How's your wood supply for next winter?

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woodchip said:
yooperdave said:
smokinjay said:
How many cords this count for?

damn nice split there, jay!! must be one heck-uva stroke on the splitter of yours!!

Or a helluva wedge..........

I reckon that one split would pretty well double my wood supply for next year................

The fiskars does all the work you just need to feather your swing a bit.
 
Here's a couple of pics of mine. Each pallet row is 16' long, 44" wide, 5' high....so I just call it 2 cords each. I have about 20 cords split and stacked and about 9 or so waiting for me to get to it. It doesn't look like it but in the shed the rows are 20' X 22" X 6' and there is almost 3 full rows.
That's my "wood burglar" Buttercup in one of the pics. She loves to "steal" splits when I'm splitting and run across the yard all proud with them.
There's more around but didn't get pics of all the wood.
(first time with pics so we will see how it turns out)
 

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I've got more than ever before stacked up but it's all oak. Pin Oak and Water Oak. The trunk wood from the water oaks I bucked up was really wet and it's doubtful they'll be prime by next winter. I found a new area for my stacks that will get more sun and wind and it gets really hot here so maybe that wood will get down in the mid 20s and that might have to be good enough for my VC Vigilant.

I have quite a bit of wood from the tops of a standing dead water oak and a pin oak top that came down in a storm. Those tops were much dryer right off the bat than the trunks were. I've got some good standing dead and recently down trees in my own woods, as well as lots available to me at neighbors and friends property. But it's just too darn hot here in Texas to be cutting and splitting wood in the summer. Maybe I could get some bucked up and handy, I could do a wee bit of splitting at a time this summer.
 
Hey Varna, that is a nice looking stack of wood. So now maybe the guys will pick on you with your 20 cord. lol


For you other guys, Zap and I get along just fine and I am hoping to pay a visit to him sometime this year if all goes well. Then I can measure his stacks and see just how much he does have on hand. lol


PapaDave, maybe you could come our way, but then, we would be over 3 hours. A nice drive though.


YooperDave, you can be the referee.
 
I have just over 5 cords for 11/12. 95% is a mix of White and Red Oak with some Maple and Cherry all split and stacked by June 2010. I will also have about 3/4 cord of Ash left over from 10/11. Seems I burn about 4 cords per season so I am ahead of things. I have about 3/4 cord of Black Locust on my 12/13 stack now.
Here's 11/12 back on October '10
 

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Looks like most of you are in better shape than I am. Varna you have been put on the list. I am sorry to do this to you guys, but it's for your own good.
 
I should have about 10 cords that I can burn right now when this season ends with another 3 or so split in heaps from this years work. I'm on pace to burn about 4 this season so I have 3+ years on hand right now. I tore up my back a few weeks back so who knows when I'll get around to stacking those. Thanks to Dennis for always preaching about being ahead, since I listened to him I can sit out for a bit and let my back heal up without falling behind!

I also have a bunch of tree's that I need to cut down this spring(healed back permitting).
 
I probably have about 16 cords now. I have another couple cords cut, several logs to take to the saw mill, and more dead stuff to cut than I will ever need. 2 years on this site and look what has happened to me. I am going to woodaholics anonymous.
 
My racks full is 3.5 cord. I had two of the racks of pine last year that equaled 2.25 cord and mulberry, oak and Elm rounding out 3.5 with 1.5. THis year, 3/4 cord pine(left over), 1.75 cord of mulberry split since Jan, and roughly 1+ cord of locust ready for burning and a handfull of cherry. I've got 6ft of 24" round mulberry still needs to be c/s/s and some American elm that needs to be harvested.
 
GolfandWoodNut said:
I am going to woodaholics anonymous.

How did someone actually convince you that you had a problem?
 
Good to go for next year. about 9 cords, 1 year + old
too late if I wasn't, won't be ready for Oct 2011.
I more worried about 2012, that's the year to be planning for.
(unless it oak, then 2013 - 14 if cut now)
 
I'll probably have 1/2 cord left over. I'd like to have 3 cords for next year, no way we'll burn that much. I've got down Ash, Red Oak, and a little White Oak and Dogwood. Got the quad, gettin' the trailer, gotta get the saw to run for more than 5 min. at a stretch. Other than that, I'm all done. :lol:
 
DaFattKidd said:
Varna you have been put on the list.

