The Forestry Forum

General Forestry => Firewood and Wood Heating => Topic started by: Corley5 on January 04, 2021, 09:33:47 PM

Title: Winter Firewood
Post by: Corley5 on January 04, 2021, 09:33:47 PM
Made the first bundles of 2021 today.  167 for Schultz's Party Store.  That's Brad on the Twister 8)    


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Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: SwampDonkey on January 05, 2021, 05:50:37 AM
There's one guy on Youtube doing that. Started out with SxS, then went tractor, and making a good dollar at it. But, small operator, hobby, and has a day job as a CPA. :)
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: hedgerow on January 06, 2021, 02:54:15 PM
You guys sure have nice straight logs to work with. Good to see the bobcat chained up. The snow and ice hasn't hung around here enough to put the chains on my bobcat yet. 
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Corley5 on January 06, 2021, 08:46:49 PM
Log truck was here dark and early this AM with a 10 cord load of EAB killed ash and scale killed beech.  He had it sorted on the truck.  There's about 4 of the ash and six of the beech.  Not doing much wood now.  That's a good thing. The Thirsty Sturgeon  (https://www.facebook.com/TheThirstySturgeon/) has started a fire pit for customers to hang out around outside since indoor dining/drinking is still prohibited here.  They're buying a five face cord load a week 8) 8)  


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Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: GRANITEstateMP on January 07, 2021, 06:09:55 PM
Corley,

That is a great name for a bar and grill! ?menu looks pretty good too! Think it'd still be warm if they deliver to NH?
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Nathan4104 on January 07, 2021, 06:14:08 PM
Sounds like a small bit of positive news from all this pandemic crap.... people are having more campfires!  They are around here for sure!  
I like your processor shed, great for this time of year I bet
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: SwampDonkey on January 07, 2021, 06:29:32 PM
West of the Saulte is cottage country ain't it @Nathan4104 (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=47304)? I remember driving through there in April, both ways, no gas and everyone gone for winter. ;D Not a whole lot between Sudbury and the Saulte. :D

Stompin' Tom Connors - Sudbury Saturday Night (Live 2005) - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw7rzpvDvS0)
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Nathan4104 on January 07, 2021, 10:16:17 PM
Quote from: SwampDonkey on January 07, 2021, 06:29:32 PM
West of the Saulte is cottage country ain't it @Nathan4104 (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=47304)? I remember driving through there in April, both ways, no gas and everyone gone for winter. ;D Not a whole lot between Sudbury and the Saulte. :D

Stompin' Tom Connors - Sudbury Saturday Night (Live 2005) - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw7rzpvDvS0)
Well, I'm a long ways from that Sault! I'm there (and Sudbury) enough for work but it's a whole other NB then some to where we are, and still in Onterrible! 
If you thought that stretch was bad, take the north highway next time (hwy11) there is n-o-t-h-I-n-g but black spruce and tamarack for almost 200km between Hearst and Long-Lac, and not much else from there to Nipigon, another couple hundred :)  must be the longest stretch in Canada without a Tim Hortons. 
And not a stick of hardwood but some moose maples and alders in the ditch for the moose to nibble on! 
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Corley5 on January 10, 2021, 08:38:03 AM
Ran a five face cord load yesterday.  Started a bit late in the morning because it was cold and Saturday ;) ;D.  Didn't even get a good start and the Bobcat's fan belt broke.  Off to Car Quest for a new one.  They matched one up to the old one which was broken clean and 39" long.  Came home with a 38.5" one too.  Just in case.  Nothing's ever simple especially with a Bobcat.  The whole procedure took much longer than it should have but it's back up and running and I did get the load of wood done.  But I didn't get to the sugar bush as was the plan.  Headed there in a bit.
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Tacotodd on January 10, 2021, 08:54:54 AM
So, which did it end up being @Corley5 (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=27)
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Corley5 on January 10, 2021, 08:56:38 AM
The 39 ;D :D  If I would have came home with only one it would have been wrong :)
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Tacotodd on January 10, 2021, 09:06:15 AM
I know how that goes! That's why in my years of parts sales I recommend to people "you better take these as well, you can always return to me for full refund whatever you don't need"!

