Optimal trunk size?

[dougstove]

Hi my brother and I are aiming to harvest 4 cords of firewood this fall; white birch, yellow birch, maple, some tamarack (b/c it is in the way of PV panels).

We are 58 & 60, reasonably active.
1 chainsaw, mostly for bucking (Echo electric, loving it)
1 electric splitter
1 truck.
A cart to move bucked pieces.
Rope puller, etc

Small stems <10 cm/4" are easy to cut and buck, but the crowns are like velcro and we pull them down with a rope winch.
Big stems are heavy for us to move once dropped but give a lot more bucked wood.

Experience on choosing what to drop?
We have an endless supply; some awkward trees we take for maintenance.
cheers Doug

 

[Murray01]

You don’t mention your chainsaw/directional felling abilities. I personally only cut trees that have a lean to the direction I want them falling assuming there is no other trees to hold them back from hitting the ground. Not knowing what you’re doing can get a person in a lot of trouble fast as I’m sure you are aware of. I only cut about 5-10% of trees from standing the 90-95% of my firewood is blowdowns. I know my limitations with my experience.

The bigger the trunk the more wood but the bigger the trunk the quicker you can get into trouble.

Your list is missing a First Aid kit, wedges and axe.

 

[dougstove]

Yes to firstaid, axes, wedges, peavey, etc.
I have been cutting/bucking quite a few blowdowns although they have many challenges as well.
So far our felling is ax & Silky katanaboy long pull saw, just bucking and taking high stumps with the chainsaw.
I like the quiet of the pullsaw and it gives me ~1 m distance from the action.
We are pretty informed on directional felling but the tangled crowns are a challenge.