So with my woodpile shrinking, and me needing to build my hoard for the next number of years, I went to the woodlot and cut some trees. I also hauled home some dry elm, ash and box elder that have been top covered for about 3 years. There's too much snow to get my Audi back there, to where all the wood I've been cutting is located. I have to either work on my buddy about using his old 340 jag Arctic cat, and a plastic ice fishing sleigh, or maybe haul the Indy trail back home from up north. Theres too much snow to do anything else, and drifts might swallow the 4runner, or any 4x4 truck too. Anyway I cut down a number of trees; a smaller 8" shagbark hickory, 3 beech trees, and a couple sugar maples. There are more to cut up, and fell too. There's still a third of the woodlot I have not even looked at. There's probably 2 full cords just from the one huge dead maple I took pictures of a few weeks ago. I just need to get it all out of the woods, then split and stacked. Here's the beech fiesta pictures. It was about 15-20 degrees out today. There's another 2 big beeches to cut down, but I got tired. Please tell my wife i need a bigger, badder saw. It bogs a little when cutting. The chain is sharp, but doesn't chew effortlessly like I know they can. Maybe a narrow kerf chain and bar will help, but I think it may need a ring refresh, or a big bore if that's possible, or maybe just a muffler mod. It's cut a lot of wood over the last 15 or 16 years with no work needed to it besides chains and a bar or 2. I suppose I should do a compression test. It does start fairly easily, and takes a good pull to turn it over. I did my first ever bore cuts today, all on these beech. It's a fun trick. But I see how it could be very useful on leaners or hollow trees.
Nice work. I'll wait for some more snow to melt before getting back into the woods. Find any dormant ants in that tree?
You'll get some nice BTUs from that! I had hoped to do some cutting this winter but theres just so much snow. I need to get some trigger time soon too! Nice work!
I didn't see any ants, but I wouldn't be shocked if I do later. I cut up all the 2 beech trees I fell in these pics, they were pretty solid actually. Just the last one pictured had a soft spot near the base. It cleared up just a short way up the trunk and got solid.
I forget where beech is on the btu scale, but I've burned it at the house next to this woodlot as my parents and i lived there from 81 until 2013. Well, I lived there from 81 until college. I just remembered beech burns nice, and these trees were either down or needed to come down.
The fire, along with 2 ibuprofen, a hot bowl of the wife's awesome chili, a hot shower, and multiple cherry spiced rum and Coke's and it's all good. I think I'll try and scrounge some wood cutting tomorrow if I can find a taker.
Wow, beech is better btu wise than red oak, ash, and cherry. Just looking at the btu chart, I see sugar maple is much better than I thought, almost as gooder as beech. I've got a good bit of those. I'll work on those couple other standing, and down beech too. I gotta get the snowmobile wood getter situation figured out. I've got a lot of wood to get, and I don't want to cut in summer. I've got better things to do, like water ski and wakeboard, instead if sweating in the woods.
Looks good Horkn, That one does sorta look like winter time ant cave. Beach is great wood in my book but not very much of it in our cutting woods.
The depth of the snow doesn't look too bed there, and it looks like you got a good day to work too. I can get my wife to call your wife about the saw, she can be convincing.
What kind of beech is that? My beech has a light gray very smooth bark...American beech, I believe, which is the beech that has essentially the same BTU's as sugar maple. I think the other beech is maybe blue beech? and has somewhat lower BTU, if I remember correctly.
We're getting an inch of snow tonight, and looks like 4-6" Tuesday. There's enough now for a sled, and I have to walk a good long way with the saw to get into the woods, from where the road is, and where I park my car and trailer. I can go in from the lower side, which is farm field, but that's the route I want to avoid driving a car or truck due to the snow drifts in the field Earlier, before snow was on the ground I drove right up with the Audi on level 4 of suspension, which is nearly 9" of ground clearance. Getting a snowmobile to do the towing of the wood will be the most efficient way to do it until the snow melts.
Mrs Horkn would you pretty please let Mr Horkn buy a newer, bigger, badder saw. I promise if you let him it will only be one.
It's american beech. No doubt about it. Blue beech is the other one, but the btu charts are all over the place depending on which chat you are looking at. One thing that remains constant between the charts is that the blue beech has a higher btu rating than american beech on charts that list them both. I just know it's good wood.
The blue beech (musclewood) usually are a lot smaller than the regular beech trees. Here they rarely get over 6" and most tend to grow in clumps, sort of like witch hazel. It is great firewood but beware. That stuff can go bad really fast if not covered so it is best to top cover any of that as soon as possible.
Never worked with or burned any beech. There's some massive ones lining our Main Street in town and they're all over the place in general around here. Gonna try to snag some this year..
Late at night, I hope, with a silencer on the saw. Sorry, couldn't resist. Had a mental picture of a few trees coming down on the main street....
Big beeches bring booming bangs. Uh, what I meant to say was that the falling beech trunks will be neighbor waking loud, even if you use an electric chainsaw.
