Just found this forum today, my name is joe and i live in western ny... about a hour south of buffalo and 15 minutes away from Lake Erie. I’m 37 years old and been cutting and splitting firewood for home heat for about well all my life lol.. My grandpa had a combo boiler in his house and that’s where I started.. Now he’s gone and my sister lives there and there still burning wood.. iv got a combo wood stove with a blower on it for my heat.. iv never sold wood as it’s to much work... iv got a fransguard winch on a 45 horse new holland tractor and run sthil saws. 066,029,028 super and a 021.. here’s my wood pile so far this spring.. iv got a bunch more to split but I’m in the road construction field and I go back to work on Monday... so it might have to Wait until fall. Just wanted to say hi... from ny..
Welcome to the land of wooden heads! Looks like da hoardin' bug don bitted you hard! Dey ain't no cure fer dat bite neither! But don'ts you worry none we all gotts da same bite! Some great folks here and they're all willing to share their knowledge and expertise with other members.
Welcome to the forum bulldozerjoe . As Ralphie Boy said this is a great forum with a great bunch of folks as ive learned since mid February. Great choice in saws. My first Stihl was an 028 Super my late uncle gave me in 1985 when i was 17. I now have a 290 and 460.
Nice connection to have. My father-in-law in Columbia County, NY has a smaller version of that mill that he offered to give me, but, unfortunately, I have no place to put it.
all my saws are around the late 90s early 2000s........ id just keep them in tip top shape..... other than replacing the sprockets there pretty much orginal
the 028 accidently was run on raw gas bulldozerjoe and was toasted. Bought a 026 in 1993 and that died in 2010 then i got the 290. My next will be a 261. Dealer showed me one back in January and I fell in love with it. Id like to try the new 500i when it comes out in the USA
the 066/660? Ive never run anything bigger than my 460 bulldozerjoe . Had never used a "pro" saw til i got it February of last year. $40 for the powerhead and maybe $400 total into it now between bars/chains, tune ups etc. Love the saw!
Here’s my spliter, dad and I built it in the middle 80s, we’ll probably just dad as i was a kid.. it originally had a 16 horse tucumsa engine but after 100s and 100 of cords it popped last year... I replaced it with a Honda v twin at 22 horse
Here's mine bulldozerjoe . Broke my other back in March and they stood behind the lifetime warranty. Ive split by hand since i was in diapers!
buZZsaw BRAD with all the scores you’ve posted since I joined it amazes me that you split by hand. if you keep scoring like you have been sooner or later you’ll have to go hydro. If you had to deal with all the elm I do you already would have.
If i took all the wood ive come across, yes id have a hydro Sandhillbilly Lots of ,what i deem, unsplitables. That is wood that is hard to split by hand, gnarly, knotty etc. And yes of course, elm! Although i have scored freshly cut green elm in the Winter and to my surprise it split easily. I scored some what i now think is red elm a couple winters ago. It was green, heavy and tough to split even when frozen. My landlords friend had his hydro splitter over and he ran a couple thru it. I looked at a score Sunday, literally right around the corner from me. It was behemoth (3-4' diameter) silver and sugar maple. Lots of noodling and gnarlies. I passed on it. Ill try to keep on top of splitting so i dont have many cords of rounds. I know my limitations with the axe. I dont mind working hard, but not killing myself. If its too hard, the chain saw takes care of it. I guess im fortunate to have access to a lot of wood and can pick and choose. Although a few years ago i couldnt score a truckload of wood to save my life! The wood gods have been very good to me the last several months as i like to say. Joining FHC has helped as well. (I think) Gives me the extra incentive. Didnt it do that to you as well if im not mistaken? Also, because i rent its the logistics of having a splitter. Storage, moving, gas, maintenance. I cant use the saw much down in my processing area as my landlords wife is homebound and they complain about noise. Splitter would do the same. Maybe someday!