More often than not, it earned me a customer for life, and they tended to follow me around because I gave them great service. It made them feel special because no-one else treated them well! 

After all, aren't we all in some sort of service related business if you really think hard about it?
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: mike_belben on January 10, 2021, 10:40:12 AM
Its a good thing a skid steer is so handy when one considers the grief.  Everytime i resent mine enough to say 'im gonna sell it next time its fixed' ... I fix it and forgive it because i need it so badly.  
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: SwampDonkey on January 11, 2021, 05:08:25 AM
We always ran local made skid steers (Thomas), but can't buy much local these days. Don't remember belts going. One guy put diesel in the gas engine, that don't help. :D Local food plant bought the plant, later sold off the patents to South Korea. They can't make money unless they can steal potatoes. :D
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Corley5 on January 11, 2021, 01:39:21 PM
There's no room to work on them.  There's a lot packed into a little :)  It didn't help that the tensioner/idler isn't right.  I vaguely remember having an issue with it once and making it work...  The new belt was too short to use the idler and it's pulley was way out of alignment with the other pulleys but the belt was short enough that with encouragement and a bump of the starter it went on and is tight without the tensioner but not too tight.  It'll stretch some but not enough to throw.  I don't think anyway.  The only way to get it off now is to cut it.  I'll keep an eye on it and probably should get a new tensioner.
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: mike_belben on January 11, 2021, 01:50:21 PM
At a certain point, usually by forced obsolescence, a machine just becomes your own one of a kind pile of parts and you make it work however you decide.  



If a machine has a part with a special fitting that pidgeonholes you into using the manufacturers thousand dollar part, i will often saw that chunk off and weld a standard chunk on so it can use the shelf $200 part.   very common practice to sell new machines IMO.  Like changing the battery case on power tools with the same cell structure and voltage for instance.  
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: cutterboy on January 12, 2021, 07:13:21 AM
Quote from: mike_belben on January 11, 2021, 01:50:21 PM
At a certain point, usually by forced obsolescence, a machine just becomes your own one of a kind pile of parts and you make it work however you decide.  




That's the way my wife feels about me. ::) :D
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Letmero on January 14, 2021, 10:09:56 AM
Hello guys! What are your favorite type of wood for fireplace? What do you usually use? Also I'm looking for some good fireplace doors, on what should I pay attention here?
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: gasman1075 on January 14, 2021, 04:16:57 PM
My favorite is free. 
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: SwampDonkey on January 15, 2021, 12:28:54 AM
@Letmero (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=54162) Hardwood of any kind, maple, oak, hickory, beech, ash. They don't throw sparks. Don't put cedar, fir and aspen in there or snap crackle and pop. Ok, so ya got a screen or door, if it works. :D
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: cutterboy on January 15, 2021, 07:33:43 AM
Letmero, For a fire of short duration red maple and white birch will burn fast but won't last long. If you want the fire to last a long time oak, hickory, ash, hard maple and black birch will burn longer. But really, any wood you have or can get ahold of will make a nice fire for you to enjoy.
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: mike_belben on January 15, 2021, 08:59:42 AM
I split red maple a little fatter so its not as dry, and lasts longer.  tend to use it once the room is up to temp and just needs to be maintained all day.   Its a fairly good firewood imo. Kinda half way between pine and oak. 


