Welcome to the club 218camb. Lots of great folks on here, with plenty of knowledge and humor. I've heard great things about the ms461, wish I could find one....I think you will love it. Get a little work done to it and it will be a beast for sure.
Good morning 218camb and welcome to the forum! A good pic especially with a new Stihl saw is the best way to enter! You'll find the forum slows down after the wood burning season but picks up again in the fall..
Welcome aboard 218camb Lottsa good people and information here at FHC. Sounds like you'll fit in just fine.
Welcome 218camb ! Nice saw there, I'm only allowed to play with little saws so I get my wood in 40lb bags and all cut up
Welcome to the club. I think you will like it here. Great group of folks with plenty of knowledge and humor. Share some pics
Welcome 218camb, curious about your other saws now. Maybe you can show them off sometime. Like it has been pointed out this is a great place to be.
I agree with the "plenty of knowledge and humor". I've picked up some good advice here. Here's a few pics.
Nice woodstack PA Dutch Mine aren't nearly so orderly. But it still dries out n burns, so there's that
It's only orderly on the outside. I throw everything else haphazardly in the center. My version of a Holzhausen. I let it uncovered when there's a few days of dry weather forecasted. Otherwise it is covered.
The first few years of gathering wood, I split by hand. I recently purchased a 28 ton horizontal/vertical Ram Splitter. A local dealer had it on display for a year or two and was selling it for a reduced price.
Looks like we have similar ideas. This is some tulip poplar we are stacking on plastic pallets. Knotty or crooked pieces get thrown in the middle. Here are a couple more ideas for the bigger pieces of wood, especially if you go vertical to split them. This is a pry/chop bar we made. Works great to open up the rounds, chop strings down in the split or knock off bark. Another idea we came up with, built a small platform that goes in front of splitter foot. Makes moving big rounds on the splitter easier. This one was a couple pieces of 2x8 and decking boards on bottom. This one is our heavy duty platform made with 1 1/2 pipe and heavy angle iron. Rounds slide pretty easy on it. Have split some over 44" on it. I posted a thread about inventions or tools to make it easier. "Tools of the trade or your inventions". Several folks added to it.
Thanks T.Jeff Veal for the pointers. I like the pry/chop bar idea. I see that you bucked the corners in your pile. I was planning on doing the same on my next pile. I am hoping to have 3 wood piles on pallets, measuring 10.5' x 14' x 6' high, by the end of this fall. The first pile should be completed this week (only need to add one more foot to the pile in the previous pic). The second pile I hope to have done by the end of July/beginning of August. The third pile will be started this fall. Based off of my last two years of heating with wood (really my first 2 years), I believe one of those piles should hold me over for a winter. If not I will dig into the second pile. My goal is to get on the 3 year plan. I'm trying. Oh yeah, I like the guard you installed on the front of the tractor too.
