Started cutting firewood already, between rain storms

[bearskinner]

Got a semi load of Birch and Red Fir, all about 26-28' long. I cut them in half and use the little BX Grapple to place them on the Sawbuck. Only got about 3 cords cut, and half of it split and stacked. Lots of work, but I Love having a wood fire all winter,( and this year spring still too) it's just so much nicer than setting the thermostat.

 

[hodge]

We also heat with wood- it's our sole source. We have access to all hardwood, and can barely keep up with the dead and down. We also cut in the Spring, while temps are still moderate, for the following Fall. I have about half a day of work left, and my wood shed will be full to the brim.
Love the heat, and the price.

 

[skeets]

HMMMMMMMMMM DAYUM And I was just starting to enjoy the spring, now I have to think about fire wood.
What are they charging for a load of wood like that. several years I got a stake bed load worked out to abut 6 cords, and I paid if I remember 300 bucks a load

 

[bucktail]

I try to do as much of my cutting as I can in the winter. Fat 46 year olds that work desk jobs sweat too much in the spring and summer, or so I've been told.

 

[cerlawson]

Bear skinner. This is easier to see.

 

[skeets]

bucktail,,, so do fat old guys with aftermarket body parts

 

[bearskinner]

The guy will come out with a log truck and log boom arm, unload it where you need it, stacked and ready to go. $800. For the load. That will last me 3-4 years. A good ten cords.
I've gone out with 4 other guys, all younger. We had two long bed 1 ton 4x4'd with winches. Spent 6 hours, wear and tear, worn out tired to get about a cord and a half of rounds. So 5 guys 6 hours, 30 man hours for $150. Of wood....... hmmm, I'm no Einstein, but that's really crappy wages for some heavy duty work! All that for FREE wood. Then figure in gas, wear and tear, and nothing broke, so it was a good day!

Man, can't get the pics to turn!

 

[David Page]

Bearskinner, 10 cord is what burn in my boiler each year its still going tonight. It is nice in the spring with a boiler though just set the thermostat to what you want and I don't have to figure out how to build a small fire in the house because its roasting us out. Of course I do have to go out and fill it when its twenty below, its a trade off.

 

[skeets]

I just re read that 10 cords,, 3 to 4 years I will do 6 to 8 if its a cold windy winter up here on the ridge. This year it was kind of mild and only used maybe 4

 

[bearskinner]

I just re read that 10 cords,, 3 to 4 years I will do 6 to 8 if its a cold windy winter up here on the ridge. This year it was kind of mild and only used maybe 4

We moved into this smaller place in N Idaho, its only 2100SF, and almost new construction so we have an R48 rated house. (12" walls and 14" floors and ceiling) Even with 24' ceilings, the wood stove heats the house so well, most days we let it go out by 11:AM unless it's 5 degrees and blowing hard out.
I put a pellet stove in the back room of the shop ( small work area 24'x12') and although it works great, it just doesn't have the ambience of the wood stove. I don't think I would like the clinking of pellets and blower noise inside the house either.
We consume about 3 cords a year as an average, so at least I don't have to be in a hurry to get it all cut and split.

 

[skeets]

Well OK I got an old 20's house built on the hill top, and it seems no matter where you stick insulation the cold still gets through

 

[Ike]

I have 50 pulp cords(4x4x8) stacked out behind the house to cut. I had part of our woods logged off and I kept 50 cords of ash ,maple, and beech. I want to start cutting it but the weather has been so set that I would have to work in the mud. I have a firewood processor that I made which helps a whole lot. It is not as fast as a chainsaw but I don't have to bend over to pick up the wood. The wood is cut, split and run up the conveyor into my dump trailer. I back the trailer up to the wood shed and tilt the box to keep the wood to the back where I then stack in the shed. I have an outdoor wood burner and go thru 6 to 8 cords per year

 

[eipo]

Firewood is a never ending process here. We heat with wood and I also keep my 2 neighbors stocked up. We go through about 5 cords during a normal winter with an additional 2-3 for the neighbors.

Ive got 2 piles like this to get through once I finish the load of dead ash for next year. This is all oak, hickory, beech and sugar/black maple.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Thats some nice tree carcass there. Built a bench similar to that but my buddy couldnt resist sawing right through it on a regular basis. So i built a contraption to take care of it. https://youtu.be/2OnZHJCAxic
It seems to stand up to the test of time. Have 3 cords to block up, hope it happens soon. May rework it,add a log rack and a live table.

 

[eipo]

If all my wood was that size, I could see something like that being very productive. I do use the Dewalt Mitre saw for anything smaller than 3" or so.

 

[Ike]

Firewood is a never ending process here. We heat with wood and I also keep my 2 neighbors stocked up. We go through about 5 cords during a normal winter with an additional 2-3 for the neighbors.

Ive got 2 piles like this to get through once I finish the load of dead ash for next year. This is all oak, hickory, beech and sugar/black maple.

My stack is about 3 times as high as yours and there are 3 rows stacked that high. It is a tricky deal to get it down with my loader and tractor. I would try it with my skidsteer but I don't want to wear one stick of wood it it turns and comes back at me.

 

[skeets]

Man I would love to have wood stacked up like that. The guy that use to cut timber and saved all the tree tops has either moved retired or died, no one seems to know. And Im getting a little long in the tooth, to cut, lift, unload, lift split, toss, load, lift and stack any more. Not that I dont enjoy it, dont get me wrong, it just get's harder and takes longer than it use to

 

[bearskinner]

I agree, the constant up and down is what kills you. I can Grapple the logs onto the Sawbuck, and sawing at that height is easy. That when the pain in the lower back begins! Fetching rounds to put in the splitter, than stacking the split pieces is what gets me mostly.
It definitely helps putting the Sawbuck and splitter right where your going to stack the processed wood, in the wood shed. I'll get one of my buddy's boys to help out about every other week, and whip out a few cords at a time. I have enough for next year already, but I would rather get a couple years ahead of the game. Anyway the wife feeds every critter in the woods, so once I'm not making any more noise, the squirrels and Robins can have their nests all to themselfs in the woodshed

 

[eipo]

My number 1 goal was to eliminate having to pick anything up by hand. Logs get loaded onto the deck with the tractor. Cut on the stand and then rolled to a "C" channel table topped with a sheet of HDPE. From the table, they move right onto the splitter. Everything is set to step down in height to the splitter so the only time I have to pick up anything other than a split is to move a round from the staging table to the splitter. And thats just a matter of grabbing and turning. If the piece is to heavy to pick up, the table is close enough I can roll it onto the splitter.

I toss splits into 1 of 2 totes that have had the top rung cut off so the kids can reach in to grab and stack. With the kids helping, we can easily cut, split and stack 2+ cords in about 6 hours. Once we get our rhythm going, we can fill a tote in 8-10 minutes.

Every step Ive taken has been to increase productivity and reduce the number of hours we spend processing wood. I even ditched the hydro splitter and bought a Super Split. That step alone has increased productivity exponentially. Not only from a speed standpoint, but getting consistently sized splits with little waste... We processed about 2 cords today and the waste generated wont fill up a regular sized wheelbarrow.

 

[eipo]

My stack is about 3 times as high as yours and there are 3 rows stacked that high. It is a tricky deal to get it down with my loader and tractor. I would try it with my skidsteer but I don't want to wear one stick of wood it it turns and comes back at me.

That height is about the limit of my tractor. All those logs range between 12-14' long. Most of them, weight wise, were at the upper limit of the 2650. Each.