Almost Finished Harvesting Hurricane Irene's Bounty

[Steppy]

Before last Aug I had 4-5 cords of 3 yr seasoned red oak & locust. Up until a month ago, my woodpile had grown to 14 cords, all the new wood being red oaks knocked down around my neighborhood and at my daughter's house by Hurricane Irene. A month ago, a neighbor let me cut up and keep the wood from 8 red oaks downed by Irene 2 doors down from me which brings my wood supply to 20 cords, cut, split and stacked on pallets. I cover my wood here in So. MD as it can tend to be wet and humid in the Summer months. It's worked well for me here these past 26 years.

I have another 8 cords or so yet to be cut and split at my daughter;'s house 10 miles away. No hurry to bring it back here, but I'll get it cut, split and off the ground to start curing.

Prior to buying my splitter, I split all my wood with a splitting maul, using wedges to bust up the bigger rounds into more manageable pieces. Two shoulder surgeries forced me into having to use the hydraulic splitter. I could split faster with the maul than with the hydraulic and liked doing that better.

As to what splits best, dry or green wood, in my wood burning days up north in NH, all wood split best in the winter AKA Wintah when the sap was out of the wood and it was frozen. I've always split green wood to hasten the curing process. Red oak unsplit takes a lot longer to cure than if it's split.

 

[Oregon Bigfoot]

Welcome to the forum! You have very nice stacks of wood! I bet the grand kids are great helpers.

 

[Adabiviak]

That's a lot of firewood. I don't see that much wood in some retailer's yards here.

 

[Steppy]

Welcome to the forum! You have very nice stacks of wood! I bet the grand kids are great helpers.

Thanks! There's nothing like a snug wood fire on a cold, damp night or day Been burning wood since '73. Took 12 cords to heat the old place in NH.
The grand kids are a hoot & a half. As soon as my 2 yr old grandson hears me fire up the lawn tractor, he runs up with his arms upraised asking for a "ride". They help grandpa by putting small limb wood and splitter debris into the trailer for me. Like a bumper sticker I saw once said, " Had I known grandchildren would be this much fun, I would have had them first!"

 

[Steppy]

That's a lot of firewood. I don't see that much wood in some retailer's yards here.

Ayuh, 'tis a bit of wood. I didn't plan on having near this much, but the hurricane knocked down so many good oaks, I sure didn't want them to go to waste. Besides, it's kept me in good shape and out of my wife's way..LOL.

 

[amateur cutter]

Nicely done, & welcome to the forum! A C

Hey Dennis, I think ya got some good company here. LOL

 

[katwillny]

That is a lot of wood youve got there. I remember the humid maryland summers, i lived in Pikesville for about 4 years and had a fireplace but never used it.

 

[Steppy]

That is a lot of wood youve got there. I remember the humid maryland summers, i lived in Pikesville for about 4 years and had a fireplace but never used it.

I have a dual fuel heating system, heat pump above 40 degrees F, oil fired furnace below 40. Whenever it gets that cold, we fire up the Sierra 24/7 and actually burn very little oil. We only burned about 2 cords last Winter, but around 4 the Winter before last as it was a colder Winter.

 

[ohlongarm]

I have a dual fuel heating system, heat pump above 40 degrees F, oil fired furnace below 40. Whenever it gets that cold, we fire up the Sierra 24/7 and actually burn very little oil. We only burned about 2 cords last Winter, but around 4 the Winter before last as it was a colder Winter.

Beautiful stacks,and beautiful grandkids,what life is all about.

 

[Wood Duck]

I used a friend's MS 361 the other day and I loved it. Nothing like a bunch of Red Oak and a Stihl to cut it with!

 

[ScotO]

You've got quite the wood cache there! All premium stuff too. You'll be set for years to come. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Steppy]

I used a friend's MS 361 the other day and I loved it. Nothing like a bunch of Red Oak and a Stihl to cut it with!

I love this saw. I use the yellow tab, aggressive cut loop and it goes through oak like a hot knife through butter.

 

[Steppy]

You've got quite the wood cache there! All premium stuff too. You'll be set for years to come. Welcome to the forum.

Thanks. It's a great forum and one of my favorite topics.

 

[Hickorynut]

Great job You remind me of me. Lots of firewood stacks, woods all around, same type mower and wagon, about same age. No grandkids yet though . You are doing good covering that oak up. I found out the hard way that some of it starts to rot after a few years if left uncovered.

 

[Woody Stover]

brings my wood supply to 20 cords, cut, split and stacked...I have another 8 cords or so yet to be cut and split

Welcome, Steppy. Lookin' good! Those look like some heavy-duty tarps...
I've got about 10 cords stacked and more to get but this post makes it clear that going for the record would be futile.

