What did you do WITH your Ranger today?

[DukeCanBuildit]

Get some chainsaw chaps to go with that saw. My CS590 is about 10 years old and has been a great saw. My house takes a lot of wood to heat, so I designed and built a comfortable left handed splitter to handle it


For anything under 12 inches I switched to Milwaukee battery saws. Tried a dewalt first but it wasn't good

What a great splitter, Ed. With all that wood and heating your house with it, you really need something so large-scale and the rest of the equipment to go with it. I’m really just cleaning up the property from when trees fall or when the power company falls them away from the line. I only need the wood for the fire pit and the pizza oven, so I have plenty from what I salvage. Of course, we have the same issue with the Emerald Ash Borer killing off all the Ash trees here.

I have two near the cottage and I’ll hire pros to limb them and take them down in pieces. There are two smaller ones I can fall on my own without damaging anything and there are two others that pose no threat to property but are close enough to the power line that the utility company will eventually take them down.

My cottage neighbour had more than a dozen taken down and it cost him $25,000.00. Sure, that’s Canadian pesos but it’s still a lot of money.

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[shovelhd]

pizza oven

That is a beautiful fab job on that splitter, Fordup.

I have an older magnesium 14" Stihl 2 stroke that I don't use anymore. It uses a smaller chain. My other saw is a Jonsered CS series which I use all the time for cleaning up the yard. It's out of production so when it goes, it goes. I have a Skil 40V pole saw that's awesome. I do all my limbing with that. If the Jonsered dies, I'll just get the Skil chain saw. We don't burn wood, so I give it all to my neighbor for his AirBNB fire pit.

 

[KNI]

That's one sweet splitter you made! That loading ramp/shelf is really nice too. Makes splitting so much easier on your back.

Yes, chaps are next on my list. I never wore them before but now that I've made it this far in life I'd rather be safe than sorry. I had a really nice Husky 262 XP years ago and am now kicking myself for selling it. Unless you buy a pro grade saw both the Husky & Stihl are all plastic casings where as the Echo is still a magnesium main case plus it has a 5 year warranty. I picked it up a couple weeks ago (haven't has a chance to try it out yet) where one of the local places was having their Echo Deal Day sales. All Echo products were 15% off so I bought the chainsaw and a nice backpack blower.

For battery chainsaw I'd go (well I did go already with 542i XP G*. I do have an older 535i XP as a backup and it's actually better for 2-3", if you trim & collect for firewood instead of just using Brush Saw and leave to forest.

As petrol backup I got one old Husky and two olds Stihls, can't remember the models since I rarely use any of those. Mainly when I fell larger trees where battery just don't cut it. But mostly the larger trees are food for harvester, no point in taking those down myself.

Probably need to get a 562/572/592 later on as I got some larger trees which would be beyond harvester (and local maximum sawmill) size and only usable as firewood.

* = https://www.husqvarna.com/us/chainsaws/542i-xp-battery-and-charger-included/

 

[Fordup]

What a great splitter, Ed. With all that wood and heating your house with it, you really need something so large-scale and the rest of the equipment to go with it. I’m really just cleaning up the property from when trees fall or when the power company falls them away from the line. I only need the wood for the fire pit and the pizza oven, so I have plenty from what I salvage. Of course, we have the same issue with the Emerald Ash Borer killing off all the Ash trees here.

I have two near the cottage and I’ll hire pros to limb them and take them down in pieces. There are two smaller ones I can fall on my own without damaging anything and there are two others that pose no threat to property but are close enough to the power line that the utility company will eventually take them down.

My cottage neighbour had more than a dozen taken down and it cost him $25,000.00. Sure, that’s Canadian pesos but it’s still a lot of money.

Thanks. The EAB is why we switched to wood for heating. About 15 years ago we had well over 100 beautiful mature ash trees that started dying off. I put a woodstove in and bought a sawmill to put them to good use. Down to about 25 left and I'm afraid to cut them at this point. Hoping for a good windstorm to knock the remaining ones over. It's sad what a tiny bug can do but in the end it did provide us with heat and most of the furniture in our house. Kind of like what happened to all the Elm trees many years ago.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Thanks. The EAB is why we switched to wood for heating. About 15 years ago we had well over 100 beautiful mature ash trees that started dying off. I put a woodstove in and bought a sawmill to put them to good use. Down to about 25 left and I'm afraid to cut them at this point. Hoping for a good windstorm to knock the remaining ones over. It's sad what a tiny bug can do but in the end it did provide us with heat and most of the furniture in our house. Kind of like what happened to all the Elm trees many years ago.

There are two big, beautiful Elm trees in the public park in my hometown, here at the cottage. The others have all died off but for some reason, these two remain. A bit of a miracle really.

The cottage used to have a wood-burning fireplace for heat but it was crumbling and became unsafe. It was removed about twenty years ago and at times, I wish it was still in place. Then, I think about all the wood I’d have to cut, split, and stack, and I don’t miss it so much. ?

