Free wood...with a price

[Boom Stick]

Getting this free score will be a gut check. There may be a cord of wood here.....could bust up those big rounds in to manageable pieces.....Question is what would be the easiest way to bust these up?

What would be a sound game plan? one man show here. I am thinking.....use saw to cut some slots in wood....use wedges and sledge to bust up......easy as pie? Am I missing something?

http://albany.craigslist.org/zip/3450680226.html

 

[tigeroak]

Broom
I have split stuff as big or bigger than that. Just use a maul and a couple wedges and/or chunk it up with your saw.
Tiger

 

[swagler85]

Not gona be easy if that was a yard tree. Looks like maple and sounds like it was a homeowner that had a tree dropped then split it on his own. He probably split the rest and decided it splits too hard to mess with the last few. Those big maples can be a PITA to split especially yard trees. Easiest way is to stand on end and noodle, then a maul will do the trick.

 

[bogydave]

Gut check for sure.
Yard tree also might mean some "metal" deep in there somewhere also.

Like said, may be a PIA to split but a good challenge
Doable with wedges & sledge if you really want to get a work out
Does look like some good wood .

 

[MasterMech]

Noodle them puppies then ask him if you can use his splitter to finsh them off!!

Ask them if they still have all their toes.....

 

[jwoair23]

I had a maple this summer that was a yard tree, not that big but pretty big. Sure enough I hit a nail deep in the center. It was also incredibly difficult to split for some reason. Most Maple is easy to split, this was not easy at all.

That being said, I got a good amount of wood out of it. Not 100% sure I would do it again though.

 

[blujacket]

Looks like a lot of work for Silver Maple.

 

[Standingdead]

I can't wait until Dennis the Backwoods Savage gets a look at that last pic

 

[blades]

I routinely get into these, I just whittle down to a manageable size with the chainsaws. Last Sunday I spent a good 3 hours on a 5ft tapering to 3ft by 6ft long chunk of Hard maple. No way to split it as it is burl on top burl all the way through. No rot in the middle either. It will make some lovely artifacts as well as a lot of heat.

 

[jwoair23]

I was thinking about this some more, and cannot figure out why they didn't cut them in quarters with the chainsaw if they had a saw big enough to take that monster down!

 

[Standingdead]

I am quessing they don't cut much, at least not by the look of their safety apparel

 

[smokinj]

Noodle them puppies then ask him if you can use his splitter to finsh them off!!

Ask them if they still have all their toes.....

Once noodle up, it will not take a whole lot of MMAUL to bust them up. (Silver maple) Here on I done in 2006 this was all trailer in. Noodle and maul only to that point.

 

[swagler85]

Just noticed they are all barefoot, hope that thing don't roll off

 

[WellSeasoned]

I think if any of us were caught w/o shoes on, we would get banned from hearth Dennis would personally send the letter

I had some maple about 3 months ago I ended up turning down. Good luck if you get it

 

[Thistle]

Bring the big saw,sledge/wedges and maul. Piece of cake.Bust them up in managable (75-100lbs max) in no time at all.Make 'em smaller once you get home.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Take your hydraulic splitter and show them how easy it is!

I've probably told this story before so will apologize now. Many years ago a neighbor kept gripping about his splitter. It was a home made model that use the tractor hydraulics. One could almost take a nap in the time it took to split a 20" log and it was not very strong either. I smiled and told him he could use mine if he wished but for some reason he never took me up on it. Then after this went on for a couple years (yes, a couple years!) he once more was gripping and it was mid summer. He had some huge white oaks about the size in the above picture and he could not get them split. Once more I offered and then he laughed. For sure anything that small would not do the trick and besides, how would you get them up onto the splitter. He really began putting down my little splitter. I could have just let it go but this time it got to me. I not only offered to let him use the splitter but I offered to take the splitter down there myself and help him. He could hardly believe it.

I took the splitter there and backed up really close to one of the rounds. His eyes about popped out when he saw me stand the splitter up so we could do the job right. Then he watched but finally decided it might be good to help wrestle those beasts onto the butt plate. Then he could hardly believe it when he saw how quick and easy the job went. The very next day he came home with a new hydraulic splitter.

But back to the problem at hand. If you can't take a hydraulic, I'd simply take a sledge and some wedges and go to work. That should not take long or be too much work. It is soft maple so should not be that difficult.

 

[MasterMech]

I was thinking about this some more, and cannot figure out why they didn't cut them in quarters with the chainsaw if they had a saw big enough to take that monster down!

My guess is that the tree was taken down and bucked by someone else and these evolutionary examples got there hands on a splittter to try and break it down.

 

[StihlHead]

Noodle the rounds with a saw and split them later. Use a safety or old loop in case there are any nails in there.

 

[mywaynow]

Unless you are limited to this as your only available wood, I would let it go. I made the mistake of taking huge Maple rounds similar to those last year. Big mistake and I never returned to the source for more. Not only was the size an issue, but the Maple growth was the absolute worst splitting wood I have ever touched. I could have processed 4 times the amount of wood in any other species.

 

[jwoair23]

Unless you are limited to this as your only available wood, I would let it go. I made the mistake of taking huge Maple rounds similar to those last year. Big mistake and I never returned to the source for more. Not only was the size an issue, but the Maple growth was the absolute worst splitting wood I have ever touched. I could have processed 4 times the amount of wood in any other species.

This was exactly my experience with the huge yard Maple I got. The grain was so twisty I was cursing myself for picking up the wood!

 

[charly]

I had a friend with a bucket truck remove to monster Silver Maples here,,, Butt wood was almost 5 feet in diameter,,, 8 ft long.... on each tree. I told him he could take those away..... had to be full of old iron being how long they where here right by the house... Not worth the aggravation sharpening chain after chain hitting metal. I did noodle plenty of other big wood from these trees. Had to be 70 years old if not older. Growth rings showed almost 100.

 

[jeffesonm]

If you have access to other, more easily processed wood, I would skip it. The more I c/s/s, the more I realize to leave the knots and crotches and just get the nice and easy stuff. The hard stuff really isn't worth the effort.

 

[jwoair23]

If you have access to other, more easily processed wood, I would skip it. The more I c/s/s, the more I realize to leave the knots and crotches and just get the nice and easy stuff. The hard stuff really isn't worth the effort.

Totally agree, if I have the opportunity to leave that stuff, I do. Sometimes its not an option, but when it is, I am very happy to leave it behind. Especially once you get ahead, you can afford to be more picky.

 

[Boom Stick]

Not gonna touch it. Was thinking it might be a good saturday haul. I didn't know much about yard trees until I read this thread.... I have a lot of wood (all scrounged) and don't want to kill myself. I'll take uglies if they are part of a tree I am working behind as my motto is "no btu left behind". I am working on 2014-15 right now. not bad since I started at zero and haven't ever paid for wood. I am just an addict and can't sleep at night if I know there is wood pie somewhere unspoken for. I am sure you gents can understand. Really appreciate the feedback.....put some things into perspective.

 

[charly]

Not gonna touch it. Was thinking it might be a good saturday haul. I didn't know much about yard trees until I read this thread.... I have a lot of wood (all scrounged) and don't want to kill myself. I'll take uglies if they are part of a tree I am working behind as my motto is "no btu left behind". I am working on 2014-15 right now. not bad since I started at zero and haven't ever paid for wood. I am just an addict and can't sleep at night if I know there is wood pie somewhere unspoken for. I am sure you gents can understand. Really appreciate the feedback.....put some things into perspective.

I figure if the ad is two days old already and the wood is still there,,,,,,,,,,,,,enough said!