 

[Flatbedford]

Welcome! That sure is a nice collection there. I was happy that Irene got me an extra couple cords, but you go the jackpot there!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Nicely done, & welcome to the forum! A C

Hey Dennis, I think ya got some good company here. LOL

That's good amateur. The more the better. I am very happy to see so many who actually have more wood than we have!



Welcome to the forum Steppy. Looks to me like you will fit right in here nicely. That is a lot of work and you can be proud for sure. Nice having the grandkids around to help too. Won't be long before we maybe have great grandkids helping! That would be super!

 

[Steppy]

I thought I was done with wood for a while. Trees are leafing out here and I discovered a had a dead red oak (carpenter ant victim it turns out) in my front yard 3 feet on the stump, 70+ feet high. I also had a silver maple that Hurricane Irene tried to blow down and had pulled all the roots out of the ground. Yield, almost 2 cords, total wood pile 22 cords+. After 2 shoulder surgeries, I'm not supposed to be swinging a splitting maul per Doc's orders, but those red oak rounds were a lot faster to quarter by hand then using the Troybilt . The stringy silver maple was all done on the Troybilt.
Now on to my daughter's for 8 more cords or so, but I'm storing it there as she lives 10 miles away and I'm kinda running out of storage space here. Why is it that after 6+ months of doing this work every day I still ache? Wasn't like that 35 years ago.

 

[Flatbedford]

Gotta love that Red Oak. Easy splitting and tons of heat.

 

[ohlongarm]

Gotta love that Red Oak. Easy splitting and tons of heat.

Great job and great pile of quality stuff,definitely helps to get ahead of the game.

 

[bogydave]

WOW, that's allot of wood.
Nice to have several years ahead.
Be nice if they could go uncovered summer, stacked that close, the middle may take several years to season.
I used tarps like that years ago & the center 2 rows had mold & started to get some punky stuff near the bottom. It was birch though. My tarps had water condensing on the under side & the centers never got enough air or dried out.
With that much wood , it may be tough to find enough space to air it out a year before stacking so tight.
Oak may handle it better than the birch here, birch start to rot after 2 years if stacked tight & covered before it dries a year out in the air.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I thought I was done with wood for a while. Trees are leafing out here and I discovered a had a dead red oak (carpenter ant victim it turns out) in my front yard 3 feet on the stump, 70+ feet high. I also had a silver maple that Hurricane Irene tried to blow down and had pulled all the roots out of the ground. Yield, almost 2 cords, total wood pile 22 cords+. After 2 shoulder surgeries, I'm not supposed to be swinging a splitting maul per Doc's orders, but those red oak rounds were a lot faster to quarter by hand then using the Troybilt . The stringy silver maple was all done on the Troybilt.

Now on to my daughter's for 8 more cords or so, but I'm storing it there as she lives 10 miles away and I'm kinda running out of storage space here. Why is it that after 6+ months of doing this work every day I still ache? Wasn't like that 35 years ago.

That red oak doesn't look very dead but does look like some excellent firewood. For sure you should re-consider how you split that wood. That Troybilt should handle the task with relative ease. Stand it up so you don't have to lift any wood. Let the tool do the work. And fear not, it never will be like it was 35 years ago! Sad, but true.

 

[infinitymike]

Why is it that after 6+ months of doing this work every day I still ache? Wasn't like that 35 years ago.

You are a beast, 6 months straight and you asking why?!

Amazing wanna come up to LI and help me out!!??

 

[buggyspapa]

Of the organization, wood and work (even the aches) I am jealous. And beautiful grandkids, congrats. The bib overalls, eh, not so much. Even my old man never went that far, peasant stock that he was. LOL. I realize it's not a fashion event. Great pix and descriptions, Steppy.

 

[Steppy]

WOW, that's allot of wood.
Nice to have several years ahead.
Be nice if they could go uncovered summer, stacked that close, the middle may take several years to season.
I used tarps like that years ago & the center 2 rows had mold & started to get some punky stuff near the bottom. It was birch though. My tarps had water condensing on the under side & the centers never got enough air or dried out.
With that much wood , it may be tough to find enough space to air it out a year before stacking so tight.
Oak may handle it better than the birch here, birch start to rot after 2 years if stacked tight & covered before it dries a year out in the air.

Birch doesn't hold up well at all. When I lived in Noo Hampshah I tried to avoid birch and then only an occasional grey birch. I'm burning oak & locust now that was cut 3 yrs ago. No problems at all with mold or rot. There's plenty of air circulation in those stacks, they're not as tight as they look.