Best ways to get ahead?

[ChadMc]

FYI I’m home for 2 weeks cause of COVID so I’m trying to distant myself and get stuff done around here.......this is ourbfirst winter of burning with our new regency stove and we LOVE it. The house is so cozy and warm! We burnt full time and plan on doing so every winter. This winter we started dec 1 and now were only doin a a small evening or morning fire cause it’s getting warm. We burnt 3 cords and I have a face cord left that’ll be gone in a few weeks. I have 4 cords stacked, and top covered ready for next year. I can only see myself “getting ahead” if I continue working on this through spring and summer. But at that point our woods gets so thick and green unless your on the trails you can hardly go in the woods. How do some of you get so far ahead? Maybe I need to work harder in the fall/winter? Thanks!!

 

[aansorge]

I generally cut in the woods in the summer (I am a teacher). It is trickier than in the fall and spring because of the dense growth (and the heat, humidity, bugs), but it is doable. It is mainly a comfort thing. I cut first thing in the morning 7 to 9 and then head home before it gets to hot.

You can work your way through the undergrowth. I suggest long sleeves and a can do it attitude.

 

[Grizzerbear]

Do you have a truck? If so you could spend a day falling what you want and drag them out to any clearing you have so it gets you outta the brush. It's an extra step and time consuming and dragging them can present the increased chances of dulling your chain from dirt and rocks in the bark though. I have the same problem here and I dont like to cut wood in the summer with ticks being so bad. I would probably just cut wood like a madman for the next two free weeks you got right now. Cut the underbrush outta your way.

 

[ChadMc]

Do you have a truck? If so you could spend a day falling what you want and drag them out to any clearing you have so it gets you outta the brush. It's an extra step and time consuming and dragging them can present the increased chances of dulling your chain from dirt and rocks in the bark though. I have the same problem here and I dont like to cut wood in the summer with ticks being so bad. I would probably just cut wood like a madman for the next two free weeks you got right now. Cut the underbrush outta your way.

Good idea. The woods are still open now. Could get some rounds or longer logs to the sides of the trails and pick away though the summer. I just want to get to a point where I can burn next year and not even worry about my supply. Had to tell the wife last night we only have a little seasoned wood left so use it sparingly and she gave me the look haha.

 

[johneh]

I do all my cutting in the late fall and winter.
Easier to cut and skid out of the bush. We use
a matched set of Percheron's. Spring and summer
is for processing. But if you have to cut in spring and summer
mark what you want to cut in the winter. Cut a trail into your cut area
and have at her.

 

[JohnDolz]

Good idea. The woods are still open now. Could get some rounds or longer logs to the sides of the trails and pick away though the summer. I just want to get to a point where I can burn next year and not even worry about my supply. Had to tell the wife last night we only have a little seasoned wood left so use it sparingly and she gave me the look haha.

I imagine every area is different but I have always been able to find all the wood that I need via Craigslist (assumes a truck and trailer to get it home). Here in central CT wood comes available so often that I tend to limit my interest to wood that is 10 miles or less from my house.

 

[peakbagger]

I drop my trees in the late fall or during the winter so I dont need to deal with leaves. That really cuts down on the amount of leaves I need to deal with. If they havent leafed out, run a chain saw 360 degrees through the inner and outer bark twice with a 2" gap between the cuts. Do it down low and its going to really cut back on any new leaves. One important thing once you girdle a tree you need to cut it as its going to die in place and eventually become a widowmaker. As long as the trees are on the ground

I try to move my logs when the ground is still frozen. I have been out the last couple of days using my capstan winch to drag logs to my access road. Its surprising how easy it is to pull the logs with the winch as long as I have a couple of snatch blocks.

I then buck them up on the road and once the road bans are off I will bring my truck over there and pick up the rounds and haul them home to split them at my leisure.

