# Yes, Firewood Grows On Trees



## Cluttermagnet (Apr 13, 2010)

No, really- it does. I know this because every time I go out to my friend's acreage to harvest wood, there are lots of seasoned, 4-5 year old hardwood splits just laying around on the ground. All I have to do is bend down, pick them up, knock the dirt off them, and load them in my van. Am I lucky or what? He must have some sort of firewood tree, I guess. Splits just fall to the ground in Autumn.

He also had a deadwood Cherry for me. It blew down in high winds a couple of years ago. Nearly all of it was off the ground, still hinged at about a 4ft to the stump, about 12-14in diameter at the base. Pristine wood- no ants, borers, or whatever in evidence. Cherry is usually soooo infested. This stuff is old enough the bark is falling off it. Split it this week, burn it in the fall. Man, I'm in wood burners heaven every time I go out there. It would take me a few years to clean up all his acreage. As it is, lots of stuff just lays around decomposing.

I measured about 0.87 cord, more or less, after loading it all. Photos tomorrow. I'll be going back there later in the week for another load or two. This will be my year to finally try to get a year or two ahead, just for once. It was a colder winter in the mid-Atlantic. We burned a little more wood than expected. Happily, we didn't come near to running out. Probably at least 1+ cord left. As a beginner, I have been making it primarily because I have had access to so much excellent deadwood. In fact, it's nearly all deadwood I harvest.


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## wendell (Apr 13, 2010)

Cluttermagnet said:
			
		

> I measured about 0.87 cord, more or less, ...



Are you sure it wasn't 0.88?  ;-)


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## Backwoods Savage (Apr 13, 2010)

Cluttermagnet said:
			
		

> I measured about 0.87 cord, more or less, after loading it all. Photos tomorrow. I'll be going back there later in the week for another load or two. *This will be my year to finally try to get a year or two ahead, just for once*.



Why just for once? Once you are 2 or 3 years ahead, stay there! It is a bit of work getting to that point but once there it is easy. I relate it to the old pitcher pumps. You had to prime them to get the water flowing. Then all you had to do was keep some easy pressure while pumping. Stop pumping and then you'd have to prime the thing again. With firewood, like with water; keep pumping!

Glad you found a good spot to get that wood.


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## Cluttermagnet (Apr 13, 2010)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> Why just for once? Once you are 2 or 3 years ahead, stay there! It is a bit of work getting to that point but once there it is easy. I relate it to the old pitcher pumps. You had to prime them to get the water flowing. Then all you had to do was keep some easy pressure while pumping. Stop pumping and then you'd have to prime the thing again. With firewood, like with water; keep pumping!
> 
> Glad you found a good spot to get that wood.


A figure of speech, "just for once". I'm so new to wood burning that I have yet to get ahead 2-3 years that first time. So this is my year to do that. Actually, Dennis, I enjoy the wood processing so much that I think I will have no problems 'keeping the pump primed' in the future. ;-)


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## Cluttermagnet (Apr 14, 2010)

I took a few photos today while unloading the latest haul. It was late in the day and rainy, so they
aren't very good. I'll redo it on a sunny day.









Above you see my wood getter, a 1 ton van that doubles as a work truck. I had it nearly half
unloaded before I remembered to get the camera.

Also shown is a small stack of Cherry rounds, not the whole tree but most of it. I'm told it's about
two years old. The bark is starting to fall off. There's still a Cherry log about 6ft long by about 12-
14in left over. Both his saw and mine were acting up that afternoon. I'll go back later this week to
get that and lots more. Oh, yes- there's also a jagged stump 3-4ft tall to get too.











To the left of the Maple is a stack of well seasoned splits- probably mostly Oak with a little Hickory
as well. Also a small pile of short 'log length' (3-6ft), mostly Oak. There is plenty more like this just
laying around waiting to be picked up and tossed in the van.


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## Cluttermagnet (Apr 15, 2010)

I picked up the rest of the Cherry on Wednesday, plus various other splits and rounds laying around. Looks like another 0.82 cord or so. My friend pointed out that some of the rounds I cut from deadwood on the ground happened to be Locust. Now I know what the stuff was that I had in another thread about Wood ID. In the future I'll recognize this from the grain only, even if the bark is gone like on this batch. In all, another good day. I love working in the Spring. Planning on getting it all done before the really hot weather settles in here.

My 1 ton van has the beefed up suspension package, looks like. It's first few years it was as a plumber's truck. The back end settled only about 1.5-2 inches and looks to be pretty far from bottoming out. My friend says I could load this old van to the roof, no problems. I think I'm good with about 1/2 to 2/3 full, however. Handling and braking are pretty good loaded this way.

Oh, the base of the Cherry did have ants after all, to maybe 2-3ft height. Guess I really expected that. But the rest of it was beautiful, non- buggy wood.