Well, thanks, that is actually a list I don't mind being on. I grew up cutting and splitting wood for Pop just to throw into the fireplace when I was a kid. Although chain saws, mauls and now hyd splitters are not new to me, I'm just finishing up my second winter full time heating with wood.
Saved 11k+ on propane in those 2 years. 95% of what I have is white and red (black) oak with a little maple and just last week some black walnut (about 4 cords or so). I have scrounged, cut, and split every piece of it. Most of it is standing dead that folks let me cut off of their land. I have probably processed close to 40 full cords in the last 2 years, burning about 10 last year and 10 this year. I know it is not completely "free"......but to me it is........and fun.
Oh, and here's a pic of my "little helper"
 

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varna said:
Here's a couple of pics of mine. Each pallet row is 16' long, 44" wide, 5' high....so I just call it 2 cords each. I have about 20 cords split and stacked and about 9 or so waiting for me to get to it. It doesn't look like it but in the shed the rows are 20' X 22" X 6' and there is almost 3 full rows.
That's my "wood burglar" Buttercup in one of the pics. She loves to "steal" splits when I'm splitting and run across the yard all proud with them.
There's more around but didn't get pics of all the wood.
(first time with pics so we will see how it turns out)

Alrighty then..... I was feeling pretty good until I saw these pics here. Mod, I didn't think we allowed porn on this site. I gotta say, the curve of that one pile the way it slopes... OK, gotta stop.

Thanks to this site, I do have more than I have ever had c/s/s and that would be about 6 cords stacked a cord split, probably 1 1/2 bucked and about to go cut 4 trees (he says about 18") for a friend of mine and get that wood. With my new stove, I think I'll burn about 2-3 cords a year so that puts me well ahead. I have 2 cords of ABO wood (that would be 'anything but oak') for next year and the rest is oak. My family is starting to make fun of me when we are in the car because I seem to see potential scrounges everywhere we go.
 
I never worry too much about my wood . . . figure as long as there is wood in the woodshed for the current heating season and the following . . . and a stack outside for the year after that I'm doing well . . . but since I was curious I did some rough estimating this morning.

Figure I have 2.25 cords of wood left over this year -- 2010-2011 (although I'm still burning some wood). I actually did quite well this year which was a bit surprising.

I have another 4.5 cords or so stacked in the woodshed for 2011-2012.

Another 4-5 cords or so are outside seasoning . . . these will eventually be moved into the woodshed later this Spring or Summer as it will be wood for 2012-2013 (even though the world will end in 2012 when my buddy says the weight of my woodpiles will collapse the core of the earth.)

I figure I may have another 1-2 cords of wood in unbucked, rounds in the woods . . . this wood will be picked up, split and stacked for use in 2013-2014 . . . and of course I will be adding to this pile this Spring, Summer and Fall.

All in all . . . I'm pretty happy with my wood supply.
 
You guys are way ahead. That's awesome. I only have 1 1/2 cords that c/s/s that will be seasoned over a year and ready for the heating season. What woods should I look for that will season fast? I'm thinking locust and sugar maple- What about hickory? how long does that take to season?
 
Backwoods Savage said:
Hey Varna, that is a nice looking stack of wood. So now maybe the guys will pick on you with your 20 cord. lol


For you other guys, Zap and I get along just fine and I am hoping to pay a visit to him sometime this year if all goes well. Then I can measure his stacks and see just how much he does have on hand. lol


PapaDave, maybe you could come our way, but then, we would be over 3 hours. A nice drive though.


