Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[4570Man]

At one point in time I would use a tape measure and marking paint to mark the logs. Eventually I decided that was too much work and just started eyeballing the cuts. It is firewood after all.

 

[Hoobie]

That's what I do too. I end up with a pile of chunks, cookies, crooks, and junk or too rotten to put in the shed where I want good wood for the winter. I let them dry in the sun all summer then put them in the basement near the stove for early season fires.

gg

Exactly what I do. Nubbins I call them.
As to marking 16 inch pieces I use the body of the saw. From the front of the body to a mark I put on close to the tip of the handle is 16 inches. I find it more convenient than using the bar. I have used the clamp on, magnet on measuring stick but find it clumsy. May be good for perfect straight smooth logs but I deal with a lot of twisted crooked beech where these devices just frustrate me.
I sell a few cords to neighbours where I am more careful with measurement. My own wood I am not fussy.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I spent years as a framing carpenter - did tons of lay out. 16" is riveted into eye.

gg

 

[John_Mc]

Most of the time when cutting for myself, I eyeball 16". I find where I tend to get messed up is when switching from a small diameter log to a big one (or vice versa): I tend to cut longer on the larger diameter log. So I'll sometimes use the bar as a gauge to recalibrate my eyeballs on the first cut after a switch to a new log with a significantly different diameter.

I've also noticed that some days I do better than others. If I'm having a really bad day, I'll pick up a stick and hold it in my left hand along with the front handle of the saw. I grab the stick so that 16" sticks out past the bar and use that for a gauge for a bit.

I also own one of these "Woodcutters Helper" magnetic firewood gauges:

Woodcutters Helper 16" Magnetic Firewood Measuring Tool-Fiberglass | eBay

Watch a short demo video. This video is of the original Woodcutters Helper and is forillustration only. Never struggle with a piece of firewood too long to fit your stove. It attaches to any location on either side of the chain-saw bar using a strong Rare-Earth Neodymium magnet rated at 48.5...

www.ebay.com

I use it occasionally. It's main use these days is when I bring it along to one of our community splitting bees where we are processing firewood for our firewood donation program. I'll sometimes use it to put small cut marks on a bunch of logs for others to cut up, or led it to someone who is having trouble judging the length. It's simple, fast (easier than twisting the saw to use the bar)

An those odd chunks: On my own property the gnarly ones that would be a pain to split get cut out and left in the woods to rot. When I have so much excess firewood, they are not even worth thinking about, let alone putting extra labor in to. If I notice I'm going to have an odd-length chunk early enough, I'll adjust the length of my cuts shorter or longer to split the difference. Otherwise, they just get left where they fall or kicked off to the side of the trail. If I know I have a bonfire/campfire coming up and have some room in the trailer, they might get hauled back home.

 

[deezler]

I've never found it difficult to eyeball the firewood length when cutting. If I'm way out of practice, I just turn my saw 90° a few times when getting started to quickly re-train my eyeball.

I really don't care if many pieces end up 13, 14 or 15" long (I try to aim for 15-16", which is ideal for both dimensions of my woodstove). But the occasional 18" long piece can be a little annoying, so like helogobals and gordon, if I notice a long or real funky piece, I just toss it into my "bonfire" bin instead, which I always keep adjacent during splitting sessions.

 

[oosik]

Well - my Kubota M6040 might look like all other M6040's but maybe not so much the "wood" I work with. This pine trunk is 18 feet long and 38 inches on the butt end.

 

[deezler]

Here are a few pictures of my wood pile. It is basically all dead ash. Its been on the landing since last spring/summer. It was full of mud but it is starting to look fairly clean now. I will mark it and cut it in place. I left clearance between the logs when I skidded them up there. After that I hook up the splitter grapple and hay rack to my tractor and go at it.

O just a picture of the deer in the back yard. I didn't know I had a green thumb but the deer really like my yard/grass.

View attachment 848503View attachment 848504View attachment 848505View attachment 848506

Not much of a "pile" if you ask me! haha. Looks more like layout for grading a timber sale.

Do you cut on the ground, then? And then you have an SSQA Splitter? Or does the SSQA splitter also have the saw built in? And your tractor has enough GPM of hydraulic flow to run it well?

 

[goeduck]

The most important time in my mind to make sure you are accurate with the cut length is when you are doing big diameter wood. If the round yields a dozen (or more) split pieces of firewood, you may want to spend the time to get it right or you will have lots of too long or too short pieces.

My stove tapers in to the back, so I learned years ago to not cut wood that only fits in front and falls out when I open the door. 22' fits in front and 16" fits in back so I cut to 18".

 

[Jstpssng]

My father had a cirdwood saw and all of the lengths he used were marked on the log table. That was pretty accurate.

 

[square1]

Not exactly sure how my logs get bucked to uniform length but a relative visiting at Christmas time exclaimed:
"(Name of another relative known for being extremely a-n-a-l) would love your firewood stacks!".
Not sure what that says about me