# 33 Cords



## Eric Johnson (Nov 23, 2007)

View out the barn attic window this morning. Another ten cords in the barn.

You can see the clothesline near the top of the shot. I ran out of room. The clothesline is sunk into concrete bases, so I'm not going to move it. Sometimes you gotta compromise with other family members.


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## BrotherBart (Nov 23, 2007)

"Hi. Doctor Phil?"

"I have this Internet friend in New York state and..."


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## abj1969 (Nov 23, 2007)

man thats alot of wood.


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## glassmanjpf (Nov 24, 2007)

I'm jealous!  Compared to my 7.


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## Corie (Nov 24, 2007)

You're a bad, bad, bad man Eric.


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## kevinmoelk (Nov 24, 2007)

WOW


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## Eric Johnson (Nov 24, 2007)

Corie said:
			
		

> You're a bad, bad, bad man Eric.



But warm.

This is what you get when you cut a tank and haul a load every day after work. Actually, in my case, three days a week. If you plug away at it, eventually you don't even really notice.


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## rdrcr56 (Nov 24, 2007)

Dang! your one busy beaver.


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## sgcsalsero (Nov 24, 2007)

ALL hand split if I remember correctly . . yep that is really impressive


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## WILDSOURDOUGH (Nov 25, 2007)

Very nice Eric...
But you might want to put a securty fence/system up- with the price of oil/wood- there might be some that think 'aw- he won't miss a cord or two'. :ahhh: 

Save some for the rest of NY !


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## scfa99 (Nov 27, 2007)

thats some gold in them thar hills.  

in all seriousness, I can never post pics of my 6-8 cord wood pile after seeing that, that, that PILE of sweet warmth.


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## Eric Johnson (Nov 27, 2007)

Wildsourdough said:
			
		

> Very nice Eric...
> But you might want to put a securty fence/system up- with the price of oil/wood- there might be some that think 'aw- he won't miss a cord or two'. :ahhh:
> 
> Save some for the rest of NY !



I've got a couple of junkyard dogs living in that pile.

Actually, there's plenty more where that came from. I'm in the process of thinning out part of the company property that was basically abused in past decades and now it's mostly beech. I'm leaving all the maple, yellow birch and black cherry, which will hopefully start to make up a greater share of the species mix on the stand. But the beech is pretty hard to eradicate. I've got about 15 acres done, and there's plenty more to go. And the part I started on 3 years ago could really be hit again--I was a little timid at first, and left more beech than necessary. It's a weed from a timber point of view, but great firewood.

Just a rough guess here, but I'd estimate that I'm getting about 5 cords per acre. I've been doing 4-5 acres a year. This summer I cut about 30 tanks or roughly 15 cords. Had to cut back because the new boiler should burn a lot less wood, and I'm obviously about out of room to store it.


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## Eric Johnson (Nov 27, 2007)

Here's what it's supposed to look like when it's done.


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## Eric Johnson (Nov 27, 2007)

One more without the snow.


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## WILDSOURDOUGH (Nov 28, 2007)

Beech is a very good burner. Alot of people don't usually want that (scrub) Black cherry, well around here anyway. Looks like (from the second picture) you are doing a really nice thining and selecting of that lot- you can always 'see' when someone cares about the finished product. Well done.
I read those 'west coasters' postings last night- talking about all they had was 'doug fir, aspen, pines of various names'-
I had to laugh, talking about UPS shipping cost for a nice cord of HARDWOOD !  :ahhh:


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## Eric Johnson (Nov 28, 2007)

Thanks for your interest. The Adirondacks are similar to northern NH in some ways. Unfortunately, the "best" trees on that particular site aren't all that great. The site better suited to yellow birch than hard maple and cherry, and they've been picked over pretty good, not to mention all the mechanical damage from careless skidding. So, I'm leaving the best and cutting the rest, but it still looks like a high-grade in places. You do the best you can with what you've got. I am encouraged to see some nice cherry seedlings popping up any place there's a mature standing cherry. It's pretty satisfying to compare the thinned areas from those that aren't, especially after a couple of years when the slash dies down.


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## Hbbyloggr (Nov 28, 2007)

Nice to see the rewards of the hard work, Eric. You have the Bank, Insurance Co, and Gold's Gym right in your back yard. Now all you need is a nicely restored JD 440 C in the picture and you would be in heaven.

When was the last time you burned any Oil or other fuel?

We had " Family Day" Last weekend and put up 12.5 cord cut, split and stacked. One more session this weekend and we will be in pretty good shape for the NH winter.

Hbbyloggr


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## Eric Johnson (Nov 28, 2007)

A couple of weeks ago I had to take a trip up to Maine and I hadn't shown my wife how to work the EKO yet, so I turned on the gas boiler and electric hot water heater. Now that she knows how to fill the boiler, we're pretty much up to speed. Funny thing, our last utility bill was so low that she paid it twice. So now we've got a credit with National Grid. That's the first (and hopefully the only) time that's ever happened.

Still use the gas dryer. I have to maintain the connection (and the monthly service fee) for those times when we're out of town and can't tend the stove. That's probably the only good thing about oil vs natural gas.


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## thephotohound (Nov 28, 2007)

Eric -

You've probably already answered this, but do you buck and split right there in the bush? Do you make paths so you can drive your truck into the woods with you?


