Growing my own heat.

[tomf]

I have some downed trees that I am cutting up for firewood, this one is 150 feet long so it is a big tree. I have about 30 feet to finish cutting and dragging up the hill. Going up and down this hill and cutting the logs is a work out. I always bring two or more saws in case one gets stuck, I am using the big one with a 25" bar. I have been pulling the logs up the hill with cables, pulleys, and the tractor. The orange pole thing is called a peavey, it is for rolling logs, I put a lifter foot on it for lifting logs off the ground for cutting in to chunks.





Looking down the hill, that log way down there is actually very big.






Log I pulled up the hill.

[DoubleDogFarm]

It's a shame we are not neighbors. They look like straight, mostly knot free logs. Posts, beams or siding.

I like a Cant-hook better for moving logs

Eric

[gumbo2176]

It's a shame we are not neighbors. They look like straight, mostly knot free logs. Posts, beams or siding.

I like a Cant-hook better for moving logs

Eric

I was thinking the same thing about how straight the log is. Too bad he doesn't have access to a large milling band saw to make dimensional lumber out of it. Looks like quite a few board feet in that trunk.

[tomf]

I mostly use the peavey as a cant hook, if you look at it you will see the barb on the side of it, I use that more than the point. This is the biggest peavey cant hook I could find, and I added that log lifter foot to it. STIHL makes two sizes I got the big one.
When my next door neighbor built his house he had to bring down some old growth trees. He also cut a few trees for wood, some nice cedar as well. He had a portable mill capable of milling the old growth brought in; it was a good sized mill, diesel powered. He used the wood in he new house, so he had to get the wood certified, the inspection cost $200. Also my tractor is not going to pull 30 foot logs up that hill, ten foot logs are the most I could do and on some of the larger cuts I did about 6 feet to 8 feet. I would love to get some beams out of some of the wood but it will keep us warm this winter, and I will not have to burn oil.

[Francis Barnswallow]

My dad would be so jealous if he saw this topic. He loves to use the fireplace during the colder months. Every time a tropical system comes through my area, I'm roaming the streets looking for firewood.

[tomf]

You would not need much wood down there.
I pulled up the last of the one tree today, it was 32" at the butt cut. Now to buck it, and split it, and haul it, and stack it.

[applestar]

If I'm understanding this right, a slice of that trunk could be a small tabletop.

It's a dilemma -- most people couldn't get their hands on trees/raw potential lumber like that even if they wanted to, but from what you are saying, most cost-effective use of this tree for you is to chop it up into firewood....

[tomf]

Yes it is the only thing I can do, getting up the hill side is not easy. I have seen some one use the chain saw kind of log mill guides they work some what ok. Dougfirs are big trees, I have a lot of them bigger. I do not plan on logging them, I just take the ones that fall, or die.

This tree is down the road from us, they can get bigger than this even.

[DoubleDogFarm]

She didn't want her picture taken. Why did you twist her arm.


Eric

[tomf]

She did that skiing, a woman on a hill she did not belong on skied out in front of her side ways across the hill, and she hit the woman. The woman did this without looking up hill to see on coming traffic, I may add.

I got the one tree all up the hill, ready to cut into length, this is the pile of logs.





The skid path from towing the logs up the hill.



This is some of the gear I used, I put the chain around a tree up above and used bark and sticks to keep it from digging into the trunk. The snatch-block pulley is my large one. The red thing on the cable hooks onto a clip on the end of the cable to wrap around a log. This first photos shows how the snatch block opens up, and closed.




125 feet of 1/2" cable.





The log roller head up close, it is a peavey, a cant, and a log lifter in one.

[tomf]

Yes; this would be nice lumber, you can see the grain, Douglas Fir makes very good lumber.



Here are some more trees that came down with that tree, I will get them latter, first I must cut and split what I have.





This one is a good size, but not as big as the other tree.



Does this look like fun?

[DoubleDogFarm]

It's called a choker and the path "skid row or skid Road"


Eric

[tomf]

I started to cut and split the logs today. I cut them long as both of my wood stoves are big and I can get 20" chunks in my smaller one, this is faster than cutting into the standard 16"s.
Chains come in different kinds, the two main ones are safety chain, it is made to no kick back if it gets hung up on branches, and an aggressive chain; to cut the logs I use the non-safety chain. When the sell a saw it comes with safety chain. I trade off chains depending upon what I am doing, I never limb, or use the non-safety chain any place but where it is clear of any thing to hook on. I added this as a safety warning!

[DoubleDogFarm]

Most saw are sold with Semi-chisel chain. Full chisel is vary aggresive.

Eric

[tomf]

Yes, my Sthils came with safety chains, the hardware brands I own have very wimpy chains, but they are safer. Some saws have a tip guard on them making them useless to me. I think a lot of people do not know how to use a chain saw, I have seen lots of home owners cutting with the chain right in front of them, and no face mask on. If it dose kick back it is going for their face! I stay to the side as best as I can, and use safety gear. Legs get cut a lot, depending upon what I am doing I use logging chaps. A few close calls made me respect chain saws.

[tomf]

It sounds like you have done some logging, or wood cutting Eric, do you heat with wood?

[DoubleDogFarm]

Tom,
I do not heat with wood but my brother next door does. Here's a dump cart we built. It rolls on a 15" gauge rail. The corner you see is a wood fired boiler that heats his house. In floor water heating.

I'm doing some repair work. He drives over to access his greenhouse and compost pile.


Eric

[tomf]

That is way cool! Love the mine car.

[DoubleDogFarm]

We used this car on a landscape job in town. We built a temporary incline railroad. I will email the brother and see if he can email back some photos.

Eric

[applestar]

Are you saying there's a little RR track between your two farms?
How do you "drive" the car?

[DoubleDogFarm]

Are you saying there's a little RR track between your two farms?
How do you "drive" the car?

Apple that's the big dream scheme, but No.

Currently he has two parallel tracks in his shop floor. They go out the back to a turntable. From the turntable, one line goes pass the greenhouse / chicken yard / compost pile / plant nursery down to the boiler. We recently moved this rail slightly down hill so we could continue the grade pass the boiler to the back of their house. This rail will continue down to his vegetable garden and second chicken yard. On this same line, from the turntable, you can go the opposite direction through the firewood shed / propagation house / lumber drying / shadehouse. Most of the grade is around 1 to 2% but we will push it to 3% if need be. I think we have enough material to install another 200Ft of rail.

No locomotive or mules at this time. It gravitates towards the boiler and we push on the return.

Eric

[tomf]

Eric with your skills you could build a small locomotive out of a riding mower to pull it.
One summer as a kid I found a set of train wheels ( 4 wheels that were a swivel) in a creek near an abandoned amusement park. A friend and I pushed it home.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Tom,

4 flanged wheels together sounds like a "truck".

My brother and I, over Sunday sourdough pancakes, have discussed many different ideas. I think we have decided on a double ended locomotive that one would stand in. Fairly low to the ground so easily step in and out of. Not sure if he has decided on electric vs gas

Still waiting on pictures

Eric