Hardest wood on earth

[Deets066]

The huge centipedes can put a hurtin on ya. Well the ones we have in the southern states anyway.

Do the Aussie centipedes get really big?

 

[Terry Syd]

Most of the big spiders in Oz are harmless, they look fairly spooky, but I'm always catching them and moving them someplace where they won't be in the way. Now a 'Red Back' (Black Widow) or a Funnel Web - they become mush.

Interesting thing about Red Backs, in the U.S. the red hourglass is on the underside, but in Oz they have a red strip on their back.

EDIT: For the dirt bikers out there, during spider season you may not want to be leading your mates through the bush. Fork me, I've hit some big webs with big azz spiders in the middle. Seeing some huge spider dead ahead without being able to avoid it - 'whoomp' right in the middle of your chest.

 

[Brewz]

The huge centipedes can put a hurtin on ya. Well the ones we have in the southern states anyway.

Do the Aussie centipedes get really big?

Generally you see them about 4 to 5 inches long but I have come across a few rare big ones up around 8" long.

Most of the big spiders in Oz are harmless, they look fairly spooky, but I'm always catching them and moving them someplace where they won't be in the way. Now a 'Red Back' (Black Widow) or a Funnel Web - they become mush.

Interesting thing about Red Backs, in the U.S. the red hourglass is on the underside, but in Oz they have a red strip on their back.

EDIT: For the dirt bikers out there, during spider season you may not want to be leading your mates through the bush. Fork me, I've hit some big webs with big azz spiders in the middle. Seeing some huge spider dead ahead without being able to avoid it - 'whoomp' right in the middle of your chest.

The big spider in the pic looks scary when you see it as the big females are usually 4 or 5 inches across when they come crawling out of gaps between bark and wood on fallen trees, but the Australian huntsman spider is the Labrador of spiders. We had one as a "pet" that lived in the house for about 2 years. We called it Geoff and it was always fun to wake up, and when you opened your eyes, the first thing you saw was a 4" spider on the ceiling directly above your face.
The smaller males scurry about but when I see the big females, I tend to stop and move them to safety. They have their place and its not splattered inside my chain cover.

I also saved 5 large gecko lizards out of the bark. They are a no brainer to stop and catch...... gorgeous little lizards!

In Australia, you kind of get into a habit of flipping timber over to check it for stuff that may bite you before picking it up. It ends up as natural as swatting at flies

 

[Brewz]

Here is one of the Gecko's that lives in the walls of my house.
I found him in my wood pile shedding his skin while I was getting wood to bring in for the fire.
They can change color's

 

[Terry Syd]

My wife cringes over Huntsman spiders in the house. They are usually up the wall some place and I have to wait a few days for them to move around to where I can get them - the wife just doesn't understand my 'I'll get it later' attitude.

When my brother came out from the States, he freaked out over one that was sitting about a foot from my face in a motel room. I thought it was a cool trick to play on him to just roll over and go to sleep with it sitting there. I don't know how much sleep he got that night.

 

[Brewz]

about 10 years ago I took a trailer load of vine I removed from a fence to the tip.
As I was driving out of the tip I felt something kind of tickling my neck and then on my ear.
I kind of brushed at it thinking it was a bit of grass or something stuck in my shirt but it felt heavy and fury
Then it came back, walking around the side of my face. I knew exactly what it was.

It was a huntsman about the size of the one in the photo.

As I jammed on the brakes I grabbed it and tossed it out the window.

I imagine the poor spider was more scared than me. I have all the time in the world for them, but not when they walk on my face uninvited while driving

 

[VinceGU05]

I think I collected this one while mountain bike riding at nite. Found him walking across my dash while driving. He wasn't to keen on getting kicked out of the car but we got there in the end.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Wolf spiders love Nebraska's creeks. They do scare the heck out of you. but they usually run away rather than bite. They reach 3" across, and I suppose you could corner them and entice an ugly encounter...

Hey, I thought this thread was about hard wood?

 

[stihl sawing]

Found some more pics of the real hardwood. Third pic is a petrified tree across one of our old skidder roads. we run over it for years and some of it washed up where it could be dug up. got a little on the wheeler in the fourth pic.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Found some more pics of the real hardwood. Third pic is a petrified tree across one of our old skidder roads. we run over it for years and some of it washed up where it could be dug up. got a little on the wheeler in the fourth pic.

I wonder how well a tungsten carbide chain could cut that stuff?

 

[stihl sawing]

I wonder how well a tungsten carbide chain could cut that stuff?

Dunno, it's like solid rock and actually heavier cause of the minerals.

 

[Deets066]

I wonder how well a tungsten carbide chain could cut that stuff?

Probly wouldn't cut at all, unless you have a diamond wheel for concrete

 

[Wood Doctor]

Probably wouldn't cut at all, unless you have a diamond wheel for concrete.

Agreed. Rock is rock hard.

 

[Brewz]

The huge centipedes can put a hurtin on ya. Well the ones we have in the southern states anyway.

Do the Aussie centipedes get really big?

Was quartering up some big rounds the other day and these were crawling out of the rotten center in numbers

 

[smokey7]

I don't like bugs and th at is one funky bug.

 

[Deets066]

Was quartering up some big rounds the other day and these were crawling out of the rotten center in numbers

View attachment 28719

View attachment 28720

Dem boys would put a hurtin on ya

 

[Mutley]

Hi, I'm surprised that Spotted Gum & Sydney Blue Gum made that list, they're as soft as butter to cut while green & both of them came in harder than Blackwood, I've cut that stuff & its like concrete. Swamp Mallet (Eucalyptus spathulata) is the hardest stuff I've cut & I can't see it on the list. Is the comparison done on cured timber or something?

Cheers,

Mutley

 

[Brewz]

Hi, I'm surprised that Spotted Gum & Sydney Blue Gum made that list, they're as soft as butter to cut while green & both of them came in harder than Blackwood, I've cut that stuff & its like concrete. Swamp Mallet (Eucalyptus spathulata) is the hardest stuff I've cut & I can't see it on the list. Is the comparison done on cured timber or something?

Cheers,

Mutley

We have a lot of blackbutt around here and it is hard.

Here is my 2100 I just rebuilt in a blackbutt that's been down for about 2 years.
Bloody hard!

 

[Deets066]

Are we still talkin timber???????



All this hard wood and black butt is gettin a little out of hand

 

[Brewz]

Black butt is timber