Finally...(the pics promised) and an ID needed

[BucksCounty]

Had an ad on craigslist about removing downed trees for people. Well, a guy called and he is a mile from my house. He said the tree was 40-50 feet. I quick drove up before dark tonight and I'd say the trunk alone is 40-50 feet. The tree is huge, and completely uprooted. I told him I will come back tomorrow and Sunday and take what I can. I also called a buddy from hearth and he is meeting me there to help out and take some as well. I am not sure of the species. So, we'll see and I will post pics. Long day tomorrow, but the neighbor's St. Pat's party sure will help at the end of the day!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Sweet! Watch out for the root ball when you take that weight off. It can stand itself back up.

Matt

 

[BucksCounty]

Spent the whole day cutting. A buddy, the guy's neighbor and myself got everything cut up. It went a lot quicker than I thought it would go, but 3 saws going helps. It is a red oak (very happy when I saw that). Moved a couple trucks loads this afternoon and will finish tomorrow. The neighbor only want small stuff so me and my buddy are left with a lot of wood. I will post pics tomorrow.

Made a post not too long ago that I couldn't find any wood. Members said to give it time and I will have all I want. Fellow members were right again.

 

[thewoodlands]

Spent the whole day cutting. A buddy, the guy's neighbor and myself got everything cut up. It went a lot quicker than I thought it would go, but 3 saws going helps. It is a red oak (very happy when I saw that). Moved a couple trucks loads this afternoon and will finish tomorrow. The neighbor only want small stuff so me and my buddy are left with a lot of wood. I will post pics tomorrow.

Made a post not too long ago that I couldn't find any wood. Members said to give it time and I will have all I want. Fellow members were right again.

BC, nice score and am looking forward to the pictures.


Zap

 

[BucksCounty]

Here are the pics. As an idea of size, two rounds in the middle on ground are 30". My buddy took same amount I have here. Actually, he took several more of the larger rounds. We counted 32 of the large rounds before we go to the first brances. Almost all is red oak. Some sassafrass mixed in too.

There is a pile of box elder on the right of the first pic I took from my brother last weekend.

Also pumped that my buddy (met from hearth) said because I hooked him up with the wood, he will let me borrow his splitter when I need it. Anyways, it was a good weekend.

I have been busy around the house and haven't gotten to posting the pics I promised of the wood from the one score. So, I tried getting some good pics but they just don't seem as good as I'd like. I have 19 pallets (doesn't look like it but they go back a ways)...a couple are not full so I will call it 17 full. I still haven't measured so I am not sure on my total amount. The red oak from the score gave me 4 nice pallets worth. I have 7 pallets of poplar, 4 red oak, 2 box elder, 3 mix of cherry and oak, 2 mix of mulberry and maple, and 1 pine.

Also, the last pic is of a recent score. The tree service guy said it was hickory? Never have seen hickory before. I took 3 truck loads. I just split some yesterday and it is not the most difficult to split, but not the easiest either.

 

[loon]

very nice those bigboys look heavy ;-)

loon

 

[raybonz]

Wow nice pile of quality wood you got there! In 2-3 yrs. you'll have some great firewood!

Ray

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Those are gut busters! Very nice indeed!

 

[flyingcow]

Those are gut busters! Very nice indeed!

vertical splitter to the rescue!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Those are gut busters! Very nice indeed!

vertical splitter to the rescue!

:lol: The only way to go!

 

[thewoodlands]

[quote author="BucksCounty" nice score, I bet smokin would of liked that tree for milling.




Zap

 

[BucksCounty]

Yeah, they were heavy indeed. Had to roll them up a small hill to the driveway (about 40 yards) and then up the ramps onto my truck. Good work out though. Yeah, the trunk would have been very nice for a mill. It is getting split were it lies.

Only used a splitter once. Do you guys recommend using the splitter on the grass or is it ok to use on the driveway? Not sure if it will cause damage to the drive.

 

[thewoodlands]

Yeah, they were heavy indeed. Had to roll them up a small hill to the driveway (about 40 yards) and then up the ramps onto my truck. Good work out though. Yeah, the trunk would have been very nice for a mill. It is getting split were it lies.

Only used a splitter once. Do you guys recommend using the splitter on the grass or is it ok to use on the driveway? Not sure if it will cause damage to the drive.

I would go on the grass, you'll scuff it up but it's easier to fix.


Zap

 

[Danno77]

That's such a nice tree, makes you pause for a second and wonder if it's a sin to burn it up in a stove. Then it gets cold and you forget about what the tree looked like.

Very nice score!

 

[midwestcoast]

That's such a nice tree, makes you pause for a second and wonder if it's a sin to burn it up in a stove. Then it gets cold and you forget about what the tree looked like.

Exactly! Really nice clean trunk.
If it were me I'd try a few swings of the maul or splitting axe before arranging for the splitter. Clean straight Red Oak even that size can split pretty nicely.

 

[WoodpileOCD]

That's such a nice tree, makes you pause for a second and wonder if it's a sin to burn it up in a stove. Then it gets cold and you forget about what the tree looked like.

Exactly! Really nice clean trunk.
If it were me I'd try a few swings of the maul or splitting axe before arranging for the splitter. Clean straight Red Oak even that size can split pretty nicely.

