Started in on the big red maple Saturday. I chose poorly where to drop these logs in relation to where they would be split. Saturday was the bigger rounds. Only had to roll them about 20 feet. This wood is all for the stand. Proceeds Back at it yesterday. Had to roll some a bit further. What I had when I'd had enough. Got a few shorties out of it. And more Jenga pieces. What I staged before quitting. It's there wiating for me. Whittling it down. Will be starting on the blowdown mess soon. Probably after the ground gets hard I hope. It'll be worked in the lower yard. I've mentioned log editing when bucking before. Here are some examples of edits. They aren't really worth the fight to me. Sometimes I'll mash them up in the splitter but sometimes they get rolled over the hill. I make plenty of chuglies even after edits already.
I like burning gnarlies, shorts, and uglies when it's questionable if a fire is really warranted. Then I don't feel as wasteful.
I like that term...editing logs. Thinking I'll start doing the same. I try to flush cut knots and split so they can stack up well but some are knot pretty after they go through the hydro. Sorry for the bad pun!
Around here big gnarly sugar maples are a dime a dozen. Popular yard. sidewalk planting years back. The main trunks are a knotty, gnarly mess. Great dense firewood if one puts in the effort to turn it into firewood sized pieces. Ill noodle them to size rather than try to use the hydro. Have a few hanging around I need to get done.
PITA for stacking and haulage is my beef with them. I need to see if the guy who bought a truckload last year wants any this year. Gaining on a cord of them at the moment. Half of that is stove dry. I used to chuck all of them. Started keeping for personal 'camp wood' but don't burn enough to keep the pile at bay and it continues to grow.
It sounds kindof lazy to me but I do take out the obvious junk so I don't need to spend all the time wrastling on splitter just to have some uglies when done. This is why my logs are surveyed and painted for rounds. I guess I'm scaling my firewood logs. lol I realize that I am living a life of 'luxury' being able to do so. Sugar maple is my personal nemesis when speaking of a maul or axe. I have been defeated by quite a few sugar rounds in the past. Not had any of size lately. I usually only make noodles when I know quartering with the maul is completely futile. I have a Chestnut oak that will likely need a lot of noodling. I might get lucky because chestnut is amicable for splitting, but it's a pretty good sized trunk...as big as I ever run into really.
The couple times I've had CO it split real easy fresh cut. My favorite oak smell. I like nice stacks so I avoid gnarly logs to begin with and if it makes us wood snobs so be it.
