What great drying weather.

[jqgs214]

Well this years wood is covered. Its been above average temps and dry as a bone here for over a month. The wood I bought in august, one year split, I super dry and covered. The wood I bucked and split in June (all red oak BTW) is ready to go this year if needed. As I have previously stated it was dead standing 3-4 years - but its dry! It will remain uncovered unless I need to tap into it late this winter. Rains coming this week. Cooler weather but not cool enough to burn. Would like to get one more break in fire soon but when is 80Deg its not enjoyable. Right now I cant wait for winter. Got a HUGE project going on in the back yard. 6 pallets of field stone ready to be stacked into 2 terraced 18" high retaining walls, totaling 120+feet. Back hurt splitting wood, now the back hurts carrying stone. But feels good to get underway and the warm/dry weather its keeping the soil easy to work with. I'll post a picture of whats done so far if a get the chance.(maybe 30 feet plus the stone stairs). Its all dry stacked, no mortar.

 

[rich81]

same here in maine my wood is getting some really good checks and cracks in it now.

 

[hardwood715]

Tied record high temp here today, 86 degrees, unreal!

 

[11 Bravo]

It has been some fall so far ! Hit 87 here today and supposed to break record next 2 days with highs of 86.....talking high in mid 50's by Thursday though.... :bug:

 

[hardwood715]

From Pine Plains NY Fire History:- I remember this as a freak storm with our power outages and lost trees galore, I think it was 20 years ago tomarrow

In October of 1987, one of the worst natural disasters to strike the area hit. A freak snowstorm hit the area while all the foliage was still intact. The "Snowleaf" stormed downed trees, limbs and electrical lines, cutting off power to many residences for up to five days. Hose Company members worked around the clock, assisting town highway crews in clearing roads for emergency vehicles and traffic in general. The fire house wa used as an emergency shelter after the storm.

 

[begreen]

We're running the opposite, about 10 degrees below normal. My wife says the weather has been cold and damp for the last 3 weeks. Looks like I picked a great time to be away traveling. Though it's kind of hard to come back to temps 30 degrees cooler. I lit a fire last night just to warm up. Today I moved the main wood stack under cover in the wood shed.

 

[Robbie]

Hot and still very dry in Tennessee........90s for the next couple day for highs.

My wood has "BAKED" this whole summer.......


Robbie

 

[PAJerry]

Most beautiful summer ever here in W.Pa. Wood dried well, gardens did well, grapes are very sweet. Warm Lake Erie will bring us LOTS of snow when cold comes. Great snow tubing ahead!

 

[Corey]

Been pretty warm around here, too - mid 80's to low 90's. But I like this way more than the "October surprise" snow storm that came through several years ago and dumped about 6" on the still green trees. Anything that increases the boating season and decreases the burning season is A-OK by me.

The wood cutting permit should be coming in the mail this week, so maybe if it cooled off to the mid 60's, that would be a great time to start laying in next years supply.

On a side note, I was talking with the conservation agent about getting my yearly wood permit. (Free permit for wood cutting on public lands around some of the local lakes) and he ask what I had cut last year. I told him I took approximately 4 truckloads - mostly standing dead trees, a couple of snarled up hedge trees and one locust tree with 6" thorns that looked like it had taken a lightning hit. He seemed a bit disappointed, so I mentioned about how I had a couple of different areas that I cut and really only take what I need for the next year, so if 4 was too much I could cut back a little. He said, "Oh no, were trying to get people to cut more wood - ideally the timber would be clear-cut down the the lake shore and returned to natural prairie.

I was a little surprised by that. I actually kind of like the forest around the lake. I guess their goal is to put the land back to what was "naturally" there. But I really can't see that happening - they zone off half the lake for migratory birds, so I think it is only natural that they will be dropping seeds as they land and take off, but who knows? - It just struck me as strange - "Cut more wood!"

 

[Todd]

Lots of rain around here lately and above norm temps. Suppose to get some relief by Tuesday, highs in the 50's, may be able to burn some wood finally.

I still have some oak that is going on 2 years old that just won't dry out. Still pushing the moisture meter to over 30%. Stubborn stuff, everything else is ready to go.