Preparing for winter
- Thread starter Backwoods Savage
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Jim41 said:
Whoa! Sweet it is. I wish for that much oak. However, well keep cutting the ash until there is none left or it rots. Still, I'm going to try cutting a bit of oak every year from now on. We don't have much but I might be able to cut a cord or so ever year for a while.
Red Oak, you are right about the good feeling. It is a great feeling. Especially, like I stated; when stacking and thinking of others who are facing big time fuel bills this winter, it really gives me a good feeling to know I put up that wood and that wood will keep me warm without a big cash outlay.
Last year i couldn't wait to light the fire, this year i'm indifferent. But i am in prep mode the past few nights. Last night i rewired the outlet for the blower on the stove and fixed the vent fan between the basement and the main floor that helps circulate the heat. Tonight i pulled the stove pipe apart, cleaned it and touched it up with some high temp paint. I'll put it all together tomorrow night and clean the rest of the chimney.
I still need to bring some wood in to my wood room off the basement (8x12x5 underground concrete box). Should be able to bring in enough to last until December.
I still need to bring some wood in to my wood room off the basement (8x12x5 underground concrete box). Should be able to bring in enough to last until December.
Dennis, how long has the emerald ash borer been there in Michigan? The IL quarantine is as far south as Champaign County, the county that borders my county to the North. But we have not seen any ash kill here yet. Just wondering.Backwoods Savage said:
Steve, it has been many years for sure. I don't remember for sure but will guess at least 10 years.
Looks good Dennis! I'm still waiting for a couple good frosts before I move any wood into the garage. I haven't needed much yet so I've just loaded the wheelbarrow and parked it in the garage for now.
You're right Dennis, it's been about 10 years, it "officially" popped up here in 2002.
You're right Dennis, it's been about 10 years, it "officially" popped up here in 2002.
rdust, How long was it after that, that you started seeing dead ash trees?[/quote]tfdchief said:
It's started more towards Detroit and spread from there. I'm about 40 miles north of Detroit and I had healthy trees in 2007, I still have one or two alive but they only have another season left in them. The bigger tree's seem to go down faster the smaller ones seem to fight it a little better. I have hundreds of small(inch or two diameter) tree's growing in the woods and they seem to be doing fine. I hope they figure something out sooner rather than later.
Two years worth, six cord, in the shed and three tons of pellets in the basement since I am gonna play with the pellet stove this year. Generators are in their new home in the new wood shed six feet from the back door. Both chimneys brushed and the snow blade is on the tractor.
All I can do to be ready at this point. Supposed to start cold and wet tomorrow after the first beautiful fall days I remember in a long time. But nothing bone chilling yet. I am determined not to light off stoves before November for the first time in 25 years.
We shall see.
All I can do to be ready at this point. Supposed to start cold and wet tomorrow after the first beautiful fall days I remember in a long time. But nothing bone chilling yet. I am determined not to light off stoves before November for the first time in 25 years.
We shall see.
Dennis, I decided to not completely load the shed this year. There's an extra 1/3 cord or so, but I can always get some from the field in the spring if needed (it would have to be a really cold winter for that). Wood has been in the shed since sometime in June, and unlike BrotherBart, I don't have the plow on the tractor yet. That may happen on Sunday.
Next 2 years are in the field waiting. If we were closer, I'd trade some of my Oak for some Ash. No Ash on the property, but lots of Spruce and Poplar.
Next 2 years are in the field waiting. If we were closer, I'd trade some of my Oak for some Ash. No Ash on the property, but lots of Spruce and Poplar.
Gasifier
Minister of Fire
Nice work Backwoods! Looks great. I wish I had that much wood c/s/s. I am going to get started tomorrow on my Ash for next year. What kind of splitter are you using? And how do you like it? I am going to buy one next year, I hope. Then I won't have to ask the neighbor to borrow theirs anymore. I don't like doing that. But they are very nice people and tell me anytime. I like theirs though. It is a home made electric one. Very little noise. No gas or oil to deal with. And lots of power. A little slow, but still nice. I don't see many electric ones with enough power for sale. Have a good one.
rdust said:
It's started more towards Detroit and spread from there. I'm about 40 miles north of Detroit and I had healthy trees in 2007, I still have one or two alive but they only have another season left in them. The bigger tree's seem to go down faster the smaller ones seem to fight it a little better. I have hundreds of small(inch or two diameter) tree's growing in the woods and they seem to be doing fine. I hope they figure something out sooner rather than later.[/quote]
We didn't hear much until it hit around Fenton and then soon up around Saginaw. The state and counties cut and burned many tons of ash in an effort to stop it. That turned out to be all wasted money. It seems that we started cutting ash in 2002 here as that is when our trees became infected but I could be wrong on the year.
