Cuttin' Firewood

[JimT]

I finished cutting the woodpile into lengths today. Now all I need to do is split the big stuff, stack it all and clean up!

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[gamekeeper]

I have had ten months without touching a chainsaw or axe ... I don't like it one bit gotta find a place with trees and a wood stove.

Happier times.

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[GunnyMack]

I got my 'firewood ' delivered last week, I finished 'stacking' it 2 hours later. Then it spilled out onto the floor and I spent another 3 hours stacking it in a different location!

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Seems I neglected to put enough fasteners in on that side!

[Bill in Oregon]

Lotta BTUs in that oak, Jim. I miss a fire something awful.

[JimT]

Lotta BTUs in that oak, Jim. I miss a fire something awful.

Well Bill, you are more than welcome at our fire!
(when we have one)

[Bearskinner]

I have found it’s easier to have a semi log truck delivery about every 3-4 years to deliver extra logs off the landing to my yard. I have a “log Yard” area and a log grapple to handle the chores. Put a saw buck in front of the Wood shed ( about 2 car garage in size) spend a day or two cutting rounds. Fill one half with rounds. Then using a gas powered log splitter spend another few hours on a couple days splitting, filling the other side of the wood shed. There’s a pony wall down the middle, so I can split, and toss over the wall, till it’s full up to the ceiling.
Lots of work, but I love the feeling of log heat in the winter.

[Grizz]

Some folks keep the most excellent beach logs in the refer to conserve them til needed . . .
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[JimT]

We hauled the logs and shorter stuff after the big freeze we had last year that broke trees all over this part of Texas. People had the wood piled up on the streets in town, waiting for the City to come and collect it. We went around town asked folks if we could dig the firewood out of their piles and most everyone gave us permission. We hauled quite a few trailer and pickup loads in, tossed it out on our place and let it age for a year. Now we will split it and stack it along with the other wood that we have. Saved us a lot of wood cutting!

When I cut in the woods I cut it all into stove lengths before we load it on the truck. A lot of what we hauled in from the freeze was in 6 and 8 foot lengths, though there was a lot in the 2 and 3 foot lengths also.

Thankfully we don't have a deepfreeze like Grizz's ... but we do have the natural oven that bakes the wood.

[Grizz]

We hauled the logs and shorter stuff after the big freeze we had last year that broke trees all over this part of Texas. People had the wood piled up on the streets in town, waiting for the City to come and collect it. We went around town asked folks if we could dig the firewood out of their piles and most everyone gave us permission. We hauled quite a few trailer and pickup loads in, tossed it out on our place and let it age for a year. Now we will split it and stack it along with the other wood that we have. Saved us a lot of wood cutting!

When I cut in the woods I cut it all into stove lengths before we load it on the truck. A lot of what we hauled in from the freeze was in 6 and 8 foot lengths, though there was a lot in the 2 and 3 foot lengths also.

Thankfully we don't have a deepfreeze like Grizz's ... but we do have the natural oven that bakes the wood.

Actually we did something similar. We went cruising on the big tides and collected logs that had been driven high above the normal high tide line. I could sometimes tow 20 logs home from the outer islands, timing the big blow and the big tides to gain access to the dry logs floating into the guard timber. On smaller tides and closer to home we found wind falls and yarded them into the water after trimming off the branches. It was an operation to behold, a bridle around the boat and a 3" towline... back up to the beach and firewall the 8V-71 to hit the tree with 85000 pounds of boat going several knots. A tree could lurch, move, and bury the tip in the beach. Then cut off the tip and go again.

Sometimes I felled big trees near enough to tidewater to be able to move them into the inlet. I looked for a steep slope to have a gravity assisted gain of function.

Later I discovered that I burned an unknown amount of dollars worth of douglas fir saw logs in my wood stove, instead of towing them to the sawmill in Ketchikan. Talk about high heating costs!

Some firewood splits easy when green, some will not. Some firewood splits easy when wet, some when dry, and almost all when the rounds are frozen hard. I still like splitting firewood, used to call it the city council meeting . . .

[JimT]

When we did the Mission Trip to Ft. Yukon, Alaska we cut firewood for the Missionary that was there. We used an 8 foot flat bottom boat and went out into the Yukon River and then up the Porcupine River and gathered logs off the sandbars. We cut them in 8 and 10 foot lengths, loaded them on the boat and took them back to Ft. Yukon. We had a team gathering the wood and a team that was cutting, splitting and stacking. In 3 or 4 days we had cut split and stacked 10 cords.

[Grizz]

When we did the Mission Trip to Ft. Yukon, Alaska we cut firewood for the Missionary that was there. We used an 8 foot flat bottom boat and went out into the Yukon River and then up the Porcupine River and gathered logs off the sandbars. We cut them in 8 and 10 foot lengths, loaded them on the boat and took them back to Ft. Yukon. We had a team gathering the wood and a team that was cutting, splitting and stacking. In 3 or 4 days we had cut split and stacked 10 cords.

That is a wonderful time, syncing with the seasons and harvesting the bounty that refreshes itself. It's a great memory to have.

[AJMD429]

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Love that lifestyle...