Cut your wood for winter right before winter????

[tfdchief]

I was watching the Discovery Channel tonight..... the "Alaska: The Last Frontier", it was about people living their life, generation after generation, in the Alaska wilderness. These people homestead and live off the land, They kill caribou and other animals for food, put up gardens, raise cattle, and as you might expect, they burn wood for their only source of heat for the long cold Alaskan winter.

Now the part I couldn't believe. They started to gather the winter's supply of wood just before the snow and freeze. Their stoves looked like old steel box stoves. Now these people have a lot of savvy and obviously know how to survive on their own. So it makes it even more amazing that they don't get ahead on fire wood and season it properly. I would love to talk to them and ask them why they wait until the last minute to get their fire wood for the winter. They have to know that it is not the best situation.

 

[Locust Post]

Could it be it was just the way it was presented on TV? It is tv you know. Just a thought, but could be wrong.

 

[bogydave]

Most still do it that way here. That's how I learned as a kid.
We cut dead trees mostly, but many times we cut live trees in the fall & burned that winter.
I did it that way for years here, had a chimney fire & learned to clean the chimney every 6 weeks.
I get strange coments when friends & neighbors stop by & see all the fire wood I have in the wood shed & out back seasoning.
I tell them why & get some strange looks.
My bet is we are in the top 5% of woodburners who season wood properly

 

[Mr A]

http://www.endtimesreport.com/storing_firewood.html
Here is something interesting. This site claims to season firewood in 4-6 weeks! It does say it is done with Doug Fir, no mention of other woods. I don't have enough room to stack it all up in a single row. I may try this with a bit of my green wood, we still have a few months of hot weather yet. May be worth the experiment to make a stack on the front lawn where I have the most sun. Interesting site I found- http://www.endtimesreport.com/storing_firewood.html

 

[Jack Straw]

They don't seem to publicize it, but that is the singer Jewel's family. I watch the show, and it seems that they are too busy trying to survive with no time left to stock up on a couple of years of wood.

 

[DexterDay]

On the show "Mountain Men", they seem to do the same thing..

It shows them cutting with Snow already on the ground and hauling back to the house, only to be stacked on a row of what appeared to be "seasoned" wood.

It is Television though. Even if they did let the wood sit. The producers wouldn't know or care. They will portray it as they see.. They go cut wood, bring it back, and burn it... and..... "Action"

 

[certified106]

When I was watching that show I had the same thoughts and couldn't believe that they were actually cutting that years worth of wood. I to wonder if it isn't just the producers making the show that portray it that way but then again I don't think a single person on that show has an EPA approved stove so maybe they really do cut ti and then burn it immediately.

 

[NordicSplitter]

Remember the winters up there go from oct-may. Only roughly 5 months to do everything. Hunt, garden and gather wood. Those stoves they have suck. Haha

 

[maplewood]

When I was watching that show I had the same thoughts and couldn't believe that they were actually cutting that years worth of wood. I too wonder if it isn't just the producers making the show that portray it that way but then again I don't think a single person on that show has an EPA approved stove so maybe they really do cut ti and then burn it immediately.

I'm with you. I don't think there is much reality in "reality tv".
I've told my kids dozens of times, "Remember - every tv show is only about 1 thing and 1 thing only: selling advertisements."
(...Except for info-mercials. There the show is the advertisement!)

 

[TimJ]

I watched the show " Mountain Men " twice and in the one show they were building a big wood shed to store their wood.

 

[cptoneleg]

90% of folks aroumd here cut their wood when it starts cooling off in the fall, for the upcoming winter, they also won't mess with pine, there is plenty of Oak and Black Locust. I did the same for many years without any issues, just cleaned my chimney once a year. Was an old pre EPA stove and the only heat we had.

We allways had a little left over from the year before that we would allways mix with green wood for longer burns.

So I don't think it is just T V I think thats the way it is.

 

[DexterDay]

I watched the show " Mountain Men " twice and in the one show they were building a big wood shed to store their wood.

The one character on the show "Eustice" sells firewood for a living. Thats his income. He also sells rough cut lumber now that his Mill is up and running. So his wood may actually be seasoned/cured/dried/etc..

They did cut some dead standing Pine in Montana. That may have been ready to burn. With the age and yrs of experience they all have, they may all have good wood drying habits.. They may not.

I know most of the stoves that they have shown are welded box stoves and old smoke dragons.

I do enjoy the show though. Thats one "Reality Show" that I will watch.

 

[clemsonfor]

They don't seem to publicize it, but that is the singer Jewel's family. I watch the show, and it seems that they are too busy trying to survive with no time left to stock up on a couple of years of wood.

I was gonna add that. This is her family, brother and dad. Show was on new months ago, they seldom rerun it. I think it was only a 3 show special, not sure if it will come on next year?

These shows have a bit of producer liberty to them. But in the last frontier, they made a point yes both families cut that year but one brother or cousin waits till last minute and has to go out in winter to cut it. There cutting dead softwood and my guess is its mostly dry when they go to burn it. I know here in the south even if it dont get blown over it will be pretty dry if not rotted when you cut it (tough moisture and temp here rots it).

On Mt. men it shows the guy in montana cutting his wood cause he was gonna run out. He cuts a nice dead pine and the narrator says now this will last tom 4 more weeks to get out of winter. Its half a little sled of wood. Its just an edditing thing they cut a whole tree and that tree would not even last 4 weeks but instead of showing the whole pile of wood they showed just a portion of it and acted like it was all of it.

