Hello all -
New member here, ~ 40 years burning firewood for main heat source... This is a great forum, thought i would throw a short post up.
I am blessed in that i am able to gather most of my wood from old logging sites which our county will sell us a permit for $25 to clean up logging residue when the logger has left the site. Its a hit and miss proposition, sometimes there are access issues (swamp, road blocked etc) or little wood left. Usually you have to walk 25-100 yards with each "log" which is not as bad as it sounds, as the logs are usually de-limbed and sometimes are ~ 4- 6 feet long so on a lucky day you may not have to use your chainsaw much.
Since i am old now, and back is sore, i use a very lite, small saw with a 14" bar-- Most slash that is left is less than ~14" diameter. So i get by with a cheap $179 saw.
I cut as little as possible at the gathering site, and finish most cutting at home with a 10" electric "chop saw" set up on a old table outside. All chop saws i have used came from rummage sales, usually $25 dollars or less. Standing at a table waist high, and sawing this way takes much strain off of lower back.
Danger-- A chop saw can be just, or more dangerous than a chain saw... Wood can bind, kick, eject, and its real easy to cut off a finger or hand when going fast, or not paying attention!
I let the wood drop into a wheelbarrow, throw it on a cheap 7 ton electric splitter, and from there, right into the wood shed, or stacked on pallets and top covered asap... if i am bored, i might take tarps off on hot sunny days...
If wood is green and very wet after splitting, i may blow a box fan on it for a few days to accelerate the drying process, this is not needed when you are ahead on wood, but more for fun, i have been able to get softwood very dry in ~~ 90 days doing this.
I am able to scrounge tarps from local "mom and pop" lumber yard dumpsters for free... These tarps are much better quality than cheap tarps you buy. ( These are the tarps lumber comes in from the factory, very durable)
The drying days in my area are limited...snow was on the ground until May this year, and muggy wet summer so i keep all my wood covered, even before processing, piling the logs "criss-cross" so they get some air.
Anyway, just a few thoughts. Hope you all have a good day.
![[Hearth.com] Monetary challenged stiff- backed wood processing ideas](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/314/314005-274eb381bc7701fbe795972cf8243f98.jpg?hash=JdKeKT80fV "[Hearth.com] Monetary challenged stiff- backed wood processing ideas")
![[Hearth.com] Monetary challenged stiff- backed wood processing ideas](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/314/314006-9d39cc8a525e241064999e16361a0567.jpg?hash=T4qdNzuFhh "[Hearth.com] Monetary challenged stiff- backed wood processing ideas")
![[Hearth.com] Monetary challenged stiff- backed wood processing ideas](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/314/314007-70c3415af2db57c0c8f14283960ea31f.jpg?hash=zZyKsAk0qG "[Hearth.com] Monetary challenged stiff- backed wood processing ideas")
New member here, ~ 40 years burning firewood for main heat source... This is a great forum, thought i would throw a short post up.
I am blessed in that i am able to gather most of my wood from old logging sites which our county will sell us a permit for $25 to clean up logging residue when the logger has left the site. Its a hit and miss proposition, sometimes there are access issues (swamp, road blocked etc) or little wood left. Usually you have to walk 25-100 yards with each "log" which is not as bad as it sounds, as the logs are usually de-limbed and sometimes are ~ 4- 6 feet long so on a lucky day you may not have to use your chainsaw much.
Since i am old now, and back is sore, i use a very lite, small saw with a 14" bar-- Most slash that is left is less than ~14" diameter. So i get by with a cheap $179 saw.
I cut as little as possible at the gathering site, and finish most cutting at home with a 10" electric "chop saw" set up on a old table outside. All chop saws i have used came from rummage sales, usually $25 dollars or less. Standing at a table waist high, and sawing this way takes much strain off of lower back.
Danger-- A chop saw can be just, or more dangerous than a chain saw... Wood can bind, kick, eject, and its real easy to cut off a finger or hand when going fast, or not paying attention!
I let the wood drop into a wheelbarrow, throw it on a cheap 7 ton electric splitter, and from there, right into the wood shed, or stacked on pallets and top covered asap... if i am bored, i might take tarps off on hot sunny days...
If wood is green and very wet after splitting, i may blow a box fan on it for a few days to accelerate the drying process, this is not needed when you are ahead on wood, but more for fun, i have been able to get softwood very dry in ~~ 90 days doing this.
I am able to scrounge tarps from local "mom and pop" lumber yard dumpsters for free... These tarps are much better quality than cheap tarps you buy. ( These are the tarps lumber comes in from the factory, very durable)
The drying days in my area are limited...snow was on the ground until May this year, and muggy wet summer so i keep all my wood covered, even before processing, piling the logs "criss-cross" so they get some air.
Anyway, just a few thoughts. Hope you all have a good day.
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