My boss cuts a fair amount of wood. His style is to cut but use his saw where others would split. He lays the saw bar in line with the grain and sections it. He says he knows it's unusual but it works for him. Around here I see the term noodling. I assume this is the same thing. Anyone else do a lot of cuts like this? How does it work for you?
Same thing. Works well for getting big wood into manageable sized pieces. Cuts way faster than standing a round on end and trying to cut it that way.
I do that with really large rounds that need to be broken down to move them and hand split, and also crotches or knotty pieces that can't be split by hand. Your boss cuts his wood to firewood size like that? That seems like a colossal waste of time, fuel, and wood
Maybe he Just likes the sound & feel of a running chainsaw & big pile of noodles Nothing wrong with that .
This might be the better description. He loves his Stihl saws and loves running them. I think he'd rather burn some more gas and file a few more chains than bother with splitting. It helps that he has a free source of unlimited bar lube. I'll have to check out his handiwork sometime - if he's leaving the split pieces fairly thick then he might not be losing much wood. When I was saw shopping last year I was between a 346xp and the 261. He didn't say much but I could tell he was offended by the idea of me buying a Husky. David
I hate noodling. I hate cleaning it up. Rounds roll, makes it much easier to get them across the yard. In my case it's easier to dump the crap that won't split and call on Mr. Tree Man for more. Noodled pieces tend to nest together in the stack. I was taught the pipe trick for splitting larger rounds and can avoid noodling that way also. Rant over.
It can be a very good way to make some stuff a lot more manageable to load on a truck or trailer. All I have right now is a smaller saw with an 18" bar but I was able to slice up a very large maple trunk by noodling it down. Might not work this way with bigger saws, but I found keeping the dawgs an inch or two away from the wood keeps my saw from clogging even with the tip buried. Now I just need a bigger saw..
Agreed. With most pieces I think it would be easier to split by hand. I noodle once or twice a year. The few pieces that won't hand split get put in a pile to get noodled at my leisure. Not my favorite part of the wood process but not bad either.
Splitter vertical. Reinforce the ground around the splitter plate with a sheet of plywood or some planks. Put a piece of 1" pipe on it. Roll big azz heavy round to splitter and plop it over onto the pipe. Pipe acts as an axle under the round. Might take you 1 or two rounds to get the placement correct but once you do it it makes it about 10x easier to handle the round. Instead of being embedded into the muddy ground the round is highly maneuverable with a pickaroon or pulp hook. I've managed it with up to 40" red oak. Having a little slope to help make rolling the round a bit easier. Obviously it isn't going to help get a round up into a truck.
Now I remember the "Pipe" trick. I've been doing that since you last posted that. Just forgot the name of it.
Throughout my life, I can honestly remember noodling only a couple times. Once was to make a slab out of a short log. Don't think I'd ever enjoy that again.
How's it work for me? Pretty good I'd say.... I do this when needing to break down large/gnarly rounds/stumps/crotches that are near impossible to split.Dont waste much time killing my back with the sledge/wedges or the maul.Stuff that the X27 just bounces off of. But mainly its roughing out shorter blocks/slabs for future woodworking,bowl blanks for the wood lathe that aren't worth setting up the Alaskan mill for. Plus its a blast to be knee deep in shavings in a matter of seconds,much more fun than standing there pushing a lever back & forth. The shavings are great fire starter - I keep 2-3 big bags full in the shed,a handful every morning does the trick.And all the rest is used for mulch & filling in low spots around the processing area.Great to walk on,very kind to your feet.