Next year's wood.

[SwampDonkey]

It's dry here already, so I am going to check the woodlot access to get some firewood tomorrow.

My face feels like I walked across the desert in a dry wind. Red nose to go with it. :D

[Old Greenhorn]

Well that's it, I am calling it 'done'. Brought in my last two loads today in spite of the rain.
Here is the last short load going in the stack.


 

And then I started the next task, opening the mill. I got the tarp up so I can piddle along tomorrow in the rain we will surely have.



 
 Anxious to get back to the mill work. WHen I got it in mid October, I had not time to really set myself up. I got the mill set and started making lumber to build the shed. I just got that done on the very day the snow started for good in January. Now is time to build some racks and really figure things out. I have about 10 logs in the cue and next weekend should be 'opening day', just hoping to get things running and checked out tomorrow. But the firewood is DONE! I will add mill scraps to it over the summer, assuming summer does actually arrive.

[SwampDonkey]

Today I cut, split at the stump, loaded the truck by wheel barrow and stacked it in the racks at home. Two loads, which worked out to ~45 cu feet a load. My truck has a 6' bed and is a Tacoma, so 3 loads makes a cord. I try to stuff it full and I have a cap on the truck. But that isn't hard to fish out. I just use a garden hoe to pull the wood within reach. Nothing to it. The road was snow free and firm to drive on. Like I said earlier, ground dries up quick here once the snow leaves.

[SwampDonkey]

Picked up a new Husqvarna 555 at the shop for the firewood. I have not had good luck with them saws with a lot of plastic behind the bar and clutch. The old hermit in his videos mentions they are too much trouble for him to. He has an older Rancher 55, which is similar to the 555 I think. He put a wrap around bar on his, but I don't need anything like that. Big difference in price from a plastic 55 (Not the Rancher) to the 555, but now I have metal.

Apparently anything with a primer bulb is not made in Sweden.

[crazy4saws]

Great thread, seeing everyone's progress and storage methods is interesting. 3 years ago neighbors woods was logged, alot of RO, WO, ash, walnut and hickory left overs on the landing and the big stuff I dont mind. Brother and I are finally getting to it for next years wood. Hopefully we can get ahead on the following years wood too. Our woods is full of dead elm and ash, punky stuff.  So the good stuff is set back for colder weeks.   

 

 

[Pine Ridge]

I put 10 big pickup loads in the woodshed this Friday and Saturday, I figure about 5 cords. I'm thankful Sundays are a day of rest, I'm pooped, got home after church and I've not done much of anything. I've got about 4 more loads to haul in, I'll try and get them after work this week. I burned between 6 and 7 cords from October 14th to mid April this past year which was the first winter with the fire chief outside wood furnace, the 4 loads I've got left in the woods should be enough to get me through next winter.

[SwampDonkey]

I've got 6 more pickup loads I figure. I cut, split, haul and pile as I go, so two loads is all day because it has to be gathered up and brought to the pickup as well. I only burn one tank of saw gas per load and only 3 miles away. 3 loads to a cord, short box and a cap on the truck. Tacoma pickup.

[Pine Ridge]

Swamp donkey I've been working on this wood off and on since last fall, cut and split and stacked in the woods across the county road from the house. I wish I could just go cut a load and haul it straight to the woodshed, but I have to pick carefully when to haul it in so I don't make ruts in the yard, my wife has a fit if I try to haul it in when the ground is wet and soft.

[SwampDonkey]

Yep, I hear ya. We each get'r done in our own way.

We always just called it old cow pasture around here, but the ground is firm enough that the ruts might be 2" in max. when soft. Full of rocks here like gravel, so less compression than pure silty loam. ;D

I'll be hauling 2 more loads in today. Carpenters are coming today to start garage, so gotta hang around anyway, might as well cut firewood before and after we meet up. On the wet side today, but just spotty showers. I'd be wet on a dry day within an hour anyway. This time of year, no rain gear, too hot doing the grunt work. ;D

[jerry sundberg]

Wife and I finished wood processing last Tuesday. 14 cords Aspen, Balsam, and any thing that gets in the way of the chain saw.

[SwampDonkey]

Yep, I burn anything to. My grandfather had camps in fir/ white birch forest and that is what got burnt. Never froze.  ;D The resin in those fir blisters burns like kerosene, and it spits out on your glasses too when handling green. :D

[Al_Smith]

I only burn about 4-4 1/2 cords a year .I don't even fire the stove up before it gets in the 30's .I suppose I've got 6 cords stacked and an another 6 or 8 that needs split and stacked to clean it all up. I've got two sugar maples I dropped about two weeks ago that needs bucked ,split,stacked to get them out of my way .Might get on it this afternoon,might not .Retired now I can do anything I want when I want . 8)

[SwampDonkey]

I only burn about 4-4 1/2 cords a year .I don't even fire the stove up before it gets in the 30's .