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

That is a beautiful fab job on that splitter, Fordup.

I have an older magnesium 14" Stihl 2 stroke that I don't use anymore. It uses a smaller chain. My other saw is a Jonsered CS series which I use all the time for cleaning up the yard. It's out of production so when it goes, it goes. I have a Skil 40V pole saw that's awesome. I do all my limbing with that. If the Jonsered dies, I'll just get the Skil chain saw. We don't burn wood, so I give it all to my neighbor for his AirBNB fire pit.

You’re a wicked good neighba, Chris.

 

[Fordup]

For battery chainsaw I'd go (well I did go already with 542i XP G*. I do have an older 535i XP as a backup and it's actually better for 2-3", if you trim & collect for firewood instead of just using Brush Saw and leave to forest.

As petrol backup I got one old Husky and two olds Stihls, can't remember the models since I rarely use any of those. Mainly when I fell larger trees where battery just don't cut it. But mostly the larger trees are food for harvester, no point in taking those down myself.

Probably need to get a 562/572/592 later on as I got some larger trees which would be beyond harvester (and local maximum sawmill) size and only usable as firewood.

* = https://www.husqvarna.com/us/chainsaws/542i-xp-battery-and-charger-included/

I'm running out of big trees so the Milwaukees work good for me. Wish there was a standardized battery that worked with all brands to make switching easy. Most my trees are under 24 inches and that's all my sawmill will handle. When I started milling I designed and built an automatic log arch that is only good for up to 24 inches. Here's an old video
Handling the logs with tiny equipment is the hardest part. Nothing like wood heat. We love our Jotul Oslo. Sorry for hijacking this thread. Back to Ranger stuff.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

I'm running out of big trees so the Milwaukees work good for me. Wish there was a standardized battery that worked with all brands to make switching easy. Most my trees are under 24 inches and that's all my sawmill will handle. When I started milling I designed and built an automatic log arch that is only good for up to 24 inches. Here's an old video
Handling the logs with tiny equipment is the hardest part. Nothing like wood heat. We love our Jotul Oslo. Sorry for hijacking this thread. Back to Ranger stuff.

Heck no, Ranger stuff can wait. We (well, maybe just me ?) want to know about this wild implement. Did you invent this or is it a thing others make? It looks pretty stout.

I must say, it’s a bit like small-scale horse logging, no?

 

[Fordup]

Heck no, Ranger stuff can wait. We (well, maybe just me ?) want to know about this wild implement. Did you make this too? It looks pretty stout.

I must say, it’s a bit like small-scale horse logging, no?

Yes I designed and built it to keep my logs clean. That makes sawmill blades last longer on a small mill without a debarker. I started before I was making videos. Here's a boring slide show of the build

I made it compact to fit in my woods.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Yes I designed and built it to keep my logs clean. That makes sawmill blades last longer on a small mill without a debarker. I started before I was making videos. Here's a boring slide show of the build

I made it compact to fit in my woods.

SORCERER!

Okay, maybe just genius - nice work, Ed. ?

 

[Fordup]

Got propane. The lift similar to the one @subquark recommended worked great with a simple load lifting strap to lift the tanks. Lifts it and tips it. One trick to get the lift quickly is open the jack valve then push the arm up fully and close the valve. Then let it down slowly with the valve to your starting height.

 

[Doc]

Got propane. The lift similar to the one @subquark recommended worked great with a simple load lifting strap to lift the tanks. Lifts it and tips it. One trick to get the lift quickly is open the jack valve then push the arm up fully and close the valve. Then let it down slowly with the valve to your starting height.

Scary

 

[subquark]

Got propane. The lift similar to the one @subquark recommended worked great with a simple load lifting strap to lift the tanks. Lifts it and tips it. One trick to get the lift quickly is open the jack valve then push the arm up fully and close the valve. Then let it down slowly with the valve to your starting height.

Love the strap (and your chain adjustment plate). =)

Great use of your crane with awesome pics!

I'm telling you, this is the next big "damper" item for the forum! =D

 

[Chris M]

I'm glad I got mine when I did for $999. Splitting by hand is great exercise but I don't want to be splitting 3-4 cord every year that way. ? Heck, my new Echo CS-590 saw weighs 13lbs dry and that'll give me enough of a workout. Might even help build some strength back in my weak damper arm.

Nah.
That part of you is doomed.

 

[Fordup]

Scary

It's under control

Love the strap (and your chain adjustment plate). =)

Great use of your crane with awesome pics!

I'm telling you, this is the next big "damper" item for the forum! =D

I was amazed how nice that thing worked. Could use a damper on the rotation. That bearing has no resistance. The strap is just above the center of gravity and makes it easy go from vertical to horizontal. Thanks for sharing yours.

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