What is your method of processing?

Shane N · Oct 16, 2012

First off, hi! I'm a newb, both to this site, as well to burning. I've spent way too much time going 20+ pages back in various forums here.

Anyways, as background, I recently purchased a 10 acre chunk of land from my parents who have 160. The whole 160 was previously owned by a lumber mill/logging outfit. They last cut it 15-20 years ago of pine. It is now mostly poplar (I think), as well as a few small clusters of red and white oak. The poplar is extremely thick. Most are 6-10" round.

On the 10 acres I have, I've been felling anything in the way of where I want to build a house at. I started by felling an entire tree, chaining it to my ATV, and hauling it to the side. From there, I'd cut the branches off and throw the slash onto a huge pile. I'd then cut into 8ft lengths and heft them onto piles.

What do you guys do? Do the majority of you have skid steers or something to stack 8ft logs? Or do you cut rounds "in the field" and haul those back in a trailer?

I haven't cut any rounds yet from these as I've been trying to quickly get the plot cleared enough to figure out where to get the house built as well as room for septic and well.

Any suggestions for a newb?

blades · Oct 16, 2012

Your doing fine. Just make sure to not stack logs directly on ground. use some of the slashing to get them up off the ground otherwise they will rot quickly. Its nice to have the muscle of the big toys, but they are pricey to acquire and sometimes to maintain.

swagler85 · Oct 16, 2012

You are doing just fine. Most of us cut rounds in the field and bring them home that way. But many of us that cut that way also are getting wood away from home. If you can cut on the property where u live you have a great advantage by being able to drag logs to where you will process them. One thing to also consider is the log length wood does not dry so if you plan on burning those next year try to get them cut split and stacked soon. It's a labor we all love here and hopefully you will join the club and stuck around. Welcome to hearth.com

Backwoods Savage · Oct 16, 2012

Welcome to the forum Shane and good luck on the build.

Poplar is certainly not the best wood but will give you heat nontheless. Some areas, that is all they have for heat and do just fine. They just do not get as long of a burn as you will with the better woods.

As for handling, I think you'll find that the majority do fell the tree and buck it up right there. Especially those who have their own land. What we do is cut during the winter months which usually means we start around December 1 and cut off and on until March. We do not split as we buck it up but instead move all the wood to one spot and then after snow melt do all the splitting. The stacking comes immediately after splitting so we make sure we stack where we want that wood pile to be.

For sure you need to keep in mind that most wood requires a year to dry after being split and stacked out in the wind. When stacking, cut a few of those young poplars to lay down on the ground and stack your wood on them. This keeps the wood off the ground so it won't rot. After you stack the wood, you need to determine if you want it covered. We do not cover that first summer but will cover before the snow flies much and then.....be sure to top cover only. Never the sides.

Sometimes we have moved logs, like when someone has bought some wood from us and I threw together a dray to haul the logs on. My total cost for this was around $10.

Shane N · Oct 16, 2012

Thanks for the welcome!

When I first started clearing, I wasn't even planning on burning as a heat source. I figured I'd stack the 8 footers incase I decided to ever want firewood. Well... the stacks started to get big in a hurry. So I started looking into OWB, and found this site. I don't plan on doing an OWB, but the house plan we are looking at has a fireplace. So I figured I'd for sure do a nice insert at a minimum.

We're trying to build with as little debt as possible, so next year will be paying $12k for getting electric ran out there, another $4k each for a well and septic. Then hopefully we'll start building spring 2014 with a construction loan for the rest. So I have a couple years to season this wood.

I do have sitting on dirt right now, so I need to get out there and get them on top of something. The bad part is I have at least 4 cords of lumber piled up, so I'm hoping to find someone with a skidsteer to help me move them around. Especially since where I have them is now where part of my driveway is going to be. ;em

Shane N · Oct 16, 2012

Savage, that is a big log! There aren't many trees that size our property sadly.

It is a bit depressing to have this big of a property, and not having much for hardwoods on it.

Backwoods Savage · Oct 16, 2012

Ya, I feel for you. That log is a white ash. Loading it on the dray was super easy (use a cant hook) and the atv hardly knew anything was hooked on. Didn't even use 4wd but as you can see there was almost no snow at that time. Sort of like last winter. lol

Shane N · Oct 16, 2012

What is a cant hook? I tried to google it, but didn't have much luck.