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## Cluttermagnet (Apr 24, 2010)

I picked up another load today- all Red Oak deadwood. Most had ground contact, a  little was off ground a ways. Looks like just under 0.8 cord in the van this time. I'll post photos tomorrow. Some of it is a little punky, most is not. Some was pretty wet inside, though not all rotten. Other parts were off the ground and are dry. I'll see how it splits. Probably good to burn regardless, but maybe a few less BTU's in that wet wood (due to slight amounts of rot). This brings my total from that site up to 2.5+ cords so far this season.

*Edit: * Here are two shots of another ~0.8 cord in the van.












In the photo above, you can see that the round on the right middle is fairly dry. Will split it in the next few days. It should burn OK some time next winter 2010-11. You can see that three of the rounds on the bottom row are quite wet, however. They will probably need more than a year to season. Wet ones like these I tend to split smaller.


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## Backwoods Savage (Apr 24, 2010)

Clutter, whatever you do, be sure to stack that wood where wind will hit it and preferably some sunshine too. That is because of the type of wood it is. It has been laying around so no doubt is pretty wet stuff.

Earlier you wrote, "Actually, Dennis, I enjoy the wood processing so much that I think I will have no problems ‘keeping the pump primed’ in the future."  I think there are a lot of us who enjoy doing this and am glad you enjoy it too.


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## Cluttermagnet (Apr 25, 2010)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> Clutter, whatever you do, be sure to stack that wood where wind will hit it and preferably some sunshine too. That is because of the type of wood it is. It has been laying around so no doubt is pretty wet stuff.
> 
> Earlier you wrote, "Actually, Dennis, I enjoy the wood processing so much that I think I will have no problems ‘keeping the pump primed’ in the future."  I think there are a lot of us who enjoy doing this and am glad you enjoy it too.


Thanks, Dennis. Indeed, that deadwood Oak can be pretty darned wet. I have seen it need more than a year after splitting. What I've learned is to jumble stack it ('heaphausen') to let as much air as possible go *through * the stack. I'm in near full shade all summer, so sun is less of a help for me. I may get the odd hour or half hour of direct sunlight at times, through openings in the canopy of leaves 100ft above. Mainly, I know to let it breathe as much as possible. Stacking can come later.

Hmmm- maybe I'll try some of that crisscross stacking you guys do at the ends of your stacks sometimes- just for the really wettest ones, 'heaphausen' for the rest. ;-) 

See the two new photos above for an example of just how wet the Red Oak I get comes to me sometimes.


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## Backwoods Savage (Apr 25, 2010)

Clutter, believe it or not, that wood will dry faster after being stacked!

To maximize the drying though, I'd stack it pretty darned loose and stack it so the wind hits the sides of the piles and not the ends. Also, leave plenty of room between each row; at least enough so you can walk through without turning sideways. Air flow is the key.


As for the crisscross stacking, that does work nicely on the ends but also can work nicely for drying if you stack it all that way. Caution though; don't stack it too high or it will tend to get a bit unstable. This is also another reason why when I split wood I like to make squares or rectangles rather than more pie shaped. It stacks nicely for ends and also stacks nicely in the stove.


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## Cluttermagnet (May 1, 2010)

Here are a couple of photos of my pile of rounds lately. I haven't added any to this in about a week. Estimate 3.5 to 4.3 cords there, maybe closer to the lower number. Will be getting more next week. The goal is about 10-12 cords this year, split and stacked- if I have enough time. The neatly stacked stuff is Cherry, 2 years old. Theres about a 1/4 cord of mostly Red Oak splits on the end. Most of the rest is also Oak, with maybe another 1/3 cord of Yellow Poplar buried in there too.











The small pile of splits in the foreground are some Black Gum (probably). A neighbor gave me an odd piece about 36in long that was just laying in the woods across the street from them. I cut it in half and split it. I had heard terrible things about how difficult Gum supposedly is. These weren't too bad. BTW I'm trying to positively ID the wood. My Wood ID thread about Gum tree is here.  Please weigh in with your guess, if you can help.

Maybe a wood shed in the fall- finally.


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## Cluttermagnet (May 17, 2010)

I picked up another ~.62 cord of Red Oak deadwood this weekend. These are big and heavy rounds. Some are wet from ground contact, but the wood looks to be still pretty sound. I needed my 2x8 wood ramps to roll these up into the van.


There was room for more but I lost the light before I had it all loaded.






Easy to see that some of the rounds are pretty wet.






Everything to the left of the line is 'new'. Two courses by three levels.






If I can keep up a steady pace like this throughout the summer, I should end up with my three years supply by fall.


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## Cluttermagnet (May 17, 2010)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> Clutter, believe it or not, that wood will dry faster after being stacked!
> 
> To maximize the drying though, I'd stack it pretty darned loose and stack it so the wind hits the sides of the piles and not the ends. Also, leave plenty of room between each row; at least enough so you can walk through without turning sideways. Air flow is the key.


