Hand Tools and Machinery for Country Living

[SteveP]

I have been going through more firewood that usual this year.
Have never used the woodstove in November before but we had a big cold snap a few weeks ago... used it for a solid week...
Big snow up here now... 20" in the last 3 days... firing it up.
I just use it for back up heat... It's nice and warm... Vt Castings stove...
This year I will run out of wood for sure.
I should be set for next year though w a couple of cords drying now.

The firewood thing is an interesting seasonal project... this year, next year.
how much will I use or want?
The stove will use quite a bit of wood though.. when you keep it running.

[rwsaunders]

Jorn...a couple of pair of safety glasses or hard hat with a face shield, good hearing protection, steel toe boots, protective gloves, Carhart overalls and a Filson jacket and pretty soon you’l be singing Monty Python’s “I’m a Lumberjack”...good tarps for the wood and keep the wood elevated off of the ground. I use old hardwood pallets to elevate the wood and they last a few years. A longer term solution would be some old steel pipe or channel with some vertical stops welded to the pipe.

I did have a sliver of steel jump from a wedge and slice my cheek when I was splitting wood years ago. Makes you appreciate the safety glasses.

[Too Tall]

Thread spike warning.

Hey, with all that lovely fresh wood laying about you need this: Fungi Perfecti | Home

I did this at our last house with some fresh oak with outstanding results.

Ok back to spending Jorn's $$

BTW listen to RW and others advice re training using Saws. You can learn a lifetime of respect in one afternoon.

[j44ke]

I have a tutor with a chainsaw and a woodchopper all lined up for first semester.

Husqvarna gets good marks for their safety equipment. Seems like it would add some safety to hunting season too.

[monadnocky]

^^^ Looks like the guy's single-handedly equipped for de-foresting the Amazon.

I have a Husky saw that I purchased from an Ace rental center, of all places. They were apparently going to replace it with a newer model, and the salesman offered it to me for $50 when I returned it. Best bargain ever. I'm learning how to sharpen it properly (and file the gauges down as well) and that's been key. I should purchase more safety equipment, really - all I wear right now are heavy jeans, gloves, safety glasses and earpro. No excuse, really.... I know that, given infinite time with the saw, something bad will eventually happen.

OK... so this weekend I'll head over to the dealership and get some chaps.

[ides1056]

How I cut firewood:

In the spring well before the trees leaf out I fell them and wait for the leaves to grow and wither. Then cut to length and split and pile in a mound in a sunny location. In the fall I put the wood on pallets with T-posts at the end of the pile to keep it from collapsing and cover with sheets of tin weighted down with rocks. This will result in dry enough firewood to burn that year. Ash is the easiest to split and season. The Emerald Ash Borer is going to kill many if not most, so if you have Ash handy, burn it.

I haver a Husky 40, a Stihl 028, and an O44. The second is a good all-around saw. Light enough to work all day with. The 044 is heavy, but just blows through everything, especially with an Oregon chain- not a safety chain, and not for the uninitiated. The Husky is also good all around: great for limbing and bucking the smaller stuff, which is most of what you should be cutting. I split everything with maul. Whatever is too big I use an American Log splitter to break up. I'd just as soon have quiet as not, so I leave this to last. A five-horse Honda motor gives me more than enough splitting power, and there's a removable four-way wedge I can use for smaller logs to save time.

[fortyfour]

@Jorn: I own a set of Labonville Chaps. Pretty simple straight forward attire. I have had plenty of conversations with buddies who are loggers/arborists and when talking about chainsaws/cutting techniques, etc, one of the first questions they ask me universally is "You have chaps, right?"

[monadnocky]

How I cut firewood:
The Emerald Ash Borer is going to kill many if not most, so if you have Ash handy, burn it....

Sad but true. If you have ash, you're going to lose it. Just cut it, buck it, and be done with it.
Heartbreaking to see all the formerly magnificent, blanched-out dead ash trees around here (central NH). I take a particular pleasure in stripping the bark away from my ash logs, having a borer larvae fall out, and tossing it into the woodstove.
Hey, it was going to go in the woodstove anyway.
Little bastards.

[j44ke]

@Jorn: I own a set of Labonville Chaps. Pretty simple straight forward attire. I have had plenty of conversations with buddies who are loggers/arborists and when talking about chainsaws/cutting techniques, etc, one of the first questions they ask me universally is "You have chaps, right?"

