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Firewood |
| After the Derecho of June 2012, we had a few downed trees. So that got cut, split, and seasoned prior to it being moved to Porta-Shed. Most of this batch is Alanthis Weed Tree and Locust Weed Tree. I guess they are pretty shallow root, which lets them fall down in the wind. Better and way easier to take downed trees than to down up-trees. |  |
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Getting ready for the some firewood preparation. I use the trunks from trees eight inches or larger, most of which I've already cut up. Here, you see the Rebuilt Husqvarna 51 which I use for most of the junior bucking (bucking is what you do when you cut logs into shorter logs about 18" to 24" long. The Husky 51 lets me practice chain sharpening and engine tuning and doesn't neurotisize me everytime I put the chain in the dirt. | ||
| That metal thing in the log is called a maul - that's cause it mauls logs like a Grizzly Bear mauls loggers. The new split wood, here mostly Alanthis, will go on the layer of old wood in the foreground. It will rest in for a time in the wind and rain, which is called seasoning. That's cause it needs to go through plural seasons before its ready to make BTUs. |  |
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That's a bunch of the new wood piled in the vacant spot. Notice the wood to its left is black or dark brown. That's cause its been seasoned already. | ||
| A week later (Dec 2, 2012), going back for some more splitting, stacking, and transporting. I cleaned up all the old locust and alanthis as well as some old oak, letting me drive the "Firewood Express" straight through. Something to keep in mind if your nose works: Split oak smells like horse; split locust smells like cow. |  |
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Here is Porta-Shed back in its winter home, all loaded. Lucky it has ties between the walls, lest the walls fall off. The little wagon waits patiently for the next load. | ||
| Here's me surveying the results (resting). The camera was on one of the stacks of wood. The wagon is about loaded for another trip to Porta-Shed. Note I have my "shaps" and "shorts" on. It was about 45 degrees, that day in November 2012. |  |
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On Dec 22, 2012, I went out to check out this Stihl 028AV Super (the one on the right). It is about a 43cc saw, putting it in a bracket one level below the two Husky's. Still no real big saw (65cc or over). It seems to have a carburator issue, dumping in tons of fuel and wetting the plug to the point it won't start. | ||
| Here's my little chain sharpening gadget. Its a little Fred Flintstone car that lets the file roll at the right height relative to the chain cutter. This picture shows the file against one of the left hand cutters (the tip is below the picture). The little gadget works better than my eye. |  |
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This is the result of the Flintstone Cutter Sharpener. This is probably not the best cutter to show, but I like to highlight my faults. See the little verticle white line on the right side of the cutter? It has a little break in it which makes it not real sharp. I believe the other cutters are a bit better than this. When it cuts, it chucks out big ole chips instead of dust - that's a good sign. | ||
| Here are the two Huskys. The top is a Husqvarna 346 XP Light Saber. It doesn't have too many hours on it yet since I'm cutting mostly dirty wood with the Husky 51 below. Its actually a Chinavarna 55 now, since I put a new Chinese Cylinder and Piston in it last year. But it does real well. I pulled the plug and it is perfect milk chocolate brown. That means its not too rich or too lean. |  |
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This is a Stihl 028AV Super. Its a 43cc or so saw. Its about 20 years old. Its in great shape, except for the carb pouring gas into the sylinder unrestrained. Also, the chain needs some cutter sharpening. | ||
