Today's score: old manzanita

[Adabiviak]

The BLM is cutting a "new" fire break through an area not far from here, which includes acres of foothill chaparral including manzanita. It took a while to get a hold of the right person, but I got a permit to gather a cord (four ¼ cord tickets) for $10. The manzanita is already bucked and cut; I just need to make sure I maintain the integrity of the piles as I remove the wood. Some of the manzanita is on the order of a hundred years old, much of the rest 'mere decades'. It's also been seasoning off the dirt for at least a year so it's practically usable now (and it's no slouch on the BTU charts either).

The manzanita trunk to the left of the stump is ~80 years old, for example.

 

[Woody Stover]

Yeah, the BTU on that stuff is impressive! Apparently it's sparky, but so are other high-BTU species. Good in a smoker too, from what I see. And as we all know, you can never have too much purple wood. Nice score!

 

[chuckie5fingers]

Thats some really neat looking wood.
chuck

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That is some very nice looking wood. Great that you can get it at not too high of a price too.

 

[Realstone]

Odd question but what does it smell like when you cut or split it? Usually highly coloured wood is more aromatic.

 

[katwillny]

I remember as kids back home my grandparent used to make furniture out of manzanita, its very hard wood. Stairs spindles was his favorite thing to make out of them. Its too pretty to burn.

 

[Oregon Bigfoot]

Manzanita is great wood! Great score! It burns about like madrone. Long, hot, and lots of coals. I wish we had manzanita here in Northwest Oregon in any quantity. You have to go down by Grants Pass/Medford area to get some, and that's too far for me.

 

[Mr A]

Would you mind sharing which ranger station, and part of the forest to go get some? I am close to the Sierras myself, in Roseville.

 

[Adabiviak]

I went through the Mother Lode field office. Do you know where Columbia State Park is? It's a few miles behind that near Blewetts Point.

 

[Mr A]

I Sure do, on my way to Don Pedro, or New Mellones for some fishin'! and my brother with 4WD, and trailer. That is nice country. >Low lying foothills, lots of oak, madrone, manzanita, and GOLD! Oh, yea, and good fishing.

 

[midwestcoast]

Cool looking stuff and I can see how it would get those high btu counts growing so slowly.
Good thing it's small enough you don't have to try to split it. Looks like that would be rather challenging!

 

[Thistle]

Small Manzanita Burl candleholder from Feb 1998.I have a small turned bowl in the house packed away someplace & found a couple rough blocks/chunks left in my stash when reorganizing the shop on Friday.Very dense,have to watch for bits of gravel or sand in some of those voids when sawing/shaping.

 

[Adabiviak]

Today's load and the view. This particular spot is the local "Inspiration Point" where high school kids go to get baked and make out. Unfortunately, it's also a popular spot for people to dump trash, so the hillside just right of the truck is terrible.


Here's what the slash piles look like - just pick it up and go!


edit - @Realstone - I rarely if ever smell the burning wood from my stove (usually if I open the door or go outside while it's still producing smoke at the beginning). Maybe I'm doing something wrong or I can't smell it? I'll let you know if I get a whiff of this.

 

[BobUrban]

Wow - I have never heard of it unless it also goes by another name and I am surprised no bowyers are using it for longbow/recurve venears and risers. That stuff is beautiful.

Nice work Thistle, i have turned a few bows out of osage and other exotics but my finished work is no where near the quality of yours.

 

[ScotO]

Thats some neat wood, never seen it before, heck I've never even heard of it before! Bet a piece of that would make an awesome tomahawk handle. I may have to buy a sliver off of you........Great score Adabiviak!

 

[Wood Duck]

That stuff looks very dry already, and it looks really old and dense. The only manzanita we have here is Bearberry, which is lucky to get 6 inches tall, so I won't be burning any manzanita anytime soon.

 

[Blue Vomit]

I came across this log the other day and started cutting a few rounds off of it. It looks alot like yours. Im pretty sure its Manzanita.

 

[Oregon Bigfoot]

I came across this log the other day and started cutting a few rounds off of it. It looks alot like yours. Im pretty sure its Manzanita.

That's sugar manzanita you got there.

 

[Mr A]

I came across this log the other day and started cutting a few rounds off of it. It looks alot like yours. Im pretty sure its Manzanita.

Hard to tell how big the rounds are in your pic. They look like little pieces of play dough

 

[rkshed]

I came across this log the other day and started cutting a few rounds off of it. It looks alot like yours. Im pretty sure its Manzanita.

Must be unique to PA. We don't have anything that good lookin' up here in NH.
Is this on the site's BTU chart?

 

[gzecc]

Hopefully california won't turn the countryside into a concrete jungle to prevent forest fires. Maybe people shouldn't live in certain areas?