Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: Marc St Louis on January 18, 2018, 12:31:55 pm
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I have second thoughts about cutting up a tree for firewood. I took down a 12" Sugar Maple this morning and started cutting it up into stove lengths. As I was looking at it I had second thoughts. The first 6' was pipe straight with no branches. It was a tough decision but I need firewood more than I need staves right now
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Priorities! I try not to think about bow wood til all the firewood is cut, split, stacked and covered. Once that's done it's time for other stuff. )W(
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Hi Marc,
I guess it is a question on how much bush you have and how rare it is for you to find such a nice straight piece of maple to make into staves :). But I do understand if you choose warmth over staves :)
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I've actually cut up seasoned bow staves for fire wood when we got low. I do try to pick questionable staves for this though. :o
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Well, if you change your mind there is always splicing..:)
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Don't blame you a bit, Id burn it to :). We are covered in sugar maple up here, I don't mess with it as far as bows are concerned. But, if you make the sap into syrup you have my undivided attention.
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Well, green firewood is about as useful as green staves so leave that one piece in a 6' length. Make up your mind when it's dry. If you're burning green wood, well that's a bad decision you made last summer ;D ;D ;D
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I hear ya Marc, every time I cut a tree someone will ask, won't that make a bow, I usually say , yes most likely would but a man needs fire also. ;)
Pappy
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I only cut dead or ugly wood for burning. The amount of heat I'd get from a six foot section of bow sized Maple doesn't hold a candle to a couple of bows that would last for decades.
I'd rather cut all the branches up and burn them in place.
Maple is too good a wood for bows.
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If you can, cull a sick/dying tree, or cut non bow worthy trees. I know timber is a renewable source but it is our responsibility to use our resources wisely. That is the key to forest management.
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Problem no longer exists for me. This house has no chimney--wish it did.
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I find that the exercise I get with my draw knife keeps me as warm as a fire would. just sayin. . . .
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The saying is that firewood warms you three or four times depending on who you ask. Once when you cut it, once when you split it and again when you burn it.
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You could sell somebody like me about 6 pipe straight staves for about $60.00 each and then use that money to buy some firewood.
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I find that the exercise I get with my draw knife keeps me as warm as a fire would. just sayin. . . .
I'll try and run that one by my wife and say it was your idea :)
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Badger beat me to it - the wood poor would be bowyers would love to have a log like that!
If you don't have a timber lot, buying quality staves can get pricey. Board bows can be an alternative, and darned good bows come from boards, but there is something almost sterile comparing a board to a bark covered split from a log. I've been fortunate to have a few friends with acreage that took bows in trade for trees.
Another lucky day was when the power company was clearing high tension access and let me grab some decent stock.
It's plenty cold here in central NY state and up in your neck of the country I'm sure it colder. You can't beat wood heat to warm your bones, so you gotta keep your chains sharp.
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I find that the exercise I get with my draw knife keeps me as warm as a fire would. just sayin. . . .
I'll try and run that one by my wife and say it was your idea :)
Well I suppose you can try and tell her if she is cold, she should just work harder. but even if you say it was someone else's idea, I bet it doesn't turn out well for you. Let me know how that doghouse feels. (S)
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I'm sitting on a sugarbush myself and often find myself in the same dilemma. When it comes to sugar maples I go by the following order of importance...
1) heat (S)
2) syrup -C-
3) bows (-S
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I have the same dillema with hickory here.I'm in the Pat M outlook on an issue as this.I try to burn mostly dead standing snags or storm broken trees.A short section of 6' would'nt heat you very long but a bow would last longer.Especially if plenty more wood was there available for firewood.
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since starting bow making I have gotten a lot of firewood from grabbing "bow wood" when I could and then on second inspection, it was not really that good so it went in the cut pile. (Did help to justify all my excursions to the wife)
"Look at all the firewood I collected honey."
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I've burnt a few staves myself that weren't up to par.
