Work Done 2023

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This was the first time I've been back in checking our property since the last two storms. Clearing branches from the trail took a good hour but once I made it to the area I planned on checking, we had part of a big old maple come down and further down the trail, part of a pine tree also came down that took out some other trees including a small maple I brought home.

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Just finished up with the load from Saturday. Now have a little over 13 full cord (39+ face cord) outside seasoning. 5-1/3 cord "crap" wood (box elder, pine, aspen, silver maple), 5-1/3 cord mid grade hardwood (ash, elm, cherry, birch), 2-1/2 cord premium hardwood (sugar maple, beech, honey locust, hickory, ironwood).

For reference, the garage wall next to the wood stacks is 28'. Shortest full stack is 27' except for the partial on the right which is only 14'. Stacks range from 3' to close to 5' high. Not going to complain too much about the inconsistency as it's hard enough getting my helpers to help.

Out of the 4 1/2-5 cord put in the garage for this winter there is around 3 1/2 cord left yet. Looking like we may not go through it all unless it's a late spring. Starting to burn more "combo" loads during the day as we have burned over half the "crap" wood in the garage but less than 1/4 of the hardwoods. May have to hit the outside stacks for more low BTU wood in spring.
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First load of logs is here! At quick glance it's mostly red maple with some cherry and hickory mixed in. Nice big cherry log in the video. Looking forward to diving into it this afternoon.

I give my guy $100 for each load like this. I want to keep him happy as his services are invaluable to me.

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I spent a couple hours working between errands and getting the kids. Made some progress...mostly maple I've cut so far. Gordon is guarding the wood now!

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Picked up two loads of Slabwood and cut to length.. In the process of slitting and checking MC. Have two stacks going burnable and needs more time. Some is going right into the insert.

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Bucked up split and stacked some Ash and birch that came down in a storm. Still have some limb wood to process

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Me and the boy have been hitting it here and there.. just a few hours but man are we making progress.. heres some pice from Saturday.. the woods an excellent mix of oak, white, red, some maple mixed in.. The music selection was off the hook with.. Tool, helmet, Alice in chains, white zombie, mad season.. The senior citizen was out there kicking out some lumber

For those who are wondering.. the pile is 5'9" high 20ft wide in the front 12 ft wide in the back and 14 ft deep is the pile

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We put in two trailer loads of ash today, since we might be in for more than half an inch of rain starting on Thursday night, we'll put in more tomorrow.

I just top cover our firewood but tomorrow I'll drop the covers so they cover the ends of the splits.
 
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load of shagbark hickory and mulberry. I've never split or burnt shagbark before but gotta say it's on my top easiest woods to split now. Hoping to take some more outta there
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You hear a lot about Hickory being hard to split but if you get into a straight one without a lot of branching, it's not too bad at all.
I don't know if you've also not burned Mulberry yet, but it's primo wood on par with White Oak in BTU. It dries faster than Oak, and maybe Hickory, not sure. Love da "yaller wood." ==c
I'm sure he's a nice cow. No reason he can't fulfill both things we enjoy about them!
There's a third thing to enjoy; Cows' gas emissions are heating the planet, which dries our wood stacks faster! ==c
Dropped a dead ash on Sunday. Gave her a nice bore cut for fun/practice

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I think you need a bigger saw 😉
For sure he needs a second saw, to get the first one out when the bar gets pinched. 😏
dropped an old hollowed out white oak. Shame it wasn't any good for splitting.
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I wish I'd been there; I'm guessing I'd have taken a lot of wood from that "rotten" White. Most hollow Oaks here, White or Red, still have lots of solid, long-burning wood left on 'em. If I'm lucky, the sapwood has rotted and fallen off, leaving solid heartwood cores. >>
Here's a nice one I recently dropped, that was long-dead, and too close to the house. 2' diameter. [Hearth.com] Work Done 2023[Hearth.com] Work Done 2023
 
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You hear a lot about Hickory being hard to split but if you get into a straight one without a lot of branching, it's not too bad at all.
I don't know if you've also not burned Mulberry yet, but it's primo wood on par with White Oak in BTU. It dries faster than Oak, and maybe Hickory, not sure. Love da "yaller wood." ==c

There's a third thing to enjoy; Cows' gas emissions are heating the planet, which dries our wood stacks faster! ==c



For sure he needs a second saw, to get the first one out when the bar gets pinched. 😏

I wish I'd been there; I'm guessing I'd have taken a lot of wood from that "rotten" White. Most hollow Oaks here, White or Red, still have lots of solid, long-burning wood left on 'em. If I'm lucky, the sapwood has rotted and fallen off, leaving solid heartwood cores. >>
Here's a nice one I recently dropped, that was long-dead, and too close to the house. 2' diameter. View attachment 307703View attachment 307704
You can probably get an idea of how big my wedge was from the white oak. I was able to carry it one handed. All of it was punky to the core and burnt down to nothing overnight.
 
You can probably get an idea of how big my wedge was from the white oak. I was able to carry it one handed. All of it was punky to the core and burnt down to nothing overnight.
Yeah, I think I see the wedge cut lying on the ground next to the stump. To pick that up one-handed, it must have been total punk. Scary to cut that, due to unpredictability, wedge failure etc. :oops: Most of the dead Oaks I see here will stay solid in the trunk as long as they're standing, and even after they are on the ground for several years. I've seen twenty+ year old Oak tops left from logging that were up off the ground, and still the heartwood skeleton remained. Granted, most of the volatiles are probably gone out of the wood at that point.
 
Heres what we had cut into rounds this morning.. We split but I didn't take a picture when we were done.. Im thinking of starting a thread with a daytime drama name.. something like.. As the pile grows

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Heres what we had cut into rounds this morning.. We split but I didn't take a picture when we were done.. Im thinking of starting a thread with a daytime drama name.. something like.. As the pile grows

View attachment 307801
Oooo, that looks like the White Oak. 😊 I'm drooling right now..
Other possible titles; Days of Our Stacks or The Young and the Woodless. 😏
 
Oooo, that looks like the White Oak. 😊 I'm drooling right now..
Other possible titles; Days of Our Stacks or The Young and the Woodless. 😏

heres a mad pile of white oak.. 5his was last week.. there alt of it in there.. mostly white and red oak.. some maple not much.. maybe 3% of the pile is maple 97% oak

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Got some good work in today on the recent log drop. Temporarily stacking it on pallets in the driveway until more space becomes available in the yard. We haven't used as much wood as usual this year with the warm weather:

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My reward was a big ass tomahawk steak for dinner 🤤

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Gordon is in his happy place:

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Yeah, we're getting off easy this winter, other than that one cold snap. Good work on the fuel! 👍
The 'shrooms and greens look delish, but these days if ate that "meat cleaver," I would double over. Since I cut back to salmon, and an occasional bit of deep-fried turkey or grilled chicken at the in-laws' place, my beef tolerance has gone way down. I can eat a piece about the size of my thumb; Much more than that, and I pay the price. 😖
But you musta got hungry and tired slaying all that woot! Almost as tired as my finger got, scrolling through the giant pics. 😜
Yep, our big old boy likes the fire, too. 🤗
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I must have an oddball dog. She prefers to be as far from the fire as possible, or to lay out in the snow...
She will lay by the stove, but only when there is no fire, and the tiles are cool.