Teaching the art of wood scrounging

[ikessky]

Well, I don't technically know if you would call what I'm doing scrounging, but that's kind of how I look at it. My FIL bought a used processor this year and I've been reaping the benefits. He's probably a little liberal on what he's leaving behind because he knows I'll come and clean up the tops and stumps, but I appreciate it. Today I brought the kids with me (6 and 4) to help with the loading. We spent a good three hours tooling through the woods, stopping at various landings to saw and load a little. One our way home, I noticed that the power company had cleared the right of way and took off a few nice limbs from one of the oaks and some smaller chunks of white ash. The oak limbs were probably 16" or so and they laid in nice 6'-8' chunks. So tell the kids, "We've got one more stop before going home." As we pull up to the pile and I stop the truck, my six year old lets out a big sigh/groan and says, "Dad, how much wood do we REALLY need?" They both fell asleep about 5 minutes after we actually got on the road. Maybe next time I should go a little easier on the little ones!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

:lol:

They'll appreciate the lessons when they get older and try to heat a house on a budget. The wife complains about it every year except when she's feeding the fire or paying the bills.

Matt

 

[hensonconst1]

at that age all you can work on is work ethic

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Well, I don't technically know if you would call what I'm doing scrounging, but that's kind of how I look at it. My FIL bought a used processor this year and I've been reaping the benefits. He's probably a little liberal on what he's leaving behind because he knows I'll come and clean up the tops and stumps, but I appreciate it. Today I brought the kids with me (6 and 4) to help with the loading. We spent a good three hours tooling through the woods, stopping at various landings to saw and load a little. One our way home, I noticed that the power company had cleared the right of way and took off a few nice limbs from one of the oaks and some smaller chunks of white ash. The oak limbs were probably 16" or so and they laid in nice 6'-8' chunks. So tell the kids, "We've got one more stop before going home." As we pull up to the pile and I stop the truck, my six year old lets out a big sigh/groan and says, "Dad, how much wood do we REALLY need?" They both fell asleep about 5 minutes after we actually got on the road. Maybe next time I should go a little easier on the little ones!

Tell him what my old man told me, "All of it."

 

[ikessky]

Took a half day off today and went to get more wood. I took my 4 year old with me again since he didn't have school. He helped with a couple little pieces for the first couple loads. The last few loads were are the big pieces that were left behind (20"+). I parked the Kawasaki Mule and began to load the pieces in. I asked, "Aren't you going to help buddy?" He crinkles his brow like he's deep in thought and replies, "How about I stay on the Mule and just chat with you?" You just have to love the little goof balls He'll have to pull his weight once we start splitting and stacking in the next few days.

 

[hensonconst1]

That sounds familier, if I spelled that right, ikessky

 

[Apprentice_GM]

I've found a couple of good scrounging practices have served me well and thought I'd share as I haven't seen them mentioned here before:

1) I get fencing people who replace old hardwood fences to drop them at my place instead of the rubbish tip. It saves them tip fees and petrol, and gives me a free supply of very, very well seasoned hardwood to burn - it doesn't get any more seasoned than fencing boards, posts and rails sitting in the sun and wind for 30 to 50 years! I knock the palings off and cut 80 to 100 of them at a time in my sawbuck. They are quite convenient to burn because you can choose how many boards you want to stack in one hit, making it like a large split, and of course zero smoke or creosote. Hardwood fences were the standard way of fencing 1/4 acre blocks in Oz, and with today's drive towards higher density housing and just sheer age, heaps of them are getting ripped out. Don't know if that's as good a source in the US.

2) Electricity or telegraph pole contractors - yes the guys who clean up, trim and fell trees under and around lines are well known here at hearth, but (here in Oz anyway) there is a different crew that replace old wooden poles. These can be 50 to 80 feet tall, 18" to 24" thick at base tapering to at least a foot thick at the top, usually more, as part of the requirement in carrying electricity and phone lines. In Oz they are hardwood and again, having been standing in the elements for 50+ years, are well seasoned! I have a crew working in my street today, mentioned I was a wood burner, and they promised me a 28m high (~80 feet?) pole in the next few days, carefully cut into 10 feet lengths and dropped off next to my woodpile Saves them an hour+ round trip to the tip plus fees, win/win.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Telephone poles, at least here in the US, are heavily pressure treat- creosoted to make them rot and insect proof. They are very bad as firewood- highly polluting. I'd assume your telephone poles are too (?)

The branches trimmed by the other crew are great, of course.

 

[Apprentice_GM]

Telephone poles, at least here in the US, are heavily pressure treat- creosoted to make them rot and insect proof. They are very bad as firewood- highly polluting. I'd assume your telephone poles are too (?)

The branches trimmed by the other crew are great, of course.

Nah, not the old poles . . . say 20 years or older, just solid, untreated hardwood. The new small ones are pressure treated and chemically treated, so non-burnable, whilst the large ones are concrete (tubular).