Just to show I'm not only participating in the jokes... This year's delivery was late. Called them in February, but then we got slammed with more snow. Then they were not in my neighborhood. Finally got wood dumped on Tuesday. Mostly black locust. Big one on top was 32" diameter. Come along strapped to an oak 30 ft away or so to the rescue. The rest (some) maple and a bit of cherry. Hate the vines... But it's free. wood. What can one do... Say thank you and work. Essentially no rot, so the wood is good. The 4" thick vine layer on that big log sucks, but at least there was no sand in it, just "compost" and vines. A reasonable pile of uglies, shorties out of the picture that'll all go to my elderly neighbors; they dump it (don't stack it), and are happy with getting split wood (or wood pieces that are cut small enough for their small VC). They happy, I happy. Likely going to be about a cord to them. Cutting in 78, and today 85 F is no fun... But I'm almost done. Apart from the splitting... Maybe I should ask a friend to borrow a hydraulic splitter, as I'm not looking forward to this (I have a X27 and a Fiskars maul) in these temps...
Locust! Did some one say locust? That's a sweet load of wood. At least those vines aren't poison ivy! Its my understanding black locust is fairly common on LI? Hydro yes. Making firewood in this early heat is not fun. Got a pop up canopy and fan handy?
Yes, I think it's two cords of locust (tho my estimates are known to be unreliable...), one cord of maple and 1/2 a cord of cherry. 20 yard truck. All free. Didn't even get a chance to tip the driver because they came when I was out. Dropped it exactly where I wished (and had drawn on the blacktop with old chalk from the kids.) It's fairly common here indeed. I think pitch pine (pine barrens), oak, and locust are the most common trees here. At least non cultivated. Vines are normal (Hedera), so no issue. No canopy. Just a hot driveway... Could have done that, good idea. though moving stuff around gets harder then. Hand Splitting of course not possible under a canopy. If I can get a splitter then maybe Saves my neck from sunburn too...
Nice!! And the Price is Right too! No shade at any point in the day? I dunno about there, but it's supposed to cool off here next week, starting Sunday. If you get a stubborn round, just take the saw and cut in about 3-4," go to town with a wedge n sledge...it'll split.
Loved that BL. At first I thought wat the heck - no fire - no flames. And then hours (and hours + hours) later it was still coal and making BTU's. Not much for a light show, but it turned out to be my favorite far-wood, back in the day. Great score there!
Yeah, the weather is going to be better. I won't be able to speed thru the splitting if I do it by hand, have to start being a bit careful with the back... So it'll warm up again before I'm done. I'm trying to leave one log in tact,.debark it but not cut it up and split it yet. Maybe I'll try to cut a post out of it or so. I've had a few wheelbarrows of locust before but never burnt a full load. Always added two or three splits the a load of oak when it was really cold We'll see - next year as then I have 3 year old locust and oak, 2/5 locust and 3/5 oak. One more maple log to cut.
32" below the bark and vines. Not entirely circular, so varies from 28 to 34 " of wood depending on where you measure.
One thing I think is so cool about BL is how the "round" can come in some bizarre shapes. A few years ago I cut several 2" coolies from some and my stepdaughter used them as walkway pavers as it lasts for decades.
These are hedera vines. They don't affect me. They do affect my wife but only if she touches them extensively. It's not poison ivy,. luckily. I like the cookie paver idea! But for that maybe my 20" bar isn't ideal, as I think it's best to be able to cut them in one go.
All.cut up and out of the way as far as it can go. Now the splitting, but tomorrow it rains. Some vines still to clean up. I left one log,.8 ft or so,.in one piece. Scored it over length thru the bark 4 times, hope the bark comes off that way. Maybe I'll try to cut some lumber or posts out of it. No mill, just playing around by hand. 14" dia.
Thats a beautiful sight. Yeah leave the bark on log in the sun and you might be able to use an axe or spud bar to remove it. I've band saw milled some BL. Have yet to use it for anything. And yes a long bar is nice for cutting cookies in one pass.
