It's nice to cut wood at 56 degrees!

[thecfarm]

The title says it all. A nice day,with no wind. Just cutting some wood that I hauled up when it was in the 20's.

[lxskllr]

Yea, that's not bad, but it's hitting my upper limit for temp which is ~60° unless there's something that *has* to get done. I actually like it at 25° as long as it isn't windy.


Unfortunately, I think my cutting days are about done for the season. I was sitting in my oak bench today, and decided I do need to lay the backrest back. Might get it next weekend, but it may be October also. It isn't a lot of cutting, so I might just get it done, but policy is policy. I don't like sweating on my days off  :^D

[gspren]

There was too much going on this winter so I'm a bit behind on next years wood. Yesterday late afternoon I dropped a 22" dead red oak on the side of a steep hill so today I snaked a cable up from the bottom and drug it down to level ground. It's to be in the 70s Mon and Tues then back to highs in the 50s for a few days so I'll wait until then to get it bucked and hauled, should be nice.

[Southside]

Completely agree Ray, January is the best time of year to be out there.  :D

[Rebarb]

I cut from September to May and stay several years ahead.

Helped my brother log Oaks yesterday for 12 hours and the midday heat did get to me some.....70's.

[wild262]

I start cutting my firewood right after bow season closes which is around Jan.15th.  I will work on it off and on till mid March.  Just got done last week.  Enjoy cutting in early spring.  No bugs or ticks, no humidlty, no active poison vines, and less worry about the saw overheating.  Brush is easier to pile to with no leaves.  Sometimes theres alittle mud to deal with, but I can haul out when it freezes or dries out.  Very enjoyable time for me.

[realzed]

I can't at all relate to any of this..
We here still have close to 2 feet of snow in the bush - my driveway snow banks are now down from 6 feet high to around 3 feet finally and yet  most nights now are often yet below freezing in the - 10 degrees C range and that is projected to continue for another at least another few weeks yet.
We won't see our ice which is still around at least 3 feet thick gone this year (unless crazy unforeseen things happen) and off of our lakes until mid May or later although those that ice fish and ATV or Snowmachine around are giddy I bet..
Trouble is when mid May shows up and the snow and most of the ice is just about finally gone - the blackflies are out within the same week or so, and hungry as Hell for some fresh meat to chew on - so it leaves a very small window of bush and cutting time to get anything accomplished!
I have an old car I restored and drive occasionally and when asked why I do so, so very little - I explain by the time Summer gets here and the frost is finally out of the ground and our roads finally settle and get decent enough to drive smoothly around on well - that it's almost time to start about thinking about storage of it again and then there is the cutting and splitting wood for Fall usage to get in the way also..
Think I will sell it and move South for the Winter.. all this talk of warm temperatures and Spring is all starting to get to me!

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, I got started last week for real, but keep getting interrupted by other chores and family stuff. As of the end of the day yesterday I had put up just over a cord with about 3 and a half to go. My new process saves a bunch of handing so it goes faster, but it is still work. I had to buck and skid two large wind blown trees on Saturday that came down last week, one was a big mostly rotten EWP that got mostly chunked up and pitched over the bank, but I held out 2 logs to evaluate for possible milling for junk timbers or something. The other was a white oak that went right down for processing and is already on the wood pile. So I am on a roll, but not there yet. I might beat last years 'finished goal date' and that is my goal. (June 1 is always my target.)
 A big tip of the hat to my Chiropractor, Dr. Marc for putting me in the best shape I have been in years. I have been working steady but without any of the usual pain and discomfort. No aches beyond minor sore muscles. I get up the next morning with zero issues. This has not happened to me in many years. He keeps making tweaks and they all seem very subtle, but wow does it show up in how I feel after 10 hours of work. I could not be happier, now if I just had more wind in my lungs. I had thought I would just have to deal with it as part of the aging process for the rest of my life, now I know I should be taking care of myself better and I might last longer.
  8)

[LeeB]

I always try to get mine to come out at 90°. Oh wait, you're talking about temps.  :D

[Al_Smith]

I've got a slew of dead fall ash .I cut an 80 footer up the other day and  drug out the logs .I had a 27 footer the old Ferguson could move but I had a hard time turning it .My log tongs were not large enough to spread out so I could grab it with the three point hitch get it high enough to clear the ground .Even if so the weight would have raised the front end and I'd have lost steerage .Some times you just have to make do any way you can .

