The 14 times I handle fire wood

[bogydave]

They say lazy people make the best workers because they find the easiest way to do things. I'm hoping to be lazy.

My plan next summer is to put my effort into making the whole process easier. I don't mind cutting and splitting wood but in 15 years I don't think I'll want to spend the time and effort on wood that I do today.

Next summer I'm building a wood processor and I'll be obtaining 50 or 60 wood pallets and firewood bags (as seen on youtube).

My process will be to take the wood processor to the woods. Fell and limb the tree. Pick up log with Bobcat grapple and set on wood processor. Wood is cut and split and carried away via conveyor until it falls off the conveyor and into my firewood bag sitting on the pallet. When full, replace pallet with an empty pallet.

Then throughout the winter as I need wood I'll bring the pallets into the wood shed using the bobcat with forks.

So the only time I handle the wood by hand is when I cut the tree and when I throw the wood into the furnace. No moving by hand or stacking. Worst case, I may have to stack the wood on the pallet inside of the bag if the wood doesn't season.

I was just hoping to get a hydraulic splitter & a wood shed for next year.

I think you mixed "lazy" up with "efficient". What you're planning is not for the lazy. You'd just like to have more time to relax.
I bet you just cut more wood & spend the same amount of time in the woods cause you like it.

You're gonna be "SPOILED"
LUCKY GUY, Post a video of the set-up when you get it going.
Sounds impressive. Be fun to watch.

 

[countrybois]

1) tree service neighbor drops off logs
2) buck pile of logs
3) split and toss in pile
4) stack on individual pallets
5) move pallets of wood into garage as needed with skid steer
6) move wood inside next to stove
7) load stove
8) pull out ash drawer and dump in bucket
9) dump ash in some strategic place on the property

 

[firefighterjake]

1. Call up friend and see if he wants to cut wood . . . spend 30 minutes talking about other things.
2. Sharpen chainsaw.
3. Go inside and get bandage for the finger you cut while incompetently attempting to sharpen the saw.
4. Finish resharpening the saw.
5. Load up and gas up chainsaw and ATV with the little trailer.
6. Load up chainsaw and wood tools and attach trailer to the 4Runner.
7. Head over to the woodlot . . . after stopping at the general store to gas up 4Runner, grab a Moxie and a six pack of Country Kitchen donuts.
8. Head over to the woodlot . . . but turn around after realizing you have forgotten the key for the ATV.
9. Get to friend's house and wait while he sharpens his saw. Chat for another half hour.
10. Head into the woods and start looking at trees.
11. Fire up the saw and attempt to cut down a tree.
12. Go find friend cutting nearby to see if he can't help free your pinched saw.
13. Attempt to cut a second tree.
14. Go find friend to see if he can't help you get the leaning tree down safely without hitting you on the noggin.
15. Attempt to cut down a third tree . . . and watch it fall right where you wanted it to . . . stop and wonder what is wrong since this was way too easy.
16. Start bucking up wood.
17. Haul out bucked wood to trailer/pick up.
18. Attempt to drive trailer/pick up away and realize that all the rain you've had in the past few days has made the area into a mud pit and you're stuck.
19. Partially unload trailer and get vehicle unstuck.
20. Unload wood.
21. Reload rest of wood that you unloaded back in the woods and unload wood.
22. Break for lunch.
23. Repeat steps 10-21.

On another day

24. Gas up splitter and start splitting.
25. Get bored while splitting and start trying to form interesting geometric patterns out of the split wood.
26. Get even more bored and start looking for a picture of the Virgin Mary or Jesus in the wood grain . . . thinking if you find such a picture you can sell it on e-Bay.

On another day

27. Stack the wood in neat rectangular pile
28. Get bored and decide to stack wood in the classic "Holtz Hausen" style
29. Get really bored and decide to make a Lego-like castle out of stacked wood
30. Go back to stack the first wood pile which has since toppled over

On another day

31. Move the wood you had cut, split and stacked last year to the woodshed.
32. Stack for 20 minutes and then take a break to start designing how you could improve your woodshed with electricity, lights and a big screen TV.