I'm listening to your experience, Dennis, and I'm modifying how I do things a little. In the past two years it has been too much narrow spaced stacks, side by side.

My 'Heap Hausen'® on 7x9ft of pallets I have only allowed to go to about 1ft height.




I won't make any really tall heaps of splits. I'm going to concentrate on doing the well- spaced stacks approach instead. I do like to spread the wood in thin layers on pallets if it's really wet, however. Then after a month or two of drying, move it to stacks.



*Heap Hausen*® is a registered trademark of Jags, Incorporated, Illinois, USA
 %-P


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## Jags (May 17, 2010)

Cluttermagnet said:
			
		

> Backwoods Savage said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Clutter - the old saying around these parts was "stack it so a squirrel can run through it, but the dog can't".  If you are in a race for wood, as Dennis stated, row stacking is your best bet.

Once you get plenty ahead, your heap hausen method will work, but only cuz you will have two or three years of drying time.

(I am still waiting for my first royalty check from coining the term Heap Hausen.  I ain't seen one yet >:-( )


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## Cluttermagnet (May 17, 2010)

Jags said:
			
		

> Clutter - the old saying around these parts was "stack it so a squirrel can run through it, but the dog can't".  If you are in a race for wood, as Dennis stated, row stacking is your best bet.


That puts stacking in a different light, Jags. My close- spaced stacks usually met the 'squirrel width' spacing, but definitely not the dog or human spacing. Often I would stack with cross member longer splits to tie these close- spaced rows solidly together (to lessen the risk of a stack tipping over). I can see how human width stack spacing would be best, or especially long, meandering, single stacks hugging fence lines, etc. BTW I'm keeping all my stacks low profile- 3-4ft max height. I have the room and I'm just trying to minimize visual impact on my neighbors- since I can.




> Once you get plenty ahead, your heap hausen method will work, but only cuz you will have two or three years of drying time.


Yeah, I'm starting to get it, so far as piles of splits. For unseasoned wood, that would only be expected to work well on a 3 year cycle, not with 'hand to mouth' (year to year) scrounging. I am harvesting near 100 percent deadwood. That helps, but big old Oak rounds are about as wet as live cut. I suspect they do season faster once they get split, but seems like some of them do need a full year.




> (I am still waiting for my first royalty check from coining the term Heap Hausen.  I ain't seen one yet >:-( )


Leave it to the ingenuity of the American farm boy. I laughed my aspen off when I first saw that. Kind of reminded me of Mike Meyer's "Dieter" character on "Saturday Night Live". The German tendency towards methodical precision is sometimes just too tempting a target for humor. ;-) 


> (Mike Meyers on SNL
> 
> "You may touch my monkey"
> 
> ...


 :lol:


P.S. I have some German ancestors so I guess I 'have a right...' 


*Heap Hausen*® is a registered trademark of Jags, Incorporated, Illinois, USA


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## Jags (May 17, 2010)

Cluttermagnet said:
			
		

> Jags said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Just to clarify - that is between splits not the rows themselves. (think air movement between splits)


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## Cluttermagnet (May 17, 2010)

Jags said:
			
		

> Just to clarify - that is between splits not the rows themselves. (think air movement between splits)


"I see" said the blind man.

"D'oh!" (Slaps self on forehead) :red:


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## Cluttermagnet (Jun 11, 2010)

I got lucky with a Craig's List ad recently. Homeowner had 3-4 cords of Red Oak from a tree that split and had to be taken down last winter. Probably had a trunk around 30-32in DBH. Long story short, I ended up with about 2 cords of it. The guy said he got 30 emails from his ad. He chose 3, and I was one of the lucky ones. Something about writing a good email, no doubt. I'm guessing he wanted to give it to someone who would actually use it, as opposed to turning it around and selling it.

I'm pretty tired from all the work. Took me a few days because it was all down a hill part ways and we had to bring it up in wheelbarrows with about a 15ft elevation gain. Basically, I got 4 van loads averaging about a half cord, plus/minus. This wood will be for the winter after next, 2011/12. It is still quite wet, as this was a live tree when it was felled. I've been spoiled by all the deadwood Red Oak I've been getting. Live wood makes you work twice as hard. Yikes! A little sore this week.

I'm closing in on my 3 year reserve, Dennis. May have it finally this year. ;-) 
Photos soon...


*Edit:* The homeowner was happy to see all the wood gone. He ended up offering me more wood- a pile of Oak rounds in his back yard. Looks like about 3/4 cord or so. Slightly punky in places but still looks like good, sound wood.

I'll have to do another estimate, but bet there is now 7-8 cords at my place. I'm getting close now to having that 3 year reserve, which would be 9-12 cords.


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## ironpony (Jun 11, 2010)

I call that stacking method the random squiggle......
heap hausen, huh........
hope we dont have any copyright infringment there
ill have the attorney do some checking.........


