Work Done 2024

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Started filling the shed again. Dragged some rounds out i cut last month from an oak tree that came down in a storm. 4 wheelbarrow split and stacked. This will likely be October 2025 burning wood. Not a bad morning before the rain
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I've split and stacked that pine from last weekend. With the oak and maple that were cut down last summer also moved into the shed, I now only need about 2/3 of a cord to have my shed filled again. Hoping to score some oak after my travel this coming week
 
I split & stacked what I bucked up yesterday and then split & stacked some rounds from the topped off pine I felled before the wind event.

Picture 4402 is the first load, 4404 is the first area I stacked in, 4407 are some splits from the second area I split from, 4409 is 4404 finished and 4410 is the second area I started stacking in.



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these photos struck a chord with me

I realized my tarp covered stacks could be greatly improved buy arranging the very top layers conducive to water run off and no sharp edges to help the plastic last longer

so, reviewing the photos here
I see that was my imagination
but, seems to be working well

it's incredibly wet here, so I'm leaning heavily on cross stacking now and seems to be paying dividends straight away

previously I've been stacking tight for space reasons, but the cross-stacking is yielding way better burning with dryer wood. I haven't measured moisture...but by feel alone (weight) along with mold/ mildew growth
 
Adding pallets on top to keep the tarp off the wood (and air going below) also helps with sharp corners of splits.
Others use (re-used) corrugated metal screwed to 2x4's that they screw into the wood splits, I know @peakbagger has pics of that on this site. That's a nice way to get some air flow, and a solid roof on stacks that are otherwise the same as tarped stacks.
 
these photos struck a chord with me

I realized my tarp covered stacks could be greatly improved buy arranging the very top layers conducive to water run off and no sharp edges to help the plastic last longer

so, reviewing the photos here
I see that was my imagination
but, seems to be working well

it's incredibly wet here, so I'm leaning heavily on cross stacking now and seems to be paying dividends straight away

previously I've been stacking tight for space reasons, but the cross-stacking is yielding way better burning with dryer wood. I haven't measured moisture...but by feel alone (weight) along with mold/ mildew growth
It has been raining most of the day here too but nothing real hard. It's getting rid of the ice on the trails I run with the rhino on all winter, by the middle or the end of the week all the ice on the trails should be gone, hopefully the snow too.

Most our areas have 15 to 17 inches between stacks but since we're in a high humidity area and most our stacking areas are five to six rows deep, you might get some shrooms growing on them but once you get in a dry stretch you can just knock them off with a paint scraper, most don't come back.
 
I'm thinking with the lack of snow with the warmer weather, the hills will be open for my first run of the year. The attached picture is a pine mother nature damaged a few years back, we'll see if what's in the picture is still standing.

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Adding pallets on top to keep the tarp off the wood (and air going below) also helps with sharp corners of splits.
Others use (re-used) corrugated metal screwed to 2x4's that they screw into the wood splits, I know @peakbagger has pics of that on this site. That's a nice way to get some air flow, and a solid roof on stacks that are otherwise the same as tarped stacks.
pallets on top occurred to me, yet I don't have many, they are better off on the ground

I have corrugated steel on my wood store roof, but it is attached to the house

I'm planning to build some freestanding roofed areas...I have the materials...but the best space is not accessible by car or SUV...and certainly not a delivery truck! so I gotta figure out where and how to find the time!

Sadly, my Ford Transit won't pass contrôle technique (smog), so it's a write off and I have to get rid of an old saab, too ...next week

I need some roof!
 
The pine took another hit from this last wind event, we have more smaller beech that were broken off but hung up, I'll get those another day.

Picture 4412 & 13 is that pine I was wondering about in an earlier post, I worked on the other part that came down a year or two ago, 4416 & 17 is another damaged pine, 4422 is a damaged hemlock, 4425 & 27 is a wind damaged maple, I think it's sugar, the deer in picture 4437 wasn't going to move on my last stop on a wind damaged beech.

Most of my time today was spent clearing trails of downed limbs.

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The pine took another hit from this last wind event, we have more smaller beech that were broken off but hung up, I'll get those another day.

Picture 4412 & 13 is that pine I was wondering about in an earlier post, I worked on the other part that came down a year or two ago, 4416 & 17 is another damaged pine, 4422 is a damaged hemlock, 4425 & 27 is a wind damaged maple, I think it's sugar, the deer in picture 4437 wasn't going to move on my last stop on a wind damaged beech.

Most of my time today was spent clearing trails of downed limbs.

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Healthy looking deer. Large fall Mast crop and mild winter should result in decreased mortality rate and better birth rates.
 
Healthy looking deer. Large fall Mast crop and mild winter should result in decreased mortality rate and better birth rates.
It has been a easier winter for them, they have been able to get at food on the ground for most of the winter. The wind events we had put down some tops they have been eating too.
 
I spent some time yesterday cutting learners and hangers out of the woods in front of the place. Looks a LOT better than it did. I woke up thinking too burn some brush before the rain comes in later but there is to much wind as the front moves in. Guess that'll be for another day. I'll probably just drag a bunch up and get it ready.
 
Got a call from the city and a couple loads appeared in the drive way. Most was without bark and fairly dry. Some softwood which was good since the "pine" rack needed refilling.
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It's all bucked up and waiting for the shed to be empty and needing a refill.
 
