Work Done 2023

[Stove Cricket]

Found a short walnut log by a fence line. Bark and sap wood gone. Heart wood still in very good shape, solid all around. 4 nice rounds css. I’m guessing it’s been out there 10+ years. Overall, woodcutting tapering off to every couple of weeks, as opportunities arise, I’ll be ready!

 

[Smokepole]

This red oak blew down last month. I finally got around to working on it some.
The butt is 28in. across and it is 91ft. from butt to top. I finished bucking it up today.

 

[thewoodlands]

This red oak blew down last month. I finally got around to working on it some.
The butt is 28in. across and it is 91ft. from butt to top. I finished bucking it up today.

View attachment 309508 View attachment 309509 View attachment 309510

That will give you lots of nice fires, how long in your area will it take to season?

 

[Smokepole]

That will give you lots of nice fires, how long in your area will it take to season?

I stack it top covered outside for a year, then move it into my woodshed for two years. By then it is usually down to
16% on my moisture reading.

 

[thewoodlands]

I stack it top covered outside for a year, then move it into my woodshed for two years. By then it is usually down to
16% on my moisture reading.

The only time we had oak was from a scrounge, I split it big and after four years of seasoning but only two years of top covering, some still pizzed out water when I burned it.

 

[paredown]

I'm finally back at the wood project, but still moving pretty slow.

For some reason, I had a bad January--maybe residual COVID--so I did inside projects. Now I'm back outside--and boy, am I out of shape. A neighbor across the back promised me a couple of big red oaks--one was part of a big old double leader that I think was in poor health-- and one side split in a storm (probably 10-12 feet up) and on the way down took out another good sized oak.

Did a couple of part days cleaning up and bucking what was easily accessible (remind me to get one of those faceshield/ear muff combos--chips blowing back in your face when you are cutting above your head are no fun.) One tree done; second cleaned up and cuts started-- I need to think about where to cut on the arch on the second so nothing rolls unexpectedly and whacks me.

To get the wood into the truck required setting up my trusty Harbor Freight metal ramps--one up onto the piled stone wall, and a second from there into the back of the truck. Loading was slow, slow, slow, but at least I'm getting some wood done for next year.

I'm feeling it today--and I didn't get more than 5 hours in. Getting older sucks!

 

[Smokepole]

The only time we had oak was from a scrounge, I split it big and after four years of seasoning but only two years of top covering, some still pizzed out water when I burned it.

Most of what I have to burn, coming off of my property is red or white oak. I now have some ash trees dying
so I am going to find out how it burns.

 

[mrc]

Waist high all the way!

 

[trailrated]

The only time we had oak was from a scrounge, I split it big and after four years of seasoning but only two years of top covering, some still pizzed out water when I burned it.

Yep, oak is good when it is ready but takes to long and optimum conditions to get there. Therefore I don't go out of my way to get it or process it.

 

[trailrated]

Waist high all the way!View attachment 309562

Thanks for the idea! Never thought about that trick using my tractor. Usually I'm cutting back and forth on each end to keep the log balanced. But as you reach the forks it's time to drop the log and do some bending over.

 

[Stove Cricket]

I'm finally back at the wood project, but still moving pretty slow.

For some reason, I had a bad January--maybe residual COVID--so I did inside projects. Now I'm back outside--and boy, am I out of shape. A neighbor across the back promised me a couple of big red oaks--one was part of a big old double leader that I think was in poor health-- and one side split in a storm (probably 10-12 feet up) and on the way down took out another good sized oak.

Did a couple of part days cleaning up and bucking what was easily accessible (remind me to get one of those faceshield/ear muff combos--chips blowing back in your face when you are cutting above your head are no fun.) One tree done; second cleaned up and cuts started-- I need to think about where to cut on the arch on the second so nothing rolls unexpectedly and whacks me.

To get the wood into the truck required setting up my trusty Harbor Freight metal ramps--one up onto the piled stone wall, and a second from there into the back of the truck. Loading was slow, slow, slow, but at least I'm getting some wood done for next year.

I'm feeling it today--and I didn't get more than 5 hours in. Getting older sucks!

Goggles help too, come in handy for grinding also. One tank of gas and the resulting cleanup is all I got these days myself.

 

[mrc]

Thanks for the idea! Never thought about that trick using my tractor. Usually I'm cutting back and forth on each end to keep the log balanced. But as you reach the forks it's time to drop the log and do some bending over.

