About to score a lot of wood...

[georgepds]

I have heard of them and I know someone who has one. They like it but my question is how long did it take you? May be less effort, but if it isn't fast, it may not be worth the effort given the amount of wood I have to process.
Thanks!

Well..depends on. the piece..usually 4 to 8 strokes of the pump handle... sometimes only one... say 10 to 30 seconds

 

[HisTreeNut]

Here is the last few days of splitting by the mighty, mighty Fiskars. Waiting for the rain to subside so we can stack it.
This was Monday's work.

This was Tuesday's work except for maybe half a row of it.

Love my Fiskars! ! ! I will admit the arms are a little sore today.

 

[Soundchasm]

Quick pict on my way out the door this morning.View attachment 178555
Made quick work of the pine. As they started on the other trees, the wifey said she couldn't watch. The way the guys were jumping from branch to branch made her queasy.

More pictures to come...

You've probably got everything cleaned up by now, but I worked a large limb this year (28"), and I found it very helpful to take a tape measure and spray paint can and measure my desired 16" lengths. That could also help anybody else on the job for one day know what you're after.

 

[Soundchasm]

When the first tree fell due to the storm why did you call the insurance company? The photo's made it look like there was no real damage other than a few other tree's being taken out? I wouldn't want my insurance co to raise my rates for something I could easily take care of, the less they are involved the better off we all are. My old times next door neighbor told me a good rule of thumb when dealing with insurance, if the damage is less than $10,000.00 don't call them unless someone was injured. That price seems a little high but with the rate increase and there mountains of paperwork / quotes, its easier to bite the bullet, atleast in NJ

I've read some very good threads here concerning insurance. Based on a storm we had here around 2010, what I found out is that they can't raise rates for a single customer and that it's done by region. They also can't "drop" you either. What they do is "decline to renew" the policy. Then you're uninsured, of course. There is evidence to support that insurance claims are strongly tied to individual addresses. If a property has had past claims, it's likely to have future claims. That could make for tough sledding when trying to buy a policy with a new company. So I view filing a claim as a last resort.

What I have seen with my own eyes is my insurance company driving around my property taking pictures. They very likely see you more often than you see them!

 

[HisTreeNut]

You've probably got everything cleaned up by now, but I worked a large limb this year (28"), and I found it very helpful to take a tape measure and spray paint can and measure my desired 16" lengths. That could also help anybody else on the job for one day know what you're after.

Got a lot of the smaller stuff done, but still have a lot larger stuff to go. Rearranging the wood stacks because we just do not have enough room.
On the positive side, I may have found 2 free sources of wood. Lots to chop, but life is good with lots of free wood. I will have to remember the paint idea...pretty good one there.

 

[Soundchasm]

Got a lot of the smaller stuff done, but still have a lot larger stuff to go. Rearranging the wood stacks because we just do not have enough room.
On the positive side, I may have found 2 free sources of wood. Lots to chop, but life is good with lots of free wood. I will have to remember the paint idea...pretty good one there.

Fingers crossed on the new source. One advantage to having marked the downed tree is that you can cut from either end or even start in the center w/o worrying about your measurements. I felt a little silly marking the long limb since my saw is 16", but the middle crushed a wire fence and dead center was the LAST place I was able to cut. So I was able to cut with confidence anywhere I could get an angle as things became more manageable.

 

[HisTreeNut]

Just a small update. Have most of the wood stacked and just some residual wood to split. Spent the day with the chainsaw cutting all the large branches. The yard looks like a yard again, which the wifey is grateful for.

This is 12 of the pallets...and my son's make-shift bike ramps.
All total, I have 15 pallets of wood stacked just shy of 6' high from the trees we cut down and from the one that fell. About 9 softwoods and 6 hardwoods. With the large branches, the ugly rounds and "Y" pieces I have not processed yet, I will probably get another 2 pallets of wood, bringing the total to 10 and 6. I have about 7 pallets stacked already for this year & next year...so I think I have about 3 year's worth...Woo-Hoo! ! ! Just need to convince the wifey to move this year's stacks so it is all together. Probably not going to happen, but I can dream.
Funny thing, there is a major highway project going in near us and the wifey said as we drove by the trees that were cut down that have not been removed yet, "I wish we had a place to stack more wood, we could use all this.". Then she said, " I see why you watch for wood...it really is an obsession."
I said, "Yeah it is, but it's a good obsession to have." I smiled and thought, "She is coming over to the dark side of the wood force..."

 

[kennyp2339]

You sure have been busy, nice work!!

 

[HisTreeNut]

You sure have been busy, nice work!!

Thanks! My older brother came for a visit and rented a splitter which helped a lot. And the kiddos helped stack the wood.
Group effort here.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Lots of good work. I also learned that as long as my "work area is clean" my wife does not care about amount of wood in yard. This pic I just took is telling me I need to clean up the splitting area ( to the left in pic). Cannot blame her...I like it better when it's neat too.