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## Cluttermagnet (Jun 12, 2010)

ironpony said:
			
		

> I call that stacking method the random squiggle......
> heap hausen, huh........
> hope we dont have any copyright infringment there
> ill have the attorney do some checking.........


I think Jags will let you slide on that. 

Do a forum search on "Holtz Hausen". After a while it will start to sink in, the humor behind "Heap Hausen". :lol:

*Heap Hausen*® is a registered trademark of Jags, Incorporated, Illinois, USA


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## Cluttermagnet (Jun 13, 2010)

Here are a few shots of my ~2 cords of Red Oak from a Craig's List
ad last week. This is a typical batch from that job, about 1/2 cord
loaded. It took several trips to get it all.

Note the wood handled cant hook, Dennis. ;-) 







All the small rounds and logs in the left side of the photo are new.
There is about 1/2 cord there. Visible in the upper RH corner is
another 1.5 cords from that batch.






This is that other ~1.5 cords of it.






This wood was cut green this past winter. It is very wet and heavy. I had to work extra hard for this batch. It was harder to split by hand, and harder to move uphill 15ft in elevation. My muscles are telling me just how true the old saying is: "Wood heats you three times..." Yeah, right. More like 7-8-9 times, I'd say. This is too much like work.  Deadwood Oak is ever so much easier to work with. BTW this batch is for winter 2011-12 or later, and I'm zeroing in towards my goal of 3 years supply on hand, Dennis. Still a lot of splitting to get done in the next month.


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## oldspark (Jun 13, 2010)

Loading wood in a van has got to be a PITA compared to a pickup?


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## Cluttermagnet (Jun 13, 2010)

oldspark said:
			
		

> Loading wood in a van has got to be a PITA compared to a pickup?


That's a good question. I have only a little experience with pickups. Helped a guy load one time. Splits, loose tossed. It was fairly easy. He had *no * rear window protection, made me nervous.

With my van, mostly it's rounds or big splits (halves and quarters). Heavy. I end up having to do some crawling around and grunting as I more or less stack them. There is a double, side- access cargo door, helps greatly. Yeah, probably it's harder than a pickup where you can get at 3 sides of that bed. Or with side rails, just toss.

OTOH with a 1-ton van, I can haul more than most pickups can handle- up to a cord or so. I got a real good price on the van. It doubles as a part time work truck. I love it, despite the drawbacks. Started out as a plumber's truck. Has the extra heavy duty suspension. Those guys often haul concrete rubble from basement rough ins. Truck has to be tough.


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## Jags (Jun 14, 2010)

That looks to be a pretty nice pile of heat.  Get it off the ground, split, stacked and in full sun and wind.  Thats your best bet on getting it dried up and burnable.


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## Cluttermagnet (Jun 17, 2010)

OMG it's positively raining firewood here. We had a second Red Oak in our yard, dead a couple of years, and a tree service guy has been asking me if he could take it down since last year. He was in my neighborhood the other day doing another job and asked again. His price was so good I said to go ahead. Three hours later they got that other job done and started mine. It went well and within a couple of hours it was all safely on the ground. I got a good price because I take care of all cleanup, including all branches. I think everyone was happy. They did saw mostly through the biggest trunk sections on the ground for me. This helped greatly the next day when I went out and used a wedge and carefully finished all the cuts without burying the nose of my saw in the ground. My results exceeded my expectations; it went pretty fast and easy. I had thought I'd have to get a helper on the big stuff.

So now I have probably another 3+ cords or so of Red Oak. It was about 30in +/- DBH, and around 100ft tall. That puts me up around 10-12 cords on site, so I have now met my goal of 3 years wood on hand, Dennis. Next comes all the processing, probably a couple of days splitting to get it all done.






This is more wood for winter 2011/12 and later. Fortunately, I do already have enough wood seasoned to get me through 2010/11 at this point.


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## Cluttermagnet (Jun 19, 2010)

Cut apart- these are very solid and straight grained, but there's about
an inch that is punky, most places. Bark was starting to fall off in 
places. Some kind of borers may have killed this tree, but so far no
evidence of them anywhere deeper than an inch or so. This stuff splits
like a dream. "Red Oak- the anti-Elm"

Oh- turns out the tree was 26in DBH.






They hit the White Oak when the main trunk section came down.
I sprayed it with asphalt-based tree wound compound where the
bark got knocked off. Hope I did the right thing. I want to
discourage any bugs from attacking that tree.


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## Cluttermagnet (Jun 21, 2010)

Have been busy lately, so I'm just taking my time with these Oak
rounds. I split up about half of them recently. Very straight grained,
about the best I've seen. They pretty much pop apart after I drive
two wedges and then my torpedo through the middle. This is going
to be some great BTU's, winter after next.





This is much easier splitting than the ~2 cords of Oak from a
Craig's List ad, mentioned above. That stuff was knotty and twisty
enough to make splitting much more of a pain.


