How to gain appreciation of dry wood in a hurry....

[Slow1]

So Saturday I got lucky and scored about 1/4 cord of fresh oak from a neighbor's house where a tree service was cutting - they let me have pieces of branches they didn't want that were large for their chipper (got lucky that their chipper was on the smalish size) and too small for them to want for their firewood business. (They even cut them to 16" length!) So these were 4-8" diameter which I'm rather happy to take home. I got it home and split what needed splitting and stacked the pile up in the evening.

Sunday Morning I went to moving my "ready to burn" pile across the yard to the 'wood borg' for next year and WOW those splits seemed light! Granted not only were they dry as can be, they are also poplar and birch. Still, the difference was more than just noticeable. I have been moving these for the last week (and hour here and there when I get time) and hadn't really thought about how light they are until I handled that fresh oak. I had moved some well dried oak a few weeks ago as well and I don't really recall such a contrast.

At any rate, I'll be glad that next time I move Saturday's 1/4 cord it will be in about 3 years and they won't be nearly as heavy!

 

[Jags]

You want heavy? Try moving these fresh White Oak rounds. I said "screw it" and quartered them up. Took everything that I could do to set them up on their edge if they were laying flat.

 

[Pagey]

You want heavy? Try moving these fresh White Oak rounds. I said "screw it" and quartered them up. Took everything that I could do to set them up on their edge if they were laying flat.

Helllllooooooo, hernia! :gulp:

 

[smokinj]

this was a couple little rounds! 44in. red oak

 

[Backwoods Savage]

So Saturday I got lucky and scored about 1/4 cord of fresh oak from a neighbor's house where a tree service was cutting - they let me have pieces of branches they didn't want that were large for their chipper (got lucky that their chipper was on the smalish size) and too small for them to want for their firewood business. (They even cut them to 16" length!) So these were 4-8" diameter which I'm rather happy to take home. I got it home and split what needed splitting and stacked the pile up in the evening.

Sunday Morning I went to moving my "ready to burn" pile across the yard to the 'wood borg' for next year and WOW those splits seemed light! Granted not only were they dry as can be, they are also poplar and birch. Still, the difference was more than just noticeable. I have been moving these for the last week (and hour here and there when I get time) and hadn't really thought about how light they are until I handled that fresh oak. I had moved some well dried oak a few weeks ago as well and I don't really recall such a contrast.

At any rate, I'll be glad that next time I move Saturday's 1/4 cord it will be in about 3 years and they won't be nearly as heavy!

That indeed sounds like a great find. And I know very well what you mean about dry wood being so much lighter. You ought to see what soft maple can be like after 6 years in the stack! Light as a feather for most of it.

 

[ckarotka]

Had a friend let me have the larger pieces of an oak that his buddy didn't want to try and split. They were about 20-22in in diameter, not really huge but heavy non-the-less. I didn't think they were that big and they split very easily, dont' know what he was thinking but it's mine now.

Any who, they were in the back yard (50-60yards from the front) with no access for the truck and trailor. So I rolled 25-30 rounds from the back to the front and up a 2*6 ramp into the trailor. Got a little work out with that one

I forgot my hand truck

 

[Backwoods Savage]

ckarotka, if you had a cant hook it would be pretty easy.

 

[andybaker]

or a son

 

[golfandwoodnut]

this was a couple little rounds! 44in. red oak

smokinjay that must have been fun to split that piece you were cutting. Those crotches can be a PITA.

 

[BrotherBart]

When I bucked this wet red oak a couple of years ago loading the rounds and getting them up to the house dang near put me in the rest home.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

or a son

Or a son with a canthook....

Matt

 

[smokinj]

this was a couple little rounds! 44in. red oak

smokinjay that must have been fun to split that piece you were cutting. Those crotches can be a PITA.

If I never find another one it will be too soon. Even split small it was heavy.

 

[ckarotka]

ckarotka, if you had a cant hook it would be pretty easy.

The son is in training, he's only 6 now but he always says "when I get bigger Dad can cut wood with you?" Yes you can boy, Yes you can!!

The cant hook is on the wish list for now. The kids do there fair share of stacking. When it comes to on site cutting and moving larger pieces I prefer they stay away with the cell phone to call 911 if need be hh: