For both the disposal of and utilization of trees, it takes a long time to chop them and their trucks in bulk.
It takes my character 30 minutes to chop down a tree and then 1 hour for each trunk, I am just about as late game as you can get with post alpha and a myriad of installed bionics along with the ability to craft just about anything I could ever need… so why can I not find a better way to cut wood than using just a wood axe? I made a chain saw hoping that it could fell trees faster, but it take just as long as the wood axe.
The reason why I am asking is because I am making a large static base after an entire game of being nomadic and I need a lot of logs and planks.
[quote=“DeWolf, post:3, topic:14423”][quote="§k, post:2, topic:14423"]Disposal is easy. Burn with flamethrower, or run over in a car.
Utilization is slow.[/quote]
I now plan to make a separate build item for chainsaws as surly a chain saw would be much faster than any axe.[/quote]
I wouldn’t touch times at all, if anything make them higher for an axe. I’ve done a fair amount of logging and cutting to clear land for my horses. 30 minutes is about right for cutting down a tree with a chainsaw, chopping the limbs off and into decent size logs, leveraging so it falls correctly and doesn’t pinch the blade. Moving them out of the way etc. Especially alone. You don’t rush it, a slip and you can cut feet/legs, or if something follows through too easy.
With an axe it really should be into the 1-2 hr range to chop down the tree’s and cut it into moveable logs. Which is what like 3-4 feet? That’s about as much I could personally pick up as 165lb person in solid shape. I’d estimate those were 80-100lbs or more from a 10-16inch trees that were not dead. Heavier than 50-60lb bales of hay, about as heavy as I’d want to move myself. Checking out an online log calculator for basswood average weight 1 foot around, 3 feet long is 83 lbs, as it’s a lighter wood, Birch is 120lbs for same length. White pine is 91lbs.
Removing trunks is never ‘easily’ even with current grinders. There is a reason companies charge like thousands of dollars to chop down big tree’s and a few grand more to grind trunks out.
The easier way is to pour in a bag or 2 of charcoal. Light it up and in a 1/2 day or so it’ll burn the trunk down enough (this is for like 2ft + trunks), that you can maybe chop the rest of it that doesn’t burn out. You don’t really need to worry about it like running ‘wild’ unless there’s lot of loose grass nearby.
I don’t know… I have seen what a chainsaw can do to a section of trunk, and it certainly does not take an hour. Honestly, I can split a section of trunk with an actual wood axe in under an hour and I am pretty scrawny (although the time to do it largely depends of the radius).
Maybe I am getting the wrong impression of what a “trunk” is in Cataclysm.
I own a couple wooded acres in the NE. I have a chainsaw, axe and the needed tools. I can fell a tree in about 5 minutes. Then it takes about 15 to limb it. And another 15 to section it. I doubt I could ever get rid of a stump by hand. My concern is the chainsaw gas usage. I created a road through a forest in CDDA today. I cut down about 10 trees. I was using a full tank of gas for each tree which is crazy. It should last about 5 trees to fell and section them all.
30 minutes is about right for cutting down a tree with a chainsaw, chopping the limbs off and into decent size logs, leveraging so it falls correctly and doesn’t pinch the blade. Moving them out of the way etc. Especially alone. You don’t rush it, a slip and you can cut feet/legs, or if something follows through too easy.
I can fell a tree in about 5 minutes. Then it takes about 15 to limb it. And another 15 to section it.
This very much agrees with my understanding of the process, fast it is not.
With an axe it really should be into the 1-2 hr range to chop down the tree’s and cut it into moveable logs.
Same here, the speed of sectioning a tree with an axe is currently ludicrous, we’ve just never looked into it before.
I doubt I could ever get rid of a stump by hand.
This is a really good point, it should definitely be leaving stumps. I took out some pine stumps with an axe as a teenager (punishment for something or another) and it took the better part of a day to even reach “good enough” on a single stump.
We can add a grinder, burning, or blasting for de-stumping where necessary.
My concern is the chainsaw gas usage. … I was using a full tank of gas for each tree which is crazy. It should last about 5 trees to fell and section them all.
Noted, chainsaw gas consumption was also a “no idea, this is probably within 10x of the real number or so” kind of guess.
Back in days before Homeland Security the oldtimers used to use quarter or half sticks of dynamite to blast stumps. I remember seeing my grandfather do this. Leaves a hole and a helluva mess but it gets the job done.
All the player needs to do is find one of these lovely beasties and strip off said monster arm from tree hell and duct tape it to his or her vehicle.
Literally less than 10 seconds to fell a tree. 30 seconds to 1 minute to strip it and section it as you please. Of course this is assuming the thickness of the trunk isn’t beyond the specified size and weight.
hmmm, can NPCs help if they have the right skill and you have extra axes? i know they help with some things, and having a team of 4 NPCs or something should greatly lower time.
I chop two cords of wood every year by hand due to restrictions on gas operated machinery in the national forest I get permits for. With a double bit I can fell a 20" diameter tree in about 8 minutes. Turning one entire tree into what would be the game equivalent of splintered wood and heavy sticks takes me about 45 minutes. (Getting it out of the woods takes much longer.) I’ve also been logging for 10 years or so and when i first started it took easily an hour to fell a tree and 2 hours to dissmember it.
I thi k instead of fiddiling with base times (except in the case of chainsaws) your survival skill should reduce it little by little until it hits lumberjack level of speed.
Edit: Strength should also factor into it since the deeper you can sink the axe, the larger the chips you cut out, the faster it falls.
NPCs should definitely be able to help, each NPC would likely contribute more or less equally.
Thanks for being specific about tree sizes, there’s a big difference between a 10" tree and a 16" tree. Along with changing the times, I’ll make the descriptions of trees more specific so the description and time matches.
There should be a vehicle-mounted way to do this expediently. (Also a vehicle-mounted way to expediently cut up a vehicle, like a giant, arm-mounted circular grinder.)
for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with plenty of room for dessert. 
