Unfortunately I'm about to be 3 years ahead

[NoGoodAtScreenNames]

A few days I put together a rotating composter and debated what side of the yard to put it on. Changed my mind a few times until I finally settled on a location.

That night my huge oak decided to break off a huge section and crush the thing. The house was mostly spared except for a little damage to a gutter and the siding. I'm glad I didn't move the composter even closer to the house or there would be more damage.

Going to have the tree guys out and take the rest along with a few other oak and pine trees that are laughing at me and getting ideas. Planning on keeping all the wood, but it will be a lot of work to process. Except for small stuff falling in the yard and respliting stuff I bought this will be my first adventure into this side of the wood burning life. I'm hoping to come out of it with all fingers and most of my toes intact.

Any idea what type of oak this is?

 

[billb3]

The leafs on the pic on the right have rounded tips rather than pointy tips which indicates white oak.

 

[TheAardvark]

White oak definately. Primo firewood.

 

[Dix]

White oak. You're gonna love it, once it seasoned.

Don't be afraid of the pine, it'll save your butt once it's seasoned. And it will season fast once CSS.

Processing it's difficult, but it is labor intensive. Think safe, and you'll be fine.

Congrats on the score, BTW

 

[NoGoodAtScreenNames]

White oak. You're gonna love it, once it seasoned.

Don't be afraid of the pine, it'll save your butt once it's seasoned. And it will season fast once CSS.

Processing it's difficult, but it is labor intensive. Think safe, and you'll be fine.

Congrats on the score, BTW

I'm in a part of the country where burning pine isn't allowed... Looking forward to grinning and ignoring lots of people when they see all the pine stacked up. I've burned a little from trimming branches. I have some legitimate pine cordwood css from Spring 2015 from the last visit by the tree guy. Looking forward to testing that out. The new pine will be great to use in 2017 to 2018 as the oak is drying. Options are nice.

I'm a little torn on the trunk of the oak. It's pretty big - maybe out of my league. I could have the tree guys take it, try to cut it myself, put it on CL or just let it rot back to nature. Letting it rot seems like a shame.

 

[billb3]

The trunk rounds are worth getting a sledge and wedge for for manageable sizes at min.
White oak doesn't pop quite as easily as red oak usually, but when it finally dries out it's nice for the deep dark days and nights of Winter.

 

[NoGoodAtScreenNames]

The trunk rounds are worth getting a sledge and wedge for for manageable sizes at min.
White oak doesn't pop quite as easily as red oak usually, but when it finally dries out it's nice for the deep dark days and nights of Winter.

A wedge will be on my shopping list along with a Fiskars and protective gear. I'm not too scared of the rounds it's getting the logs into rounds. The tree service is good and professional but they don't mess around with cutting firewood length rounds. I'll be getting basically grapple loads left. It's the chainsaws that I respect / fear most.

 

[brenndatomu]

It's the chainsaws that I respect / fear most.

You could post an ad on here for a "mini get together" there has to be a chain saw junkie near you that would cut it up just for the opportunity to run his saw(s)

 

[STIHLY DAN]

Where in mass are you? I am not smart enough to fear a chainsaw and I like using the big one.

 

[HisTreeNut]

Losing some trees is not all bad...we had 8 trees taken down and I am winding up with about 17 pallets of wood. If I did the cord calculator correct, it is just shy of 10 cord of wood. At $200.00 for a full cord [average price around here], it takes some of the sting out of it.
The wifey's gardens are doing better with a little more sun, the grass is growing in much thicker and choking out some ivy. All in all, I cannot complain.

 

[NoGoodAtScreenNames]

Where in mass are you? I am not smart enough to fear a chainsaw and I like using the big one.

Might take you up on that once the trees are down and I see what I'm dealing with. Have a few friends with saws but we're a bunch of suburbanites (Middlesex County). No one "goes out in the woods" to get some firewood like most people on this forum seem to.

I've ordered some chaps and have a buddy coming out this week to clean up some of it with his saw. So far I've just been using my pole trimmer to clean up the little stuff and things up high. The wishbone you see below is what's left. We'll probably trim what we can from the long ends but leave it to the tree service to separate the main sections. I figure at a certain point it's going to roll one way or the other and I don't think we'd be great at predicting which way it will roll vs where we are standing.








Here's the little stuff I've trimmed off so far. Only good thing is it landed right next to one of my green wood piles. I was planning on moving these to a sunnier location, but maybe with the trees coming down I can leave them where they are.

 

[NoGoodAtScreenNames]

That time when you bought some chaps and a starter saw and counted down the days till the tree service came, only to feel an overwhelming sense that you just got yourself in over your head...

Mostly white oak with a few pine logs mixed in (strictly for camp fire burning [emoji6]).

 

[sportbikerider78]

Nothing there looks to crazy to me. Go get yourself a home owner 18" bar chainsaw.

 

[NoGoodAtScreenNames]

Nothing there looks to crazy to me. Go get yourself a home owner 18" bar chainsaw.

I got a 16 inch - first time using a saw and I wanted something I'm comfortable with. I cut a good amount from the downed part before the tree service came. I've got some friends with bigger saws and a father in law that has cut and burned his whole life, so I've got some backup.

My biggest worry is actually just navigating the pile. It would have been nice to have them all on the ground to start, but I wasn't the one operating the crane. Definitely looking forward to the challenge but just planning to be slow and remember safety first.

 

[johneh]

Don't look at it as a BIG JOB
Just a whole lot of little jobs
makes it easier and not so overwhelming

 

[billb3]

I may have the Oliver brothers out to drop a tree or two this Fall or so.
I have a couple white oaks that look like they have called it quits. Probably from gypsy moths. They grew back about half the usual leaves a few weeks ago and now they have pretty much all turned brown. I think they are as dead s the parrot in the Monty Python skit. One is too close to the house and a 2.5-3 cord tree. Another one at the edge of a field away from everything just as big and today I found another (smaller ) white oak that has no leaves and probably died last Summer. I also have 4 big pine trees that the pine beetles killed. All too close to the house. Normally I could get my brother to come over with bigger saws than I have and he'd take the big stuff that he cut but he has health problems right now.

 

[Dix]

I have pines dropping like flies .... gonna be alot of firewood around these here parts real soon.

 

[mstoelton]

Once you get comfortable with your starter saw, you may want to step-up to a larger saw.

Home Depot rents out Makita 6421 saws and sells them at a substantial discount (around $300) after about 2 years.

The Makita 6421 is a German made Dolmar saw in makita colors. These saws are really awesome saws and will cut through that white oak quite handily. They can also be upgraded to an 80cc saw for less than $200, and that my friend will eat up some wood!

 

[sportbikerider78]

The important thing to remember with any power equipment (especially if it makes you nervous), think ahead and make no quick movements. It is all to easy for even the most experienced to get too comfortable and make a mistake. Slow and deliberate wins the race every time.

 

[Oakwood5]

Good luck with the project and have fun. I was in a simaler situation a few years ago started out with the home owner saw and took it easy. Leverage is the key to safely moving those log around with out heavy machinery. An old fence post, concrete breaker bar or a peavey etc. will make the job a lot easier. Fear is a motivator, motivation leads to experience and experiences turn into wisdom.