Spring Wood Gathering

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

jpl1nh

Minister of Fire
Jan 25, 2007
1,595
Newfields NH
Is it just me or is spring the best time for gathering wood? I realize I live in a place that is basically wood stove heaven. I have 5 acres, 3.5 is wooded with mostly oak and black birch, but a little bit of everything else thrown in. Our property, whcih is quite rural, is adjacent to hundreds of acres of conservation land owned by the town. That land is pretty much landlocked, there are a few trails for mountain bikes, snowmobiles, but basically its for nature. And its mostly hardwood. Now lest you think I'm cuttin that hardwood, my wife and I just pulled in about three cords of nothing but oak from about an acre of that conservation land adjacent to our property, and all of it was lying dead, not even standing dead! Spring is the time to do that, the ground is still frozen, the leaves are all matted down so you can see it, no leaves on the trees so lots of sun to dry it quick if you prop it up off the ground. For me, spring is the time to refuel, start thinking about a couple of winters from now. And then today was one of those days when the world just works great for you. A listing on craigslist for an apple a guy just took down, (got that one!) Bam! a listing for cordwood, turns out its 8 to 10 cords of 1 1/2 year old mostly black locust with some sugar maple and white oak thrown in, 4 'to 10' lengths, 6" to 24" diam. "please take it now cause its in my way, knock yourself out", only 8 miles from my place. I got close to three cords this afternoon with just a little saw work. Then on the way to pick it up, the road crew is taking down trees, (mostly oak and maple) along side the road, opening up the road sides, so much free wood, all I can do is look at it and call my friends hoping they can take advantage!. So all of a sudden, in the last ten days, I've just taken possesion of a total of close to 7 cords of lying dead oak, close to 2 years seasoned black locust, with a little apple thrown in all just for the pickin. Life is good! I'm calling it quits for collecting wood for a while cause I got a lot of processing to do! And I'm pretty much set through 2010. Now, a quick question, I need a splitting maul. Any suggestions?
 
I burned 7 cords this winter. My lowest winter was 5. YOU NEVER HAVE ENOUGH WOOD!!! I like your stradegy, get it when you can. I don't play around with splitting. I have a Timberwolf 20-ton with a 4 way split. It is the lowest model they make for homeowners. You can split faster than you can stack. My saw is a 18in Stihl MS290 Farmboss in a 3 chain rotation. (2 standard, one "sharp"). When you process that much wood, don't kid yourself, tools are your friends and doing it by hand will kill you......

Upgrade.

MB
 
MustBurn said:
I burned 7 cords this winter. My lowest winter was 5. YOU NEVER HAVE ENOUGH WOOD!!! I like your stradegy, get it when you can. I don't play around with splitting. I have a Timberwolf 20-ton with a 4 way split. It is the lowest model they make for homeowners. You can split faster than you can stack. My saw is a 18in Stihl MS290 Farmboss in a 3 chain rotation. (2 standard, one "sharp"). When you process that much wood, don't kid yourself, tools are your friends and doing it by hand will kill you......

Upgrade.

MB

7 cords? Wow! That's alot of work. What are you burning and where do you live?
 
What a great day! I love it when a plan comes together.

I'm starting to get a good pile built up that needs to be split and stacked.
 
Ya gotta love days like that.I just broke-in a new "Super-splitter"8lb maul with a well flared face on 4.5 cords.Worked better than an average maul too_Only cost me $50.00 cash, one thumbnail, two scabbed shins, and a sore back.-T :shut: ired and lovin' it!
 
Todd said:
MustBurn said:
I burned 7 cords this winter. My lowest winter was 5. YOU NEVER HAVE ENOUGH WOOD!!! I like your stradegy, get it when you can. I don't play around with splitting. I have a Timberwolf 20-ton with a 4 way split. It is the lowest model they make for homeowners. You can split faster than you can stack. My saw is a 18in Stihl MS290 Farmboss in a 3 chain rotation. (2 standard, one "sharp"). When you process that much wood, don't kid yourself, tools are your friends and doing it by hand will kill you......

Upgrade.

MB

7 cords? Wow! That's alot of work. What are you burning and where do you live?

CT, I get mostly red and white oak and various maples, but I'll burn anything in a pinch. My Jotul 600 is my primary source of heat for my 2000 sq ft house. My "secondary" heat is electric and as you can guess, that can get expensive. I have bot used the electric in 5 years.

MB
 
MustBurn said:
Todd said:
MustBurn said:
I burned 7 cords this winter. My lowest winter was 5. YOU NEVER HAVE ENOUGH WOOD!!! I like your stradegy, get it when you can. I don't play around with splitting. I have a Timberwolf 20-ton with a 4 way split. It is the lowest model they make for homeowners. You can split faster than you can stack. My saw is a 18in Stihl MS290 Farmboss in a 3 chain rotation. (2 standard, one "sharp"). When you process that much wood, don't kid yourself, tools are your friends and doing it by hand will kill you......

Upgrade.

MB

7 cords? Wow! That's alot of work. What are you burning and where do you live?

CT, I get mostly red and white oak and various maples, but I'll burn anything in a pinch. My Jotul 600 is my primary source of heat for my 2000 sq ft house. My "secondary" heat is electric and as you can guess, that can get expensive. I have bot used the electric in 5 years.

MB

7 cords for CT, with this year's mild winter, for a 2000 sq ft house?? Something's wrong man. You might want to look into what you can do to improve either your burning efficiency or home insulation (preferably both).
 
tradergordo said:
MustBurn said:
Todd said:
MustBurn said:
I burned 7 cords this winter. My lowest winter was 5. YOU NEVER HAVE ENOUGH WOOD!!! I like your stradegy, get it when you can. I don't play around with splitting. I have a Timberwolf 20-ton with a 4 way split. It is the lowest model they make for homeowners. You can split faster than you can stack. My saw is a 18in Stihl MS290 Farmboss in a 3 chain rotation. (2 standard, one "sharp"). When you process that much wood, don't kid yourself, tools are your friends and doing it by hand will kill you......

Upgrade.

MB

7 cords? Wow! That's alot of work. What are you burning and where do you live?

CT, I get mostly red and white oak and various maples, but I'll burn anything in a pinch. My Jotul 600 is my primary source of heat for my 2000 sq ft house. My "secondary" heat is electric and as you can guess, that can get expensive. I have bot used the electric in 5 years.

MB

7 cords for CT, with this year's mild winter, for a 2000 sq ft house?? Something's wrong man. You might want to look into what you can do to improve either your burning efficiency or home insulation (preferably both).

Actually we set a record for consecutive days without getting over 32 degrees at 35. We did not get much snow, but we did get lots of cold. Part of the problem was running wet wood towards the end.

MB
 
I burn 7 cord too..I try to have it all split and stacked in May,,Ususally its too muddy in April. I have 3.5 cord already spit. I have a used 27 ton YardMan splitter tha I picked up for $350 off a buddy when he got his new Timberwolf.
 
Spring Update
Call from father in-law, "sign said free wood" RESULT: 3 cords white oak, (3 foot diameter rounds)
Call from landscaper friend, "can you take some wood from a site? RESULT: 3 cords of sugar maple (18 in diameter rounds)
Call from old friend, "taking tree down, too much wood for me, RESULT: 1 cord sugar maple. (2 foot diameter rounds)

Gotta love Spring!

MB
 
thats the way to do it!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.