I must admit it comes down is I cut as long as I need to get ahead 2 years. I got behind last year so its extra work this year. I dont see myself getting more than 2 years ahead

 

[ChadMc]

Some interesting ideas. I’ve been like the “tortoise and the hair” all winter haha. Cut, bring a few rounds to the pile, split, stack, repeat. The most time consuming is getting the rounds to my stacks. May need to rethink this. Maybe just focus my time to cutting and getting the rounds to my stacks. The splitting part is quick and easy.

 

[ChadMc]

Just an update. Dropped 2 straight as a pole dead ash trees. Got probably around 70-80 rounds and got them all right on the side of one of my trails. Marked a few more to drop tomorrow. I’ll worry about the splitting at a later date.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I process all of my wood in winter and early spring. I have gotten ahead but it took me a couple of years. no rush. first you need to get your storage together, babysitting 12 to 14 cords sucks. I put up 3 wood sheds, so its split stack and no worries. the other part is I harvest my wood in log lent. Which is what I am doing now. I'll get like 4 or so cord and stack it up. come January I'll cut it up in rounds and split it up and stack it in an empty area of a wood shed.. late fall, winter early spring, is for wood processing late spring, summer early fall is for wood drying. this time of year I'd start getting out as much wood as I could and process it up at home away from the woods.. This is just how one man does it....

 

[peakbagger]

BTW, One "rule" I use is that I only work on wood for no more than 2 tanks of chainsaw gas. I cant stay focused for much more than a morning or an afternoon. When I hand split my wood in the woods, I would alternate between bucking, splitting and moving the rounds with the goal that when I finished I had load in the back of my truck. I work from home so I would leave the truck loaded until the next day and pick away at it during lunch and after work.

 

[Osage]

I do all my cutting in the late fall and winter.
Easier to cut and skid out of the bush. We use
a matched set of Percheron's. Spring and summer
is for processing. But if you have to cut in spring and summer
mark what you want to cut in the winter. Cut a trail into your cut area
and have at her.

Can you send a photo of the Percheron's? Would like to see them.
As a kid we still had neighbors farming with teams.

 

[heavy hammer]

I try to do my wood in the spring or the fall but it seems with time lately I'm cutting and doing more in the summer. If the heat doesn't bother you summer is not bad no mud or snow. Drier working conditions but you have leaves heat and bugs.

 

[Highbeam]

Remember that this extra super long wood collection is a one time deal. Once you get your 3 year stash then you only need to top it off every year. That means you can do some crazy stuff just one time to get ahead like buy logs, buy manufactured fuel, buy split firewood from some unemployed dude, or just work like crazy in an unsustainable manner because it’s just once!

Myself, I buy logs and the price is constant. I plan to get 2 years worth of logs processed this summer (our firewood season) so I can burn whenever the heck I feel like it!

 

[mrd1995]

When I was home at my parents home, I used to fuel the chainsaw up lay it in the skid steer bucket with a maul almost every evening( when the ground was dry or frozen. I would go out cut and split 1 bucket (big bucket I would tip the machine when full of red oak and it was a 70hp machine with solid tires) per evening. It added up very fast and it didn't seem over whelming. Can't wait to get equipment at my place, right now its one wheel barrow at a time. The way I see it every little bit adds up.

 

[EODMSgt]

I'm about a year+ ahead (burned 5+ cord this season and have 3 cord CSS seasoned in the shed, 4 cord CSS top covered outside and 1+ cord of rounds waiting to be split). With that, I scrounge year round for firewood, usually stacking rounds until late summer/early fall when I split everything. If you are pulling all your timber from your own property you have the luxury of managing how you work. I see a lot of people who just go crazy dropping trees all over but then don't process them for a long time (if ever). I would recommend cutting them as you go, at least cutting them into rounds and getting them off the ground. A lot depends on your climate however the sooner you can process each tree, the sooner the wood will start drying. If you don't plan on fully processing a tree, why cut it down now so it will just lie on the ground in the woods?