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## Cluttermagnet (Jun 21, 2010)

Jags said:
			
		

> That looks to be a pretty nice pile of heat.  Get it off the ground, split, stacked and in full sun and wind.  Thats your best bet on getting it dried up and burnable.


Yep. Well, Jags, I've accumulated enough wood now that I can plan for these to sit around and season for 18 months at least, after splitting. I have enough other wood that is (or will be) well seasoned for winter 2010-11. So I'm real close to being 3 years out ahead, as Dennis recommends. I just need to get all that splitting done now.


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## SolarAndWood (Jun 21, 2010)

Gotta love those nice big straight rounds.  Although, it kind of sucks to lose a tree like that.


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## Cluttermagnet (Jul 3, 2010)

Friday I got some time off so I spent the entire day moving wood around, splitting, stacking, and setting up a few more pallets for all the splits that I'll soon have. I got my storage area a lot neater and more organized. Looks way better than it did. Also got all of the brush, bark, branches, and rounds from the dead Red Oak we took down 'organized' and out of the way.

I hand split about a half cord of Red Oak, smaller rounds from branches from that dead Oak. Looks like that tree yielded 2 to 2.5 cords or so. Here's an estimator for http://www.extension.iastate.edu/forestry/publications/F-338.pdf]cordage vs. diameter[/url] (.pdf) It agrees with what I calculate from the piles and stacks I have.

I made a new list of all my stacks and piles, and it looks like I have 11+ cords on site, so I have met my goal of 3 year's supply. Thanks for the inspiration and encouragement, Dennis. Many rounds still need splitting at this point. I think the neighbor will be borrowing that 20 ton hydraulic splitter again pretty soon, so I'll get my hands on it too.

I'll post more photos later.


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## Cluttermagnet (Jul 18, 2010)

Cluttermagnet said:
			
		

> *Edit:* The homeowner was happy to see all the wood gone. He ended up offering me more wood- a pile of Oak rounds in his back yard. Looks like about 3/4 cord or so. Slightly punky in places but still looks like good, sound wood.


I just picked up that batch of wood this past Friday. Every piece had to be brought up 15ft in elevation from the back yard, but it was worth it. It's another batch of Red Oak, and looks just beautiful when split. I got somewhere between 0.8 and 1 cord. This is the first time I had the van so full I had to rope the back doors partly open because my wheelbarrow wouldn't quite fit.

I used my hand truck mostly, instead of the wheelbarrow- got the idea from one of you guys in the Forum. I enjoy seeing all the photos of other folks' setups. I learn a lot from that.

This stuff is from a tree knocked over by Hurricane Isabel in 2004. It was stacked as rounds, not split first. It does seem a good bit drier than the stuff cut (green) this past January, from my Craig's List score. I have a hunch that some of this batch may be burnable late this coming winter 2010-11.

The USB interface on my camera has gone flaky on me. Time for a new camera. I did take photos- will post them whenever I can pull those shots from the memory card.

Thanks for all the inspiration, Dennis. I must be up to 11-12 cords on site now.



P.S. A few days ago I finally got some time to get my saw out and
process this half cord or so of log length (2-6ft) on the left into
ready to split rounds- plus another ~1/4 cord shown in the 2nd
photo on the left.











Now comes some serious splitting this next month, somewhere
around 8 cords all at once.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jul 18, 2010)

Thanks Clutter. Somehow I missed all the posts on this thread after I left for the trip and neglected to look at it when I got back. Your can't hook looks like a twin to ours. 

I agree, it is a great feeling when you get ahead with the firewood. It is a feeling which cannot be properly stated unless one experiences it themselves. To me it is like (or now even better) than money in the bank. When you look at the wood pile it is like having extra dollars set aside and you know that in an emergency, you can use it. Like what might happen if you can't get some wood for a while due to a sickness, injury or whatever. You have the wood so you are covered. In addition, you have the benefit of burning good dry wood which means better fires and you will use less wood in the long run. My congratulations to you. May you surpass me in the size of your woodpile!


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## Cluttermagnet (Jul 19, 2010)

Cluttermagnet said:
			
		

> ...This stuff is from a tree knocked over by Hurricane Isabel in 2004. It was stacked as rounds, not split first. It does seem a good bit drier than the stuff cut (green) this past January, from my Craig's List score. I have a hunch that some of this batch may be burnable late this coming winter 2010-11.


I tried splitting a bunch of these rounds with my 6lb maul, stuff up to about 8-9in diameter. The wood was well checked, with splits clean through in many cases. I generated maybe 1/6 cord or so in this session. Turns out that nearly all of this smaller wood is going to be burnable this winter. Heck, some of it could be burned starting as early as shoulder season this fall.

I sorted it into two small stacks of splits- burn right away and burn towards late winter, as some of it felt slightly moist after splitting. But the beauty of it is that a lot of it feels pretty much bone dry, and clanks just like a baseball bat sounds. About 60-70 percent of these small rounds were 'burn now'.

