Work Done 2025

[MRD1985]

Moved my last stack to where I had the pine for better air flow. Was just up against a fence before. 1.25 cords. The ash is dry, especially stuff that was already standing dead (15 % MC) but the oak is not ready.

 

[NickW]

Not dre?!

Sorry! Phone and Internet issues going on here and getting fed up.

Not dreaming of anything that creates any more danged heat here, although heat I can control sounds nice.

 

[Jmorg]

Sorry! Phone and Internet issues going on here and getting fed up.

Not dreaming of anything that creates any more danged heat here, although heat I can control sounds nice.

Lol…I gotcha. And yes, I’m sick of the heat as well! We’ve had a pretty nice string of days here with morning temps in the low 60s and it’s really getting me in the mood for fall and firing up the stove.

 

[Turbo89]

the way I had a lot of my wood stacked bothered me. Kept collecting water on the tarps, wood kept sliding off from poor stacking, very uneven, so I decided to restock some and consolidate. I’ll eventually do the other stacks but 3 big stacks is enough for now. Been at it for a while. Got rid of 4 tarps and 2 and a half pallets from consolidating. Before and after.

For the heck of it checked some MC of various pieces.

Edit. Got a second wind and restacked one more big one ~about 1.5 cords. Consolidated by adding a 1/2+ cord of hickory to this that I had stacked with pine. That’s ready to burn too.

2 year hickory - 16%
2 year ash - 15%
2 year oak - 18%
1 year oak - 25%
1 year mulberry - 19%

All taken on fresh split surfaces. Lots of wood available for the winter.

Total inventory about 11 cords not including the pine.

dayyyuummnn, nice stacks!!

 

[MRD1985]

dayyyuummnn, nice stacks!!

Thanks bud!

 

[Slimdusty]

Hot in the woodshed today, too hot for any firewood activities, is it October yet?!

 

[Toasty-Yote]

My stacks so far. A lot of ash and red elm this year along with the usual local scores of buckthorn and box elder with a little maple here and there. I might drop by my dad's house for some standing dead apple. Love the smell when I work with apple.

You can see I had a lovely time trying to split some of that red elm. Anyone else love the smell of dead red elm? There is something kinda spicy about it, like an exotic cologne. I know not all elms smell the same but I love this one.

Second pic. What disease did that tree have? The wood was very heavy despite being pretty dry. I am guessing either some kind of maple or an oak? Whatever got into the wood seemed to kill it early since that was about as thick as the trunk got when it died.

 

[Whitenuckler]

My stacks so far. A lot of ash and red elm this year along with the usual local scores of buckthorn and box elder with a little maple here and there. I might drop by my dad's house for some standing dead apple. Love the smell when I work with apple.

You can see I had a lovely time trying to split some of that red elm. Anyone else love the smell of dead red elm? There is something kinda spicy about it, like an exotic cologne. I know not all elms smell the same but I love this one.

Second pic. What disease did that tree have? The wood was very heavy despite being pretty dry. I am guessing either some kind of maple or an oak? Whatever got into the wood seemed to kill it early since that was about as thick as the trunk got when it died.

Nice piles. Not sure about the tree type. I don't think it's maple. What is that metal object on the floor? Is that to split wood?

 

[Toasty-Yote]

Nice piles. Not sure about the tree type. I don't think it's maple. What is that metal object on the floor? Is that to split wood?

Yep, kindling cracker. Apparently some teenager in New Zealand designed it as a school project when she was 13 years old. Works absolutely great for both kindling and logs up to about 8" diameter. Much more accurate splits than the maul.

 

[Whitenuckler]

Yep, kindling cracker. Apparently some teenager in New Zealand designed it as a school project when she was 13 years old. Works absolutely great for both kindling and logs up to about 8" diameter. Much more accurate splits than the maul.

That's a clever idea. Maybe a bit hard to sharpen, but you wouldn't need a sharp edge. That part could be made of hardened steel.

 

[qwee]

I stuck a Honda GCV160 motor on my splitter. The holes lined up but I had a slight gap (like a quarter+dime width) between the pump shaft and sprocket. Either lower the sprocket or drill out larger holes - I lowered the sprocket. The key is still doing its holding job. No problems so far.

This motor is a 1-pull start-up. Hondas are nice. It came off of a pressure washer ($65). But the exhaust is on the wrong side - so blowing right into a hydraulic hose. I wrapped the hose to protect it. I started splitting some old elm rounds - nice, they are dry (the pile grows). I don't remember where this elm came from.

