and I can't wait to stack it.


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I don't think just being known as someone who will take free wood is good enough to fill up your woodshed. You have to have a strong reputation as being responsive and efficient. Had I not been able to immediately load up and jump on this score...and have a saw big enough to handle these stumps...the farmer would have never called me. I know he was pleased with my service and I can expect more calls from him in the future. Even us wood-mongers have reputations. Now, I think I will just lay around until my phone rings again.
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OWB

Merry Christmas From Ohio Woodburner!

My Dolmar 7900 and I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I hope Santa leaves each of you a shiny new Dolmar and a cord of firewood under your tree. Drop me a line and let me know how you are doing!
OWB

Where's My Wood Pile?

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Northeast Ohio was socked by a pretty sizable snow fall this week as the cold air from Canada passed over Lake Erie. In our neck of the woods this phenomenon is known as Lake Effect Snow. When Erie is unfrozen the passing cold air picks up moisture rising from the warmer lake and...whoa! what happened? Where did all this snow come from? Above is a picture of my wood shed. You can see the smoke stack of the Hardy in the middle.
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A common theme I keep harping on with my hobby is I made my wood shed about half as big as it should have been. Call it a mis-calculation during the planning phase of just how much wood a Hardy H2 will eat thru in order to keep our house toasty warm during Ohio's infamous winters. This mis-calculation resulted in much of my wood sitting uncovered during burning season. What I have done to compensate for this is to throw my dry logs into the firebox first and toss some snowy logs on top. By the time the snowy logs work their way down to the grates for their time to burn they are pretty much kiln dried. Also, I have given up on using tarps to cover my wood piles because, for me, they created too much work having to pull them back with a hundred pounds of white stuff on them in order to fish out a usable log. Its easier for me to just knock the snow off a log and toss it in.
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But this recent snow has really set me back with my usual plan. This stuff is deep. It is above my boots. I had to cut a path to the Hardy in order to keep my boots from filling with snow. The weather man is predicting another round of lake-effect snow next week so I don't think this stuff will be going away any time soon. Despite much of my logs being buried in snow, I feel pretty good about the organization of my wood shed. I know what I want burnt up and I have next years wood ready to be moved into the shed so it will be nice and dry for next winter. But as for now, I will just pull wood from the shed until we get a couple warm days to melt off the snow. I think my logs are in there somewhere.
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OWB

Burning Season Begins!

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So today was the day. A warm October and November in northeast Ohio permitted me to delay firing up my Hardy H2 until the third week in November. This afternoon I threw some kindling and a fire-starter into the OWB and in about an hour the water temperature was up to 170 degrees. Our house is now receiving its heat from the Hardy. Burning season has begun!
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I still have wood to stack and some organizing to do around the wood shed and I plan on doing that tomorrow. The weather man is calling for cold and rain for most of next week so I hope to get it done Sunday. This will be our 5th winter heating with the Hardy. So far this fall we have been using the propane to heat the house . I have to lower the level in my 500 gallon propane tank because I want it relocated in the spring for some "barn renovation." Even though I have a supply of wood to last for 2 years I still want the propane for back-up in case the Hardy quits working...you know, redundancy.
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That's all for now. I notice my clothes smell like wood smoke! Ah, the joys of heating with wood!
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OWB

