Frozen Ground

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Huntindog1

Huntindog1

Minister of Fire
Dec 6, 2011
1,879
South Central Indiana
I have been getting out and getting some wood cut and getting it hauled back to the house. I have to drive about 1/4 mile back off the road to get back to the woods. I can only go back when the ground is frozen as the owner doesnt want any ruts. Part of it is gravel and part is just open field. So mother nature controls my ability to get wood in. And with the weather being so unpredictable in southern Indiana, just never know when I can get back there. Seems like it will get cold and freeze then a warm spell and thaw. Then when it gets closer to spring its more thaw than freeze. Was cold this weekend but I love being out in the col and cutting wood it doesnt get much better than that. People who dont do it, dont know what they are missing. Lets not tell them LoL.

Edit:

Here is some pics It snowed last night. This is around 5 loads of my short bed Dodge. There is more there than it looks as there is some back behind the stacks.


IMG_20140119_091501_113.jpg IMG_20140119_091536_040.jpg
 
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You've got a bit more of the frozen white stuff than we do here in Northern Kentucky. I went to the pile yesterday to cut but everything was frozen together so I couldn't move it. I suppose I could have cranked up the little Kubota and knocked some loose but, deep in my heart, at 17 degrees outside, I think I was looking for a reason to sit by the Buck and read a good book!:p
 
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You should have plenty of wood fetching weather here in a few days. I'm allergic to anything under 32F, I ain't going out there unless it's a must.
Although, I do kind of enjoy clearing snow off the driveway...sometimes.
 
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You mean to tell me C/S/S is more fun in the cold ?.....love to try it, but most of my "indoor projects" are saved for the winter months....then I gotta divide my time between C/S/S and outside maintenance of the house;sick
 
So far, I much prefer cutting and splitting in the winter. In the summer, it's so hot that I'm tempted to do it in tshirt and shorts and then my arms and legs get all scratched up. In the spring and fall it's usually wet and so my clothes get wet, and the sawdust sticks to them, plus all the mud and of course all the annoying bugs. My favorite conditions to cut is about 20 degrees and no wind.
 
All my wood is collected between December and Mud season every year. Running saws in the summer is not my thing - to Hot! I'll take adding more clothes and working hard to stay warm as apposed to not being able to take enough off -especially with PPE in the mix.
 
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I'm a sick man, I'll cut and split almost anytime of the year. If I'm not on a long bicycle ride, I split early on summer mornings. I enjoy the workout, and since my knees ain't what they use to be, and I no longer run, I use the sledge and wedges as another workout. As for bugs, I must stink real bad or real good, I don't know which, because they don't bother me much.:)
 
Beer Belly said:
You mean to tell me C/S/S is more fun in the cold ?
Click to expand...

I suspect the answer to this depends on whether one owns an hydraulic splitter. My splitting is done primarily with a Fiskars axe, backed up by a sledge and wedges, further backed up by a saw big enough to noodle, and I absolutely prefer doing that sort of vigorous work in cold weather.
 
I took advantage of the cold over the weekend too, I had an ash fall over in November and I've been either too busy or it's been too wet in the woods for me to even cut into it and make sure the wood was still decent. Finally went out Saturday with the intention of just making a cut in the middle of the tree to determine the quality of the wood, but ended up bucking the entire thing and then carrying it up the hill and stacking it to get it off the ground.

I'd much rather be out in the fall/winter doing this stuff. Even with the cold and only wearing a thin undershirt and an old loose wool sweater, I was soaked in sweat by the time I was done. What's that saying about heating with wood heats you up twice? lol
 
For sure no bugs in winter is worth a lot. Also, working when it is cool to cold outdoors is much better than sweating foolishly in the summer. Wearing glasses and having sweat running down them is no fun either. In addition, cutting in winter means we won't disturb any nesting birds. Also, many of us are not getting as much exercise in the winter so cutting and splitting wood is very welcome to the body.
 
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