On another day . . . it's now heating season

33. Move the wood from the woodshed to the stack on the porch
34. Move the wood from the porch to the woodbox
35. Move the wood from the woodbox into the firebox
36. Think to yourself that you're handling this wood way, way too much . . . but you really don't mind since the heat is pretty good
37. Sweep the hearth, fill up the steamer, sweep the woodchips that have fallen off in bringing the wood inside, sweep off the porch
38. Collapse into La-Z-Boy recliner, fall asleep before 7 p.m. in front of the fire

 

[dolmen]

1. cut rounds
2. load in truck
3. pile in driveway
4. split (repeat as necessary)
5. stack
6. move to porch
7. load in stove
8. shovel ash
9. dump ash

Tired just thinking about it.

Same here. I can count on one hand the number of trees I've knocked over for firewood.

Same here, I burn all fallen timber and it takes me the same 9 steps, its not work, unless you are selling firewood ;-)

Cheers


;-)

 

[Gunks]

I am not as incompetent as Firefighterjake who handles his firewood 38 times. I scrounged all my firewood and handle it at least 30 times. And love every minute of it. My goal is to surpass the incompetency of Firefighterjake.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

1. Call up friend and see if he wants to cut wood . . . spend 30 minutes talking about other things.
2. Sharpen chainsaw.
3. Go inside and get bandage for the finger you cut while incompetently attempting to sharpen the saw.
4. Finish resharpening the saw.
5. Load up and gas up chainsaw and ATV with the little trailer.
6. Load up chainsaw and wood tools and attach trailer to the 4Runner.
7. Head over to the woodlot . . . after stopping at the general store to gas up 4Runner, grab a Moxie and a six pack of Country Kitchen donuts.
8. Head over to the woodlot . . . but turn around after realizing you have forgotten the key for the ATV.
9. Get to friend's house and wait while he sharpens his saw. Chat for another half hour.
10. Head into the woods and start looking at trees.
11. Fire up the saw and attempt to cut down a tree.
12. Go find friend cutting nearby to see if he can't help free your pinched saw.
13. Attempt to cut a second tree.
14. Go find friend to see if he can't help you get the leaning tree down safely without hitting you on the noggin.
15. Attempt to cut down a third tree . . . and watch it fall right where you wanted it to . . . stop and wonder what is wrong since this was way too easy.
16. Start bucking up wood.
17. Haul out bucked wood to trailer/pick up.
18. Attempt to drive trailer/pick up away and realize that all the rain you've had in the past few days has made the area into a mud pit and you're stuck.
19. Partially unload trailer and get vehicle unstuck.
20. Unload wood.
21. Reload rest of wood that you unloaded back in the woods and unload wood.
22. Break for lunch.
23. Repeat steps 10-21.

On another day

24. Gas up splitter and start splitting.
25. Get bored while splitting and start trying to form interesting geometric patterns out of the split wood.
26. Get even more bored and start looking for a picture of the Virgin Mary or Jesus in the wood grain . . . thinking if you find such a picture you can sell it on e-Bay.

On another day

27. Stack the wood in neat rectangular pile
28. Get bored and decide to stack wood in the classic "Holtz Hausen" style
29. Get really bored and decide to make a Lego-like castle out of stacked wood
30. Go back to stack the first wood pile which has since toppled over

On another day

31. Move the wood you had cut, split and stacked last year to the woodshed.
32. Stack for 20 minutes and then take a break to start designing how you could improve your woodshed with electricity, lights and a big screen TV.

On another day . . . it's now heating season

33. Move the wood from the woodshed to the stack on the porch
34. Move the wood from the porch to the woodbox
35. Move the wood from the woodbox into the firebox
36. Think to yourself that you're handling this wood way, way too much . . . but you really don't mind since the heat is pretty good
37. Sweep the hearth, fill up the steamer, sweep the woodchips that have fallen off in bringing the wood inside, sweep off the porch
38. Collapse into La-Z-Boy recliner, fall asleep before 7 p.m. in front of the fire

Some of those aren't real steps, like #29.

