They replaced a bridge about 1/4 from my cabin , construction crew had to cut a bunch of trees down for the new build. Drug them 200 yards up the road and piled them up. Bad news is some of the trees are not good firewood species, some are huge, and they are dirty from the drag on a dirt road. Good news is, there is a lot of wood and easy access. First day I cut pieces right off the pile. Big mistake. Fresh snow made it slippery and they were so jammed together tough cutting, so I started hooking a tow rope to the logs I wanted and pulled them out. Makes for easy access to clean log off and cut. Got 4 pickup loads so far. Picture shows pile with a couple I just pulled off for cutting.
That's decent wood, especially so close to get. Now the bummer is the dirt on it. Maybe hit that tulip poplar after it rains, and use a chain that's nearing the end of it's life?
Yeah, my thoughts too. What I have been doing is sweeping them off with broom, then going along with a scrub brush and cleaning off the dirt. Takes a little extra time but chain stays pretty sharp. Also, have been cutting smooth bark species like black birch and red maple, so easy to clean off. Some of the rough bark stuff is really caked with dirt.
On public land so any one can buy a fuelwood permit and cut. So far though, it has only been me and one other cabin owner.
That’s cool. How much is a permit? CT doesn’t have anything like that. We do have a state lottery for permits to cut on state land but it’s very limited. And the only other permits I know of are a silly self issued “origin of wood” permit that you’re supposed to fill out and carry with you every time you move wood, processed or unprocessed.
Permit is good for 2 weeks, $20 a cord. They mark some standing dead trees near the road, but any dead stuff is really fair game, or anything on the ground. Honor system, no one really measures how much you cut in two weeks. However, I don't abuse it, sometimes get a little less or a little more than a cord.
I skid and cut muddy wood all the time. I use semi chisel (stihl 33rm) And make sure the chain is entering the wood in a clean spot. The chain coming out through the dirt doesn't really seem to matter.
I mark my logs in bucking length. Cut the clean area of the log. Rollover and use an old heavy meat cleaver to chop the bark off where the cut will go through the dirt. Seems faster and more effective to remove it than clean it. I must have been a butcher in a past life. Would rather use a cleaver than a hatchet any day
Now that's interesting, lol. I would like to see a pic of you trusty cleaver if you have one! Got me curious, my Condor Parang machete is pretty heavy, I am going to test it. I have some oak with dirt on it and some oak bark sure seems tough.
Your request reminded me I had another cleaver style weapon laying around. Unused. A cleaver style gizmo my sister brought me back from a trip to Thailand. Not a $400 dollar Japanese professional chef cleaver. More like a $4 street vendor made in a hut style . It is purty darn sharp tho. Thinner blade and less steep angle on the grind in normal Asian style cutlery. So I did a small comparison test. Also threw in a $4 junk store machete that was handy. That’s a piece of junk and unsuitable for bark removal, nuff said on that one. ten degrees out so the bark is well attached. I can say for sure that Thai chopper will get more use. Sharp and accurate with a deep cut. Small test but I liked it. My old trusty, old rusty meat cleaver will be in the field too. Wouldn’t hurt if I put an edge on it. Not terribly dull but a butcher wouldn’t use it as is. Time will tell which one is the best overall.
