Yet another sweet scrounge...........

[Big Donnie Brasco]

Answered an ad on CL about free firewood. Evidently this guy is a professional tree trimmer/arborist (not sure of the correct term) he says he ALWAYS has a ton of wood that he can't get rid of.

So get this... I show up, and they are bucking a really big hackberry. Two big burly dudes with some stilh lopping this beast into 18-20 inch rounds.

I introduced myself and went to grab a round and the younger of the two said, "I'll get those sir"!

He filled my entire truck.... I was really grateful but kinda bummed that this kid called me SIR, AND assumed I couldn't toss a few rounds into my truck.

The older of the two even told me that in the future he would call me AND lend me a trailer

Between Hearth.com and "real world" wood-folks ... I have never met a more honest generous, and friendly bunch!

 

[NortheastAl]

Awesome score! Nice to hear there are still decent people out there.

I'll never forget the first time a kid called me sir. I was taking my nephew sledding and some kid looked up at me and said "sir, excuse me." I wasn't even thirty back then. It leaves a lasting impression.

 

[bogydave]

Nice score. & your wood supply grows

Letting someone help, shows them respect & your wisdom

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That is a sweet deal sir!

If someone want to load my wood onto a truck for me, he could call me several different things including sir and I wouldn't mind at all.

 

[Big Donnie Brasco]

I just split it ALL in 35 minutes with my Fiskars X27 !

It really wasn't too bad. there was ONE round that had knots and "junk" and it bout kicked my @$$ but I bent it to my will eventually......... they ALL bend eventually!

 

[DexterDay]

Looking Good Donnie!! Looking good!

A scrounge like that, may set you up for years to come.

My buddy lives closer to Cleveland and he has a Tree service owner load his truck several times each week, and the guy still posts on CL that he will load your trailer if you show up to the job site. He has wood for days. Sometimes at several sites.

He always has a running ad for a coup,e guys who need wood a few times a week.

So stay on top of this guy. He may not have Great wood every time. But wood is wood. And Cottonwood is great for shoulders. Or Pine, or Silver Maple (I love Silver )

 

[paul bunion]

You are in now in with a bottomless pit of wood!! Scrounging now means picking up the phone and calling your supplier. Don't take all the crap wood though, you are doing him a favor by making wood disappear that he has charged his customer to dispose of. He makes money when you take it. His offering you a trailer to clean up his worksite is a clear sign, so you have a good deal of control over what you take. He might even be paying by the ton to dump it, so he is better off giving you the heavy stuff. (Here the supply/demand is so skewed that log loads are delivered free, with an occasional piece of red maple to help the oak burn.)

 

[bogydave]

Having fun now !
Wait until you get to d some cutting,
double the fun

Looking good.

 

[HDRock]

When they call you to get some more wood , take the guys some Sub samitches,pizza,coffee,soda, beer something.
You make friends with them, there will be no need for scrounging

 

[Big Donnie Brasco]

When they call you to get some more wood , take the guys some Sub samitches,pizza,coffee,soda, beer something.
You make friends with them, there will be no need for scrounging

Great idea... Thank you!

 

[lukem]

When they call you to get some more wood , take the guys some Sub samitches,pizza,coffee,soda, beer something.
You make friends with them, there will be no need for scrounging

Agree. Treat the crew right, and they'll treat you right. They want to get rid of the wood at the jobsite just as much, if not more, than the tree service owner. A couple cold drinks and/or some grub goes a long way.

 

[geoff1969]

When they call you to get some more wood , take the guys some Sub samitches,pizza,coffee,soda, beer something.
You make friends with them, there will be no need for scrounging

x2 on this = cold day and thay ring you offer them some hot coffee , hot days take a few cold soft drinks etc , oh and all ways keeps some tins of biscuts in the pantry , = if the guys dont want a drink or any thing taken to them you just leave a nice big tin of biscuts on the seat of there work vehical = thay can eat thm or take them home for there family ... cheers

 

[Woody Stover]

That looks more like Silver Maple than Hackberry! But maybe the bark looks like that when they get big. All I see is small to medium-sized ones in the woods...

just leave a nice big tin of biscuts on the seat of there work vehical = thay can eat thm or take them home for there family

Take them the Aussie biscuits (cookies) though, not the dried-out, chalky American southern flour biscuits...unless you submerse them in a jar of gravy.

