My first haul of wood with first saw!

[salmonhunter]

So today I decided to start collecting some wood for the upcomming season even though I dont have a stove yet. I went down to the DNR to find out about cutting on crown land. I found out its only $18 per cord and there is a spot around 15km from my house. I bought a permit for 2 cords and off to buy a chainsaw I went. Found out stihl chainsaws are on sale right now and ended up buying a ms250.
This is what i ended up with Would you estimate that at 1/3 a cord or so? All in all it was a pretty fun experience but next time I go il be more prepared. I'l be bringing a wheelbarrow, bug spray, and some water. One more question what kind of wood is that maple? The spot I go has that stuff and birch which one do you think will dry faster as I will be using the wood this season.

 

[Woody Stover]

Nice start on the wood!
Hard to say what kind of wood it is from those pics but it looks like maybe Maple. Closeups of the bark, end grain, and split wood will be helpful. Did the wood seem pretty solid or was there some soft punk wood? I'm not sure but I think Birch will dry faster than hard Maple. Soft Maple would probably dry fastest of all. I'm assuming you are located in the Great White North. You will probably need to split small so that your wood dries as quickly as possible, since you don't have a real long drying season.

 

[Wood Duck]

My advice, based on my early chainsawing, is to be extremely careful about the chain hitting anything but clean wood. When I first bought my saw I dulled the chain so fast I didn't realize I had done it, and I thought the dull chain was normal. After cutting a while on a dull chain but assuming 'it can't be dull already' I tried a new chain and was very pleasantly surprised. A chain can go dull in a couple of minutes cutting dirty wood, or a few seconds it you let it hit the dirt.

 

[bogydave]

Good start.
Nice new saw .
Hard to tell how much is there before spit & stacked, but looks like less than a 1/3 to me.
Get it split & stacked off the ground ASAP so it dries & will be burnable this coming season
Like mentioned, smaller splits dry faster.

Have fun

 

[firefighterjake]

Random thoughts . . .

Looks like about 1/3 of a cord . . . I generally figure a 6 foot pick up bed with bucked up wood level to the sides and mounded up slightly in the center is about 1/3 of a cord.

Appears to be maple of some sort . . . hard to tell with the pic. I'm better at tree identification with leafs.

Which would season faster . . . probably the white birch . . . unless it is silver or red maple . . . then it may be a tie.

 

[Jags]

Rod - looks like your getting a good start ( I would agree with a bit less than a third of a cord there). I would like to mention something that has yet been said. PPE (personal protection equipment). As a chainsaw beginner I think you will find that the saw has a mind of its own, kinda like a wayward puppy. No harm intended, but it can happen in the blink of an eye. I simply won't start my saw until I have chaps on. I will admit that I am not a helmet wearer, but I am not saying that I am very smart either . If you are cutting alone - double this warning. You can bleed out in a matter of minutes. A $60 pair of chaps can make that difference.

Work safe, my friend.

PS - you did well with your saw selection. The MS250 is a nice little saw and should treat you well for a long time.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Rod.

I can't tell from the pictures either what wood you have. If possible take some pictures close up to show the bark and the grain. Leaf would also help if you happen to get some. The 250 is a good saw so long as you stay within its capabilities. I almost bought one and have a neighbor who bought one just for limbing trees as he uses a bigger saw for felling and cutting the bigger stuff. That saw should last many, many years. I got a 290 ten years ago and it serves us well.

You no doubt know by now that the wood needs to be split to dry and also stacked off the ground and preferably in the wind. Let Mother Nature do the work for you when it comes to drying. In your area you may have to top cover the wood as soon as it is stacked but don't cover the sides or ends for sure.

If you need the wood for next winter, get it cut fast! It needs the time to dry. You will also learn it is a very good idea to try to get 2-3 years ahead on your wood pile. This will assure you have good wood to burn and should some catastrophe happen and some year you can't cut, you will still have wood for that winter. You will also notice a huge difference in the wood when you get to the point where it has set in the wind for 2-3 years. You'll get more heat from it and that will also mean you'll burn less wood. Until the time comes that we learn how to burn water, drying the wood a couple years will continue to serve us well because right now, water just does not burn well at all.

