Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[terryknight]

exactly. i wanted to do it the hard way.... there was the steam and gas show this weekend. and they do demonstrations and my logs got milled as part of the saw mill demonstration. they also had threshing, rock crushing, shingle making and lots of other demonstrations.

 

[John_Mc]

Don't get me wrong. Not a die hard (blind) JD fan by any means. But is there anything nicer then a great summer day, a (perfectly clean) Green and Yellow JD tractor, some other well maintained ( and capable) equipment and a job well done?

I'm right with you -- well, other than the color and the "perfectly clean" part.

 

[check]

You'll be amazed just how much that little backhoe can lift...I know I was.

Me too!

 

[check]

got that wood i picked up milled. used a steam engine though. and an old IH to move some other logs

Wow, Terry, what an absolutely gorgeous machine.

 

[JohnMacca]

Seeing as how I enjoy looking at all your pictures, I thought it was time I posted a couple of mine.

I can't show any of tractors and wood at the moment as it is now mid winter here and a large part of my land is too wet to risk driving a tractor on.

Here are some shots of a large ironbark tree that fell down across a fence - of course!
It looks like it had been affected by the bushfire that went through about 18 months ago, and the wet ground and some wind has finished it off. (The black colour of the bark on this tree, and those in the background, is their natural colour - they're not burnt).
Each main section is around 30 inches in diameter, with the bark around 2 to 3 inches thick.



Because I couldn't get the tractor there, I cut it into logs I could roll away from the fence. Next summer I will stack them up to dry. They will take at least 3 years to dry enough for firewood, and a good guide is when the bark begins to crack and fall off. When it is dry, I think ironbark is one of the best firewoods around here. It gives out a lot of heat and good coals. (For those interested, its correct name is Red Ironbark, Eucalyptus sideroxylon. It's well known as a good hardwood for fence posts and timber).

I also cut up a bit of standing dead ironbark for firewood from nearby. The only way I can get in this part of my bush paddock in winter is by using the 4 wheeler with the 6 X 4 trailer and block splitter in convoy! The timber in the background is a mixture of ironbark and grey box trees. Native bushland, but harvested for timber over many decades by my late FIL.



I came across this the other day at a local JD and Stihl dealership. I told my 3 year old grandson that I needed one to cut down really big trees, but the missus didn't agree.

 

[Creamer]

I have always heard about ironbark for firewood - how great it is. It looks like nice stuff! Thanks for the pics!

 

[94BULLITT]

Seeing as how I enjoy looking at all your pictures, I thought it was time I posted a couple of mine.

I can't show any of tractors and wood at the moment as it is now mid winter here and a large part of my land is too wet to risk driving a tractor on.

Here are some shots of a large ironbark tree that fell down across a fence - of course!
It looks like it had been affected by the bushfire that went through about 18 months ago, and the wet ground and some wind has finished it off. (The black colour of the bark on this tree, and those in the background, is their natural colour - they're not burnt).
Each main section is around 30 inches in diameter, with the bark around 2 to 3 inches thick.

View attachment 474324View attachment 474325View attachment 474326View attachment 474327

Because I couldn't get the tractor there, I cut it into logs I could roll away from the fence. Next summer I will stack them up to dry. They will take at least 3 years to dry enough for firewood, and a good guide is when the bark begins to crack and fall off. When it is dry, I think ironbark is one of the best firewoods around here. It gives out a lot of heat and good coals. (For those interested, its correct name is Red Ironbark, Eucalyptus sideroxylon. It's well known as a good hardwood for fence posts and timber).

I also cut up a bit of standing dead ironbark for firewood from nearby. The only way I can get in this part of my bush paddock in winter is by using the 4 wheeler with the 6 X 4 trailer and block splitter in convoy! The timber in the background is a mixture of ironbark and grey box trees. Native bushland, but harvested for timber over many decades by my late FIL.

View attachment 474329

I came across this the other day at a local JD and Stihl dealership. I told my 3 year old grandson that I needed one to cut down really big trees, but the missus didn't agree.

View attachment 474330

That was a pretty big tree. It should make a lot of firewood. I looked at a BTU chart and Eucalyptus is 34 million BTU a cord. So I guess ironbark would be close. Most of the Oak species in my area are somewhere around 24 million BTU a cord.

How cold does it get where you live?

That MS 441 looks a little bigger than mine.

 

[Happy Gilmore]

Splitting wood with the Timberwolf TW5

 

[JohnMacca]

Hi 94BULLITT.

I don't know about the numbers, but there is a big difference between different types of eucalyptus as well. The common ones I use for firewood are the ironbark, grey box and hill gum. The ironbark burns hot and lasts well, the grey box is not as hot but will burn all night and leave a good bed of coals in the morning. The hill gum is a smaller cousin of the famous river red gum. It burns very hot, but quickly and is good for getting some quick warmth into the house first thing in the morning.

Most firewood sellers will advertise that they are selling red gum (because that's what everyone asks for) and it can be funny to see 3 or 4 different types of cr*ppy wood in the one trailer load. They can get away with it because most of the "townie" customers wouldn't have a clue anyway.

Other ones available that I don't bother with are stringybark (no heat at all) and red box or yellow box(same as grey box but usually with grain so twisty you can't cut or split it).

But I have to say these are just my opinions - an easy way to start an argument among old timers is to ask what they think is the best firewood (or stock horse, or sheep dog, or cattle dog ..... ):laughing:

You asked about temperatures. Where I live in North East Victoria doesn't get real cold. Typical winter temps are 4 or 5 C overnight and 15 to 20 C daytime (from 40 to 70 F). Today has probably been the coldest day so far this winter and it is currently 11 C (52F) with rain squalls and a cold south wind straight from Antarctica!
The coldest temps are when we get a clear frosty night in spring or autumn and it can get down to -4 or -3 C (25 F).

I find the pictures on TBN of the guys living and working in the snow amazing. The only snow here is in the high country resorts where you get charged $200 a day to get towed up the hill so you can slide down again and then get slugged $20 for a beer when you have finished. Not my idea of fun!

 

[rd_macgregor]

With logs that big, you might be able to find a woodturner to make some nice ironbark bowls.