Intheswamp's wood "getting"....it's getting too hot to get wood!!!

[Intheswamp]

Here's a shot of the scrounge from the clear-cut that I've been working on. The big rounds came from a 12' water oak(?) log that was out of reach behind some other logs, limbs, debris, little ridge, etc.,. I carried my old Cherokee up there and it's still got what it takes I first cut off 4' of the log and Cherokee didn't even know it was back there...drug it through the trash just fine. The next pull I hooked to the 8' piece that was left and started pulling...no problem...it even hung on some of the junk logs/limbs in front of it and drug them with it. Got it up there close to the trailer and bucked up...rolled the rounds up the ramps and SHAZAM...got that sucker That 12' log is the biggest wood to date that I've bucked up...19-20 inches for a few rounds and cut with my 16" MS260.

I think the Cherokee will pull a load ok but I'm a little leery of the trailer. It's a 5x10 *tilt* trailer, with a 3500# axle under it. What worries me is the tilt function...only three bolts holding the bed to the fork/tongue. I didn't think I'd get a full load so I started loading the big rounds one run back from the front of the trailer...still seemed to have a lot of weight on the tongue. I'm studying over a short tandem axle with brakes...figuring on the low amount of wood I'll be dealing with though it doesn't seem worthwhile, though...but I can use it for other things, too! I've got another trailer I took in on a debt...needs some work, but it's a 12' non-tilting one, has 15" tires, and I'd have to put some expanded metal or plywood on the sides...but it'd be cheaper than going the tandem axle route. Could even put brakes on it if I think I need them. Anyhow, here's a shot of the scrounge and then a shot my woodpile...I need a splitter! Ed

Woodpile, that's a 4' level laying on those rounds at the bottom of the picture. Bad picture to judge from but anybody want to make a wild guess on how much wood is there in the pile of rounds and in that pile of split wood? The stacks are 4' tall and 12' long if that will help. I'm hoping there'll be about a cord there.

 

[Intheswamp]

Ok, back in post #41 (I think it was) there were some smaller rounds that I didn't know what they were. I had a chance to split some wood yesterday and figured I'd knock those small rounds out quick and move on to the big oak rounds. I figured the small rounds were oak or something decent.....BUT...IT WAS A SNEAK ATTACK.....SON OF A @##*?'($ ELM!

Ed

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

woodburners being in the north, same goes for stove shops....I had to drive (northeast) 250 miles one way to pick up my little Jotul!

Ed

I have a jotul deal 2 miles from my house and at least 6 more stove shops within 30 miles.

 

[weatherguy]

Woodpile, that’s a 4’ level laying on those rounds at the bottom of the picture. Bad picture to judge from but anybody want to make a wild guess on how much wood is there in the pile of rounds and in that pile of split wood? The stacks are 4’ tall and 12’ long if that will help. I’m hoping there’ll be about a cord there.

How long are your splits? They look like 18" but want to make sure before I make a guess as to how much wood you have.

 

[Intheswamp]

Woodpile, that’s a 4’ level laying on those rounds at the bottom of the picture. Bad picture to judge from but anybody want to make a wild guess on how much wood is there in the pile of rounds and in that pile of split wood? The stacks are 4’ tall and 12’ long if that will help. I’m hoping there’ll be about a cord there.

How long are your splits? They look like 18" but want to make sure before I make a guess as to how much wood you have.

Those rounds are a bit longer than usual...mostly around 17". I just busted all the big rounds up yesterday along with some of the smaller ones...it's piled waiting to be stacked.

Ed

 

[Intheswamp]

Ok, back up in message #41 (I think that's the right message #) I posted some photos of some rounds of wood. The first rounds (#1) turned out to be #*)!)$ ELM The rounds I have left of that will stay in rounds for another year, unless I decide to simply crack/splinter them down the center...I won't be trying to split them into splits, though.

Imagine my excitement(?) when what I thought might maple or something started turning into fuzzballs on me<groan>

Anyhow, hopefully I can do some easy splitting this weekend with some pine I scored last weekend.

Ed

 

[Stax]

Swamp, I'm impressed with your "wood getting" tenacity. Great job and excellent pics. Keep doing your thing. I have some questions regarding your Cherokee and trailer. I have a 2011 Toyota Highlander (4x4 SUV) w/o the tow prep package that can haul 2,000 lbs. I'm either looking to add the tow prep package or just install the hitch and hook it up to a utility trailer. What is the Cherokee rated to haul and how does it haul with your trailer?