YooperDave, you can be the referee.

dennis, if you're going to measure zaps woodpile, don't forget to bring the transit! man that guy has some straight stacks!!
yes, i would be honored to referee. i used to referee at martial arts tournaments and it has been about 6 years since i have...so......
as far as the thread goes, my wood pile is about 1/4 ready for next year...99 lbs is about 1/2 ready. just a little more "touching up" to do! (old timer told me don't make more wood than one year at a time. cuz if you die, the guy who replaces you will be living on easy street for a couple years...if you're that far ahead on the wood. this leaves him with more time for "other things"!!! this was told to me before secondary burn stoves were real common.)
 
You guys are way ahead. That’s awesome. I only have 1 1/2 cords that c/s/s that will be seasoned over a year and ready for the heating season. What woods should I look for that will season fast? I’m thinking locust and sugar maple- What about hickory? how long does that take to season?

I had a standing dead pignut hickory and it took 2 years to get to 20%. IMO it is along the lines of oak for seasoning time.
I have had good results with Cherry - got it down to <20% in 6 months.
 
I have 1.5 cord of red oak c/s/s in May 09, 1.5 cord Cherry c/s/s in Oct 10.
Will start working on 2012/13 supply.
 
DaFattKidd said:
You guys are way ahead. That's awesome. I only have 1 1/2 cords that c/s/s that will be seasoned over a year and ready for the heating season. What woods should I look for that will season fast? I'm thinking locust and sugar maple- What about hickory? how long does that take to season?

ABO... anything but oak :coolsmirk:
 
This question comes up on the forum pretty regularly and I think for most Easterners it's an important issue to try and be a year or two ahead with your firewood supply, but for me it's not much of an issue. My staple wood source being beetle kill Lodgepole pine, and over the last decade that source has grown by leaps and bounds. So much so that it's not even worth stockpiling it more than a year ahead. Because the trees are standing dead and so dry they don't need any seasoning time, there really isn't much point in trying to collect more than I need for the coming winter. And since I only use about 4 cords per year, and I can usually process a cord in one day, it only represents 4 days of wood cutting for me to prepare for the season. It's simply much easier to just leave the trees where they stand and just make sure I at least process what I need before the snow flies.
So when the question arises "How’s your wood supply for next winter?" I just post a picture.....
As far as the eye can see :bug:
pine-beetle-aerial.jpg
 
Got 4 cords of Ash and 2 cords of Black Locust C/S/S since Nov. 2010 for next year burning. Got a few (2ish) cords of oak bucked into rounds for '12-'13 that I'll get split within the next few weeks. i'm determined to get at least stocked thru '13-'14 this summer. :)
 
DaFattKid--- Ash and Black Locust are great burning hardwoods (BL being the best) that season well in one year. I live on L.I. too and find very little if any SUGAR maple around here....are you sure you dont have Norway maple?
 
Carbon_Liberator said:
This question comes up on the forum pretty regularly and I think for most Easterners it's an important issue to try and be a year or two ahead with your firewood supply, but for me it's not much of an issue. My staple wood source being beetle kill Lodgepole pine, and over the last decade that source has grown by leaps and bounds. So much so that it's not even worth stockpiling it more than a year ahead. Because the trees are standing dead and so dry they don't need any seasoning time, there really isn't much point in trying to collect more than I need for the coming winter. And since I only use about 4 cords per year, and I can usually process a cord in one day, it only represents 4 days of wood cutting for me to prepare for the season. It's simply much easier to just leave the trees where they stand and just make sure I at least process what I need before the snow flies.
So when the question arises "How’s your wood supply for next winter?" I just post a picture.....
As far as the eye can see :bug:
pine-beetle-aerial.jpg

My brother-in-law and sister in Portage are in the same boat . . . lots of beetle-kill . . . and from listening to them it sounds as though they don't put up an entire winter's worth of wood at the start of the season, but just go out and get some when they need more. Of course they're also burning in a smoke dragon . . . I suspect when the move to Maine they will find things a little more of a challenge as they will need to prepare ahead a little more.
 
I suspect when the move to Maine they will find things a little more of a challenge as they will need to prepare ahead a little more.
I don't know about that Jake, as long as they have a sympathetic relative nearby who has plenty of well seasoned wood on hand, getting their firewood might be even easier than it was out West. ;-)
 
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