Wood scrounging buddy in the Howard County, MD area

[fabsroman]

Man, my dad hurt his toe a little while ago and it is tough seeing all the Craigslist firewood going by. Patience is a virtue they say, and I am trying to wait until he is better to get on this stuff. However, shortly I will be getting pretty busy myself with work and will not be able to cut until late April again. Would like to get the stacks filled before I get busy with work.

(broken link removed to http://baltimore.craigslist.org/zip/3544714547.html)

I have this scounge about 20 miles from me and I think I see two, maybe three, rather nice oaks in there. Thing is, neither my wife nor my parents want me to go cutting and splitting on my own, and I can understand why. Trying to be patient in that regard too.

Anybody want to go get this with me? I've go the saws and the splitter. Just bring along your muscle and your truck. Should just buck it all up myself and roll it into the trailer, but I would probably catch flack for that too.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Not sure why you can't cut alone. Crap, I've over 70 and do it a lot. No problem. Sometimes I do take the 2-way radio but not always. Today I was out for a couple hours and the wife was busy so I just cut alone. Actually the last 4 or 5 years I've done most of it alone. Still nice to have her with me if possible though.

 

[fabsroman]

Not sure why you can't cut alone. Crap, I've over 70 and do it a lot. No problem. Sometimes I do take the 2-way radio but not always. Today I was out for a couple hours and the wife was busy so I just cut alone. Actually the last 4 or 5 years I've done most of it alone. Still nice to have her with me if possible though.

Well, you know how that entire "buddy system" goes. If I cut myself bad, always good to have somebody there that can help. Same thing if a log falls on me. Always safer to go out with two people versus alone. I feel the same way when I go hunting, fishing, and cycling. Also nice to have some company and it makes lifting large logs a lot easier. Can I do it myself. Sure. Did several truckloads on my own last year, but caught an earful from my wife and parents every time, and at the end of the day they are right. Chances of something bad happening are slight because I am pretty cautious, but having a second person present would be even more cautious, unless of course that second person was more prone to cause harm than help. When you are in the woods with nobody around, a bad situation can become a horrible situation.

 

[tigeroak]

I am like backwoods, have done it all myself and have for years. Sure wife goes once in a while but just to get out. And she likes watching me work, even in the shop when I am refinishing furnirure.

 

[Thistle]

For the past 10 or so years I've done 99% of my cutting alone.Dad & I worked together for around 20 years,but he's 83 now & has no business doing any 'heavy' work. And since he's even more stubborn than me (hard to believe) he would be right there trying to still move or carry the heavy pieces,run the saw or swing the axe/maul. He does occasionally likes to walk out where I'm cutting if he feels up to it,bring me extra water,sharpen the chain or just sit on a log as I take a break.Sometimes he'll carry a couple small sticks & tosses them in the trailer or truck also.

I'm rarely more than 1/8th mile in any direction from their house,I always wear some form of hi-vis yellow or orange gear on my head or upper body,regardless of the time of year & temperature.

Plus have cell phone with me at all times & even have a whistle on a lanyard around my neck along with corded earplugs.

 

[katwillny]

Man where were you a 14 years ago? I lived in Pikesville just outside of Baltimore and had a fireplace but never used it since I didnt know where to get wood. LOL. I hear you about the buddy system how safer it is, i still do go out alone sometimes but I have my pal Rory, partner in crime to go out and cut and split and load to the truck. When i go alone i always tell my wife where I am going to be and I have a check in every so often just to update her. But we normally do that just as being parents, checking in never hurts.

 

[fabsroman]

Man where were you a 14 years ago? I lived in Pikesville just outside of Baltimore and had a fireplace but never used it since I didnt know where to get wood. LOL. I hear you about the buddy system how safer it is, i still do go out alone sometimes but I have my pal Rory, partner in crime to go out and cut and split and load to the truck. When i go alone i always tell my wife where I am going to be and I have a check in every so often just to update her. But we normally do that just as being parents, checking in never hurts.

14 years ago I was just graduating law school and owning a house was nowhere near a consideration, much less heating with wood. I got the heating with wood idea about 5 years ago when we started looking at houses in this area and they were huge homes compared to our townhouse in Germantown. All I could do during the winter was look at our natural gas bill for the townhouse, multiply it by 3, and have a heart attack. Turned out it is even worse to use heating oil as we found out our first month here 2 years ago.

That Craigslist link I posted in the original post is just north of Pikesville. Why the heck did you move? lol Oh well, such is life.

