I usually take it with me when I go in the woods, it's very useful.
Work Done in 2021
- Thread starter thewoodlands
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MissMac
Minister of Fire
Right on. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I hadn't even heard of such a contraption until a few weeks ago. It looks like a mighty handy tool to have, and I was thinking of maybe picking one up. I'm not sure how much harvesting I have left in me at this point, but it could be useful for me to pick away at bucking in my driveway, rather than hauling the logs up onto a stack of pallets like I usually do.
Caw
Minister of Fire
I think a pickaroon and a cant hook with a log stand are basically must have tools for folks processing serious amounts of wood. They save your body so much wear and tear and aren't very expensive. A nice pickaroon is $60 and a cant hook combo $150-$200. I prefer the cant hook to the peavy because I do a lot of work on my driveway and don't want the spike damaging it.
Solarguy3500
Feeling the Heat
Continued working on that maple today. Got slowed down by a series of knarly, knotty pieces that fought me pretty hard. I ended up having to noodle some of them. Still, I'm happy with my progress so far.
When I got tired of splitting, I cut some more rounds from the logs in the pile. These trees were standing dead and were cut in December of 2019. Some of the wood is rotten but some of it is still really nice firewood.
When I got tired of splitting, I cut some more rounds from the logs in the pile. These trees were standing dead and were cut in December of 2019. Some of the wood is rotten but some of it is still really nice firewood.
I got the last row Ash completed today & revisited my math, I came up with 3-1/2 cord in that stall. I got 2 more stalls setup for Ash, they should hold 2-1/2 cord. I also got a jag of Honey Locust split up. In the first photo with the Ash is the Cherry stall that needs to be filled up.
My other stall of Cherry that is full & a stall of Silver Maple that needs topped off.
My other stall of Cherry that is full & a stall of Silver Maple that needs topped off.
Caw
Minister of Fire
That is some seriously seasoned wood... almost looks like charcoal! Very nice. Im jealous of all the nice flat land to season.
That dark wood next to the Honey Locust in the 3rd pic is Osage that is anywhere from 30-50 years cut. It came from old fence posts. It’s about like burning coal.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
last load - 7 total, this one is all ash and cherry
MissMac
Minister of Fire
My split pile grew a bit more today. Made a little dent into the pile so I could tuck the log splitter closer in to the rest of the rounds. All set up to go again tomorrow. By supper time today the ground was getting mushy again, but it was really nice and frozen this morning. I'm really pleased with the ash so far - splits really nice, and smells wonderful. Another satisfying day working on my wood
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Bucked all of load 7 in 1.5 hrs or 3 tanks of fuel, then split as much as I could until dark, so about 2hrs or so, made a huge dent in it, hopefully everything will be bucked, split, and raked up by Wednesday or Thursday the latest, the weather has been so nice, I’m now trying to out pace the grass turning on
I ran out of gas just as I ran out of dry weather this morning, luckily the rain held off the rest of the day so I got my 2-1/2 cord stall of Ash filled up. I got all the bark & splitter trash raked & picked up. All that’s left of the State Park hoard is sitting in front.
My 6 cord c/s/s from the State Park sandwiching some Osage.
My 6 cord c/s/s from the State Park sandwiching some Osage.
That is looking good & coming along nicely.View attachment 277018View attachment 277019
My split pile grew a bit more today. Made a little dent into the pile so I could tuck the log splitter closer in to the rest of the rounds. All set up to go again tomorrow. By supper time today the ground was getting mushy again, but it was really nice and frozen this morning. I'm really pleased with the ash so far - splits really nice, and smells wonderful. Another satisfying day working on my wood
Sounds like you had a busy day as well. You must been getting after it to get that far.
Nice work @MissMac , how much wood do you usually cut in the spring?View attachment 277018View attachment 277019
My split pile grew a bit more today. Made a little dent into the pile so I could tuck the log splitter closer in to the rest of the rounds. All set up to go again tomorrow. By supper time today the ground was getting mushy again, but it was really nice and frozen this morning. I'm really pleased with the ash so far - splits really nice, and smells wonderful. Another satisfying day working on my wood
Caw
Minister of Fire
Finally finished off my red oak stacks. Have about half a cord left to stack on my overflow pallets on the side of the house along with about 1.5 cords of red maple then I get my driveway back!
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
Caw
Minister of Fire
That's an 18" tire so they are small but not super small! I am going small though with this oak because it's green and going to take a very long time to season. It's HEAVY...each split weighs as much as 2-3 maple splits. Also my stove is pretty small at 1.85 cu ft and having to load E/W the smaller splits let me get more wood in there.
MissMac
Minister of Fire
Every year I restock one empty stall from my shed, which roughly works out to 2.5-3 cords. However the last few years it's taken me all summer to get them stocked up, and I've been playing catchup from having given some wood to a friend in need. Last year I'd say by the end of fall I had processed 5 cords. This year, I bought those 4 cords of ash home in log length, and then participated in a very unsatisfactory transaction that got me another 1.3 cords already processed.
This year I am doing my wood in the timing I always intended, and in the quantity I want - in the spring, and I've upped my quantity to 4 cords. I always run out of wood around March, so I'm going to start laying up 4 cords/year. Moving forward, I will keep 2 years in the shed and one sitting out top covered.
So short answer - 4 cords right now I'm doing, and then will putter on any free and easy wood I can scrounge over the summer.
MissMac
Minister of Fire
out of curiosity, do you top-cover your stacks or just leave them as they are?
Leave them as they are. I usually try to move some dry wood into the machine shed but otherwise it’s all uncovered. The Osage isn’t going to rot, the Honey Locust & Oak are 3 years dry time everything thing else rotates yearly or ever other year.
MissMac
Minister of Fire
The reason I ask is because I'm trying to decide whether I need to top cover my ash this summer. It will be sitting out in a sunny/windy spot for the whole season, and will then get moved into my covered wood shed for an additional 2 summers of drying. It's more work and a bit of a hassle for me to come up with cover material. What do you think?
Got all of my wood split and stacked, another bay is back full, 6.5 cords ish. I almost have another one almost empty. This past weekend I spent it ripping out Japanese barberry and some other invasive species that have been growing on the property, it’s a slow process, but it should help the native plants gain some ground
If it’s just for the summer I wouldn’t think twice about leaving it uncovered. It’s not like it’s going to be buried under snow. I have read that some folks leave theirs uncovered till winter then top cover, some cover straight away. I am like you it’s not worth the hassle to me. Your climate may have an effect on it if you have a lot of rainy/drizzling weather.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
I'm one of those "folks" wood stays uncovered until the fall rains / snows move in, this is why I do the funky center rib of splits right down the middle of the pile, puts pitch on the tarp when its time to cover.
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