96 Dodge Ram 1500 & BigTex 70TV hauling firewood

[Mopar1973Man]

Well back at it again. Buddy down the road called me this morning and wanted to haul firewood. I was considering just buying a few cords but being the waiting list is too long. I'll just hop out and get a load. So hook up with him this morning...

[hex0rz]

...that's one thing I regret not asking you when you were up here; help tune my saw. As I'm sure your pretty good at that, and probably could have learned a thing or to on how to sharpen better.

[Mopar1973Man]

Rather good with tuning saws and sharpening chains. A matter of fact this same friend this morning sharpen both saws for me on his little Harbor Freight Chain Sharpener. Works really good and does a excellent job of re-tuning a well worn chain back to specs again.

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/electric-chain-saw-sharpener-68221-8346.html

 

As for tuning the carburetor on a chainsaw you have to be careful with the mixtures screws. L mixture screw you want to set it so it idles smoothly. H mixture screw you want to be on the rich side. If its too lean it will starve the engine for lube oil and over heat it rapidly. This is hard to explain in words on how its suppose to sound as you start from over rich working back lean there a particular sound of blubbering you'll hear then light fade it back. But don't go for absolute perfect smooth once again it will be most likely to lean.

[hex0rz]

Yea, I have thought about getting a bench grinder. I have a hard time spending money on any harbor freight power tool item though as I just don't trust them.

 

I was told I needed a tachometer to tune the saw?

[Mopar1973Man]

Most of us don't even own a tachometer we just do it by ear.

 

As for the grinder for $40 bucks that's rather cheap. As long as you only taking small bites at the chain shouldn't be any problem. Also the grinder is known for weak grinding motor but that's a good thing because it not strong enough to over heat the chain cutter and take the temper out of the metal. Just sharpens.

[joecool911]

My next door neighbor bought a new Husky. Gave me his old MS440 with 32" bar. Thought it had a bad motor. Ended up being a bad clutch. So $100 later I have an $1,100 saw. He's got 3 extra chains too for me. This thing is a beast! Dropped a 135' Douglas Fir a few weeks ago. Awesome!

The wife loves limb wood. Some of the branches were 5" diameter and 30 years old. Got out my chop saw for those. I hate cutting limbs to size with a chainsaw. Wish I could figure out a fast/safe way to do it besides the chop saw. Puts a lot of miles on it. This is our own property, so we gotta clean up and burn debris anyway. Might as well burn in the woodstove. Cuts down on fall slash burning duties.

This tree was 55 years old. Had some pitch cracks in it, which are discounted or culled at the mill. So makes awesome firewood! Notice that we laid that sucker right down the gravel side road and didn't hurt a thing!

Edited September 1, 2014 by joecool911

[Mopar1973Man]

Nice. Red Fir is a good firewood. I just tend to lean away from using solely a primary fuel. Kind of like diesel engine with a huge set of injectors and small turbo. You get lots of smoke and lots of heat. So I tend to mix up with some lighter BTU firewood to offset the fuel amount. So I can easily start a morning fire and warm the house with some Alpine Fir or Spruce where it doesn't get too hot and require a choke down of the air of the stove. Just food for thought... I really do hate having to clean a chimney in December...

[joecool911]

We augment with what I get at work. Apple, plum, lylac, rhododendron, maple. We can go 3 years before cleaning pipe. Fir (Pseudotsuga menzisii) also leaves very little ash. When dry is my favorite wood. Good dense rings and lights easily. We use cedar as kindling. We only use 3-4 cords a year. 3-6" limb wood is premium stuff. Almost hardwood.

[hex0rz]

Yea, everyone up here in my area raves over the red fir...

[Killer223]

Mike, is that tree dry enough to burn this year? or do you split n let it dry for a year or so? we had a nasty forest fire here a few year back and can go get some wood next year, miles n miles of fer, i do not know what kind of fer though. i thikn spruce also.

i usually burn 1 1/2 cord aspen, 1-2 alligator juniper, 1-2 dry oak. we have to let the oak sit for a year or two before it dry enough to burn. and that's with it being dead n down before gathering it.

Im not a fan of Pine. mostly ponderosa, very pitchy and really makes cleaning the pipe 3-4 times a season a PITB!.

[Mopar1973Man]

Mike, is that tree dry enough to burn this year?

 

Yes Sir... Ready to be burned as soon as it split.

 

do you split n let it dry for a year or so?

 

Not really typically get most of my wood in spring and let it sit all summer in the shed curing. Already got 7 cord in the shed now.

 

Im not a fan of Pine.

 

Pine and Red Fir are close in the BTU numbers. Tamarack is actually better wood but hard to fine out here.

[Killer223]

thanks.

of these

 

• Ponderosa Pine forests
•  Mixed Conifer Forest
•  Spruce-Fir or Subalpine Conifer Forest

what would you go after. as half the mountain on the east side burned.

darn it not all of the txt pasted in...