Gasifier said:
We have an MTD 20 ton splitter that is over 20 years old. Probably approaching 200 ton being split with it and possibly more. Not sure because others have borrowed it to split their wood too. I like it a lot because it is simple to use and splits everything we throw at it. I usually run it about 2/3 throttle or thereabouts and it is plenty fast enough at that. The only repair I'd done is that the rope starter broke right by the end so it was just a matter of retying it. End of repairs. It also will split vertical which I consider a must as I split all our wood that way.
Electric splitter can do okay with some wood and especially if the wood is cut short but they are somewhat limited. It would not work for me for sure because I usually end up splitting in a different spot each year and most of those spots are out of range for electricity.
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Nice work Dennis and looks great! I finished loading 5 cord in the barn about 3 weeks ago - we had a spell of 5 or so days of rain coming, so figured I'd get the wood in while the weather was fine. I agree with you about the good feeling of knowing that there is plenty of wood to keep the family warm without the high cost of doing so with oil, etc. I'm on the fourth fire of the year right now - not too cold out - mid-50's, but rainy and raw - feels good to have a warm house. Cheers!
Nice looking wood shed Jake. I don't think I have ever seen it before. Is there some slab wood in there?firefighterjake said:
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tfdchief said:
There might have been . . . but most likely you're just looking at my end stacks which I make mostly with the slabs I cut off from my large splits.
Your outside stacks look so "perfect" yet the inside ones look just "good".
I can tell you like working outside better than inside LOL :lol:
The outside stacks don't need "bar coded", you could tell if just 1 split was missing
Good job to have done, winter is close!
I can tell you like working outside better than inside LOL :lol:
The outside stacks don't need "bar coded", you could tell if just 1 split was missing
Good job to have done, winter is close!
So Dave, is winter close enough to turn white up there? And I suspect many on this forum prefer working outdoors.
The Mts are getting hammered.
I live in a "rain shadow" area for lots of the early storms, so I've been lucky so far. Just a couple dustings at night then melt when it warms up during the day.
Rain last night. Snowed this am for a few minutes but didn't stick. I should have known, I'd just split a bunch of wood & it was still piled up. Then the wind picked up & no more rain.
Forecast rain tomorrow then snow mix predicted for Thursday.
The Wind you had is here, steady 30 with 45 MPH gusts. & with the wind the temps came up to 44° today.
As far as getting ready for winter I haven't put the studs on the wife's car yet. I think that's the last step, that will be soon.
I was outside in the wind finishing off splitting the wood I've got so far. So Yea, most of us like being outside regardless of the weather but
I still can't get my stacks to look as good as yours. I think our trees here are just smaller, more crooked & twisted.
You must have all perfect straight grained trees & they make a perfect stack. LOL :lol:
I live in a "rain shadow" area for lots of the early storms, so I've been lucky so far. Just a couple dustings at night then melt when it warms up during the day.
Rain last night. Snowed this am for a few minutes but didn't stick. I should have known, I'd just split a bunch of wood & it was still piled up. Then the wind picked up & no more rain.
Forecast rain tomorrow then snow mix predicted for Thursday.
The Wind you had is here, steady 30 with 45 MPH gusts. & with the wind the temps came up to 44° today.
As far as getting ready for winter I haven't put the studs on the wife's car yet. I think that's the last step, that will be soon.
I was outside in the wind finishing off splitting the wood I've got so far. So Yea, most of us like being outside regardless of the weather but
I still can't get my stacks to look as good as yours. I think our trees here are just smaller, more crooked & twisted.
You must have all perfect straight grained trees & they make a perfect stack. LOL :lol:
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