 

[Intheswamp]

Swamp, I'm impressed with your "wood getting" tenacity. Great job and excellent pics. Keep doing your thing. I have some questions regarding your Cherokee and trailer. I have a 2011 Toyota Highlander (4x4 SUV) w/o the tow prep package that can haul 2,000 lbs. I'm either looking to add the tow prep package or just install the hitch and hook it up to a utility trailer. What is the Cherokee rated to haul and how does it haul with your trailer?

Howdy Rc. I'm just a newb starting out so I'm hitting my speed bumps in my wood getting...like last Saturday's 100F temperatures.<groan>

Anyhow, the Cherokee does pretty good but it's no heavy weight. The tow package that came on it is rated at 5000# but there's no way that I would want to pull that much. My single-axle trailer only has a 3500# axle under it so that is fixed limitation for me and I'm thinking that the trailer ball may be rated 3500# also.

Pulling the trailer completely loaded with a single layer of oak rounds ranging from 12" to 20" seems to be a good, heavy load to pull. I'm guessing around 2500#. I don't get in a hurry and I keep the speed down. That load of pine wasn't nearly as much of a load as I've pulled when loaded with oak. With the tow package I don't get as much sway as I think I would get with a bumper mounted ball. Also, the Cherokee's brakes aren't the greatest (early ABS that was defeated/bypassed by previous owner) so I'm very careful about slowing down well before I need to stop. One thing that I don't like about my trailer is that it is a "tilt" trailer...I can un-latch a center pin up front and the bed will tilt for loading/unloading lawn-mowers and such...this means that there are 3 pins (case-hardened bolts) that hold the bulk of the trailer to the tongue. The tilt feature is nice for hauling the mower, but I'm not so sure about hauling max loads. Most new trailers I see for sale don't have the tilt feature but rather one of those long tailgates to use as a ramp. I'd feel more secure with a none-tilt. I have a non-tilting 5x12 that I horse traded for a few years ago...needs tires, solid sideboards installed, etc.,...I may bring it out of moth-balls and get it road worthy.

Something that I have considered doing is putting brakes on my trailer...that would give me a lot more control when towing. But, having said that, I've also thought about taking the brake money and add a good bit to it and buy a tandem axle trailer with brakes already installed. For what I think my wood use will be I think the little 5x10 trailer will work ok...but that tandem axled, with electric brakes sure would be nice.

If you can swing it, I would opt for the tow package as it will give you a more secure feel (and it will be more secure). That way if you get a 3500# trailer you can let the load capacity of your trailer basically be the governing factor for load limits...not your hitch. You also won't be as limited on size of trailers you might want to rent from U-Haul or whatever. It would probably help re-sell value, also.

Ed

 

[Stax]

Thanks. Sounds like the smartest thing to do. Keep those pics coming.

 

[Intheswamp]

Here's the recent "state of the woodpile". I'm hoping to start cleaning up the splitter trash and the shaved off punky wood piles but I've got to finish stacking what I've got split first. I'm figuring I have 5 cord on hand...well over 4.5 cord of it is oak, mostly water oak and red oak.

Here's a pile of pine I scored. As hot as it was the day I bucked and hauled it home it should've exploded in flames! Seriously, I hope it will be dried by this winter to go with the 1/4 cord of dried oak. It's short leaf and cut down about 3 months ago...bark was falling off the bigger rounds....

Here's a shot of a couple of piles of wood. Log cabin stack and pile beside it is a little white oak I got off the clear-cut. In the rear middle is the pine. To the right of the picture is some rounds of @)*$)@#)!! ELM...you can probably see a mangled fuzzball on top of the stack. I'm saving the )*#$@!~!! ELM for....better days???? In the foreground is some small sticks/kindling of some white oak and cherry along with some splits of.....@))@#*$!! ELM

Here's an overall shot of the "woodyerd" (as my wife calls it) . The pile on the ground on the left side of the picture is punky stuff that I culled off the cemetery wood. The mysterious item under the green tarp is the "Unknown Splitter"...not to be confused with the "Unknown Comic" being as there appears to be nothing funny about this splitter.

...and, that's all for now!
Ed

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Ed, I see the level. Do you use a square too!

 

[Intheswamp]

Ed, I see the level. Do you use a square too!

Don't be silly, Dennis....I use a transit.