Yea. I always hated going back and forth and that last part. This way just put one fork on it right at the end and you can cut all the way. When you get to your fulcrum you can throw a small chunk closer to the end and drop the forks
a little to finish.

 

[mrc]

Another idea for the old lazy person is putting the splitter up on car ramps. I make a move like they move their plants on Goldrush. Hook onto the splitter with two chains from my bucket and lift it up. Throw the ramps and block into the bucket and go to my next location. Working waist high with the splitter is easy on the back.

 

[thewoodlands]

Yep, oak is good when it is ready but takes to long and optimum conditions to get there. Therefore I don't go out of my way to get it or process it.

The oak from my scrounge came from a lady who worked at a bank we did business with, a tree removal company took down some big oaks next to her house. Everything was suppose to go but they left some rounds and they never came back, I helped her out by taking them.

 

[Woody Stover]

I'm not processing firewood in the summer heat and humidity it's torture. .

Luckily last summer wasn't a real hot one here. I'd split a cord in the relative coolness of the morning, my son would put off stacking until latein the afternoon when it was hot 🤪.

Before I moved here, I used to think it got hot in WI the summer. After all these years down here, my blood doesn't flow well until it hits 90. 😏 I'll be cutting, hauling and splitting wood right on through to fall. I don't need a membership anywhere, I can get the sowna effect right here at home, any time I want to. 😅

Keep trying hickory and you’ll find a tough one.

Ya think?

The only time we had oak was from a scrounge, I split it big and after four years of seasoning but only two years of top covering, some still pizzed out water when I burned it.

Yeah, I don't split Oak real big, as a rule.

Most of what I have to burn, coming off of my property is red or white oak. I now have some ash trees dying
so I am going to find out how it burns.

You'll like it! 🔥👍
Don't let em lie around too long, though...they don't hold up as well as some other woods.

 

[paredown]

Don't let em lie around too long, though...they don't hold up as well as some other woods.

Most of what I have to burn, coming off of my property is red or white oak. I now have some ash trees dying
so I am going to find out how it burns.

That was where I started this spring--we had two dead standing ash trees (ash borer has killed them) that were hung up. For the first time, I tried the 'shorten the trunk--stand it up method' which is pretty scary for me. Got the first one down safely; second one clipped another small tree and hung up a second time. I left it for a few days--and while I was thinking about it a big storm blew through and took it down--no damage done.

Since they started dying a few years ago, I've burned a lot of ash. It can be burned pretty soon after splitting (and it splits easily) -- but it doesn't pack the BTUs like oak. That said, it is great shoulder season wood.

 

[Caw]

my blood doesn't flow well until it hits 90. 😏

We are opposites. My blood stops functioning above 80 degrees. Give me 65 and brisk any day! Autumn is my favorite time of year.

 

[TomMcDonald]

Out in the forest again.

 

[Caw]

Out in the forest again.

View attachment 309603

Cool trees in the background, what kind? I'm not familiar with Aussie foliage.

 

[TomMcDonald]

Cool trees in the background, what kind? I'm not familiar with Aussie foliage.

All eucalyptus. A variety including alpine ash, messmate and ribbon gum and a bit of snow gum (most destined for the sawmill).
This is an old logging site that's opened up for domestic firewood collection.

 

[Woody Stover]

For the first time, I tried the 'shorten the trunk--stand it up method' which is pretty scary for me. Got the first one down safely; second one clipped another small tree and hung up a second time. I left it for a few days--and while I was thinking about it a big storm blew through and took it down--no damage done.

Since they started dying a few years ago, I've burned a lot of ash. It can be burned pretty soon after splitting (and it splits easily) -- but it doesn't pack the BTUs like oak. That said, it is great shoulder season wood.

Yeah, I've got one of those hangers to get down on the edge of my SIL's yard, a 8-10" Post Oak, They still scare me, after all these years. Don't rush, and no shortcuts! 🪓👨‍🚒
OTOH, if we kill ourselves I've heard they supply free, dry, primo wood up there. 👼 If you go the other direction, you have to bring your own wood, but it dries really fast! 🔥 👿 😯

We are opposites. My blood stops functioning above 80 degrees. Give me 65 and brisk any day! Autumn is my favorite time of year.

Sure, that's perfect weather, but I'll also go out when it's hot...as long as the humidity isn't also above 50%. 🥵
I'm trying this year to get a lot done before it gets hot, for a change. My nephew won't help me in the summer; He doesn't like ticks, poison ivy, sticker bushes or heat, whereas I've got ways to deal with all of that. For one, I wear a thin wicking t-shirt that can evaporate sweat quickly to let my body cool itself as well as it can. Sometimes, though, you just have to be resigned to sweating your bloody arse off. 😏

Out in the forest again.

