Fear and loathing April, 2020 discussion, obs, and the occasional derailment

[moneypitmike]

54 minutes ago, kdxken said:

Highest BTU wood east of the Rockies. I don't have any problem splitting it with a hydraulic splitter might be a different story with a maul

Oh--I wasn't talking about splitting (I had a 35-ton for the fun wood days).  I meant splinters handling the wood once it had been split. 

[moneypitmike]

12 minutes ago, kdxken said:

Yep, they actually plant it where erosion is a problem. Grows anywhere.

Pretty much a huge weed. 

[Typhoon Tip]

Looks like we need to slog through maybe the next 7 but probably more like 10 days before we can finally put an end to this consummate 'fake' snow chance pattern that only really succeeds in shitting on any warm loving spring exuberance ...  Probably has a weird way of happening on top of the wave out of the over sold zombie apocalypse - which is the only reason why this April is any different than any since the Earth made the mistake of creating New England's geography and climate -

[ORH_wxman]

Started a thread about Friday night/Sat morning

 

 

 

[Whineminster]

1 hour ago, PowderBeard said:

A great site for firewood geeks. 

https://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/resources/firewood-btu-drying-chart.15/ 

For heat output and seasoning times nothing compares to ash or birch imo. Easy maul splitting as well. 

As they say - Wet or dry, ash is good to warm your feet by. 

Black and yellow birch are nice, white birch I don't like so much. I'll even burn @tamarack, pine is fine!

the amazing thing about black locust is how fast it grows considering it's density. 

anyway - one more wood burning snow storm to work through before the season is OVAAAAA for us. 

[Dan76]

1 hour ago, PowderBeard said:

A great site for firewood geeks. 

https://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/resources/firewood-btu-drying-chart.15/ 

For heat output and seasoning times nothing compares to ash or birch imo. Easy maul splitting as well. 

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/forums/firewood-heating-and-wood-burning-equipment.55/

[Sugarloaf1989]

High of 51F here today so far. -10F below normal.

[Torch Tiger]

Another beauty here, near normal temps and light winds.

[Sugarloaf1989]

8 minutes ago, Dr. Dews said:

Another beauty here, near normal temps and light winds.

LOL, low 50's  for a high is near normal in your area?

[klw]

We have a few stray flakes in the air at the moment.  

[Torch Tiger]

29 minutes ago, Sugarloaf1989 said:

LOL, low 50's  for a high is near normal in your area?

hilarious, I know. 53.8F, normal is around 55

[Sugarloaf1989]

10 minutes ago, Dr. Dews said:

hilarious, I know. 53.8F, normal is around 55

Normal here is 61F, but I'm South of you and in a valley. Tomorrow and Friday are forecast to be in the upper 40's. 

[dendrite]

Nice day even though it’s upper 40s...as long as we have sun. 
 

Monday was torchy, but a complete crap day with the rain. I’ll take this in mid April over the aforementioned any day.

[wxeyeNH]

30 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Nice day even though it’s upper 40s...as long as we have sun. 
 

Monday was torchy, but a complete crap day with the rain. I’ll take this in mid April over the aforementioned any day.

It's comfortable in the sun and out of the wind but my high was only 44.3F.   Bit too cool for me.

Grass really greened up the past few days.

[tamarack]

2 hours ago, Whineminster said:

As they say - Wet or dry, ash is good to warm your feet by. 

Black and yellow birch are nice, white birch I don't like so much. I'll even burn @tamarack, pine is fine!

the amazing thing about black locust is how fast it grows considering it's density. 

anyway - one more wood burning snow storm to work through before the season is OVAAAAA for us. 

A firewood poem includes this: "Ash wood green or ash wood dry, a king shall warm his slippers by."
However I must demur on birch.  Yellow birch is fine firewood but all the birches must be split to dry well as their bark is waterproof to an extent greater than any other species group.
At the worst end of that spectrum is probably balsam poplar, also called balm of Gilead.  As one fellow from Allagash once said in a discussion of burning unseasoned wood, "You couldn't afford the oil it would take to burn balm of Gilead!"

I'm not familiar with the growth habits of black locust in its natural range, but in Maine it doesn't seem all that windfirm, which is a bit odd for such strong wood though sometimes the strength of root wood differs from that above ground.  Working against its resistance to windthrow is its intolerance of shade.  Like the far weaker and equally intolerant aspen, the live foliage tends to be concentrated near the top, so the sail area is all at the top of the mast, giving the wind more leverage.

[HoarfrostHubb]

47F for the high here but breezy so it felt cooler.  

[HoarfrostHubb]

BOX forecast for my hood calling for an inch of snow tonight. 

[kdxken]

12 minutes ago, tamarack said:

A firewood poem includes this: "Ash wood green or ash wood dry, a king shall warm his slippers by."
However I must demur on birch.  Yellow birch is fine firewood but all the birches must be split to dry well as their bark is waterproof to an extent greater than any other species group.
At the worst end of that spectrum is probably balsam poplar, also called balm of Gilead.  As one fellow from Allagash once said in a discussion of burning unseasoned wood, "You couldn't afford the oil it would take to burn balm of Gilead!"

I'm not familiar with the growth habits of black locust in its natural range, but in Maine it doesn't seem all that windfirm, which is a bit odd for such strong wood though sometimes the strength of root wood differs from that above ground.  Working against its resistance to windthrow is its intolerance of shade.  Like the far weaker and equally intolerant aspen, the live foliage tends to be concentrated near the top, so the sail area is all at the top of the mast, giving the wind more leverage.

Totally agree on the black Birch. When it's green it weighs a ton! Lot of wasted work to cut, haul, and split for a low quality wood. Yes Locust has a shallow root system. That's the only way they ever come down.

[kdxken]

6 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

47F for the high here but breezy so it felt cooler.  

Perfect weather for working outside. Anything but rain is fine with me .

[powderfreak]

1 hour ago, klw said:

We have a few stray flakes in the air at the moment.  

We’ve had some off and on flurries too.  

Radar has a bunch of light returns across the North Country.

[Baroclinic Zone]

Mid 50s here.  Near Neutral temp departure

[dendrite]

41/11 and a brisk wind. Feels like late fall/early winter with the crispness.

[dendrite]

Already 32F at 8B0 (Rangeley).

[powderfreak]

Keep getting occasional snow showers.  The type of things you see in October during the first cold shot.  The flakes almost seem to be going upwards more than downwards at times lol.  

[powderfreak]

This looks interesting tonight... maybe some snow in SNE?

NAM also has some decent snow showers rolling through west to east tonight.  Pretty much tracks like it’s following the Mass borders.

o

 

 

[kdxken]

4 hours ago, tamarack said:

 

I'm not familiar with the growth habits of black locust in its natural range, but in Maine it doesn't seem all that windfirm, which is a bit odd for such strong wood though sometimes the strength of root wood differs from that above ground. 

Here's an illustration of how strong.  Watch the first few second . The tree explodes, never seen it with another species.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=556wi8ujaGc

[HoarfrostHubb]

2 hours ago, powderfreak said:

This looks interesting tonight... maybe some snow in SNE?

NAM also has some decent snow showers rolling through west to east tonight.  Pretty much tracks like it’s following the Mass borders.

o

 

 

Maybe a coating here.   Maybe a bit more

[kdxken]

6 hours ago, Whineminster said:

As they say - Wet or dry, ash is good to warm your feet by. 

Black and yellow birch are nice, white birch I don't like so much. I'll even burn @tamarack, pine is fine!

the amazing thing about black locust is how fast it grows considering it's density. 

anyway - one more wood burning snow storm to work through before the season is OVAAAAA for us. 

They grow fast initially then slow way down. That's how the grain gets so tight. First picture is from today the second is from 1890 or so .  Same trees   (three trees on the left in the old picture)

[powderfreak]

4 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

Maybe a coating here.   Maybe a bit more

I mean, it's nothing really... but there's something about waking up to a white covering this time of year that is still energizing.  It burns off quickly as the sun rises but I mean, someone wakes up to an inch sitting on every little twig and branch, it's a nice temporary diversion to current life.

If it's going to be raw and chilly, it might as well have a crystallized presence.

[HoarfrostHubb]

Agreed.  It briefly might take my mind off the troubles.