The first pic I’ve posted previously for different reasons but it’s the start of the process and the process continued over Christmas. Our son joined us for a few days on vacation last month and is spending Christmas with his girlfriend’s family. The hosts of my wife’s family Christmas shindig are in the hospital with COVID. Both expected to recover but we ain’t going to their house any time soon. My brother and his wife are voluntarily sequestered on their horse farm per their preferences. So Christmas has been a remote series of well wishes with family other than Dad who lives 100 yards from us. We saw him for about an hour today. Wife discussed the proper operation of his new air fryer with him while I surreptitiously checked his house for maintenance items he “doesn’t want to bother me with”. After a brief discussion of the electrical gremlin currently plaguing his old Ford 2/8/9N combo tractor we resumed the firewood processing we started yesterday.
In the way back days at our old place, we split it manually in the field and hauled it back with a trailer behind the Ford. Combo of reasons and this is already long, but old place we had longer windows of opportunity to get wood transported from the field to the wood yard. At our current place it has to be pretty dry to get a heavy load up the steep trails without causing damage to the trails. A smattering of springs don’t exactly help with hauling loads around in the creek bottom area. The windows of opportunity are pretty small some years. Thus the current system.
Cut the tree into 84” sections. Both stoves take 21” sticks and 105” is too long to get up the trails. Doesn’t matter if we can get it back immediately or not. Rarely need the tractor for that.
Once there’s enough 84” sections, wait for the ground to dry enough to transport. Could probably move more in the trailer but with the grapple, the load and unload time is virtually zero. In one long day or a couple of leisurely days I can get a year’s worth of wood for us and Dad beck to the wood yard for processing whenever.
View attachment 72226
Most of the stack is under the beech tree that perennially has a billion chiggers in it. Too cold for chiggers, so time for sectioning the logs and splitting before the chiggers return.
View attachment 72227
The Kubota comes back out to pull out logs and move them close to wherever the splitter is. The uncovered stacks on the left are this year’s wood.
View attachment 72228
The Mule makes a great tool caddy and tow unit for the splitter. With a couple of knotty exceptions, we manually split the bigger blocks into manageable pieces before final splitting with the hydraulic splitter. Haven’t gotten her to using the wedges, 8lb maul, or 16lb sledge yet. She says she isn’t up for that or the chainsaw (I tend to agree.)
View attachment 72229
The driver (wife) is pretty good with the hydraulic splitter and stacking.
View attachment 72231
She thought these two blocks of wind felled white oak would make nice seats by the pond if we added slices of lightning struck persimmon for foot stools. So here they are beside the pond.
View attachment 72230