Ash, The Firewood Of Kings

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I was having another boring day at my day-job...you know how that goes. My cell phone rang and it was my friend calling...he owns a huge farm out my way. The township had cut up a bunch of ash trees by the power lines on his property and the crew took the extra step to cut them into firewood length. They left them laying by the side of the road. "If they are still there after you get home you can have it all," he said. Hmm...free wood...ash...laying by the side of the road...sounds like Disney Land for OWB! The remaining time at work crept by...I watched the clock go tick, tick, tick...Oh I hate the anxiety of waiting...would the wood be there when I got home? Is it really ash...the greatest firewood on earth...The Firewood of Kings?
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I got home, loaded up the truck and drove out to his place. No less than 1/2 mile from my house was the freshly cut ash...all piled next to the road. It was all there and it was all mine! Major score! Small victory for the Ohio Woodburner! I love ash. It is an absolute joy to split with a maul, it seasons fast, and burns hot. Around these parts, if you are the type to sell firewood you can get a premium price for split ash...its that nice to have. Here is a picture of one of the two heaping loads of ash I got this day.
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I normally remove my tool box from my truck when I haul wood but this ash was literally a half mile down my quiet country road I live on. I was able to cram a lot of wood into the bed on each load since I wouldn't be driving out onto a main road. Below is a picture of the second load after I unloaded. When cut, ash is white in color and doesn't have much aroma. It is a pretty dry wood even when green so it can get pretty powdery when you are cutting it with your saw. I recommend you clean out your air filter after you cut up some ash because the small dust can clog it up.

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Here is a picture of the second load after I dumped it on the ground. In the background you can see some fresh split cherry. This was split by my Fiskars Super Splitter and was a lot of fun. Cherry is a blast to split...still not as fun as ash...but cherry, to me, has the best aroma of any wood when its cut or split. It is addicting. Sometimes, when I'm not busy I will walk out to my wood pile and smell the split wood. On certain days when the wind is blowing from the perfect direction, I can catch a whiff of my wood pile when I'm working in the barn.

Ohio's weather is still cooperating with me and my wood acquisition so I am continuing to bring in wood whenever I can get it. I have yet to fire up my OWB because we are supposed to have 60 degree weather next week. I am heating with propane until the day I fire up the Hardy. I plan to keep cutting, splitting and stacking before the snow flies and moth-ball my truck for winter. I will probably fire up the Hardy H2 next weekend. Sounds like a reason to throw a party.

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OWB.

Bringing Home The Heat

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A neighbor of my parents had three trees that were dying and he asked if I would cut them down for him...I could keep the wood. On the face of it, this appears to be a good deal but if you have cut down trees before you quickly realize that cleaning up all the limbs is a HUGE amount of work...and if your time is valuable...the wood you gain is not enough to off-set your labor. But, in this case, the old neighbor is a friend and I was happy to help. This gave me a chance to run my new Dolmar 7900 and use my Fiskars Super Splitter on the large rounds I cut. The trees were a big black cherry and two ash. Both of which make excellent firewood. I love both cherry and ash, they are a joy to split and I love the smell that cherry gives off when its cut and split. My buddy next door offered to bring his backhoe over to help me fell the trees. I would cut and he would push with his machine. They were too close to the power lines for my skill level as a tree feller so I was grateful for his help. Here he is with his machine waiting for me to put down my camera and fire up my saw.

We got all three trees safely, and quickly to the ground and from there I fired up my Husqvarna 346XP and started limbing.

The ash tree is closest to me...the cherry is in the background. Please note my personal protection equipment (PPE). My helmet with face screen, safety glasses, chainsaw gloves, chaps and steel toe boots. Please do not run a saw without your PPE.

I was able to haul away three truck loads of firewood from this job. Again, the branches were a pain. I had to pull them to the middle of his yard and make a large pile to burn at a later date. I did get a lot of wood. I noticed many of the other neighbors came out to watch. I'm sure they were checking out my saws and thinking just how cool I must be!

Below is a picture of the wood once I got it home to my house. I pile my wood next to my Hardy H2 outdoor wood boiler (OWB). One of the benefits of an OWB is you can dump your wood next to the furnace avoiding the need to lug it into the basement. This saves a lot of back breaking work. Not to mention you keep all the bugs, dirt, and ash out of your house. The cherry is the darker wood on the right. The ash is to the left. It is much lighter, almost white when split.

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I hope you have been doing well and have been getting in your wood. I have a feeling the cold weather is just around the corner.
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OWB