First Post - First Real Score with Bugs and Pics.

[mking7]

Thanks for all the welcomes i am sure you all know how addictive this can be. All my wood is scrounged near where we live. We are surrounded by forest which have very large (60 meter ~ 200 ft) straight grained Messmate also known as Tasmanian Oak. I dont need to cut the trees (yet) as a lot of the neighbours are having trees cut down as they have changed the laws over here after the devastating fires a couple of years ago. We can now cut down any tree which are within 10 metres of the house or 5 metres from the fence line. before that it was impossible to have a tree cut without going through years of red tape. This is good news for me as i have put the word out that i will take all the hardwood people have. So far so good in fact another neighbour is having a couple of trees cut this week. I will try to get some photo's when they are on the ground.

Just to let you know wood over here is very expensive. If you buy it from a reputable seller it is dried (seasoned) but it would cost $160 per cubic meter. That works out to ~ $500 per cord. But it is seasoned. I think it must be a lot easier to season wood here as we have hot temperatures and milder winters. Not sure if it helps having the straight grain but it seems to dry pretty quick. I tested the fresh wood and it was 28 - 32% moisture how would that compare to a typical hardwood in the USA?

out

COOL! You run low you can always move the fence a little and skip the red tape! There's always loophole....

 

[tcassavaugh]

Welcome. I spent a little time in Canberra and it was great. I flew in from Sidney on a little puddle jumper. There is some nice country between there and the capital. especially when you are low enough to appreciate it.. They were going through a lot of fires then, it must have been early 2000 or around there. Beautiful country and great people. I especially liked the beer. I became particular to toohey's old vs. the new. grubs don't look too bad. might be good rolled in a little meal and deep fried. good luck with all the wood.

cass

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Auzzie.

It probably will seem a bit weird as you are now looking at the end of your burning season while we are just starting ours.

 

[osagebow]

lol not actually a true-blood aussie - i'm from the England.

Welcome! Always nice to see new tree species and exotic fauna. Say you're in a survival situation:
Grubs or Vegemite?

 

[ohlongarm]

Long time 'stalker' first time poster.

Recently moved to the mountain area near Melbourne Australia. It gets a little cold here so I have installed a couple of wood heaters. This led me to this wonderful site and also the art / hobby / obsession of wood collecting.

One of the neighbours has just had 13 trees chopped down. The aborist took some of the better lengths but i managed to get ~ 20 cubic metres (~ 6 cords.) The majority of the wood is Messmate which is an Australian hardwood Gum. It has a similar BTU to white or red oak ~ 750 gsm very heavy.

The pictures of the wood is how the arborist leaves it around here. They chop it into fire sized thickness's which then you have to split. I manually split all my wood (X27 and X25) and this splits beautifully as long as you go with the grain and start on the outside and work in. This was one of the first loads i made, i now have to split and stack hope to use it next winter (our burn time is May - October.) I will probably burn 4 cords a year.View attachment 77831View attachment 77832View attachment 77833View attachment 77834View attachment 77835

Nice pics for sure,no grubs on this place have a flock of African guineas they keep the place clean of all bugs,mice,snakes etc.Anyway nice to here from someone so far away.

 

[timusp40]

Hello to you "down under" as they say, welcome to the forum. At the price you have to pay for your firewood, I trust you have a very efficient stove!
Take care,
Tim

 

[Todd 2]

Keep the beer, send me some of them "Mega Maggots" I'd love to try them fishing !
Welcome to the site, and very interesting post.

 

[amateur cutter]

Welcome & glad you're here! Nice job on the wood scrounge. Please visit frequently & keep posting, it's always interesting to learn things about other parts of the world. A C

 

[geoff1969]

hi auzzie give the grubs to the burra he will enjoy the feed , encourage him to hang around and he will keep the other bugs and snakes out of ya wood stacks , dandenong ranges nice place im just a few kays up from ya . cheers

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

hi auzzie give the grubs to the burra he will enjoy the feed , encourage him to hang around and he will keep the other bugs and snakes out of ya wood stacks , dandenong ranges nice place im just a few kays up from ya . cheers

Hi Geoff where you from? we are actually in Ferny Creek.

 

[burnt03]

Welcome! How cold does it get there in the winter?

 

[JOHN BOY]

kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,, merry marry king of the bush is he., laugh kookaburra ,laugh ok ok i was in the woods to long this weekend. Nice pic's welcome to the forum.

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

Hi we get a few nights below freezing but not many. Generally in the daytime in winter it gets down to 5 - 10 deg c (40-50 f) not cold by your standards but it still feels cold and the houses here are not as well insulated as Europe or N America so its all relative. i am going to try and burn 24/7 for as long as i can next winter.

 

[geoff1969]

Hi Geoff where you from? we are actually in Ferny Creek.

hey mate sorry for late reply been flat stick = im over warburton ..... cheers mate