Yep, but that's nine months up here across the snow line. So I need double that. But this year I only plan on burning about 5 cord and electric furnace for 4 of them months. I found that it only costs about $100-108 total on the electric bill on them months you just need a nudge now and again. Mid Nov to Mid March is when it is real cold up here.

[Al_Smith]

I have a geothermal .It's relatively inexpensive but it's certainly not free .If it's much above 30 the wood stove will about run you out unless you really choke it.I suppose my lady and I could sit around in our undies but old people don't look so good doing that .
I suppose my electric bill is higher than most but it's a total electric home with an aerobic sewer  system which that alone is 25-30 bucks a month .I just shut up and pay the bill .

[Pine Ridge]

2 more loads hauled in and stacked after work this evening, wood shed is full and I'm stacking it outside now, 2 more loads left in the woods to haul in and I'm done.

[SwampDonkey]

Al, we had a heat pump in Grafton, 2 in 17 years actually. And they are not efficient below 20F in our climate. So the backup and supplementary heat was electric furnace and a gas fireplace in case of power outtage (was hardly ever used). In our case they cost more overall than a wood furnace/electric combination. $400 electric bills in cold months. So if you burn a full cord that is $250-300 in wood. The only thing to gain is convenience that I could see. Heat pumps nowadays are over $10,000 installed, not including the duct work. My combo furnace here is around $5000 and will last years longer. And the electric side fulfills the convenience factor.

[Al_Smith]

The difference  between an air to air heat pump and a geothermal is the temperature on the gas exchange .For example in my case the water is 53.9 degrees F year round  .They will work in Alaska or Florida just as well .You have to size them according to the most load though ,heat or cool .I installed my own including making the duct work from galvanized sheet metal .My first one all told was $ 3400 .It did not have the correct heat exchanger and was a used unit which I refurbished and I only got 9 years out of it.My second one was brand new and cost $3400 .I did have to replace the compressor due to my own fault after about 8 years .It's a long story why it failed .I do my own work so looking for help is a non issue on this stuff for me .

It's odd this year as it  was only yesterday I shut the heat down .I hate cold .I'd never make it in Canada or Alaska ----whimpy,whimpy ,whimpy .

[gspren]

  I don't normally cut firewood this time of year but an extra strong wind knocked some trees down in my yard and into the soybean fields so since they need cut anyway I'm cutting cherry and maple. The soft maple isn't one of my favorite woods but if I have to cut it to get it out of my way I am going to burn it.

[Al_Smith]

With the mention of wind I could heat the house on just wind blown trees ,limbs  and tops about 1 out of 5 years just from stuff on the ground .Some years you have more than others  .Neat in a way ,most you don't even have to split .It's all hard woods and it all burns .As it is I might only gather up a face cord or so a year but it's every where .

[SwampDonkey]

I've been cutting trees from Arthur and any poor formed stuff and fir with evidence of something going on in the trunk. But I also had to thin a couple fir out to, growing too close in a patch. You can thin this stuff for ever and never worry about wood supply for heat. I have a nice 20" white birch with a big crown right beside the road. I'm not cutting that, even though there would be a lot of firewood in it. I have lots of low grade that can be cut, so I don't need to cut good stuff to burn. I don't mind cutting 6" hardwood, I don't have to split it. But with the Collins and being fresh cut, one crack and she's split. :D Maple grows real thick/close up here. There's probably 40 cords of aspen on the ground rotten from Arthur, will make new soil to feed the worms now. All I can get are the leaners that still have some leaves. :D Aspen can't take high winds. Never hardly touched the softwoods. Maple after 5 years would be full of toad stools to, but none of them blew down, no big ones around yet.


I've got about 3 more pickup loads to gather up.

[Allar]

I've been fairly busy with next year's firewood aswell.
Been splitting the firewood that i cut during this winter, made a quick video aswell.

My woodpile/splitting area - Next years firewood - YouTube

[DWyatt]

I normally start cutting firewood about a week after it gets cold enough for heat but this year I am turning over a new leaf........ or avoiding other projects, however you look at it.

The rounds are about 20-24" long for a size reference.


 

Yesterday I took the time to cut one of the two remaining piles from when I cleared the area in the woods to build my house. It was 85ish° and I inherited the gene of excessive sweating from my dad. I was soaked from head to toe after two tank of fuel in my old 039 and I remembered why I cut wood in the winter :D

[SwampDonkey]

I cut most of mine in May and I checked the moisture in the stack outside in my wood racks under the porch, 20%. I find the meter is not accurate when trying to check through bark, it is not the same density as inside wood.

[Al_Smith]

I made the mistake last winter of not tarping down a few cords .Usually not a problem because you just blow the snow off .However because of the freezing,thawing it didn't work out well,soggy wood ,what a joy that is .I won't make that mistake again .

[SwampDonkey]

Oh for sure. I always have my wood out of the weather here. Get a lot more heat from it.

I've got a small quantity of 6 year old dry wood in the barn which will top out the firewood supply for this winter and burn it first. I have some 2-1/2 year old wood at the back of the wood room in the basement that is around 10%.