 

[fabsroman]

For the past 10 or so years I've done 99% of my cutting alone.Dad & I worked together for around 20 years,but he's 83 now & has no business doing any 'heavy' work. And since he's even more stubborn than me (hard to believe) he would be right there trying to still move or carry the heavy pieces,run the saw or swing the axe/maul. He does occasionally likes to walk out where I'm cutting if he feels up to it,bring me extra water,sharpen the chain or just sit on a log as I take a break.Sometimes he'll carry a couple small sticks & tosses them in the trailer or truck also.

I'm rarely more than 1/8th mile in any direction from their house,I always wear some form of hi-vis yellow or orange gear on my head or upper body,regardless of the time of year & temperature.

Plus have cell phone with me at all times & even have a whistle on a lanyard around my neck along with corded earplugs.

Yeah, been cutting wood with my dad forever. However, at 70 and with some problem in his hip that bothers him, the heavy stuff is out of the question until the problem resolves itself. I like getting him out and doing some work because I think it is ultimately good for him as long as he does not over do it.

Never thought about the whistle. Might have to get that out of the dog training kit and take it with me wood cutting.

As long as logs are 20" or less, I can deal with them on my own. It is when I get into something that is larger than that, that I end up having a problem and lately that is all I have been running into. If this stuff was in my backyard or my parents' backyard, not such a big deal. However, I have no idea what the conditions would be for that link I posted. Looks like there are some homes around, but who knows if anybody would be home during the day on weekdays while I would be cutting this stuff. Whether I have the cellphone on me usually depends on whether I am wearing my coat or not. I hate keeping it in my pants pocket because it takes a heck of a beating, so I usually keep it in my coat where it is a little safer. Guess I could just noodle the big stuff and then haul it to the splitter.

Right now though, I am not in a hurry to get wood and can wait for my dad's toe to resolve itself before we head out again. Would be nice to find somebody in my area to cut and split with though.

 

[Clyde S. Dale]

Although I am in SE PA, my wife actually works maybe 5-10 mins from those logs close to where 695 and 83 intersect. My SIL and BIL live in Baltimore and my wife works for my SIL a couple days a week. If it was full-time there is no way she'd be working down there since it is about an hour and 15 minute drive from us. I do know the area somewhat, but still too far to make it worthwhile even for some oak. Good luck finding someone. As for the buddy system sometimes I use it sometimes I go solo but given the size of those logs, I personally would not try and tackle them solo.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Cut a bunch more today. Wife did come out just as I was finishing up. I know many have fears and at times people get on my case. Even my granddaughter bought me a cheap cell phone because she worries about me out riding bike in the summer. I usually go on long rides and she worries. We just have never worried much. It matters not if were are in the woods or on the road. We don't even have the cell phone any more because most places where I ride there is no coverage anyway.

 

[fabsroman]

Although I am in SE PA, my wife actually works maybe 5-10 mins from those logs close to where 695 and 83 intersect. My SIL and BIL live in Baltimore and my wife works for my SIL a couple days a week. If it was full-time there is no way she'd be working down there since it is about an hour and 15 minute drive from us. I do know the area somewhat, but still too far to make it worthwhile even for some oak. Good luck finding someone. As for the buddy system sometimes I use it sometimes I go solo but given the size of those logs, I personally would not try and tackle them solo.

Yeah, anything more than a 30 minute drive makes firewood not worth it for me. Heck, one of the reasons we moved to this house was to cut my wife's commute down from 50 minutes to 15 minutes. I work from home, so it did not matter to me where we lived. Granted, getting out of the townhouse and into a larger house with 2 acres was another reason. Big reason was the schools here. That was why my wife took a job in this area and started the entire process 5 years ago. Took us 3 years to find the right house, which was a year before our oldest was to start kindergarten.

 

[fabsroman]

Cut a bunch more today. Wife did come out just as I was finishing up. I know many have fears and at times people get on my case. Even my granddaughter bought me a cheap cell phone because she worries about me out riding bike in the summer. I usually go on long rides and she worries. We just have never worried much. It matters not if were are in the woods or on the road. We don't even have the cell phone any more because most places where I ride there is no coverage anyway.

Yeah, I don't tend to go anywhere without my cell phone. It is just one more safety item for me. Had to call my wife one time because I got two flats (I ride tubulars and only had a single tire with me). I am also willing to bet that I see a crapload more cars on the road than you do, even though I try to ride the backroads around here. With that said, traffic is a lot better here than where we used to live.