Firewood, Summer Work.

We too have a woodstove. Quite a bit of timber came down this winter. We called it "the winter from hell" in our parts. Regardless, I bucked most of it up, split the wood by hand, and it is now stored in a couple different places on our property. It was a lot of work, but we have fuel for the stove for years.

 

In my place, we only use firewood occasionally, mostly during animal slaughter.

 

In one of our vacation in the mountain resort of Baguio where the climate is cool, we always buy firewood for the fireplace. One time, the caretaker offered us cheap firewood that he would get from the fallen pine tree nearby. We saw how he cut up the log to come up with some firewood for our use. He said that a chainsaw is the best but since there was no chainsaw, what he used was an ax. It was real hard work that in my pity, I gave him a bigger tip which is more expensive if we had bought the firewood from the market. By the way, what's good in pine wood is that it doesn't need to be dried. Even when fresh, it ignites.

 

I have a 10 hp gas log splitter but don't use it much any longer.
Age and a bad back limits my wood cutting these days.
Still it's an option if there is a shtf.
I'll do what I need to do.
I also have a large wood/charcoal grill if need be.

 

After splitting a ton of firewood, I started to consider this option. A family member of mine is getting up in age and he swears by it. What make/model do you have? Have you found it faster than manually?

 

After 4 crippling back injuries in police work I just can't swing a splitter much any more.
MUCH faster than manual.
I don't recall the model but it has a briggs 10 h.p. gas engine and I would NOT
go anything less.
I have a lot of tough red oak and locust.
Locust burns really hot.
Actually most all equipment like that are build buy very few outfits
under different "brand" names.
Almost ALL equipment for outdoor work is made by M.T.D. even
John Deere and Cub Cadet.
Deer and Cub do not make small gas equipment.

 

Shame about that Keith

 

Mitsubishi have good reliable engines imo ...nice choice.

You could convert your truck to run on wood.

 

I’m the same Keith. I wouldn’t know where to start. I seen it on a YouTube video. The truck was the same shape as yours and it reminded me of the video. Good idea though but out of my capabilities lol

 

I'm much too busy to waste time during the spring or summer...most of our felling takes place in winter, the deciduous trees are dormant and there is less sap in the wood meaning it's lighter and drys more quickly. A lot of what I do is coppicing so that it re-grows from the stump which should always be done while the tree is dormant.
There is a lot less undergrowth or insect activity in winter making the job much easier.(mosquitos really piss me off)
It also means that there are no nesting birds while I'm felling in winter.
When I'm dropping trees for firewood I try to get it felled, cut, split and stacked on the same day rather then leave it lying on the ground so that the wood drys fast and free of rot.
I get through at least four cord of firewood each winter, sometimes more. I try and cut wood at least two years in advance so I'll always have enough dry wood.

 

We use between 7-9 cords of wood each year. Fortunately I don’t need to venture too far to get it. I really enjoy the time spent with my wife as we work as a great team harvesting the wood.

 

I doubled the size of my woodshed

 

@randyt between this photo and others on another thread, you have some of the prettiest and straightest timbers I've seen. What kind of trees did they come from?


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They are white cedar and balsam fir with a few spruce.