Backwoods Savage · Oct 16, 2012

This little tool is a life saver in the woods. I rarely go to the woods without one. One place where they really earn their keep is cutting a long log that is laying flat on the ground. As you know, hitting dirt with the chain dulls it super fast. So now you can cut maybe 3/4 of the way through the log. Make several cuts, then using the cant hook, simply roll the log and then finish your cuts. Saves a lot of filing on that saw chain. It is also very useful if you get big logs. Many times I use it just to roll the logs over to the splitter (we use hydraulic splitters). They will cost maybe $70 or therabouts for a 4' wood handle but will last a lifetime.

Wood Duck · Oct 16, 2012

I think you're doing it right. I'd save anything that is reasonably straight and 6 inches or larger. If you have a nice insert and a pile of wood you should be able to heat the new place pretty cheaply.

When I am processing wood I am hauling it out of the woods by hand so I cut small enough to lift. That might mean stove length rounds or it might mean eight foot pieces for small diameter trees - the largest size I can comfortably move. I find it easier to haul larger pieces out of the woods and do the final cutting at home.

jacobk · Oct 16, 2012

Welcome to the forum. It is a great place and there is a lot you can learn from here. Its only my second year burning and almost everything I know came from this site. What part of west central MN are you from. I am in Renville county. Its nice to see someone on here from around the area.

When I am out cutting I cut into stove length on the spot and load it into the truck if I can drive up to it. If not a wheelbarrow is a handy tool to have if the ground is not too rough. When I get it home I split it as its unloaded and stack on pallets.

711mhw · Oct 16, 2012

It sounds to me like you are going about this in an orderly fashion, esp. with concern for keeping a managable debt. This goal will be helped with your sweat equity. When clearing a lot for building, it is best to use machinery to take the tree on the stump! It's a giant handle that once you cut it off........ lots of digging. Even if you hire a guy for a day to clear and sort (stumps in a pile, logs in another pile, and brush stacked for burning)
It's very easy to make a giant mess covering a large area by dropping a 1/2 dozen trees as I'm sure you have discovered. By the time you clear for a building area, septic area, well line, and rig access, driveway etc. you are going to have to clear a bunch of trees and for those trees in the "middle" of your clearing could need to be moved possibly 100 feet or more to be out of the way. This is my argument for starting now with the heavy equipment. Even if it's a weekend at a time with a rental machine, you might as well use those handles!
Depending on your tree size and soils, even a good backhoe can push out a 6-8" tree and even bigger if you spend a few minutes cutting some of the roots with the hoe. An excavator is another good selection but can be more difficult to find and more expensive, again depending on your trees, a "mini" ex really does not have enough size for much of a tree. You'll want at least a 10 ton class machine. IMHO if you are not an "operator" or don't know one, a hired guy (with a machine) for a day can make a whole bunch of stuff happen in a 8 hr. day! Enjoy your new project! and PS you just may as well decide here and now, plan for a wood boiler, you've already joined here! ;lol

JOHN BOY · Oct 16, 2012

Welcome to the site Shane, great place to be if your gonna be a wood burner . Insert sounds great. There are many wonderful fireplace inserts to choose from. Just a thought 12,000 seems very high to run electric.

bogydave · Oct 16, 2012

I fell, limb, mark the round lengths, then cut into skidable size logs.
Skid the logs out of the woods to the trailer, cut into rounds, load , haul home & split & stack.
It stays out back stacked in 2 spaced row to season a year, then into the wood shed for a year or 2.

Shane N · Oct 16, 2012

jacobk said:
Welcome to the forum. It is a great place and there is a lot you can learn from here. Its only my second year burning and almost everything I know came from this site. What part of west central MN are you from. I am in Renville county. Its nice to see someone on here from around the area.

When I am out cutting I cut into stove length on the spot and load it into the truck if I can drive up to it. If not a wheelbarrow is a handy tool to have if the ground is not too rough. When I get it home I split it as its unloaded and stack on pallets.

I'm a few hours north of you in the Park Rapids / Itasca State Park area.

