Snow came back for a short while, and now the wind has kicked up. Thought for sure I saw the wicked witch of the west fly by the patio just now.
We did hit 40 but temperature has been falling. Wind is howling. Still way too much snow and ice around. Amazed though that this coming Thursday we are predicted to be in the 60's!!!!! Hooray!!!!!
I projected a major deficit sometime around the first of the year and split up some rounds I had kept putting off in January sometime. . About 2/3 cord of EWP and 1/3 cord hemlock. Except for a couple select large splits I'm not into it yet - about a week away. Will come in handy shortly. Gotta move some of it into a shed so it is dry(er) though. Should be enough. Unless I'm wrong again.
35*--71* Cloudy and windy here.Maple and 2 pieces of not ready yet Ash. I'm surprised by the amount of water coming out the ends. We are also looking at about 60* on Thursday.
Still dealing with mostly below normal temps for time of year, with a few days that were decent. Sitting at -15 C or 4 F at the moment. Looks like it's finally gonna break (wonder how many times I said that this year?) tomorrow and bring in above average temps. I sort of expect 15-20 mph winds to make it not half as pleasant though. Rough poplar keeping the shack warm in these temps with ease and wood consumption is a lot less.
36F feels like 26. West wind at 20-25MPH. Rained overnight, hard, no snow yet though. Really crappy out. Just shoveled ashes out of the boiler & re loaded with Pine. I too need to put up more Pine than I have in the past. Hate to burn good wood in the warmer weather.
Where’s your sense of adventure! Once you get used to it, it’s easy to fillet them right off. The bonus is no big limbs to deal with or cut for firewood.
I'm going to hit up a few poplar, the downed basswood, and I've already got a good start on a few box elders because I too see the need for more of the not so crazy high btu stuff. That big silver maple I got from the neighbor will be really good for next year.
I ran all the way to New Years on Silver Maple & did really well. Then it got cold & I went to Oak etc. Most of the wood I've been burning was split small for a wood furnace 3-4 years ago. I'm guessing now that I'm splitting bigger I'll use less in the boiler.
The spruce may have a lot of branches, but as you said, they are small, and using the top side of the bar you can walk up the tree and quickly clear the branches off. Also, with no side beams, the trees are easy to fell where you want them to go.
Pushing 6" now...if we aren't there yet, we will be in a short while. Winds picked up but not even close to what Well Seasoned has!
I slice the far side with the top of the bar from as far under as I can reach. Around to the topside as I roll the saw then cut the side I am on the the bottom of the bar, while cutting as far under as I can reach. Take a step forward, and cut in the reverse order. Not much wasted economy of motion, then buck and transport back to the truck/trailer.
He has the right principle but lots of wasted motion going after individual limbs. He skips a few has to come back to them, and didn’t clear underneath. I let the 25” bar do the work, and try not to reach as much. I more/less skin around the trunk with the bar, move forward, the bar length. Good video, with a light saw/short bar it just may look like that skinning a spruce down.
There is an instructional vid somewhere, may even be on this site posted some time ago, that shows the technique spot on. This one is close enough and gets it done without using that much more time.
I use the top of the bar a little more and tend to roll the saw on the trunk so I'm not lifting the weight of the saw so much. He does a bit of poking/dipping which although it can help you keeping the cuts close to the trunk is a bit of wasted motion. You can move right along though.