Got my work cut out for me

The 12 cord of wood I ordered back in December just arrived today. Judging by how much I have left in the shed and the little bit there is under the snow (right edge of pic), I might be burning some of this stuff around this time next year. So much for staying two years ahead. I better get started. The sooner it is bucked, the sooner it will be ready to burn.

"Got my work cut out for me"

More like- got my work cut down for me. A mountain of potential there. Yoiks- what was the damage for that, delivered?

that sure is a purdy pile of winter cut wood you got there.you'd better get crackin' so as not to be overheated in the summer! ;-)

HOLY STICK!

Thar's a pile o wood for ya, haha!

I'm just finishin' up stackin 5 cord I had delivered as log length 2 weeks ago....so this is my 3rd weekend workin' that pile. I bucked it in 2 days, and split it in 2 days, and this weekend I stacked all but about a cord or so.

I gave up on it around 3pm today and told myself I could finish stackin' next weekend.

Nice lookin' wood for sure.

$1200.

Wow! that pile would probably heat my $1,500 sq. ft. house for 4 years. (it would also take up my entire driveway and part of the back yard)

LLigetfa, I know you're a busy man, but would you mind telling me how big an area of house you are heating? and how much wood you go through in a year?

WOW! looks like a lot of wood to me...careful brother they sure did stack that high. Anyway there's nothing sweeter than working log loads.

Amen, no brush....no boomerang shaped crown limbs...no skidding......no hang ups in other trees......cut, split and stack.

WB

Yah, that big one in the center of the pic will be fun to bring down. I may be getting a load too (7-8 cord). What's the technique for working these piles ?

Best way is to use a cant hook, but don't get in front of the logs! Just give a little roll on one or two logs. Sometimes the high ones might be a little excited and come pretty fast but this really is not a problem at all.

LLigetfa, you have more to work on this year than I do. Most of mine is already cut but I'll wait for snow melt and warmer weather before splitting and stacking. Maybe I'll take a picture or two this year.

btw, that is a good price on those logs.

This is the same amount of Black Ash that I got around this time last year. I used to say that I burn 6 cord a year but that's not really accurate. I usually cull a few cord of Poplar off my land as well, so in an average year, I'd burn 6 cord of Ash and maybe 2 cord of Poplar to heat a 2200 sq ft house. Right now I have around 7 or 8 cord of seasoned Ash and 2/3rd cord of Poplar. I'm guessing I will burn some of next year's seasoned wood this year.

My wood guy piled it a lot higher than I wanted it. I guess he didn't want to lift his outriggers and move ahead. I have enough land that he could have laid it out one log high. I might have to break down and buy a long pike pole to pull that pile down safely.

I roll the logs out on 8 foot skids at the end of the pile so that I have an 8' x 8' square area of wood to buck. I have a 60" measuring stick with notches every 20 inches that I lay on the middle log and score parallel lines every 20 inches with the nose of the bar. I start at one end and buck the rounds, kicking them behind me as I go.

When I'm laying out the logs on the skids, I pick out the smaller ones (6" and under) and set them in my sawbuck. I use a pulp hook and a 4 foot iron bar to knock down the pile and to move the logs around like a poor man's cant hook. The big rounds that I buck on the skids I will pick up and stack to the side for splitting later. The heaviest rounds that I can lift I put near waist height so that it will be easier later to lift and place on the horizontal beam of the splitter. The really big heavy ones go at the bottom of the stack to later get rolled over to the vertical beam of the splitter.

The small stuff that I buck on the horse just get tossed on a pile to be split later. The splitter comes out when the snow has gone.

I'm thinking of moving my wood processing area about 100 feet South to the edge of my property to get it further away from the driveway. The neighbor has a hay field right up to the property line so I get lots of good breeze and sun as there's only a few scrawny Poplars and Elm on my side of the fence.

That pile is like a horror show. You're stuck watching riveted not able to move but know knowing what's gonna happen. Oh Freddyyyyy.
What is that ? Maple? (Hmmm...didn't see your black ash comment)

Nice looking pile of wood LLigetfa! Gotta give you a nice secure feeling about next years heating season I'll bet.

Still waiting to hear back from my supplier. Something about conservation department reworking the way wood is allocated and where it can and cannot go.

Conservation it seems does not want cutters with a quota on crown land selling to the general public. Something about having a hard time keeping track of stumpage and such.

I'm scratching my head wondering how to get that 28 cord pile of birch in the yard that gives me that warm fuzzy feeling about next winter.

MAN nice looking pile of wood...but i have to agree, i hate it piled that high. when i was burning wood 2 years ago, i had a pile like that.i live on a dead end, and my neighbor is always good for parking at the dead end. i suggested moving the car and he thought it would be fine where it was.

when i went to pull some down, one kicked out and made a ramp for the rest. guess where it all landed? cost me 3500 to fix the car, so i said frig it , i'll carry my wood in by the bagful..

mike