 

[Big Donnie Brasco]

That looks more like Silver Maple than Hackberry! But maybe the bark looks like that when they get big. All I see is small to medium-sized ones in the woods...

Take them the Aussie biscuits (cookies) though, not the dried-out, chalky American southern flour biscuits...unless you submerse them in a jar of gravy.

I'm not 100% sure if it was hackberry or Maple... It was pretty tough to split and a little "stringy" but I managed

 

[BobUrban]

It is all good when it is bucked and loaded for you - looks like maple to me but I am not always correct. I like maple - dries fast and burns good.

 

[jdp1152]

I'm not 100% sure if it was hackberry or Maple... It was pretty tough to split and a little "stringy" but I managed

I brought home some silver maple recently (ID'd from the good folks on here) and thought it would be easy to split based on other reviews. It was anything but easy to split. FWIW, it looked remarkably like what you have pictured. Reminds me...I still need to go pick up the rest of it at some point.

 

[Big Donnie Brasco]

I'm not a beast, but I'm no slouch either and I WHOLLUPPED that stuff!! 6 out of 8 rounds were pretty "tight" but stringy.... 2 of the rounds were TOUGH!! I split em but it was a chore! I took a video of the X27 BOUNCING off 4 times in a row!

Those last 2 rounds took 80% of the time!

 

[jdp1152]

You don't have to tell me. I've split 2 cords of ash, 1 cord of norway maple, 2.5 cords of red oak, .75 cords of silver maple, and even two cords of white willow by hand the past 12 months. Other than quartering the willow when it was sloppy wet and just swallowing the fiskars, the silver maple was by far the most difficult of the lot, excluding big knotty sections on the others.

 

[Big Donnie Brasco]

SWEET.... it should all be downhill from here!

 

[bogydave]

Tried a 6 or 8 lb maul yet?
More beef

 

[paul bunion]

I'm not a beast, but I'm no slouch either and I WHOLLUPPED that stuff!! 6 out of 8 rounds were pretty "tight" but stringy.... 2 of the rounds were TOUGH!! I split em but it was a chore! I took a video of the X27 BOUNCING off 4 times in a row!

Those last 2 rounds took 80% of the time!

You've got free wood now, if a piece doesn't split easy just dump it at the town recycling center and call your supplier up for another load. Its easier than getting yourself beat up by a piece of wood.

 

[HDRock]

The fiskers works good but won't do it all, after 5 or 6 swings I put the cover on and out come the wedges, But then again, I only use those methods when I need to make it small enough to lift onto the splitter.

 

[wishlist]

I'm not 100% sure if it was hackberry or Maple... It was pretty tough to split and a little "stringy" but I managed

Big Donnie, that's not Hackberry. Here's a pic of a decent size Hackberry, notice the bark it's very pronounced and really not similar to anything else . It has really tall ridges that kinda weave vertical. Great score nonetheless.

 

[DexterDay]

Well, Big Donnie will soon be able to change some of his Signature. He has 2 saws coming. A free Craftsman (needs an air filter, sprocket, and??.. and an near mint 036. I just shipped both today

Here is hoping he enjoys his new toys. This is also the onset of CAD!! Be careful.... Be Very Careful!! LOL..

Pics of both saws... Craftsman can be sold at a garage sale if it doesn't work out for him. But I got it for free and wanted to pay it forward.

Good luck Don. Go forth and cut some wood

 

[Big Donnie Brasco]

I seriously don't remember the last time I was this excited about a material item!

I would also like to say that if ANY of you (or your friends) EVER find yourself needing a "gently used" saw.... Dexter is your man! I have been around the internet since it was born (I'm in information tech) and I have been involved in LOTS of online purchases from eBay, CL, person to person etc... I have NEVER had dealings with anyone that was as HONEST, GENUINE, FRIENDLY, and GENEROUS as Dex!
For those of you that know him I am only telling you what you already know, but as an online community we are very lucky to have him! That's not to say that ALL Hearth.com members aren't equally awesome, I just haven't dealt with all of you yet

I will post the generalities of how our transaction played out in the very near future, but suffice to say that Dexter sets an amazing example for his son, has got to make his old man proud, and he's the kind of guy you'd want to have as a neighbor, and a friend!

I'm really excited to get my very first saw, but I'm also glad to be a part of such a great online community!

Don