I'm sure that a lot of the bigger stuff, some over 24in diameter, will need a year to finish seasoning- but the point is that the wood did season some for sure, even though stacked as big rounds for 6 years.



Turns out that a lot of the top branches from my dead Red Oak tree are also 'burn now'. I'm taking the extra time and effort to keep track of what's what and funneling this fully seasoned wood to my wood cribs for burning this winter, probably late in the season. 6-8 cords here will get 1-2 more years to season.

Maybe now I'll build a woodshed in the fall. You guys with all your new woodsheds are really inspiring me. Meanwhile, I'm sitting on a large supply of 2by lumber I've been scrounging free this past year. I've now got near enough scrounged plywood and OSB for a roof...


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## thewoodlands (Jul 19, 2010)

Cluttermagnet said:
			
		

> Have been busy lately, so I'm just taking my time with these Oak
> rounds. I split up about half of them recently. Very straight grained,
> about the best I've seen. They pretty much pop apart after I drive
> two wedges and then my torpedo through the middle. This is going
> ...



Cluttertmagnet I've never found one oak on our property then the other day I found one oak leaf outside the house next to the driveway, I did some seaching but no luck finding it yet.

zap


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## Cluttermagnet (Jul 20, 2010)

Well, the Cherry wood just about makes up for that, Zap. That Oak leaf probably got tracked in- they can ride a while stuck to the sole of your shoe, blow into a pickup bed, etc.


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## Cluttermagnet (Dec 15, 2010)

I finally got a few days use on a hydraulic splitter the neighbor had for a while. Virtually all of my big piles of rounds are now split. There were still a few remaining when I had to give back the splitter, but I sure did go through a mountain of wood in three days.

There was a thread a while back about which phase of wood processing members least like. Well, for me it has to be machine splitting. Three days of that just left me tired beyond words. OTOH while I like manual splitting, I really doubt I could ever have worked my way through that much tough, green wood as I had built up this year.

I now have most of it stacked. All that nice Red Oak shown earlier in this thread is now in neat cubes of wood with lots of airways intentionally left between splits. I listened to Dennis and Jags and others and increased my row spacing wherever possible- also got intentionally more sloppy stacking individual splits. I used to fit 'em tight like a 3D jigsaw puzzle. No more. I'm trying to let 'em breathe, these days.

Earlier I estimated about 11 cords on site. It now looks like that was a little optimistic. Maybe it's more like 9+ cords right now. Is that a 3 year supply for me? I'm not yet sure, but my estimate is still 3 cords per year, so 'maybe'. I sure do want to reach and then maintain that 3 year reserve Dennis recommends.


*Edit: * I'm remembering where some of the wood gathered this past summer went. Probably the 'missing' ~2 cord difference between 9 cords and 11 cords is the smaller stuff that got hand split and stacked on my older pallets along with the seasoned stuff for this year. Things move around a lot during the year and I don't keep maps or lists like some do- so I soon forget where stuff is.


			
				Cluttermagnet said:
			
		

> Cluttermagnet said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I shove the drier stuff into this year's stacks and lose track of where it went.


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## Cluttermagnet (Dec 15, 2010)

Behind the Holly and to the left: Splits from deadwood Oak,
7 rows, ~1 cord. This is all hand split.
To the right: Three rectangular 'cubes' of Oak, 42x96in, about 3.5ft tall.
Each 'cube' holds about 0.8 cord of Red Oak.
Not shown is another ~half cord of Yellow (Tulip) Poplar splits
from the same batch that just got processed.
In the foreground is my chunky wood crib for odds and ends.







This view shows more clearly the spacing between the three pallets.







This freshly split wood is going to need a year or two to season.
The deadwood splits are ready now or by late winter this year.







This was a heck of a lot of work splitting what turned out to be only around 3 green cords- but there's plenty more deadwood where that other batch of deadwood came from.  Anyway, I prefer hand splitting that stuff to machine splitting the green stuff any day! I can hand split any time I feel like it- no deadline to return my maul to the rental place.


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## jlove1974 (Dec 15, 2010)

Looks good!
Although, when I stack on pallets, I try to leave at least 6-8 inches between two rows on each pallet for airspace. Otherwise the middle never will season (well, ok it will season in 3 years). 

Although stacked tight like that on each pallet would let you move it around with a lift pretty easy.
Let us know how that stuff is in 18 months. Do you have a moisture meter?


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## Cluttermagnet (Dec 15, 2010)

Yes, I have one of the cheapie Harbor Freight meters. Will look at MC from time to time. I'm not expecting miracles on seasoning. This stuff may or may not be ready for winter 2011. I figure more like two years. I have enough of the deadwood Oak to fall back on, and can get enough of that from year to year. One year tops for the wettest of that stuff to be ready. I'd just as soon stay away from green wood anyway, but I'm going to take it however it comes available.