 

[Tony H]

I prefer not to count the steps at this time as it makes me tired and sleepy and adds another step I like to call the "the nap "

 

[firefighterjake]

I am not as incompetent as Firefighterjake who handles his firewood 38 times. I scrounged all my firewood and handle it at least 30 times. And love every minute of it. My goal is to surpass the incompetency of Firefighterjake.

Hmmm . . . you may have your work cut out for you . . . I am the master of my own domain . . . I mean master of incompetency . . . I am after all a government employee.

 

[bogydave]

Looks like I got some competition.
FFjake added some step i forgot about. May have to revise my list.
Gosh I hope I don't get to 38 steps though.
Though, I'm so old I'd forget them before I got done & wonder why I got so tired.

 

[Scott in IN]

I've got a manufacturing / engineering background and I think of this (often waaaaay too much) as I cut my wood.

1. Cut the rounds
2. Drive the Kubota to the rounds and roll / toss them into the loader bucket. Drive the Kubota from the woods to my splitting pile and dump the rounds.
3. Once the splitting pile is big enough I bust out the splitter and split the rounds (I use a splitting table) and toss the splits into the Kubota bucket. I then drive the Kubota the short distance from the splitting pile to the aging stacks.
4. Once at the aging stack I stack the split wood (pulling the splits out of the bucket at waist height, no bendin) into rows 24' long on pallets 4-5' tall (1 row is a cord and 2 rows per pallet).
5. Once the wood is aged I push the double wheeled wheelbarrow to the aged wood load it up and push it to the back door.
6. When in need of wood I grab the metal wash tub from next to the stove, walk to the back door load up 4 splits and carry them to the stove and toss them in.

Not dealing with ashes I handle the wood 6 times which I think is pretty efficient. I do have to admit that I have about 7 cords split and stacked so this year I just piled the wood with the loader (heapinhausen) and skipped the stacking step.

 

[ccwhite]

I always cut dead stands that the bark has fell off of or now I'm cutting tops left from logging 2 years ago. If I do get something that needs to season I stack it outside behind the house. I cut with my twin 13 year old sons ( They are very helpful).

1. Take ATVs w/ trailers right to the wood that is on the ground.
2. I Buck the logs into 20" rounds while the young'uns load em in the wagons
3. Ride the ATVs w/ wagons to the splitter.
4. Split the rounds and put the splits in a hand pulled wagon just inside the basement door.
5. Kids pull the wagon over to the stack and stack the splits. (We can put 4 cords inside)

6. Take splits off of stack and toss em in the wood furnace as needed.
7. Scoop ashes out of furnace into ash bucket and take bucket out to dumping spot 20' from basement door. (2nd half of this step could be postponed based on weather and current attire.)

I love using the ATVs for wood handling. I've hauled it with a truck my whole life and this used to be about a 20 step process. I used to have to move the pile in 4 stages just from truck to the basement door.

 

[Bugboy]

1: cut tree into 16”/18” etc logs
2: lift to split
3: stack onto 32" by 47" pallets with rails (4 foot tall)
4: move pallets with tractor to drying spot
5: move pallets with tractor to house
6: load from pallet to rubbermaid tote and bring in house
7: load stove
8: shovel ash and dump

The pallets are a new thing this year. The plan is:
Take saw, hydraulic splitter, pallet, tractor and misc. stuff to the tree after it is down.
Buck some, split and stack some; buck some, split and stack some.
When the pallet is full transport to the yard for drying and bring back empty pallet.

If this all goes as planned (and it should as I already filled one) it should eliminate several handling steps. It helps that the next 2-3 years of firewood is within a couple hundred yards of the house.

 

[blueflame75]

Reading this post is making me tired. It reminds me something my dad said to me when I was about 8yrs old while manning the hydraulic lever to our old Briggs wood splitter on a cold day in November..."Son splittin and burnin wood isn't for sissy mary's". It will be something I will be passing down to my son when he becomes of age. It's the satisfaction of putting forth work and in the end being able to provide a warm home for the family.

 

[bogydave]

Cutting trees at home cuts 4 steps out of handling .
1 Fall tree, cut rounds, 2 split, 3 in trailer, 4 then in the stack.