View attachment 309603

Or what's left of it! Damn, son, leave a few trees at least...we need some oxygen!

 

[TomMcDonald]

Or what's left of it! Damn, son, leave a few trees at least...we need some oxygen!

My need for heat outweighs your need to breathe.

There are still 28,000 acres of trees left in this forest. We'll be right!

 

[Caw]

Sure, that's perfect weather, but I'll also go out when it's hot...as long as the humidity isn't also above 50%. 🥵
I'm trying this year to get a lot done before it gets hot, for a change.

I also don't do humidity lol. I'd be a terrible jungle person. I usually do all my wood processing in Jan-March I prefer to do it in the cold. I can layer up as needed and the wood splits easier when frozen.

I'm laid up right now after shoulder surgery though so I don't anticipate a log delivery bring possible until April at the earliest. I'm going to have to work in the heat this year. My wife is great at helping split but I'm not letting her near a chainsaw. She's too valuable, I'm the one who takes that risk.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I also don't do humidity lol. I'd be a terrible jungle person. I usually do all my wood processing in Jan-March I prefer to do it in the cold. I can layer up as needed and the wood splits easier when frozen.

I'm laid up right now after shoulder surgery though so I don't anticipate a log delivery bring possible until April at the earliest. I'm going to have to work in the heat this year. My wife is great at helping split but I'm not letting her near a chainsaw. She's too valuable, I'm the one who takes that risk.

I just read this thread to see how you were coming along after shoulder surgery. I’m glad you’re taking it easy. I was also really impressed to see your son’s stack of splits the other day.

If your wife is interesting in doing any chainsawing in the future, a lightweight electric saw might be a good way to go. That’s how I got used to sawing, but my first experiences weren’t large logs or downed trees. They were smaller pieces that could be put on a sawbuck so that the chainsaw was secured for me. (We used to live in the suburbs of Washington D.C., and we scrounged wood that was often already bucked, but it often was bucked in lengths too long for our stove.) Now I’m comfortable using that chainsaw to cut (small) trees, and I regularly do pole sawing around here. I still don’t use my husband’s gasoline powered Stihl as it’s too heavy for me, though he did offer to let me use it yesterday. (It’s not even a large Stihl, just a Farmboss that my mother passed along to him when she needed something easier to start.). It’s not a bad skill for a woman to have, especially a woman whose house is heated with wood. We just need tools appropriate to our size and strength.

 

[Caw]

I just read this thread to see how you were coming along after shoulder surgery. I’m glad you’re taking it easy. I was also really impressed to see your son’s stack of splits the other day.

If your wife is interesting in doing any chainsawing in the future, a lightweight electric saw might be a good way to go. That’s how I got used to sawing, but my first experiences weren’t large logs or downed trees. They were smaller pieces that could be put on a sawbuck so that the chainsaw was secured for me. (We used to live in the suburbs of Washington D.C., and we scrounged wood that was often already bucked, but it often was bucked in lengths too long for our stove.) Now I’m comfortable using that chainsaw to cut (small) trees, and I regularly do pole sawing around here. I still don’t use my husband’s gasoline powered Stihl as it’s too heavy for me, though he did offer to let me use it yesterday. (It’s not even a large Stihl, just a Farmboss that my mother passed along to him when she needed something easier to start.). It’s not a bad skill for a woman to have, especially a woman whose house is heated with wood. We just need tools appropriate to our size and strength.

Thanks for checking in. Yeah I'm doing ok, it's not nearly as bad as the original injury. I'm just uncomfortable versus in agony. I'm on a strict no lifting plan for the next 6 weeks then we'll go from there. I had it cleaned out and a torn biceps repaired.

RE my wife and the chainsaw I definitely appreciate your points. I think they are good ideas. My original comment wasn't because I don't think she's capable or willing to do it, it's just that she's literally way too valuable to risk any injury. We've talked about it and she feels similarly. She's the primary breadwinner and makes 4x my salary so we'd be lost if something were to happen to her. She's very capable and will use just about any tool we have but stays away from the big saws (chain, table, chop, band etc). I'm happy to assume that risk.

She's an absolute beast with the 28" Fiskars! My 36" is just too long. When I use the 28" I feel like I'm using a popsicle stick lol (I'm 6'2 she's 5'4).