I burn about 10 full cords of good northern hardwoods annually, so that's about how much I have to cut, haul, split and stack in the yard. I need really dry wood for my gasification boiler, so I have to work at least one year ahead. I typically start cutting in the spring, and like to keep going until I've cut my goal for the summer. And then I always find a reason to cut some more. My record may be around 30 cords one year from early spring to late fall. Wife accused me of being crazy. "And the neighbors all think so, too," she helpfully added. (I don't care).
Anyway, I do this three days a week, on average. I work an office job about 50 miles from my home, so I hit the office three days a week. After work, I head out to the woodlot where I cut some wood and load the truck up to haul home. Makes for a nice workout and gets me out into the woods on a regular basis. On the days I work at home, I split and stack. I've found that this clears my mind and generally makes me a happier, healthier individual.
In past years, I would run a tank of gas through my saw, a Husky 346XP, and then haul a load in a Ford Ranger. This always resulted in a lot more wood being cut than I could haul. So, I'd have a bunch lying on the ground in the woods come winter. I found that by the next spring, this wood was a lot drier and thus lighter, so I could haul more in my little pickup, and get a head start on the drying. The downside is that it also had a chance to begin the rotting process. It would usually be OK to burn the following winter, but after that, rot started to become an issue. I should point out that I cut and burn mostly beech, which seems to rot more easily than, say, hard maple.
Let's just say it makes me madder than hell to do all that work, etc. only to have the stuff rot in the pile.
So this year, I cut, hauled, split and stacked green wood. Sure, I had to haul less per load, but not that much less. My office is up in the mountains, while I live down in the valley, so it's mostly downhill all the way home. I also don't lose any wood, which is inevitable when you cut it and then don't recover it for nearly a year, and I'm also spending less time wading around in slash, since I can cut a tree, load it, then cut the next one that would have fallen on top of it and caused logistical problems. I have a more integrated, efficient approach, in other words.
Works for me. I still like the idea of just cutting the blocks and letting them start to dry without any further intervention, but the rot issue is a big one.
Anyway, I do this three days a week, on average. I work an office job about 50 miles from my home, so I hit the office three days a week. After work, I head out to the woodlot where I cut some wood and load the truck up to haul home. Makes for a nice workout and gets me out into the woods on a regular basis. On the days I work at home, I split and stack. I've found that this clears my mind and generally makes me a happier, healthier individual.
In past years, I would run a tank of gas through my saw, a Husky 346XP, and then haul a load in a Ford Ranger. This always resulted in a lot more wood being cut than I could haul. So, I'd have a bunch lying on the ground in the woods come winter. I found that by the next spring, this wood was a lot drier and thus lighter, so I could haul more in my little pickup, and get a head start on the drying. The downside is that it also had a chance to begin the rotting process. It would usually be OK to burn the following winter, but after that, rot started to become an issue. I should point out that I cut and burn mostly beech, which seems to rot more easily than, say, hard maple.
Let's just say it makes me madder than hell to do all that work, etc. only to have the stuff rot in the pile.
So this year, I cut, hauled, split and stacked green wood. Sure, I had to haul less per load, but not that much less. My office is up in the mountains, while I live down in the valley, so it's mostly downhill all the way home. I also don't lose any wood, which is inevitable when you cut it and then don't recover it for nearly a year, and I'm also spending less time wading around in slash, since I can cut a tree, load it, then cut the next one that would have fallen on top of it and caused logistical problems. I have a more integrated, efficient approach, in other words.
Works for me. I still like the idea of just cutting the blocks and letting them start to dry without any further intervention, but the rot issue is a big one.
