[TheForge] Woodpile (Was: Scaffold) OT

[Bruce Freeman]

Yeah, I'm thinking of holding back several lengths of maple trunk, 8" to 12"
diameter, for uses other than firewood.  Would save me the splitting too,
which is damned near impossible where there are knots or branches.

I've got a couple old logs from a pruning I did a few years ago, and they've
got heart checks which would make them unfit for fine uses, but still good
for strength.  I may mess around with those and see what they're good for
before I decide what to do with the new logs.

 But most of the wood is <5" thick and is mostly sapwood, so it's no big
deal turning that into firewood.

As for the too-short pole saw, here's my alternative:
http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/itemdisplay/displayItem.do?itemid=97092&CategoryName=&SubCategoryName=
OR   *http://tinyurl.com/lvfr84
*You can make those ropes as long as you need so you're literally standing
on the ground while sawing off top limbs.  I made my best progress by tying
the two ropes to a single limb (like a 1" dowel) and rocking that back and
forth rather than yanking on those little handles.  The main problem with
this approach is the cutting angle.  If you can't back away from the tree
far enough, then your cut may be mostly downward, rather than crosswise, and
may be twice as much wood to cut as a simple crosswise cut.  A minor problem
is that you have to get the saw over the limb before you can cut it.  They
provide a wimpy little weight to toss  over the limb.  That might work
before the leaves our out, but I ended up getting as close as possible on a
ladder to get the saw over the limb, then I climbed back down to do the
sawing.  A saw like this would be grand if someone could motorize it.  I
figure a  large spring on one end and an air cylinder on the other - or
maybe a gear motor with a large cantilever-mounted wheel.  If I had had a
lot more high stuff to cut, I would have done this.
*
*
On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 3:07 PM, Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer <
artgawk at thegrid.net> wrote:

> I spend a lot of time with a pole saw here and it's become too short.
> Maple! Fancy firewood.
>
> Bruce Freeman wrote:
> > I'm not much for "getting high" either.  I just finished topping an old
> > maple tree that was shading my yard too much.  I wanted to leave the
> tree,
> > not cut it down, so I had to prune carefully. The job went pretty well,
> but the really high branches I
> > sawed off from the ground using one of those "chain saws" HF sells - a
> > "bicycle chain" with teeth on one side and ropes on either end.  Worked
> > fairly well - I recommend them.  I've now got a massive pile of wood in
> the
> > backyard, partly from this tree, partly from others, and I spent
> yesterday
> > sawing some down for firewood.  Raining today.
> >
> ______________________________________________________________
>
>


-- 
Bruce
NJ

The total lack of evidence is the surest sign that the conspiracy is
working.