Work Done 2023

[Woody Stover]

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!

You dropped all those? I thought that was a power line right of way or something.
I guess I'm fortunate you're in the other hemisphere. 😆
On ten acres here, I have enough dead Red Oak to fed three stoves. But I scrounge dead stuff or blow-downs all around this area. I don't cut live trees at all. What's the point?

 

[TomMcDonald]

You dropped all those? I thought that was a power line right of way or something.
I guess I'm fortunate you're in the other hemisphere. 😆
On ten acres here, I have enough dead Red Oak to fed three stoves. But I scrounge dead stuff or blow-downs all around this area. I don't cut live trees at all. What's the point?

No, this is public land. This area was previously logged and is now open for public domestic firewood collection.
What can't be used for sawlogs or chipping for whatever reason is left to rot or for domestic firewood.
We are not permitted to cut down live trees in this area, only to scavange what's on the ground.

 

[Woody Stover]

This is an old logging site that's opened up for domestic firewood collection.

Ah, gotcha.. I missed that post. 🫢

 

[Garbanzo62]

Bought a load of Oak, split it (By Hand with a Maul and Wedge) and Stacked. Pallet on the right is 6 X 5 Wood is stacked 4 ft high at the back, Pallet on the left is standard pallet with all of the odd and end size pieces. Thinking i have a tad over a cord

 

[Caw]

Bought a load of Oak, split it (By Hand with a Maul and Wedge) and Stacked. Pallet on the right is 6 X 5 Wood is stacked 4 ft high at the back, Pallet on the left is standard pallet with all of the odd and end size pieces. Thinking i have a tad over a cord

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Easy math! If it were square 6 x 5 x 4 = 120 cu ft just shy of a cord. Plus the other little pallet. Taking into account that is tapered I'd say you have around a cord or just under.

 

[Garbanzo62]

Easy math! If it were square 6 x 5 x 4 = 120 cu ft just shy of a cord. Plus the other little pallet. Taking into account that is tapered I'd say you have around a cord or just under.

That is what I figured. That little pallet is behind the first one so it looks smaller than it is

 

[thewoodlands]

We have some rain coming in so today we put in two small loads of Ash. I think the high out in the sun on the road was 46 and the high temp back here at 43.

 

[thewoodlands]

I haven't had any bars on the chainsaws since we started burning hardwood so today a 16 & 18 went on two chainsaws with the chains, hopefully tomorrow I start felling some dead white pine.

We have 8 or 9 dead white pine we want c/s/s before the end of spring.

 

[Woody Stover]

There was a dead White Ash down by the "lake" as they call it here. In WI, it's a pond. 😏
Anyway, it's been dead for quite a few years, and just from the look of it I figured it would be pretty well shot. It finally fell a couple months ago and blocked the path so I sawed it to be able to get the quad through. The first few cuts were pretty punky but then to my surprise it started looking better as I made a few more cuts, working toward the top. I bucked the rest today. It was looking pretty good until I got to a fork. The smaller branch of the fork, which I think died before the rest of the tree, was kinda light, but still solid wood. You see it in the front of the trailer, small half-rounds.
I had to dodge a little rain, but got all the good-looking rounds split and hauled up to the big trailer, two quad trailer loads heaped up pretty good. I'll check the six or so rounds I left down there, to see if there's anything worth keeping.
I used the pickaroon for the first time in earnest, and it's pretty handy. You can sink the tip into a split and pick it up, or just use it as lifting tool so you don't have to bend as far to grab the split. Also nice for setting half rounds or whatever back to vertical if you need to split em a few more times. I also used the punky lower rounds as a backstop, and that kept a lot of stuff vertical..I'll have to use that trick more often.
Most of the splits were pretty solid, but that stuff is sopping wet! Maybe soaked up more water since it was growing right next to the lake?
A couple years ago I got another White Ash that had been dead standing at least five years, and although not as sopping as this one, it was testing 30%. I foolishly didn't check it after one year stacked to see how quickly it was drying, just let it go for two years.
Now I'm having to gamble that this stuff will dry all the way in one summer. I'm putting it in a SIL's metal frame and roof shed, walls covered on three sides by canvas but gable ends and front open for some air flow. There's not a lot of wind since she's down a valley a ways, but at least the open side is pointing toward the prevailing wind. But her house is close, somewhat blocking that air movement.
So has anyone had experience drying this Ash that's been dead a long time, but is still wet and heavy when cut? I'm talking White Ash here, not Green or Black which I assume dries faster since it is a lighter, lower-BTU wood than White.
I may re-split some of the bigger splits as I stack it, to enhance drying. But I'm hoping this long-dead stuff just has "free moisture," that will dry faster than the bound moisture of a tree that was cut when still living. Also hoping for a hot, dry summer. 😏
Here's today's haul--looks like mostly meat! 👍

