A crappy morning turned out not so bad. But I'm still in a funk and venting here. A friend of mine told me he saw a log right at the edge of the road in the park by my house. I was like ok I'll check it out, but when I got there it was a 7 foot length of Ailanthus with about 16 inch diameter. Not great wood, but it was mostly dry and it needed just one cut in half to take. I was there already and so I went for it with my car right next to me, I cut it in half. It took a minute being rather thick for my saw and i had to roll it once to complete the cut, but when I looked up I find a Sheriff blazer pulling up to my rear. He was a young kid and asked me what I was doing in a manner that sounded like I was cutting trees down. This pizzed me off since these guys patrol thru there every 4 minutes and would see the log lying there. So I kept reminding him it was a long dead log which he responded back like he seemed to understand what I was doing still I didn't like his verbiage. He checked my licence out and told me this is a warning, but made it a formal warning taking my information into the computer. I told him it was ridicules and he could have just told me to be on my way and he seemed pretty annoyed that I wasn't happy enough getting off easy. Oh well...the park is officially done for me. Driving off in anger, (but I still have much love for the police) I didn't want to go directly home defeated only to hear my wife saying "I told you so!", so I went to the dump to see if the town dropped off any these trees from the park. Again the dump was an impossible 20 foot high pile of recycling bags with branches mixed in and a swamp mote underneath. Across the street on this industrial road is a place that makes window parts and has a dumpster with a few pallets. I was just looking when the man on a fork lift asked if he could help. I told him I was just looking at pallet wood for possible burning if it was free to take. He said I'm welcome to take, but he doesn't really get too many and pointed me to another source up the road where there is an AC and duct work factory. He said they have unending supply of pallets and they would be a more than happy to let me scrounge, in fact he said I will find myself going back over and over. So I drove there and asked the desk staff if this was indeed the case? to which they replied- a couple people already take them, but anytime you see pallets help yourself. I never really dealt with pallets before, but always hoped for a steady reliable source to help me through winter since I have limited yard space to season all I need. These were mostly the long style pallets about 7 1/2ft x 4ft made of pine and poplar, with some maple and oak pieces here and there. Trying to find the fastest way to process them it took me a while cutting up three and I even chipped up my blade hitting a wandering nail that took a turn inside the wood I started thinking "Is this really worth it???". However I persevered and by the last pallet I figured out the most efficient way to to dismantle them in much neater fashion and safer to my chain as well. With a heavier framing hammer I will now keep in the car I'm sure I'll become very fast at it also! So this is now going to be my never ending source of ready seasoned wood. Even though its not great wood, its right by my house on way home from work where I can come take or leave it as I need! As it stands now there is still currently about 35 pallets left there, but three was all I wanted to play with a this moment. So maybe this Sheriff incident was meant to be since it sparked off a chain of events which lead to a more lasting opportunity for me??
We always look on the bright side of life! I would make a steady diet of pallets too, if they were close, plentiful and easy to process. I got some cutup oak pallets once, and I opted to take them apart rather than cut them up further. That was a pain, but they sure burned nice! I'm sure you will develop a system. At least they are dry!
Is that cast ironwood? were those free for the taking? Gotta weigh up fast. A few bucks at the scrap yard. Last time i went a couple months ago steel/iron dropped to 5c/lb so trip wasnt worth it.