Yea, me too. Nothing like the sound and feel of a maul going through the heart of a straight piece of red oak. Kinda like the pleasurable sound and feel of 'thunkin' the perfect watermelon right before you split it open on a 90* day in August.

 

[Jags]

Those are gut busters! Very nice indeed!

vertical splitter to the rescue!

By the time you get one of those maneuvered into place with polls, it would be rolled onto the log lift and busted into several smaller pieces. :coolgrin:

 

[Backwoods Savage]

But Jags, I do not see anything there I'd have to use polls on! Those rounds are very easy work. So I would instead be already splitting while you are lifting the log!

 

[Jags]

But Jags, I do not see anything there I'd have to use polls on! Those rounds are very easy work. So I would instead be already splitting while you are lifting the log!

Ha! Your hip ain't THAT good yet. :coolsmirk:

Honestly though, when you face large rounds, how do you move them to the splitter and around the splitter?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Jags, those rounds you see in the picture would simply be rolled to the splitter and then tipped onto the butt plate. Split them in half first and work from there. It really is not all that difficult and much, much easier than horizontal splitting even if you have the log lifter. That is because of the turning and moving after you split into half and quarters, etc. No, I am not kidding nor am I bragging. I am not that strong and I know there are many her that are much stronger and better men than I (just look at Jay for example). I'm not strong nor smart but have figured out over time how the easiest way is and then just stick with it.

The only time I recall having help wrestling some big logs was when the neighbor asked if I thought our splitter would split some huge white oaks he had. They were big too! I could have done it alone and started to but then he woke up and decided he should maybe help until we got them split into smaller pieces. I could have done it and to be honest, I don't think I have used a pole more than once or twice. Same with the cant hook. Just roll them like they are a big milk can; never lift them. Never, ever while splitting!

So, there you have it, honestly. ;-)

 

[Jags]

Jags, those rounds you see in the picture would simply be rolled to the splitter and then tipped onto the butt plate. Split them in half first and work from there. It really is not all that difficult and much, much easier than horizontal splitting even if you have the log lifter. That is because of the turning and moving after you split into half and quarters, etc. No, I am not kidding nor am I bragging. I am not that strong and I know there are many her that are much stronger and better men than I (just look at Jay for example). I'm not strong nor smart but have figured out over time how the easiest way is and then just stick with it.

The only time I recall having help wrestling some big logs was when the neighbor asked if I thought our splitter would split some huge white oaks he had. They were big too! I could have done it alone and started to but then he woke up and decided he should maybe help until we got them split into smaller pieces. I could have done it and to be honest, I don't think I have used a pole more than once or twice. Same with the cant hook. Just roll them like they are a big milk can; never lift them. Never, ever while splitting!

So, there you have it, honestly. ;-)

I asked in sincerity, because a couple years ago I helped a friend with some very large white oaks and a horizontal splitter. I found it to be much more of a hassle to maneuver those rounds on the ground. Now, these rounds would roll, but once flat, they weren't moving. We had to use pike polls to move them around. I have never had that problem when I can just roll them to the splitter and up on the beam it goes. But, to your point, I am probably stronger than I am smart.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

For sure there can be some rounds or logs that are just too darned big to wrestle. Fortunately, we do not have any of them around here except for a few oaks. There are some humongous cottonwoods but nobody that I know of around here is interested in burning cottonwood.

 

[Flatbedford]

You could probably split those monster rounds by hand almost as fast as you could with a splitter. Green Red Oak is about the easiest thing to split. You could quarter them with about 6 or 8 wacks with a good maul or a sharp Fiskars and the you could probably split the quarters one handed after that. Try it before you go to the trouble of getting the splitter. You may be surprised.

 

[bogydave]

Those are gut busters! Very nice indeed!

vertical splitter to the rescue!

:lol: The only way to go!

+2

 

[BucksCounty]

My buddy let me borrow his MTD 25 ton splitter to process the oak, some box elder I had and some poplar. Oh, and he only used the splitter a total of an hour since buying in August. Worked for about 3 hours Saturday when all of a sudden, the cylinder would not return...on the uptake. Engine was running fine, but cylinder wouldn't return. No leaks or busted hoses. I was freaking out and called my buddy and was explained what happened. I felt terrible and told him I would fix it and make it right. Still, if I am him I am a little pissed.

Brought to a local shop because I am unfamiliar with them and din't want to screw anything up. They looked and asked if it was under warranty. My buddy said warranty with HD was up after 90 days.

Talked to friend at school with a splitter. He said it was the control valve, if there were no leaks. I looked it up online and discovered the control valve was recalled for defects. I called my buddy and said I was going to pick up the splitter and bring to the shop handling the control valve replacements. Felt a little relief that it wasn't something I did (and it wouldn't cost me a small fortune to repair).

Get to the shop and they said they just fixed it. I said they should have called me first. They said the manufacture never assembled the splitter correctly. The pump drive was assembled to low and after the couple hours of use, it came loose. They tightened it and said it was fine and it was not much at all. The shop still said to contact MTD for a refund.

My buddy is still going to take to the shop to have the control valve replaced.

Needless to say I am breathing a sigh of relief.

Oh, and I will post pics when I get everything stacked. The pics were the last thing on my mind when brought to a screeching halt thinking I just broke my buddy's brand new thousand dollar splitter!