Think I Scored One From Sandy: Cut from Top or Bottom?

Hmm. Well, I'm not going to spend more time hauling any more than I have home. I'll clean up the site, stack the wood by the road and someone is sure to take it. I realize this makes me a bad person, but I can live with that.

This I do not understand. If the log is on the ground and you drive a wedge in so you can finish the cut, when you finish your chain is touching good ole Mother Earth. Best way I know of to dull a chain. Leave the wedge in your pocket and roll that log before finishing the cut and you won't have to sharpen so often which will make the chain last a lot longer too.

It is commonly referred to as softwood. Technically, any tree that drops leaf is a hardwood.

Savage, I understand your confusion. But when I first started cutting up the trees it was impossible for me to roll them over in order to make cuts on both sides. I don't think my chain went into the dirt, but maybe it did.

As my father used to tell me . . . "Poplar is a soft hardwood . . . and hemlock is a hard softwood."

Softwood typically refers to conifers (evergreens) . . . hardwoods typically refer to the deciduous (leaf bearing) trees . . . not so much the density of the wood.

Personally I would take it . . . sure it may not be the best wood to burn for an overnight burn in middle of January . . . but it seasons relatively quickly and makes a great shoulder season fire or a fire for when you're home in the evening or nights. Think of it as a good karma building exercise . . . plus as noted . . . taking some of this now and cleaning it all up may result in future (better) scores if the person recommends you to others.

Ya, it is pretty hard to not touch the ground with the chain and that dulls it fast. I was reminded of this just today. I had to cut a couple trees (small ones) and the darned chain was really dull. Then I remembered that I had dug up a big root when we found some stuff growing up in the garden and I simply cut them with the chain saw. So, a quick filing and all was good.