Now that I got everything cleaned up again, I decided to make another mess. Had this guy standing right where I'm planning on putting the garden next year. 18" standing dead ash. I was thinking about this tree all weekend, because I could see it while I was shoveling up debris into the trailer. It was too windy over the weekend for me to be comfortable attempting it. It was tall enough to hit the garage if it fell straight towards it. There was a slight forward lean to it, into the frame of the pic. Just a couple degrees off from where I wanted to go with it. I couldn't go straight away from the garage, because there were more trees in that direction it could likely get hung up on, and that's not the way it was leaning anyway. I could see the red pine at the back corner of the garage, so I knew where that was. There was a nice little 10-12ft oak tree near the lay that I wanted to miss, but it was hard to see from the stump. So I was basically aiming to put it between 2 little 15' poplars. Nailed it. I have a little time left before I'm burning full time. So I'm looking at more than a month before I can start refilling my current stacks. I do have some more pallets though. Time for a new stack! There's really only one thing you can do to deal with firewood addiction anyways...
Looking good bro. Nice felling also. I'll come help u with that.. The more the merrier. Get it done ASAP.
dawg, that looks like the amazon jungle down through there....I'd have to machete some of that crap outta the way so a country boy could move around down through there....
You're learning, that's a good thing. If you plan on dropping some trees invest in some felling wedges, and check out some youtube videos on plunge cutting - it's a fun process when you get good at it. The notch should be a bit deeper - from your pics another ~1-1.5". A leaning tree will fall towards its lean regardless of notch cut(unless you intend otherwise), but they will barber chair, on occasion, if the notch is skinny - less likely with a dead tree, but you never know what's inside There's not much better feeling than dropping a tree within a few inches or dead on a stick stuck in the ground of where you want it to go....well admiring it all split and stacked may trump that
Nice work Shawn Curry. Good drop. How much wood do you go through in a year? What do you burn in? I will need to go out and drop some Ash soon. I have a brother who wants some firewood for late winter/early spring. I will have to oblige him and sell him some cheaper than he can get anywhere else. The Ash dries quickly.
I have been learning a lot from you guys. Part of the reason I'm here. I probably know just enough to be dangerous.. I did use a plunge cut and a couple felling wedges. Maybe I did just get lucky because of the lean. Lived to learn another day!
I have an older canadian model stove, heating a 1300sqft ranch. I don't know exactly how much I need; this will be my first full year. I estimated about 3 cords or so. I have 3.5 of softer stuff ready to go - about 2/3 maple and 1/3 poplar. Shouldn't need this for a few years.
Yep, there was a huge PI vine on this one. Seems to love my ash trees. Luckily I don't really get it. I'll strip the vine off before I haul it out.
So I think I was pretty close on the "hinge length = 80% of diameter" method. https://www.baileysonline.com/PDF/chapter_2_55_to_59.pdf In the future, I'll still take your guys' advice and make it deeper. I have another even easier one I could practice on this weekend. About the same size as this one, and it's at the edge of the woods; with plenty of room to drop it - 180 degrees of zero obstacles. Worst obstacle will likely be inside the tree - I expect to find an old nail or two from posted signs, given it's location. I'm a fast learner. And I appreciate the constructive criticism. Don't think I'm doing too bad for a rookie.
Shawn, on the felling wedges, I know lots of people use them a lot when felling and again when bucking. However, it is very rare for us to use them although we do have them on hand if they are needed. Most times people tend to try to get too technical. They read about the pros and many times we find they are cutting the big stuff out in the Pacific NW. When you are felling a 20" tree, that is much different from what they are doing. We believe in keeping it simple as much as possible. So how often do I use a felling wedge? I can remember 2 times in the last 15 years or so. I have never used a wedge when bucking. If the job is done right, the wedge is not needed. In addition, back in my logging days, I remember a couple of fellers who never carried a wedge! They were older guys too and had been working at this for many, many moons. Maybe I learned too much from them?
Methinks in your area you might want to reconsider that 3 cord or so. I'd guess 4-5 cord, but that is just a SWAG.
It is a fairly new home (1986) and its insulated well. Sort of a circular floor plan, and I think it was designed to be heated with that wood stove. I put a box fan on the floor in the back hallway as a cold air return, and that does a pretty good job at pulling the heat to the other side of the house. If I am short, ill probably pull from some of the ash I got from my neighbor's house. It was a massive tree with a lot of tops, and I think it had been dead for a while. I actually pointed it out to my GF while we were walking the dog a week or so before it fell over. So that may be the next driest pile I have. I saved that saw log so that stuff was all tops. This is the first time I've actually *needed* the wedge. Perhaps i had a poor notching technique and left too much hinge. It was also a little back weighted, opposite the lean, so maybe it was really well balanced. It didn't sit on my saw at all, it just didn't want to tip over. Thought I would run out of wedge actually. Had to drive both of them all the way in before it finally gave up.
Well I'm gonna reclaim most of that Amazon jungle area back there. It's a bit wider than the garage, and longer, so maybe 50'x70' area. Not sure if it will all be all garden. Just gotta resist the temptation to turn it into more wood storage...