711mhw said:
It sounds to me like you are going about this in an orderly fashion, esp. with concern for keeping a managable debt. This goal will be helped with your sweat equity. When clearing a lot for building, it is best to use machinery to take the tree on the stump! It's a giant handle that once you cut it off........ lots of digging. Even if you hire a guy for a day to clear and sort (stumps in a pile, logs in another pile, and brush stacked for burning)
It's very easy to make a giant mess covering a large area by dropping a 1/2 dozen trees as I'm sure you have discovered. By the time you clear for a building area, septic area, well line, and rig access, driveway etc. you are going to have to clear a bunch of trees and for those trees in the "middle" of your clearing could need to be moved possibly 100 feet or more to be out of the way. This is my argument for starting now with the heavy equipment. Even if it's a weekend at a time with a rental machine, you might as well use those handles!
Depending on your tree size and soils, even a good backhoe can push out a 6-8" tree and even bigger if you spend a few minutes cutting some of the roots with the hoe. An excavator is another good selection but can be more difficult to find and more expensive, again depending on your trees, a "mini" ex really does not have enough size for much of a tree. You'll want at least a 10 ton class machine. IMHO if you are not an "operator" or don't know one, a hired guy (with a machine) for a day can make a whole bunch of stuff happen in a 8 hr. day! Enjoy your new project! and PS you just may as well decide here and now, plan for a wood boiler, you've already joined here!

Thankfully my father owns a ditch witch trencher with a backhoe. I've been using that to tip over the poplars and then breaking any remaining roots. I then smooth it out roughly with the backhoe and finish with the small plow built into it. He rarely uses it for his company, which is good for me. However, the bad part is it sat with bad diesel for a long time and is now starting to act up on me after running a full tank through it. Changed the fuel filter and it had quite a bit of sludge. Still running poorly. That is a project for this weekend.

As far as the boiler goes, I'm still trying to sort out what I want to do there. I love the idea of being able to do floor heat, DHW, hot tub, and shed with an OWB. But after reading people's thoughts on those here, I'm moving away from that idea.

JOHN BOY said:
Welcome to the site Shane, great place to be if your gonna be a wood burner . Insert sounds great. There are many wonderful fireplace inserts to choose from. Just a thought 12,000 seems very high to run electric.

Yeah, it does seem a bit high. However, they have to run it a half a mile. I'm not sure how much of that is labor and how much is materials. The labor should be dirt cheap as there are no other utilities along that road, and only one rarely used county gravel approach to trench through. No asphalt to worry about. I'm hoping once I wave the cash in front of them that I can negotiate a lower rate.

ikessky · Oct 17, 2012

I tell my father-in-law that I'm thinking about starting to cut wood. Soon after that, he fires up the harvester and cuts a forwarder load for me. Then I buck it, split it, and stack it.

firefighterjake · Oct 17, 2012

I fell the tree . . . buck it up into rounds after limbing it . . . haul the rounds out with the ATV and trailer to the truck and haul home . . . it goes into a pile where it gets split and then stacked.

FireBones · Oct 17, 2012

Hello Shane N, you need to look into a wood gasifier not an OWB....Huge difference in the 2 products....When I first joined I was thinking I would do an OWB too but about an hour on the site I realized they are not what they are cracked up to be. My plan now is a Garn2000 wood gasifier to heat my floors and DHW. Welcome to the forum, this place is FULL of very helpful people!

Shane N · Oct 17, 2012

firefighterjake said:
I fell the tree . . . buck it up into rounds after limbing it . . . haul the rounds out with the ATV and trailer to the truck and haul home . . . it goes into a pile where it gets split and then stacked.

How long do you let the rounds sit in a pile? Do you normally split it pretty quickly after that?

FireBones · Oct 18, 2012

Shane N said:
How long do you let the rounds sit in a pile? Do you normally split it pretty quickly after that?

I believe the general concensus is get it C/S/S as soon as possible to get the seasoning started ....Unsplit rounds laying around aernt going to be seasoning like they potentially could be.

firefighterjake · Oct 18, 2012

Shane N said:
How long do you let the rounds sit in a pile? Do you normally split it pretty quickly after that?

Depends . . . typically I haul it home and a few days to a few weeks later split it up and stack it. However, this time of year I may leave it in a pile if I don't get enough time to split it since there are so many other fall projects to do . . . and then I'll get it in the Spring (although I try to split it up sooner rather than later to start the seasoning process and since I love splitting and stacking wood.)

I should also mention that I am well ahead on my wood supply so it's not critical that I season the wood as soon as possible . . . it's more of a job I get to when I want to feel productive . . . and have some fun.

What is your method of processing?

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