 I dont care how much wood is burned since its free, but i dont like fussing with the stove every 30 mins.  Loading up some fat green pieces on a bed of coals is almost like a pilot light throughout the day.  Most winter days come up to atleast 20F in TN if not warmer..so the stove is just taking off the overnight chill a lot of the time.
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: doc henderson on January 15, 2021, 01:58:35 PM
dryer wood is always better.  fatter also only burns the surface wood initially so it lasts longer.  the less dense wood still has good heat, but all at once.  so soft maple is great to get up to temp in the stove, and then add the denser wood.  at bed time I have a 2 stage process.  we let the fire go down in the afternoon if not too cold.  I fill the stove and leave the air open to get a hot fire going.  then top it off and  after 5 minutes to get the new wood up to temp, I choke it down.  the better coal producing (denser)  wood will have big chunks of red hot coals in the am.  open the air, add some thinner chunks of wood, and we are off to the races in the am when it is cold.  crotch wood tends to be denser.  wood all has the same BTUs per gram or pound of dry wood.  Water in wood consumes energy from the fire for evaporation, and not heat the stove or room.  up the chimney she goes.  when the steam releases the energy and condenses, it will be outside in the cold.  heating the world!  :)  .  there are great charts looking at BTUs per cord, and ability to make coals.  i.e. the quality or characteristics of differing woods.
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Corley5 on January 15, 2021, 02:04:56 PM
White ash makes a nice flame in a fireplace.
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: doc henderson on January 15, 2021, 02:07:01 PM
our glass is often smoked over.  it is satisfying to scoop the ash, clean the glass and get a fire going in the evening.  have a beer and watch a movie and the fire.  life's simple pleasures.  
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: SwampDonkey on January 16, 2021, 05:59:12 AM
Aspen coals. But as doc says the coals burn up quick to grey ash, no charcoal at all. Still, nice to heat the house. But I wouldn't put it in a fireplace, too much sparks before it's coals.

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Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: SwampDonkey on January 16, 2021, 06:04:49 AM
Building up a fire on a minimum of maple coals. That wood for them coals was loaded 12 hours before. Of course something has to be said about coals. Once they burn down to a certain stage, your not getting much heat even if you have coals for 16 hrs. Sure the side of the stove is warm, but you won't boil water. ;D

Quick furnace fire with minimal coals in my Napolean model 150 wood fired furnace - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiV7XpYNkps)
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: cutterboy on January 16, 2021, 07:35:41 AM
I love that picture of the aspen coals. Makes me feel warm.
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Corley5 on January 23, 2021, 09:47:53 PM
Took delivery of another 10 cord of red oak last week.  Sean was finished with the job and didn't want to haul it to his yard just to reload it again in the future.  I gave it a home.  Everyone's happy :) 8)  Some of it's a bit more rugged than I'd prefer but I've ran much uglier wood than this ;D :)  It'll make nice short pieces ;) :)


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Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: cutterboy on January 24, 2021, 07:08:58 AM
Corley, will you saw some of those logs into lumber or will it all go for firewood?
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Corley5 on January 24, 2021, 09:24:39 AM
All into firewood  :)
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: mike_belben on January 24, 2021, 09:25:04 AM
Probably too short for ties huh?
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Corley5 on January 24, 2021, 09:26:16 AM
It's all 100". 
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: moodnacreek on January 24, 2021, 10:02:42 AM
There are always exceptions like fruit woods but this is the best firewood:  Must have mostly enclosed wood shed.  Next cut and split live hickory. Stack in shed 2 years.  Be careful, this wood can burn a hole in the side of your stove with too much draft.
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Corley5 on March 03, 2021, 08:59:01 PM
Couple train loads I picked up the last couple weeks.  One was half bug ash and half red oak.  The other load was half dry beech, sugar maple, and bug ash.  The other half green beech and sugar maple.  That'll get us by a while.  Mark has a job on our class A road that's going to open up the next few days.  He asked me about taking a 100 cords.  The hauls are short and he'll give me deal  8) 8) 8)


