Hello All As one to was taught to use the whole tree when cutting firewood I was just wondering how the membership handles the task of cutting the limb wood into firewood. This is for 3" and smaller, with the smaller stuff becoming kindling. Which method works best for you.
I stack it up, strap it up, and cut it up, Right through the bundle, to length. Usually, on a sawbuck.
If its small enough, start using loppers or pruning shears. I use an electric chainsaw for the stuff bigger than 2". Admittedly, if the limb has a lot of kinks and turns in it, its probably going on the brush pile. Other times I will give Mulberry branches to the goats and then cut up the skinned branches once their done.
I recently bought a Logosol Smart Holder and I like it, it's light and easy for me to take in my Gator. Sometimes I can get two or three small limbs in at once and cut them simultaneously. I still would like to make a box jig to hold a number of too-long, not-quite-correct limbs. Smart Holder | LOGOSOL
Given the opportunity I'll cut the branches from the itty bits and in towards the trunk because trying to slice and dice loose branches is a PITA. (On my own property) I have places to dispose of branches so anything that size gets hauled off into the woods as a gift to the ever ready natural decomposition processes. Plus cutting littl e branches is labor intensive and not worth my time given that I have free disposal.
I cut the limb wood up to probably about 3" also. A lot of the wood I cut has a pretty full crown or canopy, whatever because I am often cutting a tree in a field or the edge of a field or fence row, not too many tall trees with no limbs like in the deeper woods. And I can't get to the trunk anyway at first, and the trunk is often in the air or a lot of it is, and I feel like it's too dangerous to cut on the trunk sometimes without taking a chance on the tree rolling and a limb whacking me, or something. So, I usually work from the outside in on the limb wood cutting whatever is open and easiest to cut. I will usually start on the end of the limb and keep cutting sticks off until i get to the trunk, or to a spot where it's loaded with weight on it. Every limb is different. I just keep whacking away at the canopy until I get to the trunk and the few limbs left that are loaded and under pressure, then just keep cutting wherever it's safest to do so without getting a dangerous shift of the trunk and when it's the best time, I start working the trunk also. I try to cut as much as I can of everything while it's in the air. And this is one reason why I prefer longer then usual chainsaw bars. Not for big wood but for reach, so I can cut something without being in harms way, nearly as much. If everything goes well, I will end up cutting very little of the small limbs or the main trunk with it on the ground completely. But it just depends on the tree. However, it easier to cut those smaller sticks while they are still on the tree. I don't like to cut a limb off and have it hit the ground, then have to cut those small limbs on the ground because they will move around more and you will have to put your foot on the them or something to keep they stationary while cutting. I do it when I have to, but I don't like it much.
This photo or the contents is not mine, but this is the solution I use for limb wood. Have tried a lot of other ideas, including X-style sawbucks, Logosol Smart Holder, even tried using an old electric chopsaw. This seems to work the best, although it is time consuming to load and then pick up all the pieces afterwards.
Yep, that is one type of thing I am considering building and that will work well for longer limbs, which I sometimes haul back in my truck in that length. The other thing is a box for pieces that are over 16 inches but not too much, like, 18-24 inches. You can put several of them in the box and cut them to 16 inches. Or whatever length you cut to.
I don't like to waste wood either. But most of the time, you could change the "B" into an "F" in your title "Bucking limb wood" , especially with Beech trees. I'll cut down to 3", the rest of it feeds the forest floor. I grab the trunk with the tractor and hold it up to relieve the tension in the limbs and the saw out of the dirt (not to mention standing upright) and cut to length working from 3" towards the trunk.
If its attached to a tree ill use my top handle Stihl 194 to buck or one hand on the saw and one holding limb to buck them if already loose. Most of my wood is scrounged and i seldom take limb wood, but will cut down to 3" given the opportunity.
I'm an avid gardener so bought a wood chipper mostly so I can make lots of wood chips for garden bed mulch and landscaping. I can chip up to 3.5" so I leave anything under around 3" for the chipper.
I use everything down to 2-3 inches. Limb off what I don’t use and pile it up in brush pile. Then start at the top of the tree with my measuring stick and work my way down.
I agree. Been using one of those for years and it makes easy work of bucking everything from limbs to about 9" logs.
When I started I used loppers, a cordless circular saw, and/or the electric chain saw to buck up limbs. Now I use loppers to prepare the limbs without bucking for the wood chipper. From there it goes into the compost piles or to be used as wood chips in the raised garden bed area. Like others have pointed out it's a bit labor intensive to buck them. I'm really enjoying every part of the tree as well. Whatever I don't really want to use (rotten/crazy knotty) I just put aside until I have a load for the town's organic dump. Any cutoffs I give away to neighbors that burn fire pits outdoors.
I try to use the whole tree. As others have stated, I find it easiest to work from the small branches to the trunk. Once dropped, I'll use loppers to remove the small canopy branches. These get cut into roughly 2 ft pieces and put in a pile to use for campfires or bonfires. The limbs will get cut to 16" pieces with a hand held electric chainsaw, and stacked to age as kindling and possibly split if needed. The trunk gets cut up with the MS261, stacked, aged and split in about a year.
I have more trees than I'll ever use. Anything smaller than 2", I just stack up into a brushpile and leave for the bunnies to live in.
All my wood comes from someone else’s property so I can’t leave a mess. If I’m dropping a whole tree ( usually standing dead) nature has already taken care of the really small stuff. I’ll take it from about 2” on up. I start at the top and work my way down to the stump. Often the trees are in an unused area (shelter belts) and the ground vegetation is tall grasses and weeds. I pile up the small stuff, rotten, and sheets of bark on the stump. Gives rabbits and other small critters a place to hide. I hate the cleaning up part the most, but doing a good job gets me welcomed back. Since I have to touch it, I might as well load it up & burn it
I only cut little stuff, below 3", on a whole tree or whole top that is not too bushy, i.e. fairly straight. My cutting permit requires me to pile the brush which I do for bushy trees or tops. I cut everything down to 1" thick on straight trees/tops with 1" and 2" wood used for kindling. I start cutting at the top and my battery chainsaw's lower chain speed handles small wood easily. Small wood gets tossed into a box. I cut the whole tree/top starting at the top and work down so the small wood is "anchored" by the heavy wood. I can gather a load faster by cutting 60" lengths but the time required to cut again at home is longer than just cutting the whole tree/top to length in the woods.
