I studied the pics of that trunk and doesn't look like a whole lot of rot. Plus it appears it will generate some decent splits. I hate gnarly splits.
IME where those leaders grow together the bark rubs and rots. The splits will be gnarled because of intercepting growth rings
I had one giant end up giving me 5 cords… 1 tree! And I could pull right next to it with the truck and trailer. Totally worth the time suck for one years worth of heat.
I agree I would definitely get sugar maple! I would get as many rounds off end of that mess.. noodle heck out of it and leave what’s left of the crotch piece in woods
I am all caught up processing logs except one butt end of a pretty good sized silver maple yard tree. It came from just across the street and 2 doors down. Green it was all my skid steer wanted. I haven’t decided what if anything I’m gonna do with it. I don’t think a 36” bar will reach clear through it. Got some twist to it. Might buck it into shorter than normal rounds and split it into several totes. I know it won’t make very visually appealing or neat stacking splits. Stepson thinks I should practice carving something. Because he has 3 big silver maple yard trees to come down and thinks we should leave the trunks and carve something
I had scored a good sized silver maple years back that I couldn't hand split and ended up noodling it into chunks. IIRC I bucked them shorter to load on the truck. What is your normal stove length split?
Both good ideas. Saw a nice coke bottle on an island off the coast of Maine. About 15’ high as memory serves. Good beginner project
18” is what I cut the vast majority of the time. Unless I get a special request for a different length, which is pretty rare because I don’t sell a lot. Been thinking about going back to 16” but that leaves a lot of space in my stove.
The last time I split big Silver Maple I put it on my do not take list. The last mega Sugar Maple yard tree I got turned me against big Sugar Maple. When the next big Sugar Maple presents itself I’m sure I’ll take it, but I can’t say the same for Silver. I split a big straight Cherry today that was Heaven compared to the crap I’ve been working through lately. My burn pile is growing faster than I can burn.
Yea, I've had (3) spine surgeries so I shouldn't be doing half the stuff I do. I should start quartering more rounds than I do. I just don't like taking the time...but I guess the time is well spent if it keeps me out of the OR.
I wore a generic back brace for a year and it helped. Had some disc issues and had to be careful. Not a big fan of chunking down rounds with either the maul or noodling, but in the end it does make it easier to handle them a second or third time. And I can fit a bit more in the PU when chunked down
Never heard that term before. Is that the same as a what I call a knot nub? Basically where a branch was cut off and you slice it flush with the round?
3 I’ve only had 2, but I have some rebar along each side of my spine, so that helps I make lite of it sometimes, but I know that I have been blessed and extremely fortunate to even be walking let alone get along as well as I do without any pain
We cut a 67” maple years ago. Boy that was a big tree. We burned that wood for 2-3 years. Found a rail road spike that was driven to the center by the Colfax tornado in ‘58.
Shame she didn't have the branches chipped so you could get to the logs. I'm one of the few guys that tackles the big trees IF a tree service delivers it. I can cut up nearly anything as long as I can move/lift with a skid steer. Otherwise, I wouldn't walk next door to mess with it.
I'm right there with ya. I've got (6) screws, (2) rods, and a plate holding mine together. And you're right, just happy to be able to do what I still can!