I cut a Maple a few years ago specifically for bows, sadly it wasn't quite as nice as this tree.
It's not worth my while, with the amount of work involved in getting a log out of the bush and then splitting it, to sell wood. A log of Maple that size weighs several hundred pounds which I would have to manhandle by hand to get it out and it was some 30' from my trail. If I could get to my wood lot in the Summer time it wouldn't be so bad but I'm surrounded by a swamp and the only time I can get back there to get firewood is in the Winter.
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Thank goodness most Okies don't burn Osage.
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just do what you need to do,, I am sure you gonna make plenty of bow, need to stay warm to make it too summer,, (-S
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Sometimes, life gets in the way! It would be a tough decision, either way, but as you said, Marc, getting the log out would be a lot of work, even with pulleys and a "come along"!
Hawkdancer
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I have second thoughts about cutting up a tree for firewood. I took down a 12" Sugar Maple this morning and started cutting it up into stove lengths. As I was looking at it I had second thoughts. The first 6' was pipe straight with no branches. It was a tough decision but I need firewood more than I need staves right now
But what about the rest of us, Marc? Thinking only of yourself? ;D ;) I mean I live in Utah and wrestle bows out of scrubby, lumpy elm saplings stolen from vacant lots, spliced at the handle with scotch tape. A straight 6' trunk of hard maple would make me cry for joy.
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I agree Springbuck, there looked like some deadstanding firewood possibilities in that peek a boo pic. I think he is trolling us.
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I’m the same way when it comes to burning or throwing out Osage. I don’t need to burn it to heat the house but I hate to waste any of it. I save the smallest pieces knowing I can make something with it
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I have second thoughts about cutting up a tree for firewood. I took down a 12" Sugar Maple this morning and started cutting it up into stove lengths. As I was looking at it I had second thoughts. The first 6' was pipe straight with no branches. It was a tough decision but I need firewood more than I need staves right now
But what about the rest of us, Marc? Thinking only of yourself? ;D ;) I mean I live in Utah and wrestle bows out of scrubby, lumpy elm saplings stolen from vacant lots, spliced at the handle with scotch tape. A straight 6' trunk of hard maple would make me cry for joy.
OK but then your not here to help me take it out of the bush :D
I agree Springbuck, there looked like some deadstanding firewood possibilities in that peek a boo pic. I think he is trolling us.
I think there is a standing dead Balsam Fir in that pic. If I had to start burning Balsam on a cold day I would have to sit in front of the wood-stove and feed it all day long (=)
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The hardness is an aspect I forgot to consider as to what type of wood is best for firewood in your area.Trouble is most times the more dense the better the bow wood too.Getting firewood here is just a part of life and helps keep a person in shape yet.Seems if there is a will there is a way.
I think I've only been caught once in 38 years with not enough firewood cut and split but still managed.This year I'm helping a young couple with 2 children who moved here who own a resteraunt business in that dilema for their house.Not enough firewood.They bought an old Amish built house in the country.I found large dead oak and maple limbs laying on the ground not that long in a pasture to get them by this year.They are from a warmer climate[California] and really did'nt know exactly how to run their own wood stove too which wasted a lot of wood.
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Why not just burn poor bow wood such as pine, most other evergreens, aspen, poppler, and willow? I guess it depends on where you live, so maybe you don't have those trees to burn. In which case I say you are lucky. I'm with springbuck here in Utah. Most the trees we're surrounded with are either unavailable or crap trees.
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I will burn almost anything myself for btu's.Even low density river maple but not pine or any wood with a lot of pitch in them.I'm lucky I quess to have that choice.They pop and ping a lot and if asphalt shingles or cedar shake shingles are on the house a spark can get those shingles started,plus btu's from them to heat a lot of square footage means chucking wood constantly into the stove.
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I'll burn a mix of White Birch and Aspen during the day but it has to be Maple at night or else the wife starts to complain come morning, of course there's always the cuddle factor ;D. Even then it gets tough to keep significant heat in the house overnight when it gets down to 40 below.