These people that edit and produce it probly dont know how much wood a lot is anyway and may think that sled of wood was a lot as they probly buy the grocery store bundles for $5 and get 2 fires out of them.

 

[clemsonfor]

On the show "Mountain Men", they seem to do the same thing..

It shows them cutting with Snow already on the ground and hauling back to the house, only to be stacked on a row of what appeared to be "seasoned" wood.

It is Television though. Even if they did let the wood sit. The producers wouldn't know or care. They will portray it as they see.. They go cut wood, bring it back, and burn it... and..... "Action"

They also say Eustis is fillina an order for a construction company. What builder is goin to use green jsut sawn lumber? It has to air dry at least a year if its pine and like we know more for others. The wood would shrink like crazy if they used it.

Also at his saw mill did you see all the doady wood, that must be the laydown yard for the firewood and sawing biz. There were mushrooms growing out of the poplars, those things are gonna be way to gone to saw boards out of!!

 

[clemsonfor]

The one character on the show "Eustice" sells firewood for a living. Thats his income. He also sells rough cut lumber now that his Mill is up and running. So his wood may actually be seasoned/cured/dried/etc..

They did cut some dead standing Pine in Montana. That may have been ready to burn. With the age and yrs of experience they all have, they may all have good wood drying habits.. They may not.

I know most of the stoves that they have shown are welded box stoves and old smoke dragons.

I do enjoy the show though. Thats one "Reality Show" that I will watch.

I thought i saw an old blaze king stove in the dads house on that show, behind him in the interviews?

 

[DexterDay]

They also say Eustis is fillina an order for a construction company. What builder is goin to use green jsut sawn lumber? It has to air dry at least a year if its pine and like we know more for others. The wood would shrink like crazy if they used it.

Also at his saw mill did you see all the doady wood, that must be the laydown yard for the firewood and sawing biz. There were mushrooms growing out of the poplars, those things are gonna be way to gone to saw boards out of!!

Yeah, those huge piles of cut lumber looked pretty bad What shame.

But I agree. No Builder should be using it. Unless it for construction that may permit for shrinking. Buildings like old horse sheds or a lean-to.

I thought i saw an old blaze king stove in the dads house on that show, behind him in the interviews?

Not sure what the one was, but it did have a "window" and looked to be a EPA stove. Not sure though. They dont concentrate a lot on the stoves. Even though thats there source of heat, from living off the land.

 

[ScotO]

I like to watch those shows too, but they are MADE FOR TV, without a doubt! You want to see a real show about a real mountain man, watch the documentary "Alone In The Wilderness". That guy was about as close to a REAL mountain man as you could find, nowadays.

 

[TimJ]

I watched that whole thing Scotty. Now, that's a real man. I wondered if he complained when he had to go out when the temperature was less than 10 degrees.
He also had to work hard just to complete the most meanual tasks.

 

[ScotO]

I watched that whole thing Scotty. Now, that's a real man. I wondered if he complained when he had to go out when the temperature was less than 10 degrees.
He also had to work hard just to complete the most meanual tasks.

I watched this follow-up done about him, 20 years after he originally went up there. Said he was never sick, not even a cold. Man if I could just talk the wife into going up there with me......hell that would never happen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=534vvTOjCsI&NR=1

 

[TimJ]

Yea, but what it really is all about is what your beard looks like when it comes out full with no trimming. lol

 

[ScotO]

Yea, but what it really is all about is what your beard looks like when it comes out full with no trimming. lol

I do that every winter, just like my football hero Brett Keisel of the Pittsburg Steelers does.....but dear wifey DOESN'T LIKE IT AT ALL!

 

[clemsonfor]

There is an alone in the wilderness 2. Asw a piece of it on PBS then i ordered it off ebay. its not as good as original but worth looking at. The old man (dick pernike) was a true craftman, making hinges out of a stump. I think in the dead of the winter when it was -50 outside he had it something like 15F-30F in the cabin!! He had a small stove to cook on and for some heat but the majority of his heat came from that fireplace!! Think of all the wood he burned each year!

 

[ScotO]

There is an alone in the wilderness 2. Asw a piece of it on PBS then i ordered it off ebay. its not as good as original but worth looking at. The old man (dick pernike) was a true craftman, making hinges out of a stump. I think in the dead of the winter when it was -50 outside he had it something like 15F-30F in the cabin!! He had a small stove to cook on and for some heat but the majority of his heat came from that fireplace!! Think of all the wood he burned each year!

His name was Dick Proenekke, yes he was quite the craftsman. I like all of the videos about his 30 year adventure in the wilderness. I am envious of his life in some respects. Think about it, the peace and quiet, the solitude, and not a modern care in the world. yes there are some creature comforts I would miss, but if I could only talk my wife and kids into moving out in the wilderness......I'd be GONE.......

 

[woodchip]

Remember the winters up there go from oct-may. Only roughly 5 months to do everything. Hunt, garden and gather wood. Those stoves they have suck. Haha

I understand the problem, but reckon if they burned well seasoned wood more efficiently, they would burn less, and by burning less, they could still css the same, and gradually get ahead, so they are in a secure position should someone fall sick. Living on the edge is ok when young, but when older, a wood stack is almost like insurance against the cold. I'd even buy wood to get ahead just that once. Just a thought from an older person who knows how illness can lay you low..........

 

[tfdchief]

They don't seem to publicize it, but that is the singer Jewel's family. I watch the show, and it seems that they are too busy trying to survive with no time left to stock up on a couple of years of wood.

I did not know that!