Agree that I could have allowed a little more space between stacks. What may happen is that it gets stacked again if I ever build my woodshed- maybe in the shed, maybe in single rows along the property line. Just wanted to get it neatened up after all the splitting. It didn't look so good laying around in random piles. Possibly a bit unsightly to some of the neighbors? OTOH one adjoining neighbor was soon asking me about buying some. Apparently that amount of wood looks to him like a 'surplus'. ;-)

The one thing I'll add for now is top covering with tarps. Some of this wood was punky. Don't want it constantly getting rewetted by rain. Did at least try to leave lots of air space between individual splits. I think it was the fact that the tree guys cut this stuff into all sorts of different lengths that led to the stupid 'cubes'. I felt I had to do a lot of crisscross lays and a lot of overlapping to keep it all level and stable. What I really wanted was two neat rows per pallet. See the 1st photo showing space between each deadwood stack on the left side. Like that. You'll notice I split all the deadwood smaller. Most of it is perfectly good to go in  0 to 6 months.


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## jlove1974 (Dec 15, 2010)

You're definitely gonna be pushing it to season any oak in a years time....


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## Cluttermagnet (Dec 15, 2010)

jlove1974 said:
			
		

> You're definitely gonna be pushing it to season any oak in a years time....


Definitely! 2-3 years is more realistic. *But * when dealing with deadwood Oak, if it's already seasoned, MC already where it belongs, you can 'burn it now'- and I have many times. Nice hot fires, no sizzling, zero visible smoke. Oh, and very minimal creosote formation in the chimney, BTW.

In practice, I've seen the vast majority of the deadwood Red Oak I processed need 0 to 12 months to be ready. It looks a lot like a bell curve, with most of it finished in 3-9 months, in my experience. Keep in mind I'm splitting that stuff pretty small- picture 3-4-5in faces on many of them.


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## Cluttermagnet (Jul 12, 2011)

Well, the 'firewood tree' that started this thread gave out on me. No more splits just laying around waiting to be picked up. OTOH I can go pull deadwood out of my friend's woods pretty much as needed- I just have to cut it up from log length. Those old splits burned real nice last winter BTW.

The main thrust of my current efforts is to try to build up a 3 year supply, as Dennis recommends. Also, each year I try to harvest enough deadwood to keep me going for the coming winter. I probably already have more than enough for this coming winter, except that a good part of it is Oak that's going to need another year to really be seasoned right. Last winter was a pretty high BTU season. I burned more than expected.

I just started harvesting again this past week. This is a later start to the wood gathering this year. So far I got a half cord of deadwood Cherry, then another smaller load, maybe a quarter cord of Cherry and Red Oak combined. My buddy pulled a few trees out next to the lane for me with his tractor. Sure makes it a lot easier, having to work in this hot weather.







Cherry wood. This will definitely be ready for this winter.







I got just over a half cord, this outing.







Stacked for splitting. The cube of Cherry rounds in the center
measured about 0.52 cord.







Deadwood Red Oak. Definitely will not be ready this winter.
This stuff is real wet.







About a quarter cord of Oak and Cherry. I forgot my ramp and
had to leave a bunch of bigger Oak rounds for next trip. Note to
self: Make an equipment checklist. Use it!
That Red Oak runs around 14-18in diameter. Those larger rounds
are too heavy to risk my back on. I'll get them next trip.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jul 12, 2011)

Mighty fine! As for the forgetting of tools, I seem to have become a professional at that lately so you are not alone. Yesterday I went to the pond to start getting water for the fruit trees and bushes. Well, it took me 3 trips to get everything together... Geeze, I used to really give the kids a tough time for doing dumb things like that. If memory serves me, I first forgot my boots and something to get water for priming the pump. Second trip, I got the cup for priming the pump (yes, forgot it again). Third trip was to come back for some gas to run the pump. One might say that was not one of my better days.


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## woodchip (Jul 12, 2011)

Cluttermagnet said:
			
		

> Splits just fall to the ground in Autumn. As it is, lots of stuff just lays around decomposing.



Not much decomposes near my place.......

but then, I don't have a mate who owns woodland with self splitting trees  ;-)


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## woodchip (Jul 12, 2011)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> Third trip was to come back for some gas to run the pump. One might say that was not one of my better days.



We all come to it eventually, it's called getting older.

Some start practising younger than others  ;-)


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## Cluttermagnet (Jul 13, 2011)

Right. Well, this friend had briefly been set up to split and sell firewood. Another friend of mine bought some, on my recommendation. It was great stuff- lots of good Oak and some Hickory, too. Anyway, that friend later decided he didn't want to sell firewood any more, so he made me welcome to harvest at his place, and those splits just laying around were part of it all. He burned firewood for years himself, but just got tired of it. I'm so new to it that my enthusiasm is still very high. Besides, I sure need the exercise. I'm starting to get a little pudgy around the waist. ;-) 



			
				woodchip said:
			
		

> Cluttermagnet said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Backwoods Savage (Jul 13, 2011)

woodchip said:
			
		

> Backwoods Savage said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I guess it is like a neighbor of ours says. Why do a job right the first time? Do it over and you get more practice....