[teakwood]

We are at 97 (36C) these days!! a real PITA to do any work. We hope the rains start soon, but could be another month

[realzed]

Was down your way in Liberia (Guanacaste) a few years back Teak - and it was 38+ every day and the humidity (which we here seldom get much of) was I found the real killer.  
A couple of volcano treks and rainforest adventures in all of that moisture will knock off a few pounds surely... but I'd give this crap we have now for your weather any day - not to work in, but lounge again on those black sand beaches!  ;D

[teakwood]

I'm 60km north of Liberia, all that part of Guanacaste is hotter than were i live. I would say Liberia is 3-4C warmer in average than La Cruz, does not seem to be much but it makes a noticeable diffference. 

[John Mc]

I like working those temperatures as well. I work in the winter when I have time, since the ground is frozen and I can get where I want to go without tearing up the ground or risking soil compaction. I try to get my firewood logs out to where they are easy to get to, and then work them into firewood after things warm up a bit (40-65˚F or roughly 5-15˚C)

However, I did not get as much out as I would have liked: got too busy, and did not even manage to keep my trails packed down when things were frozen. Now things are too wet and soggy between the house and where the trees I want to get to are. I may just walk out or take the Coot and cut some stuff to stove length and leave it to sit until things dry out.

[HolmenTree]

I'm 60km north of Liberia, all that part of Guanacaste is hotter than were i live. I would say Liberia is 3-4C warmer in average than La Cruz, does not seem to be much but it makes a noticeable diffference.

teakwood,  I'm definitely going to put your location on my to do list when I take my first vacation to Costa Rica in the very near future.
Mexico is no longer my choice to escape our cold Canadian winters, Costa Rica is a much better alternative .
Yeah I'm not much for working in high temperatures either. Did too much of that during haying season when I was a kid when Dad and I would would go out put up hay for 30 head of cattle for the on coming winters.
Was always the hottest days when we'd go out with the tractor and hay rack. All the loose windrowed hay loaded and unloaded then piled with just a pitch fork.
Definitely toughened a young fella up though. Didn't bother my Dad though, he told me stories when he cleared his farmland of trees with just a bowsaw and mattock. 
He said " I had a good day when I could clear an area as far as I could spit."
Here is a mattock axe.


 

[Al_Smith]

Heat for some reason never bothered  me as much as it does some people .Just drink lots of water .Funny you can drink a dozen  bottles and never visit a tree once because it all leaks out before it gets that far . I lost my enthusiasm for zero degree  weather decades ago .

[HolmenTree]

I look at manual logging conditions with a chainsaw in heat and cold two ways.
#1 Cold...seeing I always worked by piecework my production was alot better in the cold, lets say -20 to -30 below. I had alot more strength and endurance as I could dress for it and didn't get weak like I did when it's hot after drinking and sweating out a gallon of water in a day.

#2 Hot...when it's 80F by 7 am and pushing well past 100 at 1 pm,  I'd start cutting at 5 am and make the best of it until noon. Then go fishing and take a few dips in the lake to cool down.

But only us guys up here in "Survivor Country" who experience -50 below and 110 F a few months later can fully understand this. :D

[chet]

Hot weather = BUGS

Cold weather = NO BUGS

nuf said  :D :D :D

[teakwood]

teakwood,  I'm definitely going to put your location on my to do list when I take my first vacation to Costa Rica in the very near future.

I would be happy to show you around. we have some of the most beautiful beaches near by.

[realzed]

Red sand or white sand ones are fine - but those black sand ones in the heat of the day are Hell to walk barefoot on..  
It's I imagine, a lot like trying to barefoot through some hot asphalt!
But at least once you get to the waves all is well - but you still have to get back on shore afterwards..