Wood

Any old school wood pilers on here, let’s see some pics.

Looks like Farwood

You gonna need a bunch of wood using it for siding like that. Have you considered using boards instead ??

I cut, split & stacked some Cherry limbs the other week...

Piling wood against the side of your house, I hope you don't have any enemies around town!!

Oak curing for the coming winter. Not my first choice, but what was available.

That oak will burn for a while, gotta have some pine to get it to start good.

Got 8 cords plus airing since mid July and a couple cords left over from last winter.

Cut and split this in the spring.

Nice firewood.

Just finished my 12 by 24 wood shed at camp. Only have to cut 30 cords for orders and I will be able to do my own. But I only use 4 or 5 through the winter when I'm there.

I am addicted to cutting, splitting and stacking firewood. I never feel like I have enough.

It's close to a mental disorder.

Blaine, once you get sawdust in your bellybutton you'll never get it out.

Here is a good tip if you are lucky to live in a area like mine. We have a very plentiful supply of wood around here for free , most people are too lazy to handle/split wood and will just deal with a high fuel bill. My neighbor and I put up about 8 cords a year together to heat our homes. We work as a team.

Over the years we have learned that the cost of getting free wood is dependent on distance and how difficult to load it and how many trips back and forth to get it. The adds a lot to the effort and cost both human labor and fuel for the picking up.

Here is the tip -
Get friendly with someone who does tree work. Become one of there designated drop off spots. Some tree guys are too busy to deal with firewood and just want to get rid of it. Whenever the tree guy we know is in our area doing work we will get a phone call , shortly thereafter a dump truck shows up and dumps a huge load. All we have to do is split it and stack it.

We have not had to get any wood in over 5 years with this method. Saves a ton in gas and labor. Basically we get free wood with free delivery. The tree guy is happy as he gets rid of the wood easy and not too far away. We buy him gasoline prepaid cards that he tries to refuse but we insist. A win-win.

Good tip. I pick up waste cut lumber (not treated) and burn it with my firewood. Builders are cool with it, it's free, burns nice with my oak and prevents waste of a resource.

I cut/split approx. 30 cords/year. Have not paid a fuel bill in 20 years, that is real savings.

Craiger I have the same problem only my wood is coming from my property and it is hard to keep up with the dying trees and trying to grow a healthy forest. I am in the process of cutting white Burch at the moment only because they have veneer in the but and the tops are dying. Nobody in my area will even burn it for camp fire wood when there is hard maple everywhere to be found.

Another good tip ( courtesy of my neighbor who came up with the idea )

He buys 2-3 duraflame logs a year. Takes a very sturdy knife almost as strong and thick as a cleaver , cuts it up into chunks the size of a meatball. Put 3-4 of the chunks into the woodstove as he goes to light the fire. Starts the fire with little fuss , just light the chunks and it usually does the job. Quick , easy and cheap.

I cut and split around 2 or 3 cords a year. And I don't burn wood. Always someone to take it. I like the exercise and need to clean up the fallen trees anyways. This is only a partial.

I laugh and tell people my neighbor gets hate mail from our local utility company because he spends so little to heat his house.

Big , big savings.

I find discarded waxed vegetable cardboard boxes at a market and cut up the box in small short strips then box them up to help start fires as needed. Those waxed cardboard fire starters are handy to keep as survival fire starters I keep some in zip lock baggies in my truck all the time when I trap out of state.

My Sons are carpenters and keep throwing white pine scraps in the dumpster! I keep busy dumpster diving.

I like that idea. Almost the same as a Duraflame log as they contain a lot of wax. I will pass that on to my neighbor.

Thanks , Bob

I wouldn't say a disorder, more like therapeutic. I could be part of a support group.

X2

Oak is excellent firewood, but most folks underestimate the length of time it takes to season and dry.

Crit-R-Dun , correct. It takes about 2 years , we get a lot of oak here.

Gary , I see you do the same thing we do , using cast-off pallets to keep the wood off the ground and corralled. Smart and free. We change them out every year or two as they rot. Plenty of free pallets here. Use them , then they are kindling.

Wood is good. As long as it’s piled and not stacked.

This is our supply, left side is from spring before last, right side from this last spring. We don’t get much hardwood here other than alder but fir grows like a weed. Should be two and a half seasons worth. 12 deep, 30 wide, 10+ high at the top of the pile, grade “A” smoke dragon feed right there.





Owl

The Firewood Poem

Beech wood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold

Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter's cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.

Black locust is my favorite. Ash is second.
I have a good friend that burns nothing but elm. And he ain't no dummy. Just his preference.
Two other guys I know burn nothing but cottonwood and love it. One guy's brother pulled a trailer to NE from MO to haul cottonwood home.
To each his own I guess!!

Gary I have some black locust on my farm and that is some really hot burning wood, like to use it in the Kalamazoo kitchen stove.

I have a tree service that drops off blockwood for free in exchange for allowing them to park their vehicles. This saves them a couple hundred roundtrip miles for several large vehicles each day.



I cut it to length, and tote it on a wagon to an area where I stage my woodsplitter alongside a cattle panel arch, where it is stacked



The finished stacks. Note that panels provide the little support necessary, and allow a tarp to go over the pile without restricting drying airflow. Each stack is about 178 cu.ft, or 1 1/3 cord. For estimating purposes, I consider 1 cord per stack.

Another thing to think about , my inner firefighter talking now , clean your chimney regularly!!!!!

I've been to many chimney fires. Happens a LOT. Sounds almost like a jet engine when fully involved. Creosote burns like gasoline. Can spread to the structure quickly with the very high temperatures.

A good thing to have is a Chimfex stick too. A Chimfex stick is an emergency chimney fire suppressant that looks like a road flare.

GREAT POINT

At camp.















Some of it gets hauled home. I converted this old Towmaster into a wood hauler. It holds 2.3 cords when stacked level with the top rails. That maxes it out weight-wise with green maple or most other green hardwoods.








At home



Not sure my youngest understands the concept of a log splitter...



Starting them young, grandaughter earning her keep.

Nice photos guys.
Getting that time of the year.

Zim

That reminds to put my sea fishing gear up for sale and get a log splitter as I have a pile of rounds sitting there that don't want to split themselves, no matter how stern i look at them.

Lugnut that beagle sure looks like a spittin image of our Beagle.

Love the smell of fresh split cherry wood.

PILED NOT STACKED??? What manner of chaos is this?? Do you store your dishes, clothes and fur the same way??

I suppose it dries just as well, but I personally love the look and satisfaction of a neat wood stack. Then again thats how I like most things. Clean job site, organized tools, orderly shop and yard. To each their own.

That's old Rusty, he's been gone a couple of years now. He was an expert food thief, diabolical even, no morsel was safe from him! LOL

They do look a lot alike.



He was my middle daughter's dog and an extremely pampered pooch.

I’m gaining on the big shed.

Just starting to cool down enough for me to start cutting.
Have 12 cords stacked waiting for me.
Have about 2 cords left from last year.
Burn about 10 per year.

our old beagle is on her last go round lately. She has the same habits as your dog. A food thief and sneaky dog but a good hunter and pet.