Smoke Wood Question


 
Rusty James

Rusty James

TVWBB Emerald Member
When using local smoke wood cut up by chainsaw, does anyone hand-saw the ends off before splitting the logs?

Seems to me that chainsaw oil could ruin the logs if ends are not trimmed off by non-chainsaw means.

Anyone ever considered this before?

In addition, I have small pecan limbs all over my yard. Can those be used for smoking, or should I use larger pieces?
 
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It doesn't hurt to trim the log ends and I doubt there's that much oil to penetrate very deeply. I use a power miter saw to cut my wood chunks.

I use little pieces of oak and hickory all the time, and they do work but obviously they won't last as long. I like them for adding flavor to steaks and pork chops.
 
My father in law uses a miter saw and chops small pecan limps in little circles to smoke with. They work well.
 
I've seen times when log ends were soaked in chainsaw oil - especially if the cut was made at an angle. I guess I be trimming log ends with an electric / hand saw to be on the safe side.
 
Rusty James said:
I've seen times when log ends were soaked in chainsaw oil - especially if the cut was made at an angle. I guess I be trimming log ends with an electric / hand saw to be on the safe side.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. My saw (Stihl) puts out enough bar oil to get the job done, but the cut is considerably wider than the bar alone. It seems that any wood that would be exposed to the oil would exit the cut as sawdust. I just went out and checked some logs I cut from a dead post oak that I felled about a week ago and they seem clean.

I do have a question about seasoning. This dead oak is still solid wood (no rot), but the logs are considerably lighter than those from a live tree. I'm considering them as well-seasoned and dry at this point. Anyone have similar experience with wood from dead trees?
 
I was fortune enough to have access to a variety orchard that was being removed last year with apricot, peach, plum and apple wood. I asked a similar question and got a variety of answers. I decided to run my saw (Stihl) dry so as to not load up the wood with oil. So long as I I made a few cuts and did not allow the bar to get to hot everything was fine. I ended up cutting 8 trees over a couple of afternoons into 4" rounds with out any trouble. Looking back on it however the vegtable oil would have been a better solution where as I wouldn't have to worry about over heating the bar and taking so many breaks to keep the bar cool. I have a huge pecan that is coming out after the nuts are done and will run the saw with vegtable oil this time...
 
I've used picked up hickory and maple sticks all the time, never noticed any oil residue, or off taste from using the chain saw when making chunks, though you can adjust down the oil usage for that usage.
 
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