New Member 1st Log Length Load

[nate82]

Hello. I have been a lurker for about the past 2 years and have finally decided to take the plunge and become a member! This was my first year burning wood as the only heat source, and thanks to this site I have learned so much already.
I have an Englander NC-13, and absolutely love it, it heats my 2 story early 1800's home perfectly. In the past I have always bought cut and split wood but was wanting to get into processing it myself and saving some money. I found a guy local to me that was selling log length with free delivery, and it was all hardwood with no minimum amount of cords. So I bought just 1 cord to see what it was like, and also see how long it would take me to process. It was mostly white ash, a good amount of black cherry, and what I believe to be Red Oak, maybe you can shed some light by looking at the pictures. Took me about 2 hours I would estimate to buck to stove length since it was my first really heavy chainsaw use I took it easy. Its still in rounds, I haven't split it yet. I will probably tackle that this weekend.

Thanks again for letting me be a part of your great community.

Nate

 

[fossil]

Welcome, Nate! Good lookin' load of wood. I think I'm gonna go ahead and move your thread into the Wood Shed forum where the real wood junkies seem to hang out, they'll want to have a gander at your logs. Rick

 

[iceman]

WELCOME
but please show us more pics!!
its others pics that get us motivated to go do our owm... lmao!!
now that your done get another load or 2 bucked .. then pick a couple of days in march to split it all this will give you a good chance of burning it this year.. .. try to stack it by what it is one pile oak,ash etc second thought yeah split it now so you can get different piles going but hey get going as fast as you can

 

[btj1031]

That's a nice load of logs, a cord for sure. Show us how it looks split and stacked.

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

Welcome to this forum, some nice btu's in that pile......that cherry has a strange sent eh?
You'll be hooked, once its stacked.... you'll be walking outside with beer in hand to look for checks.


WB

 

[nate82]

WELCOME
but please show us more pics!!
its others pics that get us motivated to go do our owm... lmao!!
now that your done get another load or 2 bucked .. then pick a couple of days in march to split it all this will give you a good chance of burning it this year.. .. try to stack it by what it is one pile oak,ash etc second thought yeah split it now so you can get different piles going but hey get going as fast as you can

Thanks iceman,

I plan on getting another 3 cord dropped here in 2 weeks or so. I paid $90, which I thought was pretty good, since it was 20 miles each way for delivery. I just wanted to get 1, to see what I was going to get and I was pleasantly suprised.

I have a Homelite 18" chainsaw that my wife bought me a while back and it really doesn't have the power for this type of work, so thats one thing that I am going to do here soon too, is get a new saw made for this type of use.

I will post some more pics of it in rounds and after is is split.

 

[nate82]

Welcome to this forum, some nice btu's in that pile......that cherry has a strange sent eh?
You'll be hooked, once its stacked.... you'll be walking outside with beer in hand to look for checks.


WB

The Cherry sure does have a distinctive odor, I have a large piece in my garage I am still trying to figure out how to cut and every time I walk in it hits me.

Its not even split yet and I am already checking for splits with beer in hand. The past few days we have had some very strong winds, and I kept thinking of the moisture just blowing out of the wood so I would analyze them before I left for work to see if anything changed. I will probably get more obsessive after its split.

 

[Creek-Chub]

Not to hijack this one (nice load of wood, by the way), but this sort of fits. You fellas that buy log length - how do you go about tracking down a source? What do you look for, where do you start? I've put about 6 cords through the NC-30 this year between slab wood, scrounged wood, etc. I would be interested in being able to find a source for log length wood, but nobody advertises it. Do you start with local lumber companies, talk to your neighborhood wood dealer, what? Thanks...

 

[Hogwildz]

Welcome Nate.
Are you near Bloomsburg by chance?
Get that stuff split and stacked now, and should be ready come next season.

 

[nate82]

Welcome Nate.
Are you near Bloomsburg by chance?
Get that stuff split and stacked now, and should be ready come next season.

I am right between Mechanicsburg and Carlisle, about 15 miles from Harrisburg. I plan on splitting this cord this weekend, and getting probably 3 more cords hopefully done between now and the end of March. I burned about 3 cords so far this year, and I am almost out of dry stuff, so I want to make sure I have plenty for next burning season.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Nate. Nice load you got there and it should burn nicely next fall.

After you split and stack that wood, don't cover it. Just leave it sit in the sun and wind. Late next fall or early winter, then cover the top only. Stacking wood this way will help season it for use next year. If you need to burn some of that yet this year you probably can, especially the ash, but it will definitely be better next year.

 

[PapaDave]

Welcome from another relative newb, Nate.
Since no one else has mentioned yet, and you may already know, don't stop with these loads. Get more for the following year(s), if you can afford and have the space to stack.
Looks like a nice pile of logs, but I'm curious how long they were?
Another suggestion, is to try a different chain on the saw you have. I had the safety chain that came with mine the first year, and about killed myself trying to get it to buck logs. Changed to a more aggressive one, and it's MUCH better. Local hardware store made one up for me, I think it was about 15 bucks. Like a new saw.
I'd really like to pop for a more powerful saw, since I started doing my own processing, but that may have to wait.
Dave

 

[PapaDave]

Nate,
It has been taking me about 45 mins. to an hr. per 1/3 (face) cord to buck and split (27 ton splitter). Goes from the splitter right onto the trailer, and then to stacking area. Can't remember how long stacking takes, but I kinda' get lost in thought while doing that, so............... %-P
I usually do 2/3 cord a day. Takes me about a month to get a yrs. worth done (5-6 cords), but I obviously don't push myself. Lots of other things around here to break up the monotony of doing the firewood.
Dave

 

[nate82]

Welcome from another relative newb, Nate.
Since no one else has mentioned yet, and you may already know, don't stop with these loads. Get more for the following year(s), if you can afford and have the space to stack.
Looks like a nice pile of logs, but I'm curious how long they were?
Another suggestion, is to try a different chain on the saw you have. I had the safety chain that came with mine the first year, and about killed myself trying to get it to buck logs. Changed to a more aggressive one, and it's MUCH better. Local hardware store made one up for me, I think it was about 15 bucks. Like a new saw.
I'd really like to pop for a more powerful saw, since I started doing my own processing, but that may have to wait.
Dave

Hey Dave,

They were about 15' long or so maybe a little longer. I will look into getting a more aggressive chain, mine is def. the safety chain, I will see if that helps. Thanks for the advice.

 

[lexybird]

that ash is awesome firewood and has the unique distinction that it can usually be burned the same day its cut .
the sooner your wood gets split the sooner it will start to dry and be ready to warm your home ,BTW i also have a NC13 and I love mine too!