No more cherry picken

[TimJ]

Six years ago my place was logged of 27 white oaks big enough to make the boat to Japan. At least that is what I heard. Well, I cherry picked all the easy stuff off the tops for the first few years and now I am going after stuff I would have probably left, until I came to this site. Now, nothing is sacred. I go for anything and everything lol
These rounds I am showing were from an end that was cut from a log and shoved to the side. They are probably 42" or so and I got 8 of them real quick this eve. There is no rot except this 2" hole that is readily visible. When I cut the rounds the black carpenter ants were coming out by the dozens. However, I will split these up in the morning and it will be gravy and it will yield a good bit.

 

[Locust Post]

get it all.

 

[Realstone]

get it all.

Yep, it all burns. And that stuff looks like it will burn well. Do the ants find dry seasoned wood unattractive? A maple I processed a couple of weeks back had a lot of ants & other bugs where the wood was wet and rotted. I'm hoping they disappear once the wood dries out.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Six years ago my place was logged of 27 white oaks big enough to make the boat to Japan. At least that is what I heard. Well, I cherry picked all the easy stuff off the tops for the first few years and now I am going after stuff I would have probably left, until I came to this site. Now, nothing is sacred. I go for anything and everything lol
These rounds I am showing were from an end that was cut from a log and shoved to the side. They are probably 42" or so and I got 8 of them real quick this eve. There is no rot except this 2" hole that is readily visible. When I cut the rounds the black carpenter ants were coming out by the dozens. However, I will split these up in the morning and it will be gravy and it will yield a good bit.

And now Tim knows why that hole was there! And he also knows how it got there!

Good for you for getting this wood. It is excellent.

 

[PA Fire Bug]

Do the ants find dry seasoned wood unattractive? A maple I processed a couple of weeks back had a lot of ants & other bugs where the wood was wet and rotted. I'm hoping they disappear once the wood dries out.

I split some birch (dark bark, not white) last year that had many large, black ants in it. The ants went running when I split the wood. A few pieces were really soft - looked like an ant farm inside - so I threw them on a pile for the fire ring. I stacked eveything else. I haven't seen any evidence of ants since stacking the wood. I've read several posts on this site saying that the ants don't like dry wood.

I just read some good info at https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/ants.88064/ .

 

[TimJ]

all too familiar with ants and the damage they can make

 

[TimJ]

Split up my rounds this morning and it did take a little longer. None could be split with the maul, so I had to us a wedge on them........got quite a bit.
Later I went up to another area that has some big pieces sitting for some years. Most of them are hipped pieces that will take a toll on wede and maul. lol
I did muster up enough energy to get me a couple loads with the truck. I'll take them back to the process area and finish them.

 

[Woody Stover]

Yeah, the White Oak hold up pretty well, even if it's been down a while. The only pieces that might be bad are the ones where the end grain has been in contact with the ground, as in the last picture above...

 

[Thistle]

Yeah, the White Oak hold up pretty well, even if it's been down a while. The only pieces that might be bad are the ones where the end grain has been in contact with the ground, as in the last picture above...

A few weeks ago I found some more deadfall Bur Oak that apparantly was missed last summer/fall.Bit soft & fuzzy on outside,but heartwood perfectly sound.Guessing it was on the ground 10 yrs at least.Even threw a few sparks when cutting,that dont happen very often.Same day when out for a walk found a twin White Oak that apparantly died in past several months,each stem about 14",height around 70 feet.Its some 50 ft down the hill in a small 'open' area from where 50 lb blocks of salt for the deer were placed for a couple decades.Still a few tiny brown leaves on it,but looking at the scars on lower trunk & 2 knotholes on exposed root,it was on borrowed time anyway.Gonna wait a few days for it to cool off before its dropped.Looks like an easy 2-3 truckloads at least.

 

[bogydave]

Scrounging your own wood. I like it.
It starts adding up to a nice stack of premium wood at a great price.
Great Exercise thrown is as a bonus

 

[certified106]

Those are some huge rounds! Just take your time when you are handling them and make sure you don't hurt your back moving them around yourself and they will make great firewood!