New World Datsuns...

How long does it typically last for most people?

DRIVEN » Sun Feb 21, 2016 9:22 pm wrote:How long does it typically last for most people?

I have read that it can last from 4 to 6 weeks or more in some cases, I also read that one can have nerve damage forever, I have read that some folks have had pain for several years only to have it stop in one night for no reason.
At least I am sleeping normal now, and the heavy use of ibuprofen has slowed down, but I am still unmotivated, I would rather just not do anything, but it's boring to do that, so I have been cleaning up around the house and keeping the work truck moving.
I have my first big job of the year tomorrow and the next day, I hope I don't struggle because of not working lately, I find the hardest part is the clean up, moss weighs a lot when wet, and it all has to end up in the back of my truck.

Soldier on.

So the neighbor had a couple trees taken down, so I told them if the wood was free they could just put it on my side of the fence, as I had taken a section out for them at their request so they had access to my yard.
It's Pine but it has a lot of pitch in it, I have burned Pine before, it burned good for what it was.
I don't know how much is here yet, but this shit is heavy, this is how much I have stacked so far.


There is a lot of big stuff left to stack, I split one, it was a bitch.

I think it would be easier to cut in half with a chain saw rather than trying to split it with a splitting maul and a wedge.

Use the saw. That wedge stuff will wear you down.

Never split wood when it's wet, let the pine season till this summer or fall so it will be easier to split.

To stack anymore of it I will have to make it smaller, I am a little worried about hurting myself if I try to lift it, the stuff is really heavy.
I had the neighbor tell me pine don't split any easier dry, I suspect I will find out next fall when it gets cold again.
All my chains need sharpening right now, I might try and do one myself tomorrow afternoon or Sunday.

Well I went thru 3 chains today and on the forth, the third one hit a nail on the second cut, that sucked.
I cut and stacked




I will stack more tomorrow, then I will need to take the chains to someone that can sharpen them.
I did remove a dull chain from the second bigger chainsaw that I only made one cut with, it was really dull or just at the end of its life maybe, not much left to sharpen, and I believe the depth links are keeping it from cutting at all, I might grind them down and see if it will cut without them, if it won't I will toss it in the metal pile.
I put a big dent in the pile, one more day like this and all the big stuff not buried will all be cut and stacked.

Wish my neighbors would cut down trees and give me the wood...I have to scrounge for mine

devilsbullet » Sat Mar 19, 2016 11:45 am wrote:Wish my neighbors would cut down trees and give me the wood...I have to scrounge for mine

I wish the wood was Douglass Fir instead of Pine, I hope it burns good, it sure seems to burn good when there is a forest fire.
It's going to be nice not having to worry about them trees getting blown over onto my house now, the last couple years we have had really strong east winds, normally we don't have them kind of storms, but the weather has changed, I cannot even remember the last time it froze, I don't think it has yet this year, very strange.

What wasn't already stacked has been cut and stacked now, 3.5 cord is what it measures out as, maybe a little more, my back hurts.

It'll burn good, just not as many btus as a hardwood. When burning I don't believe there's much difference between pine and doug fir. There's a couple different places I've found in my online travels that tell you the btu of different species. I've found a lot of information on the hearth.com forum, especially if you're actually burning for heat and not just for outdoor fires or ambience. It'll burn great as long as you season it well, if not then you'll have creosote problems.

devilsbullet » Sat Mar 19, 2016 7:21 pm wrote:It'll burn good, just not as many btus as a hardwood. When burning I don't believe there's much difference between pine and doug fir. There's a couple different places I've found in my online travels that tell you the btu of different species. I've found a lot of information on the hearth.com forum, especially if you're actually burning for heat and not just for outdoor fires or ambience. It'll burn great as long as you season it well, if not then you'll have creosote problems.

Well it has till next October to dry out, I hope that is seasoned enough.

Might be, if there's any cover for it and you have it all split.our spring and summers have been fairly dry lately and softwood seasons faster than hardwood. Can always buy a moisture meter too, you can get one for under 30 bucks.think you want to be between like 8-14% if memory serves, green wood is usually over 20%. Not using seasoned wood is where people originally got the idea that pine was dangerous, for whatever reason softwood that's burned prematurely creates more creosote than hardwoods burned prematurely do. If memory serves most softwood will season in under a year, hardwoods can take 3+

I do know that it takes longer to season in rounds than it does split

devilsbullet » Sat Mar 19, 2016 8:20 pm wrote:I do know that it takes longer to season in rounds than it does split

Almost all the big rounds are cut into quarters or more pieces depending on how big they were, the small rounds that I could handle just got stacked, but small rounds dry faster.
I left some air between the pieces to help with drying, I tarped the stack this afternoon because it is supposed to rain tonight/tomorrow, I plan on putting a corrugated roofing material over the pile soon so it will have air flow to help it dry.
I still need to find another 3/4 cord of fir/maple/alter, I burn about 5 cord a year.
BTW I estimated the amount of wood I have wrong, I divided the amount by 144 instead of 128, I have about 4 cord of pine.
When it was fresh cut it had a lot of pitch coming out of it, today I didn't notice the pitch as much, but today I was dealing with large pieces, 2 foot round or bigger mostly, the pitchy stuff was smaller.

Nice. You heat exclusively with wood?

devilsbullet » Sat Mar 19, 2016 9:38 pm wrote:Nice. You heat exclusively with wood?

Yes, I have likely burned 120+ cord since I bought he house, that is a lot of chain sawing.

Well shit, then everything I said you probably already know lol.

devilsbullet » Sat Mar 19, 2016 10:06 pm wrote:Well shit, then everything I said you probably already know lol.

I don't know everything, like I don't know how this Pine is going to burn.
I know Popular doesn't burn worth a shit, and I know Ceder goes up like paper, the Redwood around here isn't much better either, I know White bark Birch is really good, and the Alder and Maple in used to get out in the woods on a friends property burns alright also, but I like Douglass Fir the best.
I take whatever I can get for cheap or free, I get some from my customers every once in a while, I may of lucked out this time, the guys just rolled the wood onto my property, I didn't have to spend a dime on gas to get it here, it was like delivered for free, and it helped them also, it all depends on how it burns on how lucky I was.
I do know my Carpel Tunnel is freaking out at night now, my hands have been going numb the past few nights, it's weird to wake up with numb hands, I shake them till I get feeling again and go back top sleep just to repeat it all over again a half hour to an hour later.