 

[WoodBurnerInWI]

I currently am on the 3 year plan with my wood storage. Longer drying woods (oak, hickory, etc) get cut and stacked as soon as the logs are bucked. While they dry, I then scrounge/cut anything that will take between one to two years to dry, things that I could get away with burning in the upcoming winter if I needed to. Was doing the bulk of my cutting at my wife's grandfather's farm but with the current Covid crisis we don't dare go out there to cut/visit him for obvious reasons. This past year I got some tree company's to use my house as a drop site for logs and that worked really well!! I am hoping that despite everything that's going on these tree services are still working and hopefully will see another log load or two before fall.

 

[ChadMc]

Been at it pretty hard since I’ve been home. This is my “ahead” storage and is at 2 cords now. Going to keep going until this virus lets up. Next I’m going to do a rack system to keep rounds off the ground and through out the summer I figured I’d scrounge stuff and keeps the rounds off the ground. I figured another couple weeks of this and I’ll be a good year maybe 2 ahead.

 

[heavy hammer]

I started cutting as well since there is not a lot to do but stay home there is plenty of time to get stuff done and get ahead for the coming years.

 

[xman23]

You got to get while the getting good.

 

[ChadMc]

My stack is growing by the day with this coronavirus keeping us home. At this point I need to reorganize my storage and be more efficient. Right now I have a rack system I built that holds 2 cords neatly with top cover and it’s in the yard. Just off the grass in the woods I have another 4-5 cords and growing by the day. Here’s the question.....knowing our house/climate and most likely burn between 3-4 cords a winter is it smart to build a wood shed that holds that amount? Or make it hold a little more then I need? I need to take advantage of vertical stacking more so I’ve been planning a simple shed/Leanto top cover rack system. I’m ok with having stacks in the woods but what I don’t want to do it be going all the way out there to move wood around next winter. Any input would be awesome

 

[toddnic]

I typically get wood during winter and spring. Lately, some area builders have asked if they could deliver logs from a few lots they are clearing. You might want to check with builders in your area if they are clearing any lots. A builder delivered logs that were around 6 cords earlier this winter. I'll take a delivery any day

 

[xman23]

So 4-5 cords a year. If it was me I would have 10 -15 cords waiting to burn. That's a lot of wood, and I our region I think it needs to be top covered. So what do you want the shed for, storage or 1 burn season? It's all about reducing how few times you need to touch the wood.

Mine is almost all oak, so it needs 2-3 years. I store in a 2 row covered stack, 50 ft from the house. It gets sun on one side, and wind. I add new wood to one end and take from the other end. When the new ends goes to far I come back to the original starting point. Most, as well as me complain about maintaining the covers and base for these type stacks. It took a lot of trial and error, but I now have shed like roof system and PVC pipe base, that works well.
I've had 10 - 15 cords in that stack, at times. In the late fall, after a few bug freeze, I move 1 years worth of wood to under a covered side deck.

 

[heavy hammer]

I single stack mine all on some kind of boards to keep it off the ground. The stuff I going to burn in the coming winter is on an old patio with boards on that to keep snow and rain from soaking into the bottom splits. All is exposed to sun and plenty of wind.

 

[EODMSgt]

I single stack mine all on some kind of boards to keep it off the ground. The stuff I going to burn in the coming winter is on an old patio with boards on that to keep snow and rain from soaking into the bottom splits. All is exposed to sun and plenty of wind.

I'm doing a similar method but with a double stack (these were split and stacked last fall). These stacks are on PT boards on cinder blocks, and are 12' long and just over 4' high so there is a cord+ in each stack. My goal this year is to have enough CSS to have 12 of these built by the time the snow flies. The oldest will go into the firewood shed (which holds 8 cords) and then rebuilt with green wood. This will give me 12 cords top covered and drying for a 3-year plan (plus the 8 cords seasoned in the shed).