Maintaining wood length ??

I've been known to steal my kid's sidewalk chalk to mark with. I just use a scrap pice of rough cut trim cut at 18 in.

 

I have a buddy that I cut with sometimes. He burns outside so doesnt care how long his rounds are but tries to eyeball for me. We cut on steep terrain so he doesnt cut square ends either. I usually use the stick in the woods, or a tape measure and sidewalk chalk or sometimes I use my bar to measure. Im able to get most of my larch accurateish to 18" for my overnight wood and my doug fir and pine are cut to 17" for daytime burning. That mingo marker thing looks neat but it would be hard on my back to walk bent over to roll it along the trunk so I wouldnt buy one.

 

Wow;
Thanks !!!
I've used most of the methods spoken of so far .
But haven't used the Mingo
Or the AccuMark.
Both of which I plan on getting and trying.
As I go thru a fair amount of wood each year. And none of the wood I cut for firewood where I live is very big. It adds up to LOTS of length cuts.
Yesterday when I got home from work , I dug my 10" sliding , compound chop saw. As the load I got this week is poles, most of which are under 4" diameter. It worked fine.
I Really Do need a Cordwood saw !!!

 

I'll have to post more pics.

 

I need one of those holders.

 

Me too, those crayons are sure fragile. I'll start out with a new one and end up with a pocket full of pieces...

 

Interesting that this came up. I have been experimenting with attaching a cheap laser pointer to the top handle of my saw. To calibrate I made a mark on a log X" from the end and fiddled with the dot until it appeared on the end of the log with me holding the saw in a ready to cut position. Then I went down the log cutting and just "pointed" at my last cut. I keep thinking that a laser sight from a pistol with a mount is my next step.

 

I just saw the Mingo Marker on "Outdoors with the Morgans" youtube channel. Was gonna mentin this one. Looks pretty cool. But I honestly usually just eyeball my cuts. But that's why my stacks are not very pretty. Consistency makes nice pretty, sturdy stacks. Probably gonna mark my saw bars though in the future.

 

When I first started cutting (and didn't know any better) I tried to just eyeball everything. I was not ever close, and most the time way to short!

 

The thing that drives me nuts is cutting to length always leaves little stumpy pieces that are just don't seem useful at all. And then they end up in my junk pile rotting away or burned outdoors in the pit. I hate wasting wood I spose I should find a way to properly store and dry all those shorts and then throw in an existing fire maybe.

 

Smalls work good for "spacers" and splitting up for kindeling

 

By the way, I have a wheel for marking 20" lengths with the Mingo I'll sell for the cost of the postage.

 

I remember seeing, a year or 2 ago, Stihl had a laser felling sight. I believe it was an accessory and only available in Europe at the time. Just point the laser dot where you wanted the tree to fall and cut!

Not the same thing you are talking about but you awoke a memory.

 

I scribe a line on my saw bar at 17", then swing the saw, lining up the mark with the cut end, and eye balling a spot on the tree, using the tip of the bar.
I prefer 16-18" wood, this gives me what I want

 

My brother had a Mingo Marker-worked well until he broke it. I have one of those crayon holders from Baileys-works well.
I forgot about measuring and marking with a hatchet. Those what my dad started with me when I first started cutting wood. He could eyeball everything but I was all over the place!