First of the new year

Some wind damage from last July's storm. Got started on the one in second picture today but just could not do too much. Worked on getting some of the top cleared up. Also had to cut my way in there. The one in the first picture I haven't figured out how to get to that yet. But at least I got some wood cut for the start of the new year.

Notice our lack of snow! Sure makes it easier getting around in the woods.

Nice pics.
Looks like the ground is freezing up, that'll help allot.
Looks to be some nice wood, it's not going anywhere, take your time

We are getting rain today

Amazingly, we have almost a foot of snow on the ground, and the ground is STILL NOT FROZEN yet. Yesterday and today it got pretty mild, which melted some of that snow......

I did some cutting yesterday just to get away from my living room project for a bit (and an excuse to run the snowmobile and the saw ), there is a TON of wood to cut on the farm. I'm hoping for some good, cold, sub-freezing weather to come in to make the ground hard and keep the snow around. Maple syrup season is right around the corner, and I need to start stockpiling some junk wood to use in the evaporator......oh and I still have to finish that room!

Definitely the ground was hard going in there. Looks like we might keep the frozen ground for a while now. And yes, I will be taking my time. No need to push it. I've already cut about 3 cord so far and that is all we'll burn in a year. Still I'd like to cut more. I think it was 7 cord last winter.

Scott, that is the worst thing about getting snow too early. It keeps the ground from freezing.

Yeah, it insulates the cold from the ground. Thats another reason the ticks have been horrible the past several years here in our area. Either there's no deep freeze for an extended period of time, or the freeze doesn't set in until their is snow on the ground, and the ticks are under the snow in the leaves where they are protected.....

Happy New Year, fellas....

That 'downer' looks to be almost flat on the ground so there is, most likely, not much spring stored in it; should be an easy cut. You have yourself all the fun you can stand with it!

I think I'll go after that fence line ash later this week. I'm having 'Chainsaw Withdrawals' from not cuttin' n' splittin' for about 3 weeks.

Ralphie, the good part is that it is not flat on the ground. The trunk of the tree is at waist height so it will be a joy to cut up. Same with that other tree. Easy cutting. Just a bit hard getting to it.

Up here in NY we have 13" of snow on the ground...not the best for getting at a few trees I've got my eye on. Just checked the swamp and ponds, all ice is honeycombed. Dangerous stuff!!

Dang, I thought she was almost flat. That trunk does not look to be that far off the ground. But like you say she'll be a joy to cut! Will we see the rounds???

I'll have to take some pictures from closer up. The root ball is over 6' high so that gives an idea of the height of the trunk.

Buckthorn, I really have never enjoyed going on ice and especially like you stated. I'm a land lover.

I'm just back from Columbia County, N.Y. where we had about 10" just after Christmas, but the ground was still quite soft under the snow. So much so my father-in-law had to leave his bucket truck on a job site cause he didn't want to trash the customer's lawn. He got some nice white birch from that job.

Ralphie... that soft ground is the worst! I don't mind cutting in snow, but not the muck/snow mixture that I seem to churn up whenever I go outside haha

Backwoods... I hear ya about the ice (even though I love ice fishing). This year I may make the attempt to cut a few downed trees near my swamp edge. I'll be cutting on ice, over about 2ft of water. It probably isn't worth it, but we'll see how it goes haha.

Dennis, That is a great way to bring in the new year. I did my last cutting on New Year's Day last year. I hope I can do more this year. No cutting for me today. Had to be to work at noon, not home until after midnight.

Looks like some nice firewood Sav, any of that Cherry.

All red oak zap. That will make some grand firewood in a few years. I probably have enough oak for 2 or 3 more years so this will be about right. I probably won't cut any cherry this year unless one is down. I have a lot of downed stuff to clean up this year plus still a lot of standing dead ash.

I can't wait for the Oak we have to be ready but the Beech is heating the house real nice. Looks like we have a warm up coming after Jan. 4, the next system should be hitting Jan. 12 from what I just watched.

Started to freeze here several weeks ago,at least 2-3 nights weekly in past month its been below 20 degrees.That foot of snow 2 weeks back brought the cold back,Christmas Day it was 16 degrees.Plus 2 more inches Friday-Saturday.Except for this Sunday's 37,its been 32 or below for daytime high for almost 2 weeks now.1 above this morning,only got to 15 today even with sunshine.


Great for splitting those few remaining Ash rounds this afternoon though.They practically flew apart!

Zap, I did see they are forecasting some 30's next week. Maybe the end of this week too. Not too cold here. I think it got to 25 this afternoon and 10 forecast for tonight.

Single digits at this time with it suppose to get colder. With the wind chill it will feel like -10the next few days. We cross country skiing today, it was only about 10 out but I was braking trail so when I finally got home I was soaked.

Loaded the Liberty with some Beech, boy did that heat feel nice. I plan on doing the skiing on the weekends.

Ground is hard up here . . . but over a foot of snow on the ground . . . which means I'll be riding the sled by this weekend after the snow settles a bit and sets up . . . plan to stay off the lakes though . . . had one confirmed snowmobiler fatality up in Rangeley when a woman went through the ice . . . there is talk there may be three others who also went through in a separate incident.

-8 this morning but warmed up to around 15 I think. Went and cut today. I have a huge cutting project at my cousins/uncle's farm...trimming back a growing forest that is keeps stealing farmland. The swath is about 15 feet thick and 1200 feet long full of 6 to 12 inch cherry/ash/manitoba maple mix. I cut for 2 hours today until I stuffed my saw full of chaps stuffing. Oops!

Better than meat on the saw!

Sav, if you get this January thaw coming in a week it will be spring for you.

Red oak, that's cool. I love the way it splits. Way to start off the new year!