Winter wood 08'/09'

[clawmute]

Bore felled this nice White Ash and split it with my home made backhoe mounted splitter. Cutting this wood for next winter.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r130/clawmute/Trees-wood%20splitting/riverash1.jpg


http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r130/clawmute/Trees-wood%20splitting/DSC01287.jpg
I love to split and burn Ash of any species. Hope the EAB stays away, even though it's been found to the north of us in Missouri.
Thanks for another fine import from China!



http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r130/clawmute/High%20water%20on%20the%20Middle%20Fork/09-08-08offload202-1.jpg

This 36" dbh Red Oak was taken down by high winds when the water was up four or five feet on the trunk. Have to dig out the stump and buried part of the log next summer. First limb I went to cut off had a nice Cottonmouth Moccasin coiled up where the limb met the trunk! I imagined em' everywhere after that! (the sneaky little rat) Hurricane rains and high winds took down thousands of trees here in Arkansas (I'm a couple of hundred miles above New Orleans) and all across the south. I'm still trying to salvage wood from these often flooded bottoms. I had to get this Oak out asap since I plant this little field every fall and hunt here. Most of trunk was encased in poison Ivy!




http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r130/clawmute/Trees-wood%20splitting/RedOak3-2.jpg
It was over 40 feet from grade to where this "Y" branched out the tree. Lots of good wood in just the limbs


http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r130/clawmute/Trees-wood%20splitting/09-08-08offload019.jpg
Got most of it broken down now into 115kg cookies x 41cm. These sections were hauled on FEL and are 5 to 7 feet in length and weigh 1000-1500lbs.
Bust these up into quarters with wedges and maul then grunt em' into the splitter.


The long pieces in the FEL are White Ash and will be split and made into tool handles, a new hoisting gambrel for deer, boat paddles and etc.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r130/clawmute/PHOTOS%2011-02-08/09-08-08offload017.jpg
Some of this winter's wood on the front porch.

[cubcadet]

Hey clawmute,
I always enjoy looking at peoples` woodlots. I`m a veteran woodburner but, am not too good at woodwork. Got myself some tools last year- a Ryobi planer, sanding machine and an assortment of 18 volt hand held tools. Got them cheap. If I do well, I figure I can always upgrade. Do you know how to keep raw timber from checking? I had some very nice burled hard rock maple I thought would be useful for buttstocks. Unfortunately, the chunks just split so bad they are not good for much except firewood.

[DM]

Hey clawmute,
I always enjoy looking at peoples` woodlots. I`m a veteran woodburner but, am not too good at woodwork. Got myself some tools last year- a Ryobi planer, sanding machine and an assortment of 18 volt hand held tools. Got them cheap. If I do well, I figure I can always upgrade. Do you know how to keep raw timber from checking? I had some very nice burled hard rock maple I thought would be useful for buttstocks. Unfortunately, the chunks just split so bad they are not good for much except firewood.


You have to air dry the wood, and the problem is, the end grain, burls and fancy figured wood dries waaaay too fast, so it causes checks and splits... To control this, you need to coat those area's with Anchorseal... (google, Anchorseal U.C. Coatings) It's a product made for this purpose, and although it's expensive, i 've found it's worth the price... Once done, put them in a unheated building that has good air circulation.

For something small, you can use melted wax! Melt it in a double boiler, pour a little on and spread it with a putty knife...

Some will tell you paint will work just as well, but i can assure you, it doesn't.

DM