Leaky Logs Won't Blow

 They get it, but it takes a little work at the end.

Back To The Old Grind!

Hickory Tastes Good!

 

Here's a cerambycid beetle!

Making Wood!

 Susan and I have seen exactly one mill like this, in Michigan.  I wonder how many there are in the U.S. 

Back To The Old Grind!

Update: I found the original video on YouTube>

No Log Too Big!

 Once in a while a really big log will come into a mill, too big for the carriage, too big for the blade to cut through. Sawyers would use this method to bust a log in two so it could be sawed. Powder is a bit pricey nowadays, so don't let your trees go over-ripe on you!

Assess Weight and Lean Properly

 I have heard through all of my forestry years to go up to a tree, hug it and look up to see which way it leans. You will see trees going in unexpected directions on YouTube videos when people listen to that advice. Put a heavy nut on a string, or use a straight stick for a plumb to assess where a tree wants to go.  View it from two sides and you will have the info you need to drop a tree where you want it, and be in a safe place when it falls.

Another Earth Day,

Another load of wood.

 

A Little Forest Products Utilization...

 One of the best excuses for being a timber grower is wine and whiskey barrels. You gotta love it, even if you don't imbibe. The smell of white oak is delicious, and addicting even without the alcohol.

Am I Knot Amused?

 Who hasn't been at least a little fascinated with knots and knotholes in lumber? A knot is just the cross section of a branch that is surrounded by wood. As long as the branch is alive, its wood is joined to the wood of the stem of the tree. When a branch dies, the tree continues to grow, surrounding the dead branch with wood. There is your loose knot! When the dead branch drops off, the tree will hopefully grow around the end and seal the opening from insects and rot. A sawyer cutting for grade rolls a log after placing it on the carriage, and reads the knots. The first cut is made to isolate the clearest wood in a face, and to isolate the knots into other faces. A skillful sawyer can make good money for a mill owner. Susan and I like to look inside the wood after we make our splits, and we do pay attention to where the knots are. Wood splits much easier if you go around the big knots. They are tough. Firewood splits easier when you split from the bottom to the top, so laying wood onto the splitter involves a quick assessment of every piece. 

Building Crane Mats

 

Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam II: Advance Rumely On The Sawmill!

This Advance Rumely provides some great stack talk for us to enjoy as the sawyer pulls through some big cottonwood logs. The edger provides some good sound effects, too! Rollag, Minnesota, September 4, 2022.

MMMMM.....White Oak!

Wow! You gotta admire this couple!

 

Back To The Old Grind!

Holy Cow, It's Earth Day Again!

 I will most certainly go out and celebrate by whacking a tree or two today! Every time you cut a tree you create a place to grow a new one!

Height Measurement Made Easy; Biltmore Stick Hack

Hmmm...Needs A Blower And A Ceiling Fan!

How Does A Barberchair Happen?

 Here is a great example of a barberchair, and the guys cutting this tree had no idea it was coming. There are a couple of factors that contributed. The opening in front of the hinge was too narrow. The opening should allow the tree to rotate downward on the hinge nearly to the ground. When the butt of the log hits the stump, the tree will stop motion, rip the hinge apart, or the log will split lengthwise, making a barberchair. You will often see long fibers on big stumps, and that is caused by the narrow opening. The other problem was that the loggers were aggressively pounding wedges in the back cut while the hinge wood was too thick. They may have started the lengthwise crack, but the tree started over with a hinge that was much too thick, and then the opening closed. 

Make your face in front of the hinge at 70 to 90 degrees, make your hinge the right thickness before cutting the backstrap, use wedges to stabilize the tree, and then to tip it over. Know your escape routes if your plan falls apart. 

Here's Something You Won't See Every Day!

 Lisa went to St. Louis today for her follow-up appointment at VSS. She checked out OK, but is going to stay on meds for a while in case of residual infection in her bones.  As we left St. Louis we were behind a load of walnut logs.  That was a nice treat. 

You Can't Live Without Them!

 

Back To The Old Grind!

How Many Ash Trees Will You Be Cutting?

 We have a bunch of them! Ash pops up all over the place, especially around edges, so we will have a good supply this winter of stove sized ash that needs just one split. Remember that these edge trees are usually way off balance.  Don't get your head knocked off by a barberchair.

The Great Outdoors: Gather Next Winter's Wood Starting Now!

We have let both stoves go cold, and we might not light up again until next October. That's just five months, and the woodpile in the barn is only enough for a couple weeks of cold weather.  The weather now is perfect for cutting.  It's warm enough that we can work in shirtsleeves, but cool enough we don't work up a sweat.  Before you go out and do your necessary chainsawing, review your safety procedures.  Here is the list I use:

Chainsaw Safety  Rules

1. Always wear your safety gear when running your saw: hard hat, eye, face, hearing protection, cut resistant protection for your legs, heavy boots, gloves (depending on work conditions).