I don't have that many to cut up but it sure allot more efficient.

 

[tlc1976]

If cold go outside and light tree on fire.

Repeat if necessary.

Saved you 13 steps

Go to prison for setting forest fire. Never have to handle wood again! Success!


For me:
1. Cut up fallen timber into 16"-18" pieces in place.
2. Take to trailer and throw in.
3. Unload trailer into pile at home next to woodpile.
4. Stack small pieces. Split large pieces then stack.
5. Throw wood into wheelbarrow.
6. Take wheelbarrow to door, leave parked and cover.
7. Bring wood into wood box next to stove.
8. Put wood in stove to make fire.
9. Scoop ashes out every couple months.
10. Take ash can out and let sit for a few days to cool.
11. Dump ash can in woods.

My 11 yr old daughter loves working with firewood with me. I better enjoy it while it lasts and she grows up!

 

[Blue2ndaries]

I’ve got 2 versions depending on wood source.
Scrounged Wood:
1. Buck tree into rounds of ~18" length
2. Maneuver truck/trailer close to rounds
3. Load rounds into trailer (holds ~1.25 cord)
4. Unload trailer into pile(s) <repeat steps 2-4 depending on how many loads are required for scrounge>
5. Move hydraulic splitter close to pile(s) and split
6. Load splits into wheelbarrows and stack to season (either in shed and/or open rows)
7. Load seasoned splits into wheelbarrow to stage on back patio (~12 feet from stove)
8. Move wood in from patio as needed for burning/reloading
9. Shovel ash from stove to metal washbasin and dump.
Delivered Wood:
1. Log truck arrives and drops off in open area ~25feet from wood shed; buck logs into rounds of ~18" length
2. Move hydraulic splitter close to pile(s) and split
3. Load splits into wheelbarrows and stack to season (either in shed and/or open rows)
4. Load seasoned splits into wheelbarrow to stage on back patio (~12 feet from stove)
5. Move wood in from patio as needed for burning/reloading
6. Shovel ash from stove to metal washbasin and dump.

 

[mywaynow]

1. buck logs to length
2. take splitter to logs on back of truck and split (with log catcher to hold resplits) throwing directly into truck (or trailer, or both)
3. off load at stacking area
4. stack
5. load wagon to house
6. load into bin
7. load into stove
8. load ash into can
9. spread ash

 

[Monosperma]

Most efficient system: locate dead tree; set it on fire; stand beside it soaking up warmth and admiring the efficiency.

 

[WoodpileOCD]

For those who are addicted to wood burning, but are not happy with all 14 of those wood handling steps, I think they have a plan you can use to cut it down to 12 steps. You have to attend a long series of weekly seminars to master the technique, however.

Yea, I thought it was a 12 step program too.. This IS an addiction isn't it?

• Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable
• Step 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity

 

[albert1029]

My 14 Steps:
1. Push wheel barrow 100 yds up steep hill then 1/8 to 1/4 mile along pretty flat trail.
2. Cut and buck logs.
3. Push wheel barrow till downhill then pull facing downhill.
4. Unload wheel barrow on side of road.
Repeat steps 1-4 until worn out.
5. Pull empty wheel barrow down steep hill to driveway.
6. Drive pickup up hill.
7. Load pickup.
8. Unload pickup in driveway.
9. Stack rounds.
B R E A K
10. Split rounds.
11. Load splits into wheel barrow (20-30 per load).
12. Stack.
13. Rub THERA-GESIC on knees and elbows.
14. Thank God for this wonderful gift.
WHEW!

 

[red oak]

Old saying: Wood heats you twice.

New saying: Wood heats you anywhere from 9-38 times.

My steps: cut, load onto truck, unload, split, stack, haul into house, load into stove, dump ashes. That's only 8 steps - I must be doing something wrong!

 

[SKIN052]

Yesterday I went out and,

1. Cut up the blown downs into 4' sticks and carried close to the trail.
2. Cut into rounds and tossed in quad trailer.
3. Off load and split,
4. tossed into pile
5. Stacked
6. This summer they will be moved into wood shed.
7. next winter, into the house.