That's the name! Someone told me they have what I heard as Bonneville chaps. Clears up the mystery. Thanks.

Yes, I saw a demostration of chaps-meet-chainsaw on The Old House and that sold me on the idea.

[Too Tall]

I've been cutting for years with chaps, gloves, glasses and ear protection...but I could have had a nifty looking hard hat/eye protection/ear muff combo.

Thanks ?

[fortyfour]

I've been cutting for years with chaps, gloves, glasses and ear protection...but I could have had a nifty looking hard hat/eye protection/ear muff combo.

Thanks ?

Honestly, the only reason I wear a helmet is the convience that it combines face shield, ear protection and a thin layer of protection in the event of a kickback. Better to have something for it to bounce off vs bouncing off my noggin. I'm rarely felling or working around areas where their could be a overhead danger. Mostly bucking/limbing and the combined faceshield/ear pro is nice to have in one package.

But if you're doing trailwork and clearing trail with a chainsaw, there is always a chance there's something you're not seeing from the ground. A good friend was taken out by a limb caught up in the canopy. It's quite a story. His new pup pretty much helped first responders locate him deep in the woods. The new trail he built is aptly named "Dart" as he was medivac'd out to Dartmouth Hitchcock.

[Too Tall]

YOIKES!!!!! Widowmakers give me the chills. Thanks K.H.

[j44ke]

Yep, there are whole trees and half-trees hung up on our property that I stay well clear of. You never know when they'll let loose, especially on weeks like this one when we've gotten a ton of snow.

Always clear your escape route before cutting. I learned that a long time ago.

Sounds like Mr. Pennoyer didn't have any warning at all though. I think that story strongly suggests that I get a helmet and a dog.

[CJones]

Will To Live: The Gary Edinger Story

[Mabouya]

Always clear your escape route before cutting. I learned that a long time ago.

And think ahead of time about what will happen when stuff comes crashing down:

[j44ke]

I knew this already after looking at lots of axes. Amazing that what with all the different axes available, some of them quite expensive, the Fiskars X27 for $40 is what gets recommended to me the most often - by a wide margin.

edit: That GIF above makes me cringe every time. Please tell me his saw didn't decapitate him.

[Clyde]

I don't think so he's still kicking. For sure in downed trees there can be immense energy stored that is released when you cut. Looks like that tree kicked up an already downed limb. Ooops. I always looked for an escape out of any situation with a clear area to chuck that saw if things went sideways. Interestingly the only couple of times I touched my skin with a running saw was when attempting to clear out brush. Nothing medically I couldn't handle at home but looking down at your torn pants and wondering how deep it is pretty well suxxx.

[monadnocky]

I knew this already after looking at lots of axes. Amazing that what with all the different axes available, some of them quite expensive, the Fiskars X27 for $40 is what gets recommended to me the most often - by a wide margin.

Yeah I've used the Fiskar's and it's just fine. No better than the cheapie $20 Home Depot POC that I use, but certainly no worse.
I'm kind of amazed at the whole artisinal axe thing (I read the NYT piece yesterday). I mean, I get it, I guess.... I ride expensive bikes when a $350 bike would certainly work. But it's an axe. It's designed to chop/split wood, and hardly delicately at that. I get the impression that people who buy (curate?) these things have never swung an axe in their lives. Up next: Bespoke crowbars!

But don't get me wrong- they're certainly pretty, and a thing of beauty is nice to own.

It's four degrees F here right now, gonna go out and split some wood with my $20 splitter now.

[ides1056]

I have a tutor with a chainsaw and a woodchopper all lined up for first semester.

Husqvarna gets good marks for their safety equipment. Seems like it would add some safety to hunting season too.

That's the Assos of woodcutting outfits. You would be laughed out of the woods by any logger.

Nevermind you'd be sweating like crazy.

Stihl or Husky is just a matter of preference. Both are very safe, as much as a chain saw can be. Stihl has led the way over the years. But the controls are set up differently and when you choose one stick with that brand because you will become adjusted to the way they are set up, e.g. where the shut-ff switch is etc.

[NorTX-Dave]

But it's an axe.

I have a couple of axes....one with a hickory handle that's been replaced once and a cheapie fiberglass model - a Husky brand I think. Maybe I've just bought the "Fiskar hype" but I think the Fiskar splits wood better that conventional shaped axes.

I've shown my wife the next bicycle I want......and her response is (and has always been)...."But it's just a bike!"