Too bad about the cop and losing a wood source Urban Woods . I know you'll never be wanted for "impersonating a wood hoarder"!. Ive been approached by cops while cutting roadside. Worst was on the median of an interstate cutting a white oak log the state had recently cut. This was over ten years ago. The cop asks me howi planned to pull out into the left lane into speeding traffic. He wasnt amused by my response of "very carefully" Rather than ticket he turns on the flashing lights to allow me to pull out. He wouldnt let me finish cutting the log though. I go by there often and chuckle as its still there. Some times they are cool, other times not. I try not to create a hazard and have been meaning to get an orange cone too. Can you get permission to go back in the park? A permit? Its an ongoing evolution of wood sources and we have to adapt as Midwinter has put it. Pallets can be good burning. Shoulder season & kindling. Usually already seasoned as well. I still have access to 3'x8' hardwood pallets from one of my suppliers. Made of oak and sugar maple with full sized 2x4's and 1x6's. They are HEAVY and inconvenient. I would get them for the fire pit and/or camping but now have plenty of other scraps for that purpose. I used to scrounge hardwood pallets wghen at the lumderyard and i had time. Once i got a mahogany pallet. Not wanting to burn it, i took apart and made an adirondack chair for a now ex GF. I use a circular saw for cutting pallets. Now have a Dewalt cordless saw with 5 batteries (used for work) to cut them up. A bit slower, but cleaner and carbide saw blade doesnt dull if i hit a nail now and then. Many bad experiences hitting nails (even being extra careful) with a chainsaw so i dont do that anymore. Seems i hit enough nails and metal stuff in regular logs! Great that you asked at the pallet source and got permission. Did you get the persons name who you spoke with at the desk? I have the name and number of the guy where my honey hole is so if someone questions me on it.
I went back for a fourth load of poplar, I knew I'd regret it if I didn't. There was more left than I estimated, I didn't get the top bit of trunk. Just starting... The bit to the left I didn't have room to take... It's only poplar, but it's very nice poplar... Yeah, yeah... Now I have some splitting and stashing to do. It was a good outing, excellent log cutting practice for me. I asked the homeowner to call me if she or a neighbor has any more downed trees they want taken away. There's a lot of nice hardwoods in that neighborhood, newish homes on big lots up against the woods.
you didnt disappoint us. I knew you couldnt resist that last load. I wouldve gone back too. Nice, clean plus you can cut to your size and good practice. Get it while the gettins' good. Did you ever consider selling wood or doing chain saw work part time etc?
Not selling it, I don't need the money. I might give some away to a deserving individual. It's a retirement hobby, and it satisfies my NEED to HOARD! Me doing part time chainsaw work is pretty laughable.
Great work Midwinter! You are definitely a hoarder, but also a solid work horse. As usual your wood working is always quality from cutting to stacking.
Haha, very funny! Well at least you got in trouble going for primo wood! It didn't sit well with me that such a low grade wood was what eventually took me down. I should of just left it where it was, but since I already made the trip and had what I thought was such a quick and easy score I went for it. And no there is no issued wood scrounging by permit in this park, I looked into it years ago. It's a manicured city park much like Central Park, in fact it was the same architect Fredrick Olmsted who designed Central Park that designed this one. There is a Lenapi Indian reservation trail park about 45 minutes from my house that issues these permits, but thats just too far for me and there are lots of stipulations and rules about when in the season and where you can collect the wood. It didn't sound very practical or interesting to me, but if I lived nearby it I might get the firewood collecting permit. I like your idea of cordless circular saw! I am on the Rigid line of cordless tools, but I don't have the circular saw. May be a good time to get it.
The circular saw works good and is convenient, but dont expect to cut a lot with one battery. I used to be able to process two average sized hardwood pallets on one 18volt battery. Dewalt no longer makes the 18V. My tools are 15 years old. I got the adaptor so the 20V can be used in the 18V tools. Was cross cutting PT 2x12's with it couple weeks ago. The battery has to cool for a while before you can recharge too which can be a PITA when you're working. Although looking at the pallet scraps you just got, it may go pretty far.
Yeah, the 20V circular saw isn't the greatest thing. It's perfect if you have a few cuts to be made, but that's about it. It will do nothing but frustrate you for hoarding.
More red oak shorts and what I believe may be highly valuable black walnut. It did have a weird chemical smell when split. A shot of the status of my honey dump. A lot of oak shorts there with some punky sections.
Thats a real nice little HH mrfancyplants I could see myself doing the same before work. How close to work is it? Has it ever made you late?
I have 5 batteries so i can go a bit. I seldom use my corded saw anymore or any corded power tool for that matter. I was helping my contractor friend build a shed on his rental property and he had his corded saw. Im so used to using my battery one that i didnt even hook his up. He was surprised how many 2x4's i could cut as well as plywood. We did use his to cut the rafters though.