 

[thewoodlands]

I did get outside yesterday, I cleaned a bunch of pine needles off the covers and covered another five face cord. We have 17 face cord covered, we won't burn that much but it's there if needed.

 

[Dieselhead]

I did get outside yesterday, I cleaned a bunch of pine needles off the covers and covered another five face cord. We have 17 face cord covered, we won't burn that much but it's there if needed.

Money in the bank!

 

[NickW]

Haven't been on in awhile... Busy, busy.

I just parked the truck and trailer 45 minutes ago and there's turkeys inspecting it 😂.


Took another load to the township brush pile and came out with some birch and red maple.


Noticed that my photos lately are coming in rotated for some reason...? Sorry...

Site work for the pole shed is done. 30 dump trucks of fill 🙄! Forms supposed to go in Monday and concrete Thursday. Cut up some more downed aspen and pine today and took down and cut up some standing trunks anywhere from 6' to 15' tall. Have given away 5-6 cord worth of pine and aspen logs because it would rot before I could get to it. Probably will give away another 4 cord or so. Keeping some red pine because it's better BTU's. Have lots still down besides all the dead black ash in the swamp and 6-8 good size dead birch. Most of what's down is tangled up so not much ground contact. Have a pile of red maple and cherry logs that need attention in my spare time and when I can find somewhere to stack it. Might have to wait until the pole shed is up and I level out next to it for another wood storage area. I found a large local business that has hundreds of pallets stacked in back "PLEASE, take as many as you want!". There's stacks of 32" x 6' made out of 1 1/8" decking boards instead of 1/2" or 3/4" boards!

 

[Turbo89]

Face space scored a truck load of oak rounds today! I stacked em out by the wood pile, I’ll split them when the cooler weather comes in, and get them ready for the 2026 or 2027 season.

 

[MRD1985]

Face space scored a truck load of oak rounds today! I stacked em out by the wood pile, I’ll split them when the cooler weather comes in, and get them ready for the 2026 or 2027 season.

Nice!

 

[Turbo89]

Nice!

Yea, not bad and it was like a mile from the house, with 2/3rds of the work done for me! lol

 

[heavy hammer]

Been moving wood closer to the house with the tractor on some free weekends getting ready for burn season. It has been a busy summer here. I'm looking to start cutting wood once fall starts, the girls are back in school so I should have some time been working a lot and traing my two new labs. Hope everyone has been having a great summer it is starting to disappear.

 

[Toasty-Yote]

Other than possibly collecting some limb wood in the neighborhood to buck in the miter saw, I am done with my stacks for the winter. There is some cherry in the back that was alive this spring so I would prefer to let that sit for another year but everything else should be ready to burn in a few months. There was a large red elm that I couldn't say no to given how dry and accessible it was. That said, being a hand splitter, I am good if I don't find another large elm again...lol.

 

[NickW]

Splitting elm by hand gets your man card punched for life...

 

[djlew]

The past couple of weeks have been beautiful here. I moved the rest of the pine rounds into my wood shed and then I am ready to process. I have about a cord ready to burn for this year, and a bunch of rounds to process for 26/27. My ATV is in the shop and then I will have a nice machine to help me move stuff around the property and save my back. I saw my breath this morning... cooler weather is on the horizon!

 

[NickW]

This is the 3rd load of the day. All birch, might be doing some sorting when I split it but it's mostly solid. The first 2 loads were 4' pine and aspen logs that are being given away. I was doing wood off and on while the pole shed slab was being poured.

 

[NickW]

So I don't know that this qualifies as work, but it's "work related"...

The couple who came with the big trailer and took 3-4 cord of pine and aspen are originally from the same little town I grew up in. We got to talking and know quite a few of the same people and the husband was in one of my older sisters class. Odd, here we are 3 hours north and get hooked up... Anyway, we got to talking about blackberries that day and they invited me down to wander their 40+ acres that has berry patches. Last week I got 8c, the photo is today's picking which will be 6-7c. Not quite peak yet, but getting close. That's surprising to me, the area I used to pick was always peak in early August and couldn't hardly find any by Labor Day. Patches aren't quite what they used to be because of aspens growing up, but way better than our property.

They will be coming back for another load of logs yet later this summer or fall.