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## Cluttermagnet (Jul 13, 2011)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> woodchip said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I'm going to remember my ramp today- and maybe even the gas can. ;-)


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## Cluttermagnet (Jul 28, 2011)

That pile from a couple of weeks ago grew to about 1.5 cords before I took the week off from wood cutting
due to the extreme heat. It's gotten a lot better this week. Will probably cut some more in the next few days.
Everything I'm taking is deadwood.







About 1.5 cords- on the left side is Locust, on the right some Cherry.






On the back right corner, those last 3 courses are White Oak. In an earlier
post I had mis-identified that wood as Red Oak- but it later became clear
from the bark that it is really White Oak. My friend looked at it and agrees
it's White Oak.






In this view, the right corner is some more Cherry, left corner is the White
Oak. The Cherry was the most dry of all the wood. I think most of this will
burn great this coming winter, except the Oak, of course. I'll give that 1-2
years after splitting. It was pretty wet.


BTW here's an interesting fact from that very interesting list we saw on this forum recently:


> 67 * The only species of wood that can be used for holding liquids {other than acids} is White Oak {Quercus alba}. This is because the pores are filled with tyloses. This substance does not allow liquids to penetrate it. It is used to make barrels for Whiskey, Sherry and in general for ageing fine wines. Hence, one of its names is Stave Oak.
> 
> http://www.morlanwoodgifts.com/MM011.ASP?pageno=76


Yep, that pretty much explains why White Oak has such a bad rep for seasoning.


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## PapaDave (Jul 28, 2011)

You are really on a mission....and gettin' it done! 
I'm curious to know how well the stuff that's stacked close together dries. Dennis (and others) does this as well. Perhaps it dries so well just because of the time involved and/or the fact that some of what you're getting is dead already (ie:at least partially dry).
I prefer, and have the room, to stack in long rows to maximize sun and wind exposure. What ever works is good. :coolsmile:


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## Backwoods Savage (Jul 28, 2011)

Dave, you are right and if we did not have the time then we would stack in single rows. I've stacked in single, double, triple and more. I think the most rows I ever stacked together was around 25-30 or somewhere in that area. It all had plenty of time to dry and was all good. However, I don't normally stack that much together but won't hesitate if the need arises. 


Clutter, you are right about dragging those logs out with the tractor. Saves a lot of work but just beware of dirt on the log. You can always roll the log over and scrape the dirt off before cutting so you won't have to spend so much time sharpening the chain. A wire brush works great for this.


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## Cluttermagnet (Jul 29, 2011)

Thanks, guys. Well, of course I'll be splitting all of that 1.5 cords of rounds very soon now. When I stack, you all now have me 'trained' to automatically allow a little breathing space between courses of wood. In time I think I'll get more into the practice of running a single stack all along the property line. For now, it's more like 'cubes' on pallets, but with at least some room between rows. In the photos above you can also see some of those rows of splits in the background. I have maybe 4-6 inches between those rows, accomplished with longer pieces that reach out to touch the next row, placed randomly as I stack.

If you refer back one page, those bigger 'cubes' of Red Oak were put up with criss cross stacking through and through- also there are spaces between the three cubes. I suspect that pile is able to breathe pretty good actually, just not as good as single rows do.


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## Cluttermagnet (Jul 29, 2011)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> Clutter, you are right about dragging those logs out with the tractor. Saves a lot of work but just beware of dirt on the log. You can always roll the log over and scrape the dirt off before cutting so you won't have to spend so much time sharpening the chain. A wire brush works great for this.



You're right, Dennis. One tree still left there, probably a Red Oak, was actually dragged out of the creek. I use sticks and a wire brush to clean it up and try to minimize the damage to my cutters. Still, I do see the occasional sparks fly, and I know it's hard on the chain. I plan to have to sharpen a little more often when I work with the ground contact stuff.

OTOH that old Locust I pulled out of there was horizontal but mostly off the ground, and it was just beautiful wood in every sense. Not very difficult to cut it up because it was clean and dry, with the bark mostly gone.


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## Cluttermagnet (Sep 22, 2012)

PapaDave said:


> You are really on a mission....and gettin' it done!
> I'm curious to know how well the stuff that's stacked close together dries. Dennis (and others) does this as well. Perhaps it dries so well just because of the time involved and/or the fact that some of what you're getting is dead already (ie:at least partially dry).
> I prefer, and have the room, to stack in long rows to maximize sun and wind exposure. What ever works is good. :coolsmile:


 
PapaDave-

It's been two years now, and I will probably try a little of the wood from those 'cubes' this season. It's a nice feeling to know that I have enough seasoned for the coming winter. In fact, I'm probably somewhere between 2-3 years ahead. We keep having cold spells and I burn more than expected.


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