 

[timusp40]

Rod,
You are off to a good start, but I can't stress enough that you do try to have reasonably well seasoned (dry) wood before you start burning. Just like you, I do not have a stove yet, but I have been slowly scrounging here and there for the last year and now have close to 9 cords of nice mixed hardwood cut, split and stacked. If things work out, I will have a stove next season, if they don't I will at least know that the wood I have is waiting patiently for the day.
Take care,
Tim

 

[toonces]

welcome to the pre-stove preparation club. nice score!

 

[jeepmedic]

Welcome and congrats on the wood score and new saw ! You will find that cutting and managing wood is addicting, great exercise, and very rewarding to know that all that hard work will heat your home. As everyone has stated, you basically have to bust your rear end to get caught up so you dont have to burn green wood.

I have cut 23 cords since December, but am now 2 years ahead. Once you are a few years ahead, you can take your time to cut every additional year.

There is light at the end of the tunnel !

 

[salmonhunter]

jeepmedic I hear what your saying about collecting wood can be addicting. It seems weird that im looking forward to my next day off, not to have some drinks or go fishing but to go collect wood. lol

 

[zzr7ky]

Hi & Wecome -

Looks like you're off to a good start.

You didn't mention sharpening. A file guide is about $10 and it's a lot quicker and easier to keep 'em sharp than to let the chain get dull. Also no mention of Saftey Chaps. I've had mine 15 years and only caught the chaps once, with one tooth, on a saw that was off. However the cut would have been a mess without the chaps.

I sure loved it in n. Ontaria as a kid in the Summers.

Enjoy!,
Mike P

 

[PapaDave]

Not sure how I missed this.....from Monday. Jeez. Welcome to the Hearth, almost a month late.!!
Anywho, I'll echo what these guys have said. I think it's Maple, but it's tough to know w/o closer pics.
Doesn't look like 1/3 cord to me. I have to overfill a 5x10' utility trailer to get 1/3 cord......that's not what I'm seeing.
Nice first score, and close to home too! Go get more. I'd like to try some Birch myself, so get yourself some of that too. Then you can compare.
How do you plan to split it? That needs to get done asap if you want to even think about having a decent burn with it this winter.
Since I didn't see anybody else ask, what stove is in the plan, or is there a plan yet?
Pics, man, we need pics.

 

[salmonhunter]

well since I started this topic I made a total of 3 trips to that spot. I have been splitting it all by hand with a maul. I see an electric splitter in the future but prob gonna have to wait till next year. As for the stove im hoping I can get a blaze king princess insert but if its too pricey I may have to get pacific energy super insert. I got a quote on the pacific energy for $3100 installed but that was the last one they had so not sure if its gonna still be there when im ready to buy. Almost forgot to mention last time I was out cutting I decided to try and fell a dead tree that was half rotten in the middle and I ended up pinching the chain so bad that I couldn't get it out. So I take the motor part off and leave the bar and chain in the tree and go back to town to buy some wedges when I get back I end up breaking a wedge in the tree trying to get my bar back no luck. now my plan is to go buy another bar and chain just to recover the other one. ohh well I think I learned from my mistake Im pretty sure my second cut on the back of the tree was just a little bit to low.

 

[wantstoburnwood]

hey welcome to the forum And to the wood burning obsession . From a fellow maritimer

 

[hobbyheater]

So today I decided to start collecting some wood for the upcomming season I bought a permit for 2 cords and off to buy a chainsaw

Pictured fallers pants,and inside out to show the area of projection, and a pair of chaps these are a very old pair the newer ones can give much better protection. In 45+plus years of using a chainsaw they have only had to do their job once .

Nice start on the road to dry firewood!

 

[salmonhunter]

well just finished splitting and stacking some more wood and im still curious as to what kind of tree these are first pic is what I have collected so far the 2nd is some wood that the neighbor said I could have if i went and picked it up. That stuff is really hard to split im gonna try and let it dry out see if it gets any easier. The last pic is the wood that I been getting off crown land. Hopefully that is a better pic and someone can identify that tree

 

[Realstone]

Someone's been to stacking school
Welcome to hearth.com
I'm not an expert, barely a novice, but that does look like the sugar maple I scored this afternoon