 

[NickW]

Now I'm having to gamble that this stuff will dry all the way in one summer. I'm putting it in a SIL's metal frame and roof shed, walls covered on three sides by canvas but gable ends and front open for some air flow. There's not a lot of wind since she's down a valley a ways, but at least the open side is pointing toward the prevailing wind. But her house is close, somewhat blocking that air movement.
So has anyone had experience drying this Ash that's been dead a long time, but is still wet and heavy when cut? I'm talking White Ash here, not Green or Black which I assume dries faster since it is a lighter, lower-BTU wood than White.
I may re-split some of the bigger splits as I stack it, to enhance drying. But I'm hoping this long-dead stuff just has "free moisture," that will dry faster than the bound moisture of a tree that was cut when still living. Also hoping for a hot, dry summer. 😏

I've never had green ash, but I've had better luck seasoning white ash than black ash. Your splits don't look too huge, so they might be ready enough; but 2 years is much nicer burning than 1 here in WI.

I'm personally a believer in stacking out where the sun and wind can really hit my stacks, then come late summer start moving it into my garage during dry time's when there's less free moisture on it...

 

[Woody Stover]

I'm personally a believer in stacking out where the sun and wind can really hit my stacks, then come late summer start moving it into my garage during dry time's when there's less free moisture on it...

Same here, although I'm unsure how much the sun can actually contribute. I mean, how much can sunlight heat up a split when it's only hitting one end of it, and at a downward angle? That said, wind has gotta be huge, and when combined with dry, hot air, you've almost got a kiln going!
As you can see, I tried to make some even blocks of these splits when I could. I figured that might dry a little faster, but I don't really know.
The usual here is high humidity. Although the SIL I mentioned here hasn't got the greatest airflow, her sister up the hill's open shed gets hammered by the wind. Up there I'm gonna try to get some trunk wood from this 2' diameter Red Elm dry over the summer. I've seen these barkless ones where even the trunk wood is only mid-20s %, so I'm hoping that's the case with this one..🙏
Another plus for me in catching up on dry wood is that wind girl doesn't look to be burning as much this year, with the warm weather. She burns in a year, usually this shed full. The rack outside, facing the camera, is dry Red Maple that I had there just in case the winter was a cold one. But in the main shed, if she has one rack still full, plus another half rack I've got there, I'll be 3/8 of the way there on her. 👍
One o' these days, I'll get far enough ahead on these girls to avoid the drama every year. 😏

 

[Woody Stover]

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.

My hands are the weakest link, the last few times I've gone out around 40*. I've got some super-thin liner gloves that will fit inside my regular work gloves and I think they would do the trick. Now, if I can only find em... 😆
I'm gonna be doing humidity whether I want to or not. Don't really see me finishing these two heaps, plus the logs on the ground in background of pic2, before the sweat begins to fall.. 🥵

 

[Woody Stover]

Bought a load of Oak, split it (By Hand with a Maul and Wedge) and Stacked.

Wow, those are some big Red Oak splits! Dry in three years...maybe.

 

[Garbanzo62]

Wow, those are some big Red Oak splits! Dry in three years...maybe.
View attachment 309777

Well supposedly the rounds were sitting for over a year already. Tested a few and they ranged from the High 20's to Low 30's. Since I was hand splitting, I just tried to get them split and stacked for now. There are some smaller pieces in the stack, but I might split some smaller to help dry it faster. I didn't want to go too small as I figure I can split smaller but can't make them bigger. You can see the edge of the Tree fort my kids use to play on 20 years ago, I have another bunch of Oak stacked under there, some of that is smaller. I'll let this sit until late spring and test a few pieces again and see where they are. Shooting to have this available for fall of 2024. I have enough Ash, Pine and Slabwood to get me through next year.