I've been quite busy with work. The calendrer is somewhat of a blur. I ended up finally getting that load of silver maple on another crane job. Bucked all of it and split about half of it. End of last week was spent cleaning up a lot that had a bunch of felled ash. Most was small diameter stuff with the biggest about 8''. One large ash there too. Kind of a bit "wetland." No standing water but a lot of mud and damp ground behind a house. Brought home a large pickup load Friday and ground some stumps there on Sat where the machine could access without getting stuck. Sun I bucked and split almost all of that ash. Just in time for low wood supply.

Yesterday was crane work again. Huge white pine with 4 large leaders. All covered in a mass of rats nest vines. One leader had been struck by lightening. There was some heavy charring and it was split below it a good 20', with a continuing trail of electrical travel path. That sucker was a ''beech'' to take down, even with the crane. Every move was a fight from the vine infestation. Tree after that was a large red oak trim. I got excited and announced I'd take a truck load. It was a leader growing over a house. 40''ish dia base. The tree wont recover from the loss of that leader. It'll sprout out a bunch of sucker life for a few years ..... Not my company to say what's to be done. I did state my concerns though. When I got back to earth, almost all of it was chipped. There was only a little left to put in my truck. Beat my head on that brick wall. What a waste.
 
The last two days I had a few appointments that broke up the day so I didn't get in the woods. My wife had a vest that the zipper pull was broken so we had ordered a replacement package of pulls & stops, today after getting the plastic stop off at the top, we put the new pull on (it worked) and then I put the new stop on so the wife was happy.

After getting the vest done, I headed outside for a check on the house property with the rhino and then I cleaned the saw I used the other day. Most of the ice and the snow is gone except for a few areas, tomorrow we're in for some rain so hopefully that will take care of the rest of the ice & snow.
 
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Yesterday morning was calm after a day of rain. Got a fire going and spent 7 hours feeding it the brush and junk. While dragging brush up to the fire I chased out a couple of Copperheads so the warm weather has them out and about. I think the brush work is done for the year until it cools down again.
 
The beech in the pictures was provided by the last wind event we had. Picture 4446 is the beech top on the ground, 4448 are the rounds from what was on the ground, 4444 & 4450 is the trunk I felled, 4451 & 4453 are the rounds from the trunk and 4454 is a stop I made an added four more beech rounds.



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All the beech rounds I hauled out of the woods were split & stacked today, I'll finish off the stack with some smaller beech rounds or limb wood.

Picture 4456 were the beech rounds I split, 4457,58,59 & 60 are the splits in picture 4461.

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All the beech rounds I hauled out of the woods were split & stacked today, I'll finish off the stack with some smaller beech rounds or limb wood.

Picture 4456 were the beech rounds I split, 4457,58,59 & 60 are the splits in picture 4461.

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That beech has some nice straight grain. The stuff I got last summer had the wave thing going on. Real PIA to split.
 
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That beech has some nice straight grain. The stuff I got last summer had the wave thing going on. Real PIA to split.
I've split a few like that but nothing that was real bad. This was smaller beech tree, most of the beech that have been a PITA were big rounds.
 
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Today was going after some topped off or damaged trees, one maple & two smaller beech. The beech in picture 4481 was damaged a few wind events ago, I'll be clearing a trail towards that beech but might wait until mother nature takes care of it.

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We had some high winds here last night and when I looked out the window this morning, I saw that a sugar maple had broken off and landed in the lawn as close as it could to one of my firewood processing areas and woodsheds. Convenient for processing and stacking!

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I knew it was a matter of time before that one came down because the woodpecker holes in the trunk were bigger than the solid wood parts of it. Lol

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Also had a small beech come down in the wooded area toward the back of my property.

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Now the cleanup begins. That's ok, I won't complain about free wood.
 
Finally finished splitting and stacking the rest of the big oak. Ended up with 5 cords. That's enough for one season between my dad and I. It'll be for the 2025-2026 season. Next year we have a nice mix of cherry, ash and maple ready to burn. Still have a large maple, a hickory, several cherries and two black walnut tops to CSS. That'll keep me busy till fall. Still can't keep up with thewoodlands, but I'm trying:)

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Nice work @Bobbob , it looks like you've passed me. That looks like a great area for seasoning. 👍
 
I cleared more trails including the one in picture 4486 that had part of pine down after the last wind event, 30 rounds. Next was cleaning up some downed ironwood which turned out to be 25 rounds, when I was taking a break I noticed a smaller downed beech from the wind so I bucked that up, that was 26 rounds.

Before I headed into the woods, I plowed about four inches of snow off the driveway since today we're having temps near 70 in the sun and 60 in the shade. The big pines block the sun from getting to the driveway or I just would've let the warmer temps take care of it.

Picture 4486 is the pine across the trail, 4487 is after the pine was bucked up, 4488 is a picture from the front & 4489 is from the back, 4490 is the area two smaller ironwood had been down, 4493 is the area I'll clear so I can get the four wheeler in towards that hung up beech.

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Picture 4497 are some maple rounds, 4499 are those maple rounds split, 4498 is a picture of some damaged maple trees, 4503 is all the pine rounds split & 4504 was the last stop I made splitting more maple rounds.

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