Work Done In 2026

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Standing dead is not seasoned. Sometimes the branches will be OK, but not the trunk - it's a wick.....
I learned that when I attempted to split the spruce tree the town took down in my yard. It was dead for 2-3 years, but the wood didn't crack/split the few times I swung at it. The way the axe stuck it felt quite wet. Didn't try a wedge, it would probably would have just got stuck. I moved the rounds to where they'll season.
 
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It is still peak ash in NY. My next 4-5 years are going to primarily dead ash as the last of the big ones die out. I loaded up one piece of pine as well for kindling. The ash with straight grain was incredibly fun to split. Some of the largest rounds popped apart on the first hit with my Fiskars. On the other hand, some of the knotty pieces were absolutely miserable. As in every bit as bad a the big rounds of red elm I hand split last year.
 

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Standing dead is not seasoned. Sometimes the branches will be OK, but not the trunk - it's a wick. I've had trunks of 5 year dead ash measure over 50% m.c.

Oak is generally considered a 3 year seasoning wood and it isn't fun to burn poorly seasoned. Some of the guys here say they can get oak seasoned faster in a tight woodshed that acts as a kiln.

Don't know what you're storage situation is, but many of us aim to be 3 years ahead at all points in time. Never have to worry about whether you're wood is dry enough. Personally I'm not currently there...
Ive got a bunch of it yet to cut so to the bottom of the holzhausen it goes! Thanks!
 
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It is still peak ash in NY. My next 4-5 years are going to primarily dead ash as the last of the big ones die out. I loaded up one piece of pine as well for kindling. The ash with straight grain was incredibly fun to split. Some of the largest rounds popped apart on the first hit with my Fiskars. On the other hand, some of the knotty pieces were absolutely miserable. As in every bit as bad a the big rounds of red elm I hand split last year.
I had an ash tree taken down several years ago, it was in fact fun and easy to split. I thought at the time if every tree was like ash I would no longer consider getting a gas powered wood splitter.

I guess I'm not the only one who used an SUV to transport wood! When I was without a truck I did a few times in my former Subaru Forester before getting a small trailer.
 
We had some wind damage to some trees on the house lot so I finally bucked them up last week, the splitting will start when the hot temps get here.
 

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Today I split some Cherry that I had bucked up earlier this year, I stacked it on top of some Ash.
 

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On June 28th, I split and stacked a little over a face cord of Maple, I have the biggest rounds left to split.
 

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Today I did what should've been done yesterday, another face cord of Maple split and stacked. There are a few pictures of what's left.
 

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I had an ash tree taken down several years ago, it was in fact fun and easy to split. I thought at the time if every tree was like ash I would no longer consider getting a gas powered wood splitter.

I guess I'm not the only one who used an SUV to transport wood! When I was without a truck I did a few times in my former Subaru Forester before getting a small trailer.
You know what? My Impreza actually works pretty well for me. I have a Dewalt with three batteries. By the time the batteries are run through and my car is filled, as a hobbyist, I am usually about ready to quit anyway.
 
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Very nice and neat!
 
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You know what? My Impreza actually works pretty well for me. I have a Dewalt with three batteries. By the time the batteries are run through and my car is filled, as a hobbyist, I am usually about ready to quit anyway.
That can hold a lot! I was trying to figure out what kind of vehicle it was, looked like a Subaru but a different dashboard than my Forester of the same color. I have an old truck now, but if I saw something on the side of the road up for grabs it's nice being able to put it in the Forester if need be. I also have a limit of how much work I can do. Coinciding more to batteries rather than a gasoline tank these days.
 
Happy 4th!

I just finished bucking up and stacking about a cord of wood that I chopped down about a year ago. It was a mix of maple and hemlock. Done for the day, time to enjoy the holiday.
 
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More splitting and stacking was done today, another face cord up. The tree in the pictures came down in the last high winds we had, it's looking like a soft maple but I'll take a closer look later.
 

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