Pretty tough to gets shingles ignited when there snow on the roof Ed. Chimney fires are a pain though and dangerous and you a lot more of those when burning coniferous wood. There's a lot of energy in conifers but it's quick energy
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That's good for you but there are times when it gets well below zero with no snow on the roof too.I would think birch would work pretty good in your situation as you don't have hickory or osage locally.I don't burn pine etc. during colder weather as it just does'nt have as much btu's.I will burn lighter density wood with no pitch during not as cold times in what I call a flash fire as to just take the chill out of a house.Other things such as the amount of wind blowing is a very big factor to affect heat loss also.
Chimney fires are a scary unnerving experience that's for sure.I solve that by only burning only dry wood and proper management of my wood stove & pipes.I have 2 wood stoves in this house.Above and below.The usual...clean stove pipes at least once a year also.Not all winters are the same though.I do keep chim fex around too in case.Things have to be done right[ proper buffering air space between stories] in order to get proper insurance coverage with experience operating a wood stove properly.
When I clean pipes I have very little creosote to clean out most times only burning less than 3 cords per year.The amount of wood burned as to the type of winter can contribute to be a factor though too.Burning wood...wood stove and pipe management is something someone has to get a feel for year after year to know what to do when.
Like said before simple does'nt mean easy.Burning wood is more work,but only costs me less than 50.00 US per year bottom line expense.I figure I save at least 1200.00 US per year using it as a heat source.Add that up over 38 years and it is a bit of money.Some peoples life styles can't seem to conform to it being too busy,but most times it's a lack of effort the main reason that I see by some.Access to free fire wood deters many too.I feel lucky in both situations as I don't mind the work/have or make the time and I have access to free fire wood.
I'll burn wood as long as I can get up the hill and get around.It's something that I have always like.Could be I'm just a fire nut....lol.
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Who knew there was so much to burning wood haha. You learn all sorts of things on this site. Sounds like crap wood is crap wood, even for burning, which is a shame, unless you just want a fast hot fire.
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I think there is a standing dead Balsam Fir in that pic. If I had to start burning Balsam on a cold day I would have to sit in front of the wood-stove and feed it all day long
Don't know about fir, but nothing but spruce for my stove in the last 35 years
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Many other things contribute to being efficient burning wood such as properly insulated homes/good windows.Makes for a cooler house in the summer too.I heat 1800 square feet so I could say normally in this paticular house to be enough that 1.5 cords per 900 square feet per year will get me by for a normal winter where I live now.Remembering that every winter is not the same though too.It helps knowing how much wood to split up as I don't like to split up more than 1 year in advance amount of wood.Now that's not a concern with only osage as it does'nt rot but for other whitewoods it does.A person needs to have at least a 1/4" thick stove walls with a firebrick lined box to burn osage only alone as it burns very very hot and coals up a very long time also.I'd say it's the next thing to burning coal really.A nice medium is to burn it with whitewoods.My whitewoods are hickory/oak/and elm which ever is handiest.
I keep a total of 6 cords of wood ready to burn come september normally.My stove wood is on rotation.One stack side by side to the other.Each side is 3 cords.1 half 1 year or 3 cords.New wood or another 3 cords is replaced into the previous year to keep the rotation going while letting it dry for a year before using it then.Another precaution is accomplished doing things this way that if by some unlucky senario that I get injured I have a years worth of firewood ready leaving me enough time to heal up.A pic of what I mean.I call the stacking a rick rack style.It'll stand on it's own and not bow the fencing side walls any and get more then enough proper air flow through out the year to season properly.I may have drifted this subject to the camp fire thread....lol,but am happy with and willing to share the way I do things here.
