My eyes are bigger than my saw or my body

Well I started scrounging and have found that I'm not much of a lumberjack. It's hard to cut a 30+" trunk with a little Poulan 18" piece of junk. Especially a green water oak trunk. Splitting is even harder on these and they are cut at 17"! I went and got one of those mega mauls from TSC which does work after 20-30 wacks. Now on the way to work I saw a tree service setting up around this other big water oak. So of course I stopped and asked if they were going to take the wood and he looked at me like I was crazy. He said they NEVER take the wood, just cut it and leave it. Come and get it after we're done he says. It's close enough that I can drive my 20' flatbed and pick up. Maybe even drive the forklift down and load it up. But now I need a decent saw to cut some large trunks and at least rent a splitter once I get it all sawed and ready. Splitters run $75 a day which seems a little on the high side to me. But if I can get a whole big red oak tree processed then it should give me enough for a few years. I'm not too good estimating, but I imagine this would be 2 or more cords. I'm really unsure how much wood would come out of a big oak tree like that. I do have the room to get it and keep it here at work and just work it over time until I get it ready to split. It's nice to be here in the south where people don't burn much because there are trees galore and noone who wants them except me .

Same here and most people cant get throuh a trunk so wood is free if you have the equiment

Rent the splitter on a Saturday and you get to use it Sunday for free. At least that is how the rental places do it around here. Just make sure you have a lot of wood to split to justify the expenditure. Sounds like that wont be a problem at the rate you are going.

get help. Use it in the vertical position. Good luck

Help is always good - just look out for each other and take a few seconds ahead of time to plan out who is going to do what. We've already had a couple of splitter accidents posted, and some from general lifting and DIY work as well - would really hate to see another one!

I've got help and will be careful. I work around heavy machinery every day so am used to looking or losing.

This thread is worthless without pics.

If you are going to go after the larger wood, you need to get a saw that can deal with it - This is why I got the Dolmar in my sig - 80cc, with a 20" bar goes through logs like a hot knife through soft butter, and has plenty of cojones to drive a 28 or 32" bar for the big rounds...

I started w/ a Pull-on, and finally figured out that half the problem is that it's way overbarred, not to mention the lousy "safety chain" they sell on consumer saws - I put a 12" bar on the 36cc saw, and its now a nice (albeit overweight) limber and trimming saw...

I also think that purchasing a splitter is preferable to renting one - much nicer to split at your own pace than it is to try to rush in order to get stuff done on the ticking meter. It's also a reasonable investment, as you can sell a used gas splitter (in good running order) for darn near what you paid for it. (I bought new because new was only a couple hundred more than used...)

Gooserider

Well I guess I rode the poulan too hard. I went to cut a pallet up and it wouldn't start. Not even halfway. I cleaned it all up and checked the spark plug, etc... and got it to stumble a little but then it died and never came back to life. Money is short right now so I ran around and looked at all the all you can steal shops and found a Stihl that is probably a year old for $150. It's not as big as I really wanted but I tested it out and it's night and day over the poulan. It's a m310 with a 20" bar. I'll see tomorrow when I go back to do battle with the tree that bested me earlier. I only ended up with a pickup load of that red oak because it was a special job for the electric company boss. Not exactly ethical since it's our city dime and his personal stove, but I did get a connection. I got to talk to the street dept guys who are supposed to be the ones who do all the tree removal in the city. They told me that they are dropping 3 big white oaks tomorrow and all I need to do is show up.

If you think of it as money you would have spent on oil, etc the price isn't as bad. I can easily spend the cost of one of my saws in oil that I would have had to buy for one year. Second year that same saw is free. If you have white oak, get it as you can I love white oak and will get any I can. Red is almost as good and one of the ones I got in the last place buried the 28" Solo and sure it was work to split in the woods, but I got lots of wood. Wish I was closer, I would be happy to help you.
Chad

I know, I don't carry a camera with me. And don't really roll with an crew to document my wood cutting activities. Honestly, I just wanna get the wood cut and split so it can start drying so it'll maybe ready for next year. Same thing happened when I went to install the stove.... I just wanted the stupid thing in and done, not sit around setting up the camera to take pictures of me jacking around with 20 feet of 'flexible' chimney. Maybe tomorrow I'll remember a camera so I can bring a little 'worth' to this thread. Maybe I'll even set it up on timer for when I get through cutting up the first hunk of trunk that bested me earlier. But If I know me, and I do, I'll leave the camera tomorrow and be humping away on it. Then it'll be off to check on our city guys so I don't miss them. Either way, I hope my 'new' saw makes the cut so to speak. ;-)

I'm sure it will get the job done. Anything over half will cut it, but what are you looking to do? I look to get the job done with one cut on each log if I can. This is not accounting for recuts on logs that are settling etc. The faster you cut the wood, the more you are getting per cut. I'll play with which saw I take, other than the top handle for the wood I am cutting. If you have something in the 18" logs, bring a good 20. If you have a larger tree, but not too big, bring the 24", if you are dropping a really big tree, maybe take the 681, the 372 and the tophandle. Hope this makes sense. This will get you through the wood as fast as you can and you will not be trying to get through a log with 2 cuts each time.
Chad

One possible thing to check on the Pull-on, is the carb mounts - I found the spigot that the carb attaches to likes to come loose from the cylinder - try using some heavy duty locktite on the threads if they are loose. This sort of airleak can burn up the engine if it goes on for to long, but it also seems that it makes the saw run progressively worse, and then not start....

Also remember that another thing you can do on a big log is RIP sections, as long as your bar is stove length or longer... Make one cut around the diameter of the log at the right distance, then rip down (and possibly accross) the diameter to seperate the chunk, repeat for the other half. This looks a bit strange, and will take longer, but it works...

Gooserider

Oak is great and I love white oak and free I love even more. great score. Maybe give this guy a case of beer every now and then keep him happy. As far as your Poulan that is what it is a Pull-On Pull-ON and it might start. Have fun with the new saw and be happy.

Its easy to rip on the Poulans, but for what it is, the saws work OK. I've cut a couple times with a buddy who has a nice Stihl - his saw has a shorter bar than my Poulan, and goes through the big wood far faster. Sure, I wish I had a Stihl. But for 1/3 the price and being an urban sawyer, I can't complain. It does the job, especially for cutting free wood. If I did this for a living, spending the money on a top-quality saw would make sense. But for a tool that comes out 3 or 4 times a year, the poulan works fine. Be patient, let the saw do the work. It'll get there - eventually.