Best Guides How to Cut Firewood with Chainsaw

Last Updated on December 3, 2021 by woodcutter

The best cut firewood is first and foremost the one that is not green or freshly cut, meaning the best firewood is the one that has been dry and chopped for more than a year or has spent a whole summer in the sun.

It is very important that the dryness, since the dry firewood has almost twice as much calorific power as the green firewood, but apart from this one also has to look at the type of firewood. Since there are many types of firewood, and each one of A very different quality.

Basically all the wood is divided into two large groups, softwood and hardwood, which have very different characteristics. But the best firewood is always hardwood, the most characteristic hardwoods are:

• Oak wood / holm oak: It is one of the hardest wood that exists, has a long consistency and duration. It leaves very good coals for cooking, making it ideal for barbecues and restaurants.
• Olive wood: it is a wood of very hardness and with a long duration. It makes a lot of flame, which makes it a very suitable firewood for heating.

Other hardwoods are the wood of almond, oak, carob and orange. All of them are quite consistent and last long enough to give good calorific power. Coz they are considered firewood of good quality.

As for softwoods these are considered loose or of poor quality, since they last little, have less heat in wood stove and do not leave consistent embers. Most softwoods are those that come from fast growing trees or fruit trees.

In short, we always advise the use of hard and dry cut firewood, as it has a higher calorific value. In the long run it has more economical value.

Finally another important aspect to take into account when buying firewood is how to measure cut firewood, which can be by volume or by weight, we recommend the purchase by volume, since by weight the variation can be very large, depending on whether the firewood is Dry or green, because if the wood is green weighs much more than if it is dry, so the price is higher.

So dry firewood is cheaper than green firewood and it is better, so it is an aspect to take much into account when buying firewood.

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In Amazon we assure you that all the products of cut firewood that they sell are composed by dry wood, ready for its use, and if it could not be this way we would warn you in advance.

How to cut firewood

Selecting tree species can be tricky, so we give you some general guidelines. If you have the luxury to choose, make sure the wood is healthy and not rotten. It should not be too hard or too soft. And, if it is too irregular (with a large diameter), it means a harder job. Hardwood has a high fuel value, which means it offers high heat and a long combustion time. Beech and birch are good examples of this. However, keep in mind that high heat can also damage the stove. On the other hand, softwood (spruce and pine, for example) has a low fuel value and, therefore, is not an effective fuel. Therefore, the best result is obtained by mixing different species

If you cut the firewood yourself, you must use a chainsaw or best firewood saw to cut, exclude and cut. This can be dangerous if you do not have the right knowledge. You can read information on the techniques for cutting, debarking and cutting, as well as safety in this type of work. In countries with cold winters, you should take advantage of the opportunity to cut trees in winter, when they do not isolate latex. This makes them less humid, which provides better fuel.

If you do not cut the firewood yourself, you can supply a piece of firewood or you can buy wood already stripped, cut and split cut firewood.

Make sure you have the right equipment to cut safely. For tips on which chainsaw to select for splitting and splitting, see the manual working with chainsaws. Other tools that you should use are an easel, a tongs for logs and a level rod or laser gauge, to know the correct length of wood.

“It is very important that you wear personal protective equipment, such as a helmet with visor, earmuffs and goggles, clothing and boots. Do not forget to have a first aid kit on hand, “explains Magnus Anderson.

Leaving firewood can be a problematic part. The best tool to split wood by hand is a mallet, which looks like a mixture of ax and club. To split smaller firewood, a cleaving ax is a good choice. You will also need a block to cut, that is, a raised surface on which to split the logs to make firewood. When working with the ax, do not apply too much force: it is better to let the weight of the ax do its work to avoid possible injuries. For larger volumes of wood, a hydraulic chipper is the best option.

The best conditions for drying wood occur during spring and summer. At first, the drying should be done outdoors. The location should be carefully selected: the ideal is a dry and elevated place where the wood can be exposed to both the sun and the wind.

Do not place the wood directly on the floor as it may absorb water. Any type of air permeable surface, such as pallets and posts, is preferred. It is important that air can circulate between the various piles of firewood, so do not store them too close together. The same can be applied to each battery: a battery that is ‘carelessly’ mounted with a high air flow dries faster than a very tight pile.

Cutting wood can become complicated, so we want to share with you some tips on how to chop wood in the best way. You may read our article How to cut a tree best way in your garden.

Dividing the wood, drying it, storing it, or cutting and breaking techniques. All to get a good pile of firewood that will last us all winter.

1. Choose the best firewood.

When chopping wood, the ideal is healthy trees that are not rotten, and should not be hard or soft wood, a medium term will be the most convenient.

Hard wood is very good providing heat, such as beech or birch, but high temperatures can damage or burn our stove. The soft wood of trees like spruce or pine has less value as fuel, it will only provide us with heat. The recommended thing is a mixture of wood, soft and hard.

