3 cords of Doug Fir. Time to fill the shed.
Let the stacking begin
- Thread starter begreen
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Ashful
Minister of Fire
Yes, they added a shaker plate to their mass splitter this year which has contributed to a very clean load. A few years ago this would have had 10 garbage can loads of splitter trash.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Nice. Some of the videos on YouTube of automated commercial splitting operations are just mesmerizing to watch. From logs to wrapped and bundled pallets of splits, with no human hands in-between. Very Zen consumption at 11pm with a chaser of Bourbon. 
You gotta wonder what they do with the swarf coming off that shaker. Pellets? OWB? Mulch?
You gotta wonder what they do with the swarf coming off that shaker. Pellets? OWB? Mulch?
Yes, they use it for multiple purposes depending on the screening including mulch, hog fuel, & wood pulp. There's a paper mill in Port Townsend.
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
I had some other fir earlier this spring, and fir is easy to split (by hand) unless it's in a section with the many relatively thin branches.
My tree was, of course, from somebody's home lot, and they had pruned many 2-3" branches off over the years. The tree then grew over those (as in 6" more thickness over the cut off branch), and the result was knot that were invisible on the outside. Axe kept bouncing off for no apparent reason.
These were 2-3' dia rounds.
But sections without (hidden knot) branches were nicely easy to split.
If this wood came from trees in the forest, where neighboring trees might have limited branching, then it'll be nice and easy, I suspect.
Anyway, I got the fir for my "emergency stash" - a small (1 cord) shed on my driveway that I built this year. If the bay in my main (3-year) woodshed turns out to be insufficient due to a colder than normal winter, I can use this wood, and I'd replace it with equally fast drying stuff so I'd be good to go the following year again. Fir and pine are great for that if one has hardwood available.
(And if not, one gets 3 cords of fir like begreen
)
My tree was, of course, from somebody's home lot, and they had pruned many 2-3" branches off over the years. The tree then grew over those (as in 6" more thickness over the cut off branch), and the result was knot that were invisible on the outside. Axe kept bouncing off for no apparent reason.
These were 2-3' dia rounds.
But sections without (hidden knot) branches were nicely easy to split.
If this wood came from trees in the forest, where neighboring trees might have limited branching, then it'll be nice and easy, I suspect.
Anyway, I got the fir for my "emergency stash" - a small (1 cord) shed on my driveway that I built this year. If the bay in my main (3-year) woodshed turns out to be insufficient due to a colder than normal winter, I can use this wood, and I'd replace it with equally fast drying stuff so I'd be good to go the following year again. Fir and pine are great for that if one has hardwood available.
(And if not, one gets 3 cords of fir like begreen
)
It is, until you get to the knotty sections. The Douglas firs that I split were in the 24-36" wide range at the base. They were big trees. Splitting the bottom third is easy, but moving those rounds is not. I had to chunk the largest ones into quarters just to move them. As you go up in the tree the limbs get more intense and some are really big, like 8-10" in diameter. They get sectioned and split also.
Those days are past now. My knees and back will not handle a day of splitting anymore. Stacking I can spread out over many days, an hour at a time.
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Looks great! What are cord prices with delivery in your area? Prices near me stayed between $250-$325 for mixed hardwood.
Around $350-400 a cord this year. Every year it goes up. Hardwood has passed $500 a cord in several places.
In metro West Mass prices were $425-$500. Luckily in my area prices stayed flat. Mainly since it was a mild winter in my state and demand was not as strong as predicted.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
Lol, so next year they can actually sell seasoned wood ;-)
Yes, it's in the 25-30% range now but will be around 18% in October and 17% by November. I was dubious at first, but after many years I have come to rely on this.
There must be some "island" tax going on there. Looks great though.
I'm getting in the mood for 10 cords of logs once the grass gets firm enough to support the traffic.