 

[thewoodlands]

I sanded some areas on a trail for the wife and a few areas on the driveway but after I was done the rains and winds came in so no felling of any pines happened today.

 

[sweedish]

Did some cutting this week, 3 dump trailer loads should more than fill the bay. Now onto splitting and stacking.

 

[Woody Stover]

Shooting to have this available for fall of 2024. I have enough Ash, Pine and Slabwood to get me through next year.

Ah, OK. Thought I'd mention it in case you were counting on that for next season, but I see now that you've got a plan. 👍
Upper 20s, low 30s is not bad for Oak. The rounds must have done a little drying, anyway..

 

[Stove Cricket]

Found a really old brown paper sack with a couple of pounds of these 1.5” Chase copper nails with raised centaur-with-bow. Having done a bit of electrical insulation testing in the past, I am going to use these in a cross check megohmeter penetration test of some wood. I’ll post something up if there’s anything interesting.

 

[Investmentdude]

Big oak off Facebook Marketplace for free. Chunks from two pickups in foreground. I split 5-8 chunks every morning with coffee to get the blood moving and the pile cleaned up! I live in suburbia and border a “common area” so I have to try to keep it neat. But as my Dad said this past visit, a pile of wood is a beautiful thing!

 

[DuaeGuttae]

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).

Understood. I don’t do the other kinds of saws either.

I use an electric splitter when I split. No axes for me because of rotator cuffs that I tore years ago that I still protect a bit. My husband and I have talked about getting him a Fiskars (he just uses an old no-name axe for splitting, and he really enjoys hand splitting). If we do, I’ll have to give it a try.

I’m glad to hear that the surgery went okay. I hope you’ll see much benefit from it.

 

[mcdougy]

Understood. I don’t do the other kinds of saws either.

I use an electric splitter when I split. No axes for me because of rotator cuffs that I tore years ago that I still protect a bit. My husband and I have talked about getting him a Fiskars (he just uses an old no-name axe for splitting, and he really enjoys hand splitting). If we do, I’ll have to give it a try.

I’m glad to hear that the surgery went okay. I hope you’ll see much benefit from it.

Your husband will be like a kid in a candy store with a new fiskars axe. They truly are a game changer for a hand splitter.

 

[Caw]

Understood. I don’t do the other kinds of saws either.

I use an electric splitter when I split. No axes for me because of rotator cuffs that I tore years ago that I still protect a bit. My husband and I have talked about getting him a Fiskars (he just uses an old no-name axe for splitting, and he really enjoys hand splitting). If we do, I’ll have to give it a try.

I’m glad to hear that the surgery went okay. I hope you’ll see much benefit from it.

Rotator cuff injuries are so brutal. I just had a cortisone shot in my right rotator cuff today. Hopefully it will help calm it down. I'm now armless for a week or so, my wife is thrilled.

I'm in the road to recovery now though so I'm happy. Its just hard being so uncomfortable and idle. It puts a lot of stress on the family and I can't stand it but it's what I have to do. Post op appointment is a week from today so we'll see how it goes.

I second getting the Fiskars. Its light, will last forever, and does great work for only $50. Great investment. The maul is a good tool to get with it for the big boys but not everyone wants to swing 8 lbs.

 

[Littledog]

Scored some cherry and maple from our dump site, and a standing dead black birch from my neighbors woods

 

[Woody Stover]

Scored some cherry and maple from our dump site, and a standing dead black birch from my neighbors woods

View attachment 309896

I'm a fan of cross-stacking the ends; No need for a rack or t-post, as long as you have a firm base to stack on. Sure, once in a while a stack can get unstable from drying, but in that case I just grab a split and ram it end-wise to knock the upper part of the stack more vertical with the bottom and balance it better.
A lot of times I won't even cross-stack the entire end, just put a few splits perpendicular and slanting down slightly toward the main body of the stack, once every few rows. Kinda half-arsed this one, perpendicular splits aren't even sloping down/in, and only two of them instead of three, but you get the general idea..

 

[Gearhead660]

Got some wood stacked. This will be for '25-'26. Hate to use pallets but all the wood sheds are full(not a bad problem to have).
The bins/totes make for good book ends.