2. How to cut firewood

We must choose a best chainsaw for felling, disarmed and transversal cut, but we must be careful, since if we are not professionals or we are not accustomed to work with chainsaws we can make a misuse of the machine.

To make good use of the chainsaw and get the most out of cutting wood, we recommend the follow “Manual of Chainsaws” which you can download for free by their respective manufacturer website.

In those areas with cold winters, this is a good time to cut wood. At this time, it is not filtering wisely to the trees, so they are less moist and they become a good fuel to give warmth.

3. How to cut firewood safely.

Not only must we care about working with a suitable machine, we must also pay attention to the safety chaps/clothing and accessories we use when chopping firewood.

It is important to use personal protective equipment, such as helmets, earmuffs, goggles or clothing and footwear designed for this type of work, which combine elements of protection and safety.

4. How to divide firewood.

The best way to split logs in two with an ax. For small jobs a division ax will work perfectly.

To work properly in the log division, we will need a raised surface to support the pieces and cut them. When working with an ax we should not make too much force, let the weight of the ax work alone, so we avoid injuries.

When we work with larger volume logs, the ax will be small and we will have to resort to a chainsaw.

5. Drying and storage of firewood.

Once the wood is cut, we must dry it, in case it is wet. The best conditions to dry the wood, is in spring and summer. The drying of the wood should be outdoors, in a dry and elevated place, if it may be, where they give the sun and wind for the wood to dry properly.

Why the high place? If we put the wood on the floor, it can absorb moisture from the ground. It should be a bit high, we can put it on some pallets, and the cut wood should not be too close together, so that the air passes between the pieces.

Well, we are ready to cut wood, dry it, store it and consume it.

Have a warm winter !!!

But first sharpen your chainsaw before to cut firewood

Broadly speaking there are three different ways to sharpen a chainsaw:

1. We can use a professional industrial chainsaw. Which are those that have specialized stores. The great advantage is that it is absolutely automatic. They put it in the machine and give it to a button. End of the process. Well, the process ends when you pay.

If we want to use a machine but home access, we can work with an electric Dremel. It is very useful for emergencies that arise on the mountain and can be connected to the cigarette lighter, tractor or two horses. In this case, the teeth are being revised with the grindstone of the Dremel. Respecting, yes, the original angle of the tooth.

2. We can use a template that sells the manufacturers of the chainsaws and that serves as a guide. To do this we must mount a device on the chain saw blade that guides the file.

3. Use a guide with a file. This is the fastest and most usual way. Although it is true that some specialists there are that are able to sharpen without guidance, without template and without machine. You have to file with your teeth, not dragging. And do not forget that first you have to file one side and then filing the other.

Our advice, for those who are not very familiar with the chainsaw, is to use option two. It is certainly the best, because it is not expensive and prevents the chain from being broken.

TIPS FOR CUTTING WOOD

Chopping wood may involve securing wood sawing logs, notching log cabins, or cutting a tree. The main tool used to divide and cut firewood is the single-edged ax. Safety is of great concern when using this woodcutter’s tool, but so is the economy of movement, because you should not overexert yourself when cutting wood with an ax.

Use an ax or splinter to chop wood. There are advantages to both, but an ax is the most versatile tool, and is preferred by many woodcutters for the task of cutting wood. You can even buy a specially-made ax with a slightly enlarged head that acts like a wedge when it is handled on one the top of a trunk. These tools make the splitting of wood a bit easier.

The main tool for cutting wood is a long-handled ax, though you may also need to use steel wedges and a full-body hammer if your ax gets stuck on top of a log. Use only tools that are made of high quality tempered steel, and always keep your ax sharp. Learn how to sharpen an ax with a steel file, then spend some time putting a clean edge on the ax before you start splitting or cutting wood.

Cut each log of the firewood to its final length before splitting the log. The shorter the length, the easier the wood will be split. The length of the standard chimney can range from 12 to 16 inches. If your firewood is cut to longer lengths (such as 4 feet), you saw each log in shorter pieces first.

Always use a block of wood as a work base for cutting wood. The best option is a rounded log with a wide diameter and short length (1 foot or less). Set this piece of wood in a flat place with a lot of free space and overhead for the ax. Once the fresh wood split starts, remove the separate pieces from the work area and throw them into a large pile. This loose battery should be several feet away, so that it will not interfere with your work area.

The oscillation is perhaps the most important aspect of wood division. When ax lands is more important than the strength with which the swing of your ax. Some whole bust pieces apart from a well-placed strike from your ax, while other logs will grab the ax, no matter how hard you swing. In the latter case, use a wedge and sled to finish the split.

An ax can be used for non-division purposes, such as cutting a tree, trimming the small branches of a fallen tree or cutting notches in logs during the process of building a log cabin. These techniques do not involve splitting, but concentrate on cutting on the side of the bark of a log and removing small wooden chips with each swing.