The wood shed has allowed me to skip a step. I would typically take my seasoned wood from a pile and store in garage a cord at a time, then into the house. The shed allows me to go straight from there into the house.

 

[Flamestead]

I've got a manufacturing / engineering background and I think of this (often waaaaay too much) as I cut my wood.

1. Cut the rounds
2. Drive the Kubota to the rounds and roll / toss them into the loader bucket. Drive the Kubota from the woods to my splitting pile and dump the rounds.
3. Once the splitting pile is big enough I bust out the splitter and split the rounds (I use a splitting table) and toss the splits into the Kubota bucket. I then drive the Kubota the short distance from the splitting pile to the aging stacks.
4. Once at the aging stack I stack the split wood (pulling the splits out of the bucket at waist height, no bendin) into rows 24' long on pallets 4-5' tall (1 row is a cord and 2 rows per pallet).
5. Once the wood is aged I push the double wheeled wheelbarrow to the aged wood load it up and push it to the back door.
6. When in need of wood I grab the metal wash tub from next to the stove, walk to the back door load up 4 splits and carry them to the stove and toss them in.

Not dealing with ashes I handle the wood 6 times which I think is pretty efficient. I do have to admit that I have about 7 cords split and stacked so this year I just piled the wood with the loader (heapinhausen) and skipped the stacking step.

I'm going to try step 3 this year to simplify. In the past it has been from the splitter table to a pile, and then at a later date to the stack. Still not sure I'll like it, because stopping splitting to stack the bucketload doesn't fell right. But waist height/no bending is tough to argue with.

Once dry, it used to be from the stack to a trailer, and from the trailer to the woodshed. However, I couldn't reach all of the wood in the trailer from the ground, so a disgruntled descendant was placed on the trailer to assist. This year it went from the stack into the Kubota bucket, from there into the dump truck borrowed from wife's work (quarter mile from drying stack to woodshed, too far to shuttle one bucket load at a time), from there dumped onto the ground to be stacked in woodshed.

I did build one drying/carrying rack that held just under half a cord that I could lift with the Kubota and drive to the woodshed. I abandoned this, as it still involved re-stacking at the woodshed and for 8/cord/yr * 2 yr drying it was a lot of materials/expense. If I rebuild the woodshed to allow placing the drying racks without stacking I would revisit this idea.

I am also toyng with the idea of long (15'+) double-stacks on skids, and waiting for frozen ground with light snow cover to skid the whole pile up to the house. Maybe a temporary binder or two around the stack for the trip.

 

[DianeB]

The year we bought our house, wood stove, wood lot, truck, chain saw and other related stuff, I was bragging to my dad about all the money we would save heating with wood...he looked at me and said honey, I think you might have that wrong. In any event, that was back many years ago when oil heat/electric heat was somewhat affordable. He was an Arkansas boy..grew up on an East Arkansas farm during the depression and boy did he love the thermostat to the oil furnace when he was able to have his own house. Being cold and splitting wood something he wanted to leave behind. He thought we were crazy to want to heat with wood. Fast forward 10 more years, nostalgia took hold and after seeing us enjoy our stove, he up and bought one for himself, bought a truck & chainsaw and went scrounging with a buddy for wood the next 10 years of his life as his retirement hobby. Mom thought this was great, got the big guy out of the house for a few hours every day. Love you Dad

 

[DianeB]

My 14 Steps:
1. Push wheel barrow 100 yds up steep hill then 1/8 to 1/4 mile along pretty flat trail.
2. Cut and buck logs.
3. Push wheel barrow till downhill then pull facing downhill.
4. Unload wheel barrow on side of road.
Repeat steps 1-4 until worn out.
5. Pull empty wheel barrow down steep hill to driveway.
6. Drive pickup up hill.
7. Load pickup.
8. Unload pickup in driveway.
9. Stack rounds.
B R E A K
10. Split rounds.
11. Load splits into wheel barrow (20-30 per load).
12. Stack.
13. Rub THERA-GESIC on knees and elbows.
14. Thank God for this wonderful gift.
WHEW!
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wow, your very neat I must say.