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.

 

[Murray01]

I also have an endless supply of wood so I get fussy on what to take and what to leave. I wrongly assumed you were using a chainsaw not a handsaw. As far as trunk diameter vs. handsaw efficiency I have no idea. Just curious, why would you not use a chainsaw? I would think a chainsaw would be much more efficient(faster) than a handsaw for felling.

 

[dougstove]

My brother is masterful notching with an ax, and for stuff up to ~6" the Silky katanaboy is fast, quiet and light for back cuts. It puts me ~1.5 m from any felling issues. Felling is a small fraction of our time compared to limbing, bucking, hauling, splitting and stacking. But I probably will work on felling skill with the chainsaw.

 

[4x4prepper]

> 1 electric splitter

If it is a 5-7 ton 120v, then nothing more then 8" diameter and pieces 14 inches long would be ideal. Though with my Ryobi 5 ton 120v, I split pieces big enough diameter where I dented the rail when I accidentally dropped a heavy one.

On the electric log splitters length is the enemy, no so much the width.

I just bought a Ryobi kinetic 40V log splitter for the small stuff. It will split red oak okay if cut 12-14 inches long, even 12" diameter stuff. Make it 18+ inches long, even a small diameter log, it then jams, and requires a reset.

From splitting birch once upon a time with an axe, pretty much any diameter was okay, as long as it was 14" or so long/tall. That way I split in one swing.

I think 6" diameter and smaller is ideal if you have to drag it and move it around by hand. It only takes a few wacks from a good axe and it goes over. You can do the back cut with an axe too.

What I try to do on small diameter trees is do an open face cut about 18" (chainsaw or sawzall) or so above the ground, that leaves the tree suspended off the ground when the open face cut closed. Then I delimb it, then while I have the whole stick still suspended, I cut the trunk to length or into firewood length.

I have made a little setup for cutting small stems and branches, I cut them to 6 feet, drag them all to one spot, then cut them, on the setup, and toss the cut pieces directly into the 275-330 gallon (former) water tote cage. This saves me from having to bend over 300 times to pick up firewood and I handle it less times.

Though a Big Bear log hog might be a future buy.

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