2. Safety devices on the saw must be in working order: front hand guard,chain brake, chain catcher, throttle lockout, and right hand guard.

3. Hold the saw on the ground or lock it between your knees for starting. No 'Drop Starts.' Set the chain brake before cranking.

4. The engine must idle reliably without turning the chain.

5. The chain must be sharpened properly, including properly set depth gauges.

6. The chain must be adjusted to remove slack and still run freely.

7. The operator must understand the forces on different parts of the bar as the saw runs: push, pull, kickback and attack.

8. Both hands must always be on the saw when the chain is running. The thumbs must be wrapped around the handles. Both feet should be firmly planted on the ground.

9. The operator must always know where the end of the bar is, and what it's doing.

10. Don't let the upper (kickback) corner of the bar contact anything when the chain is running unless the tip has been buried with the lower corner.

11. Let off of the throttle before pulling out of a pinch on the top part of the bar.

12. Make a plan for every tree you cut. Assess hazards, lean, escape routes, forward cuts, and back cuts. Evaluate the forward or backward lean, and the side lean of every tree you cut. Know your limits.

13. Clear your work area and your escape path of brush, vines, and other hazards that can trip you or catch your saw.

14. Escape from the bullseye when the tree tips. 90% of accidents happen within 12 feet of the stump. Go more than 15 feet, and stay out of the bullseye until things stop falling.

15. Keep spectators away more than twice the height of the tree in the direction it will fall.

16. Don't cut alone.

17. Keep your body and the swamper's out of the line of the bar in case of a kickback.

18. Set the brake when taking over two steps or when moving through tripping hazards. Keep your trigger finger off of the throttle when you are moving.

19. DO NOT operate a chainsaw from a ladder! Operating with your feet off the ground requires special training.

20. Do not cut above your shoulders.

21. Springpoles must be shaved on the inside of the apex between the ascending and descending sides. If the apex is higher than you shoulders, stand under the springpole and cut it low on the descending side. It will release upward, away from you. Leaning and heavily loaded poles that are too small to bore cut for a hinge should be shaved on the compressed side until they fold.

22. Do not cut a tree that is holding up a lodged tree. Do not work under a lodged tree. Think about a mouse trying to steal the cheese out of a trap.

23. Instruct your swampers and helpers to NEVER approach you from behind or the sides to within the reach of your saw when you are cutting. If you pull out of a cut with the chain running, or have a severe kickback, the swamper can be killed if he is coming up behind you!

24. Quit When You Are Tired!

25.  Pause and review; reflect, when you are being pushed. You may be pushed into danger. Do not let pressure to complete a task cause you to ignore safety rules!

Most of these rules carry a penalty of serious injury or death if you choose to ignore them.  You might get away ignoring some of them for a while, but eventually they will bite you. In my video below, I was at the end of a long day and was tired, so when I cut this lodged snag loose, I did not step back.  I saw the top snap and come back at me, but there was no time to move out of the way.  It is a good lesson for anyone who uses a chainsaw. 

Still Learning About Wood

It looks like we have enough wood under the eaves to get well into March.  All the wood I process now is going into the barn. In years past we have depended heavily on black oak snags, which are pretty well seasoned out when we cut them.  We have learned over the years that wet black oak will dry well enough in about a month to make a good fire. Black oak is one of the red oak group, and the spring wood is made up of large pores, which allow water to evaporate out quickly.  Trees in the white oak group close off their pores with tyloses (This is why white oak barrels can hold fluid.).White oak and post oak need a couple years in the barn before they make a good fire. 

This year we have a bunch of logs on the ground from the pipeline clearance work done last spring.  Many of those logs are cherrybark oak; one of the red oaks.  They do not dry quickly as I thought they would, even though they have the open pores in their spring wood.  I think it is a function of the width of the growth rings.  Black oak will have 8 to 12 rings per inch, but the cherrybarks are much faster growing, and they will have growth rings 3/4" wide, and sometimes wider.  All that dense wood between the spring pores hangs onto its moisture, and after a month of drying split wood under the eaves the cherrybark is just beginning to show seasoning cracks.  That will speed it up a bit, but it will be at least another month before I want to try burning any of it.  Split a piece and check it, and it is damp. 

Hickory is a dream.  I have been blocking those out, bringing them to the house and splitting them.  The big chunks have seasoning cracks in them by the time I haul the chunks to the house, just an hour after they have been cut.  Split them and stack them, and in a week they have lots of cracks, and in a couple of weeks they burn with a hot blue flame.  We are cutting wood a couple days every week, because that hickory needs to be put in the barn.  Leave it out and hickory is a smorgasbord for the bugs, and it turns to dust.  White oak logs will be the next priority to shelter, because it takes a long time to dry.  The logs from the red oak group will be the last ones we put away.  They have more insect and rot resistance than hickory, and they will dry fast once we put them under cover.