(https://i.imgur.com/SgMnU8z.jpg)
A cord is 128 cubic feet.4'by4'by8'
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(https://i.imgur.com/SgMnU8z.jpg)
A cord is 128 cubic feet.4'by4'by8'
Looks like a beacon of minas tirith from Lord of The Rings (yes my youth and nerdiness is showing).
(http://scienceblogs.com/dotphysics/wp-content/blogs.dir/342/files/2012/04/i-f777de3bead32dc29d15fe9da15d36ee-2010-07-29_untitled.jpg)
Would be a shame if if it went up in flames ::) >:D (=)
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"OK but then your not here to help me take it out of the bush :D"
Well, I hope you know I am not really scolding you. I do get jealous at times. I'll never be able to buy a stave unless it's a board, and, honestly, I never get around to the wood I do have anymore. But, I'm still jealous every time people talk about osage, mulberry, oceanspray, yew, hickory, etc....
And I would help you, but it's a long way from here to your house.
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Who knew there was so much to burning wood haha. You learn all sorts of things on this site. Sounds like crap wood is crap wood, even for burning, which is a shame, unless you just want a fast hot fire.
Yeah, with my tree business, every time I cut a black locust, neighbors come out of the woodwork to haul the logs away for me because that stuff burn like coal. But a decent stave from a tree grown in the open and riddled with borer holes is about one in every 8th tree or so, and I rarely work on locusts. Same with the Gambel's and bonneville oak, and the canyon maples. There is about one good stave on every MOUNTAIN for those woods.
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Actually I don't have to worry about the roof catching fire anytime since it's a metal roof. This year is a snow poor year though with less than a foot on the ground right now. Wind can whip heat out of a house pretty fast that's for sure but a good snow cover on the ground actually helps to keep heat in the house, I kind of miss it for that. Hardly get creosote in my chimney with this new system we have, very efficient. Wouldn't be able to keep a house warm without insulation up here, never mind the fact that it's part of the building code. It's no problem keeping a house warm during the day but the nights are too long to use anything else but the densest wood we have up here. I have 3 woodsheds for the house and 1 for the shop. After 40+ years of heating with wood my motto is it's always best to be prepared
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I'm going to move this to Around The Campfire
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Actually I don't have to worry about the roof catching fire anytime since it's a metal roof. This year is a snow poor year though with less than a foot on the ground right now. Wind can whip heat out of a house pretty fast that's for sure but a good snow cover on the ground actually helps to keep heat in the house, I kind of miss it for that. Hardly get creosote in my chimney with this new system we have, very efficient. Wouldn't be able to keep a house warm without insulation up here, never mind the fact that it's part of the building code. It's no problem keeping a house warm during the day but the nights are too long to use anything else but the densest wood we have up here. I have 3 woodsheds for the house and 1 for the shop. After 40+ years of heating with wood my motto is it's always best to be prepared
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I'm going to move this to Around The Campfire
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Springbuck....Sometime I'll send ya some osage.
Marc....My roof is metal also and to be sure I have a back up propane furnace installed also but not hooked up.It's still like brand new.The building code for fire prevention really has nothing to do with the insulation above the ceiling and the walls.Just the proper air buffer area distance around stove pipes passing through floor joists to another story above and the roof also.That is all insurance companies are concerned with.If I want to freeze with no insulation....That's my business they figure.....lol.The motto I live by here is prepare for the worst and hope for the best too.
I found snow on the ground to help benefit the degree of depth of frost in the ground mostly if proper moisture is in the ground prior to the winter.Frost penetrates deeper into dry ground than moist ground.The snow can be a partial buffer to that though.Even green grass under snow piles after the thaw.We cover all man hole covers and bases around hydrants with a good foot to 1.5 foot of straw prior to winter also.There's nothing worse to fix than froze pipes underground in the winter.Water lines need to be a good 6' below the surface when laid in to be safe.
All in all yet there's no other place Id rather live.Teaching me to depend upon myself from experience solving problems with good work ethics and values and with knowledge of wiser ways to live by that's all and I'm sure you feel the same way about your area too.