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## Eric Johnson (Nov 28, 2007)

I buck the blocks after felling the trees, then leave them there until the following summer, when I haul them home and split them. The woodlot I'm working on is full of old roads and skidder trails, but I do spend a fair amount of time clearing brush and slash and cutting down stumps so that I can drive right up to where most of the wood is laying. So it's an integrated operation--cutting a tank of new wood and hauling a load from the year before. Takes about an hour and a half, on average, after work. One advantage is that the older wood is usually much lighter, which means I can average a third of a cord per load. So if I do that three days a week, by the weekend I've got a cord to split up and stack. The year-old wood also splits a lot easier than green stuff. One disadvantage is that it stains laying there unsplit on the ground, so it tends to look pretty crappy by the time I get it stacked.

Keeps me in shape, keeps the bills down and the family warm and benefits the woodlot. There's no downside that I can see, except for the occasional sore back.


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## WOODBUTCHER (Dec 7, 2007)

WHEW! Thats some money in the bank........lots of hard work you got there.......you dont have to worry about drying your laundry now.
Happy Holidays!

The WoodButcher


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## iceman (Dec 9, 2007)

oh geez i thought hog had a good pile with a drive thru ... what was i thinking


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## webbie (Dec 9, 2007)

I really should have made Eric the HARD one to beat in the woodchopping game, but I was not thinking!


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## johnnywarm (Feb 25, 2008)

Eric Johnson said:
			
		

> View out the barn attic window this morning. Another ten cords in the barn.
> 
> You can see the clothesline near the top of the shot. I ran out of room. The clothesline is sunk into concrete bases, so I'm not going to move it. Sometimes you gotta compromise with other family members.




Eric

I'm starting a wood pile next week. Do you recommend Covering the pile or not?


Thank you JW


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## lpp5855 (Jan 25, 2012)

I saw Firefighterjake's thread about missing member's and remembered the post that got me interested in this forum!  At the time, I remember thinking to myself, "How crazy, obsessed, and WARM, is this Eric guy!!"   Thanks to all who share their experiences to help others.


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## Jags (Jan 25, 2012)

That view was from the second story of his house.  Could you imagine how massive that pile would be standing next to it?  I have seen pics of large scale firewood sellers piles, but this was just Eric, and for his own personal use.


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## BrotherBart (Jan 25, 2012)

Jags said:
			
		

> That view was from the second story of his house.  Could you imagine how massive that pile would be standing next to it?  I have seen pics of large scale firewood sellers piles, but this was just Eric, and for his own personal use.



That in the pic plus ten cord in the barn.


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## firebroad (Jan 25, 2012)

Well.  I'm impressed.  I've never seen over-achieving extend to firewood hoarding.  I will NEVER post a picture of my puny 2.5 cords again... :red:


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## GAMMA RAY (Jan 25, 2012)

I would love to see all that wood in my backyard....chit...if that ain't wood porn then I don't know what is... :ahhh: 
That is a lot of hard work...


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## PapaDave (Jan 26, 2012)

firebroad said:
			
		

> Well.  I'm impressed.  I've never seen over-achieving extend to firewood hoarding.  I will NEVER post a picture of my puny 2.5 cords again... :red:



Ah, but this is not hoarding. It all gets used.
Hoarders hang onto stuff, but don't use it.
Gamma, anything is possible, eh?!


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## SolarAndWood (Jan 26, 2012)

lol, I remember when I thought Eric was nuts.


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## bogydave (Jan 26, 2012)

Impressive.
Better than a gym membership, this pays you back in $$.
Proves that hard work pays off.
Great pics.
If you had a normal winter, how much do yo go thru per season?


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## nate379 (Jan 26, 2012)

I wish good wood like beech grew like a weed here!  We get "awesome" Cottonwood as a weed tree.


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## rkshed (Jan 26, 2012)

Nice work!
Its nice to hear someone that puts thought into his cutting.


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## ironpony (Jan 26, 2012)

looks a little like my pellet stash, 22 tons


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## Backwoods Savage (Jan 26, 2012)

I miss Eric's posts. And I also remember seeing his wood stacks then wondering why folks thought I had so much wood....


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## GAMMA RAY (Jan 27, 2012)

PapaDave said:
			
		

> Ah, but this is not hoarding. It all gets used.
> Hoarders hang onto stuff, but don't use it




That is what Mr Gamma says in reference to his hoarding of "building materials."  >:-(  :lol:


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## Dix (Jan 28, 2012)

Wow, been awhile since I saw those pics.

We gots some work to do !


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## oakmando (Feb 6, 2012)

It is satisfying indeed.  I've been working on my 130 acre woodlot for 16 years now.  The 10 acre pine stands that I thinned 10 and 15 years ago, now are stocked with straight well spaced pines and oak and maple seedlings are shooting up in between.   They are getting 20 to 30 feet in some cases, straight and tall with the pine canopy naturally pruning all the lower branches.  There are going to be some nice oaks in those stands in a couple generations, I hope whoever is around here then appreciates it.  I cut about 10 cords of oak so far since the end of deer season just thinning the oak stands from leaners, scarred butts, etc.  I had a so called improvement harvest done 12 years ago and they were not too careful.  Nothing like being retired and spending your days in the woods!


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