• Ponderosa Pine forests — The elevation of ths zone ranges from approximately 6,000 to 8,500 feet (1,800 to 2,600 m) above sea-level. The dominant tree species is the Southwestern Ponderosa Pine (Pinus brachyptera Engelm.). Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) is a common associate of the ponderosa pine at lower elevations in the forest along with New Mexico locust (Robina neomexicana). At higher elevations, associates include southwestern white pine (Pinus strobiformis), Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir, (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca), Rocky Mountain white fir (Abies concolor var. concolor), and Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides). The average annual amount of precipitation in this zone is 18 to 26 inches (460 to 660 mm).

• Mixed conifer forest — The elevation of this zone ranges from approximately 8,000 to 9,500 feet (2,400 to 2,900 m) above sea-level. Species such as Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca), White Fir (Abies concolor), Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis var. reflexa), Blue Spruce (Picea pungens), and less commonly Southwestern White Pine (Pinus flexilis) form mixed stands in this community, with Ponderosa Pine (Pinus brachyptera Engelm.) joining the mix on warmer slopes. The average annual amount of precipitation in the mixed conifer forest is 25 to 30 inches (640 to 760 mm).

• Subalpine conifer forest — The elevation of this zone varies from approximately 9,500 to 11,500 feet (2,900 to 3,500 m) feet above sea-level. The dominant tree species of this zone are Englemann Spruce (Picea engelmannii subsp. engelmannii), Corkbark Fir (Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica), Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) and the Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine (Pinus aristata).^[10] The average annual amount of precipitation in the subalpine forest is 30 to 40 inches (760 to 1,020 mm).

• Alpine tundra — The San Francisco Peaks are the home of the only alpine tundra environment in Arizona, occupying 1,200 acres (4.9 km²) above 10,600 feet (3,200 m).^[11][12] Only a few small herbaceous plants have established themselves in the tundra. One of these species, is the endemic and threatened San Francisco Peaks groundsel (Packera franciscana), which is found nowhere else in the world.^[13][14][15] The average annual amount of precipitation in the tundra is 35 to 40 inches (890 to 1,020 mm).

 

gimme ideas what the best to go after.

Edited September 2, 2014 by Killer223

[Mopar1973Man]

The tough part is you need to see what the BTU value is of each. Some people base it solely on BTU levels. this why Red Fir and Tamarack (Larch) are popular out here is because they are the top of the BTU list. You should base your firewood on you BTU requirements of your house. Like early winter we need a light BTU wood that burns rather clean when choked down. Then come December and January we need some seriously fuel wood that has the BTU's. Like Red Fir and Tamarack. So like if you build a fire with Red Fir and choke it back so you don't roast in the house then you have a problem with sooting or creosote build up. Each house, size, chimney length, family preference of temp, etc plays a role in what to get.

 

Then you need see each species of tree for characteristics like splitting and cutting. Some of the other trees I tend to look careful about is knot density and limb size. Great to have a good piece of wood but sucks if you have to chainsaw it up because a 20 or 30 ton log splitter won't break it. I've walked away from beautiful Red Fir trees for some thing like Alpine Fir because of the limbs where too thick and knew my splitter would never break it.

 

There is other factors I look at too like debris amount each has. It's nice to have a good piece of wood but I hate to have to rake up tons of barks and wood debris to have to burn it off or haul it off. I to be shedding debris the whole trip from forest, splitting area, wood shed, to the house and have to clean up after it every step.

[IBMobile]

I've got one of those Harbor Freight chain sharpeners. I bought it on sale a couple of years ago.  My son says It works great, fast and easy to use.  I have a Stihl Farm Boss with 20" bar and 3 chains to keep sharp.

[Wild and Free]

^{Must be nice to be able to pick and choose what one cuts for firewood, here on the plains we take what we can get and be happy we have something other than cow chips  .}

[hex0rz]

^{Must be nice to be able to pick and choose what one cuts for firewood, here on the plains we take what we can get and be happy we have something other than cow chips  .}

 

See, ND is not good for everything!

[dorkweed]

^{Must be nice to be able to pick and choose what one cuts for firewood, here on the plains we take what we can get and be happy we have something other than cow chips  .}

 

When I move up there, I still plan on burning wood.  My take some more scrounging.................

[Killer223]

Sounds like a great buisness opertunity to me. Cut in a nearby state haul in then sell it. A nice big trailer. Could work...

[joecool911]

Yeah, propane becomes problematic when it gets really cold. Plus propane is a wet heat. They don't call it liquid propane for nothing. Wood dries the home out instead of adding moisture. But transporting is expensive. And having the wood burn ready (seasoned) takes time. Or just get customers thinking ahead and buy in summer to let it season. But it's also hard work! Might be work for an 18 wheeler instead of a pickup with trailer. Or railcar. That's the way the nursery industry has gone.

Shrink wrapped on a 4x4 pallet would be 1/2 cord. Load with a fork lift.

Edited September 5, 2014 by joecool911

[IBMobile]

Here in the great state of Confusion, the Government wants you to buy it where you burn it or burn it where you buy it. This is so bugs and diseases  don't get moved around. Right now I have about 6 cords of pine, eucalyptus, oak, and who knows what in the mix.