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Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: cutterboy on March 04, 2021, 07:35:06 AM
Corley, that is a lot of wood. Will that be sold next winter or do you still have orders coming in now?
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Al_Smith on March 04, 2021, 08:11:55 AM
Quote from: Corley5 on January 10, 2021, 08:38:03 AM
  Didn't even get a good start and the Bobcat's fan belt broke.  Off to Car Quest for a new one.  They matched one up to the old one which was broken clean and 39" long.  Came home with a 38.5" one too.  Just in case.  Nothing's ever simple especially with a Bobcat.  
Try an old Cj5 jeep or an Oliver crawler some time .As such I have a number of perfectly good new V belts that don't fit on anything . :D
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: uplander on March 04, 2021, 09:27:29 AM
Yesterday i put up a cord of smooth bark hickory. Love that stuff in the furnace.
The temperature got up around 65 degrees and by afternoon the pile was covered in hundreds of honey bees. Nothing blooming here yet.
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Corley5 on March 04, 2021, 10:44:20 AM
  It'll start going out of the yard after sugar season and the frost laws go off.  They both happen about the same time :) ;D  This wood is just a start.  I moved almost 1,500 face cords/500 standard cords of processed firewood in 2020. 
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: uplander on March 04, 2021, 11:45:54 AM
Quote from: Corley5 on March 04, 2021, 10:44:20 AM
 It'll start going out of the yard after sugar season and the frost laws go off.  They both happen about the same time :) ;D  This wood is just a start.  I moved almost 1,500 face cords/500 standard cords of processed firewood in 2020.
Nice! And i have seen your photos of your setup!
We are just burning and cutting for personal consumption. About 3-4
cord a year. I'm mechanized but just a tractor and 25 year old splitter.
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: brianJ on March 04, 2021, 03:36:31 PM
Quote from: uplander on March 04, 2021, 09:27:29 AM
Yesterday i put up a cord of smooth bark hickory. Love that stuff in the furnace.
The temperature got up around 65 degrees and by afternoon the pile was covered in hundreds of honey bees. Nothing blooming here yet.
The borer has gotten to this area.   Nealy all the ash died over this past summer.   Going to be 90% plus ash in the pile for the next few years.    The convenient part is it is all accessible from the edge of the fields.    I have myself a bigger pile here in early March than Ive had in about forever.
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Al_Smith on March 04, 2021, 08:34:35 PM
Most of the EAB killed ash will stand 5-6 years before the roots give away then over they go .If the dead fall doesn't lay real long it takes weather relatively well .Standing dead hickory might make it that long until the wind gets it .Hickory puts off the heat but really blows sparks doing so if the draft from the stove hits it with the door open .Hickory in wet ground contact doesn't fair well neither does maple .Nothing will coal up like oak except osage orange but that's rather rare in these parts .
As for firewood the cold of winter is about over .Due to the fact it's warming up I might hit it a lick before the spring monsoons get here I don't like cold weather but prefer that to mud .Believe me Ohio can get mud like Louisiana .I've stuck nearly everything that can get stuck including bull dozers .
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: SwampDonkey on March 05, 2021, 04:45:00 AM
Soil here on this place is so full of gravel and stones, the mud is gone as soon as the snow is gone. 8) But you hit some ground with a lot of clay in it, it will be mud until June. We work on some land that one forestry company doesn't waste much money on road building. Bulldozed ditches is a better term. You can't make road from garden soil unless you're in the desert. ;D Then there are other mills that make roads for year 'round travel, hard as a rock year around. :)

I will be pretty much set for firewood for next winter here, I might have to cut 2 cords.

Been cold here last couple days, talking 40's next week. The sap will be a flowing. ;)
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: SwampDonkey on April 06, 2021, 05:11:45 AM
Was poking around the loaded firewood with a poker that was a gift for my parents for their gas fireplace. And of course, it turns out they are just for looks. Catastrophic failure!! Broke in 2 parts. :D Well, you can guess the origins of this thing. It's not marked, but obvious. It definitely ain't brass handle either. ;)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/poker-broken-in2.jpg)

Well, ordered up a new Enviro brand poker out of Ontario, shipping and tax is about 3 times the price of course. :D But at least they don't hide it like Amazon does (free shipping :D ), plus 5 bucks cheaper over all for the same tool. ;)

Keep warm out there. ;D
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Al_Smith on April 06, 2021, 08:39:45 AM
Don't throw it away .Unless it's made out of aluminum it could probably be brazed back together .It's a poker doesn't have to be pretty .
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: SwampDonkey on April 06, 2021, 08:49:16 AM
Oh, it's definitely going in the trash. :D
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: mike_belben on April 06, 2021, 03:17:17 PM
Rebar and conduit work fine for me.  
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: SwampDonkey on April 06, 2021, 04:15:44 PM
I've got an old iron one down in the shop by the old stove. I bet it's been around 60 years and very simple. Probably made local.
Title: Re: Winter Firewood
Post by: Tacotodd on April 06, 2021, 04:18:11 PM
I'm just using an old but broken shovel handle. You just have to be aware of any spark on it. 💰 and all.