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It that time of year to get the main heat source cut stacked and in the wood shed. I was able to get about a cord in today.
On a side note...
What the hell was I thinking having wood for a main source of heat, then thinking it was a good idea to do all the work myself???? I bet whomever ended up with that chainsaw is cursed with having to use it a lot. If a person was smart, they would sell their chainsaws to pay someone else for firewood, or to put in a propan heater.
This is why people have children.
You just have to spread it throughout the year... kill a pig and smoke it invite all your friends and have a logging party then bring home your 5 cords stack them and periodically cut Spilt and stack 10 logs or so throughout the summer That’s how we did it growing up
Time has been very short this year. The last several years, that is how I did it, even if it was just cutting down the tree and stacking it in place to pick up later. Having a second job is sometimes a curse when it comes to getting stuff done around the house.
As for the kids, they will be 5, 3, and 1 at the end of the month. They help some now, but in a couple more years, I hopefully will have more help.
Several years were spent cutting wood for heating my house. Broke it up over 3-5 months. Neighbor and I split cost of spliter and a long day of spliting wood. Kinda miss it. Neighbors would let us cut dead fall on their property.
First you fell the trees then cut and chip or haul the slash, split the rounds, move and stack the wood, stock the wood box, feed the fire, clean and disperse the ash, and finally scrape and brush clean the chimney. Sounds like a whole lot of fun.
I burned about four cords last winter, and it was a mild winter.
Fwiw, I don't begin cutting firewood until summer bird nesting is over and the flowers have gone to seed. The first of September is a good time to start and there's plenty time until the serious snows happen. I'm a year ahead on my stacked wood supply and hope to get three years supply by next spring.
Started cuttin today. The fall fun has begun.
I'm only to about 3 1/2 cords so far. With all the birds migrating this early, it makes me wonder if I should have an extra cord.
at least you're saving on gym membership?
I need to get about a cord for "winter" here (big air quotes)... the heat pump doesn't work well when it gets below freezing at night, a fire really helps those nights- and a LOT cheaper than space heaters.
but it's still too hot to start cutting here... I've got plenty of dead Oak to chop up, and my neighbor across the street has even more (but I don't think much Oak), and no fireplace.
Got a friend in Ward that will be putting up 14 cords for this winter.
Need to stock pile more wood next season. I'm down to less than cord, and Winter keeps pressing on like it's never going to end.
I have in floor heat, and turned off the heat throughout the house except for the basement. Been relying on the wood burner, and it's been keep the entire house warm. I have a lifetime supply of Beetle Kill tree's, so using wood is easy for me, and better than paying for Propane.
When I visited Mund's Park just outside Flagstaff, AZ, last Christmas, I met a resident that heated his house with wood.
His house was next to the National Forest with a gate for his truck and trailer.
Permit for wood cutting was $10 per cord.
Wednesday was "wood cutting" day every week. He and his neighbor would go out, cut some trees, and process them back at his house.
He had an assembly-line operation in the back yard with 10 cords in reserve.
He was in his 80's.
I was impressed.
I've burnt about nine cords since September, and I have about 2/3 of a cord left to get through May. It looks like I might be splitting this spring.
Im down to about 1/3 cord, and I have been supplementing quite a bit by going out and picking it up. I brought in a few bucket loads to the woodshed the other day as well. Im definately going to have to get busy earlier this year.
A friend of mine has a second home cabin up by Red Feather, and in the handful of weekends that he and his wife have been up there this winter, they have burned through 4 cords.
It's been a colder winter than we've had the past few years.
I had to break down and actually buy a cord to get us through. This has been a pretty cold winter. Light on snow but cold.
I didn’t have to buy any, but we burned about twice what I thought we would. I will definitely have to do some harvesting this year.
I found out last week our local sawmill has a firewood processor, and a load of about 4.5 cords is $350 delivered. I know I'm going to be having a better supply next year for sure. It's almost not worth my time cutting my own at that price. I still have the fire mitigation to do, so I will still be cutting a lot.
That's a heck of a deal. I have a lot of dead standing that needs removing still, but I think I would save the wear on my truck at that price.Quote:
Originally Posted by encorehunter
We have burned about 4 cords this year but are down to about three wheelbarrows of split wood. I've been lighting fewer fires lately. The snow is still a little deep to be cutting trees and hauling logs out. I've got a few cords of apple wood but need to haul it from Palisade. I'll be busy cutting this year.
Many years ago when I lived in Boulder, my next door neighbor was Forest Crossen, a well known historian who authored many books on the mining, railroads, people and places of Boulder County. Forest was in his late seventies, early eighties when I knew him. He burned firewood to heat his house and in his back yard was a large wood-fired steam engine connected by a massive canvas belt that powered a 3 foot buzz saw blade. Every once in a while he would fire it up, whump, whump, whump! I'd help him feed and stack the wood.
Forest had a good garden and didn't appreciate feral cats digging and crapping in it. I'd frequently hear him shooting his .22 rifle, right there on Spruce Street in downtown Boulder. Sometimes I'd visit to check out what he was shooting at. One time we met in the alley, each of us carrying .22 rifles and hunting a certain very bad neighborhood cat. I finally offed it one morning with my Anschutz target rifle and took it to show Forest. The damn thing was long-haired, scraggly, stinking filthy, and it must have weighed 30 lbs. He told me that he'd shot squirrels, skunks, raccoons, a fox and a couple of deer in his back yard garden. I was impressed that he ate the raccoons as well as the deer. One block off of Pearl Street in downtown Boulder.
Cool story Hummer.
Anybody needing trees cleared out for fire mitigation, gardening, etc let me know, may be able to help out.
encorehunter, which mill has the great deal?
Robinsins sawmill in Weston, west of trinidad
My burn pile is getting bigger than my fuel wood pile. I've had quite a few subalpine firs die around the house, and/or blow down. We call subalpine fir "Piss Fir" as it smells like piss when your cutting it. I hate the stuff, burns too damn fast, lots of pitch, when your cutting up the dead ones, it feels like your fighting a porcupine because the branches are brittle and sharp, and when cutting the live ones that got blown down, the sap gets all over everything including your chainsaw, gloves, glasses, clothes, etc.
I only have about 2 cords cut and stacked so far. I have been cutting trees, but the trunks are going to the sawmill for lumber for my pole barn. I really need to get cutting or order some firewood.
Our mountain property is mostly Subalpine Fir and Engelmann Spruce, with aspen, some Douglas Fir and a few Western Red Cedar, Blue Spruce, Ponderosa, Lodgepole and Limber Pine. It's at the perfect the elevation and climate where we get a varied mix of plants and animals. Cedar/juniper is the best burning but it's so slow growing I rarely use it. Engelmann Spruce is my primary firewood with SubAlpine Fir a close second. The firs don't live as long as the spruce and they seem more sensitive to changes. Fir is soft, easy to cut and burns quickly. I burn it all as long as it's dry. I'll also burn the older heart-rotted fir to get it off the property for fire mitigation, and it still produces heat. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpine
In the fire mitigation effort I've chipped a lot of slash which has gone to make a moose trail through our montane forest wetland. It will add to the peat layer long after I'm gone.
I have a small stock of apple and apricot wood left and next week I'll haul a cord from Palisade for next winter's fires. I've got a lot of wood cutting and splitting to do before next winter....