Welcome guest, is this your first visit? Create Account now to join.
  • Login:

Welcome to the NZ Hunting and Shooting Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.

Terminator Darkness


User Tag List

+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 32
Like Tree49Likes

Thread: Winter Firewood take2

Hybrid View

  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Okawa Hawkes Bay
    Posts
    3,174

    Winter Firewood take2

    Greetings All,
    Another year has passed and here we are again gathering firewood for next winter. This year things are going to be a bit different. I was becoming increasingly concerned about the trees along our front boundary. Planted about 30 years ago they had become close to the road and power lines and had escaped my level of competence to fell. So a contractor was engaged to fell the trees and clean up the area. He arrived last Wednesday with an enormous digger with all sorts of attachments and after a little less than four days the job was done, well his job was anyway. Trunks and big branches have been stacked in a big pile ready for me to cut, split and stack. This may take some time.
    Name:  20210502_152119.jpg
Views: 589
Size:  4.66 MB
    Name:  20210502_152125.jpg
Views: 575
Size:  5.90 MB
    As you can see my trusty 50 plus year old wheelbarrow is ready with chain saws (out of shot) and splitting axe. My son will help, and take some of the firewood. He has suggested hiring a log splitter and offering to pay for it which should come in handy when we get to the big logs in the bottom of the pile.
    Wish me luck. Grandpamac.

  2. #2
    Member Micky Duck's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Geraldine
    Posts
    25,383
    if you get a heap ringed up...then hire log splitter for the day....have everything ready to go and THREE people lined up.
    one,preferably fit strong fella to place rings on log splitter bench.
    two probably you,to operate splitter,turn ring,split,turn split,move split....
    three to take split pieces off the tray once you have split them,and chuck them onto pile.
    it is way faster with three people....with two the splitter has to stop to chuck wood/clear bench or the lifter has to go around you to other side of bench and clear wood then back past you to place next ring on bench.
    once you have used a splitter for a day,you wont go back to axe for any more than the odd ring or six.

  3. #3
    Member Ben Waimata's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Hawkes Bay
    Posts
    1,760
    As they say, the great thing about firewood is it gets you warm twice, during splitting and during burning! Good luck with the splitting and seasoning, but I'm sure you'll be fine.

    I should be getting more wood in too, always somethign else to do though....
    Tahr, Marty Henry and Chur Bay like this.

  4. #4
    Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2020
    Location
    Central North Island
    Posts
    5,276
    Note from a guy with a 100 acre gum forest: ring and split quickly. Or just leave alone till you are ready to ring and split. Ring and wait four months to split and you are in for trouble, 35 tonne hydraulic log splitter no go trouble.
    But you'll already know this
    grandpamac likes this.

  5. #5
    Member Micky Duck's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Geraldine
    Posts
    25,383
    Quote Originally Posted by XR500 View Post
    Note from a guy with a 100 acre gum forest: ring and split quickly. Or just leave alone till you are ready to ring and split. Ring and wait four months to split and you are in for trouble, 35 tonne hydraulic log splitter no go trouble.
    But you'll already know this
    you should try some old ash....never seen grain like it,looks like the wavy hair on bun of a red setter.one block can have grain running in 4 diferent directions. green or dry makes no diference to how it splits,or wont...

  6. #6
    Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Okawa Hawkes Bay
    Posts
    3,174
    Quote Originally Posted by XR500 View Post
    Note from a guy with a 100 acre gum forest: ring and split quickly. Or just leave alone till you are ready to ring and split. Ring and wait four months to split and you are in for trouble, 35 tonne hydraulic log splitter no go trouble.
    But you'll already know this
    Greetings XR500,
    I am cutting all the easy stuff first as it is easy to split. Cut for one tank split stack repeat is the process. Satisfying as well as you see the stack steadily growing, an important thing for an old codger. My son had a run in with a standing dead gum of some sort. Felling and cutting was easy but splitting not at all. Great firewood though.
    Regards Grandpamac.

  7. #7
    Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2020
    Location
    Central North Island
    Posts
    5,276
    There is an easier and more exciting way to split the stuff, but you don't want neighbours within a couple of km

  8. #8
    Member Marty Henry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Tararua
    Posts
    7,300
    Elm is in the same boat
    Micky Duck likes this.

  9. #9
    Caretaker
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Hawkes Bay
    Posts
    9,515
    Swinging an axe/using a splitter is a lot of double handling for one person

    Let the saw do all the work

    You need horsepower and a 35 degree cutter with 30 thou deep rakers

    The blocks burn through the night easily



    Name:  363915C2-FE42-4D02-A093-04CD7884FDCE.jpeg
Views: 604
Size:  6.54 MB
    A big fast bullet beats a little fast bullet every time

  10. #10
    Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Okawa Hawkes Bay
    Posts
    3,174
    Quote Originally Posted by 7mmsaum View Post
    Swinging an axe/using a splitter is a lot of double handling for one person

    Let the saw do all the work

    You need horsepower and a 35 degree cutter with 30 thou deep rakers

    The blocks burn through the night easily



    Attachment 166596
    Greetings 7mmSAUM,
    The blue look and spiral nature of the bark suggests your tree may be one of the southern blue gums, quite common in Hawkes Bay. A lot of them are dogs to split. The smaller branches and logs on top of my heap are splitting easily at the moment but I am sure that more drastic means will be needed later.
    Regards Grandpamac.

  11. #11
    Member BRADS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Central Hawkes Bay
    Posts
    9,659
    Quote Originally Posted by grandpamac View Post
    Greetings 7mmSAUM,
    The blue look and spiral nature of the bark suggests your tree may be one of the southern blue gums, quite common in Hawkes Bay. A lot of them are dogs to split. The smaller branches and logs on top of my heap are splitting easily at the moment but I am sure that more drastic means will be needed later.
    Regards Grandpamac.
    Your right I even no where that tree is.

    Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

  12. #12
    Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2020
    Location
    Central North Island
    Posts
    5,276
    Quote Originally Posted by 7mmsaum View Post
    Swinging an axe/using a splitter is a lot of double handling for one person

    Let the saw do all the work

    You need horsepower and a 35 degree cutter with 30 thou deep rakers

    The blocks burn through the night easily



    Attachment 166596
    Some of my gums are a metre plus in dia. They start laughing at me if I approach them with a 62cc saw in my hands. But come at them with the 395 and 36" bar, plus the atom attachment on the 50cc saw and a couple of plugs of jelly, and they start quivering big time

  13. #13
    MSL
    MSL is offline
    Member MSL's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Waikato
    Posts
    6,522
    Quote Originally Posted by XR500 View Post
    Some of my gums are a metre plus in dia. They start laughing at me if I approach them with a 62cc saw in my hands. But come at them with the 395 and 36" bar, plus the atom attachment on the 50cc saw and a couple of plugs of jelly, and they start quivering big time
    You got two 395’s?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  14. #14
    Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2020
    Location
    Central North Island
    Posts
    5,276
    One of each: 394 and 395. 394 has slightly more grunt down low than the 395, so teamed up on the 48" double ender bar with 404 semi skip its the berries

  15. #15
    MSL
    MSL is offline
    Member MSL's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Waikato
    Posts
    6,522
    I’ve got a 395 and 394, I thought you had a busted one


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
Welcome to NZ Hunting and Shooting Forums! We see you're new here, or arn't logged in. Create an account, and Login for full access including our FREE BUY and SELL section Register NOW!!