Work Done 2024

[thewoodlands]

The rain was holding off today so I finished the raking, another two loads went on the trail. When I came back after dumping the first load on the trail, we put in another two loads (not full) of pine.

 

[Garbanzo62]

Built this mostly with stuff laying around from previous projects. I plan on adding something on the sides eventually, maybe spaced out boards from pallets or something like that and will leave the front and back open. This will hold a little bit more than a full cord. Now I have to finish splitting some red oak I have to fill it.

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Suggest you get something to get that bottom row off of the Plywood. Moisture will accumulate there.

 

[thewoodlands]

Today was trail cleaning day on the other side, it seems the corner two basswood came down always has trees across the trail the last 3 or 4 years, today one was bucked up and the other was cut back enough so the trail was open.

Picture 4683 was the first basswood, 4687 is the second basswood, 4690 I'm finally through that section, 4691 is part of a maple that came down, 4692 is the maple the branch came from, 4693 is another maple branch/top that came down, 4694 is part of a load of maple I brought home, since it has been wet out I decided the hill that I climb would be tested with a smaller load and the last picture is the area I'll be working in.

Most of my saw time today was spent clearing dead rotten birch or just picking up branches that were across or on the trail. We have other hardwood down but nothing big, some smaller cherry and maple I get after I take care of the bigger stuff.

 

[stoveliker]

Here another 6 wheelbarrows with oak and maple were cut, split, and delivered to my elderly neighbors.

I think that's about the end of that as their space is getting full now.

 

[Stelcom66]

Today was trail cleaning day on the other side, it seems the corner two basswood came down always has trees across the trail the last 3 or 4 years, today one was bucked up and the other was cut back enough so the trail was open....

That is wonderful property that you have, a paradise!

 

[thewoodlands]

That is wonderful property that you have, a paradise!

Thanks @Stelcom66 , it's always nice when I can get back in after a long winter.

 

[thewoodlands]

After taking the boss for a ride around the property and then back home, I took two loads of maple home to the splitting area.

Pictures 4698 & 99 are the first load taken to the splitting area, 4700 is the second load taken out, 4701 is part of a cherry branch that came down last year, 4703 is a soft maple branch that came down either over this winter or spring from some high winds, 4705 is my trail home after climbing the hill and the last picture is the splitting area.

I have some trees that were damaged that I didn't take pictures of, one is a beech that will fill the stack of beech that I started, another looks like a maple from the trail but there are basswood in that area and another looks like a good size cherry but I'll need a trail in further so I can get a better look.

My target was 60 face cord of hardwood stacked by the end of May, I should get that done unless mother nature makes it another wet May like last year.

With our pellet stove and burning almost 12 face cord of pine so far, we have five plus face cord of hardwood left, we have about five or six splits of hardwood inside, that will be it for this year.

 

[thewoodlands]

Talk about starting our wood burning off bad, this is a picture of the wood inventory our first year burning. The bad part is the firewood was stacked on the south side of the house with the face of the splits facing north & south when they should've been facing the west.

I resplit most of it so the moisture content was 22 to 25 percent, we made it through that winter and some new stacking areas were made on the east side of the house.

 

[thewoodlands]

I worked on the maple in picture 4693, I took a total of three (not full) loads to the splitting area. Hopefully all the maple adds up to another face cord.

There were a few deer eating while I worked.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

Got another basket cut split and loaded up after work. These sit up on a hill facing south open to wind in any direction. Should dry well but going to test early summer and see about a modified kiln.

 

[AstroBoy]

We had some trimming done on our big (4.5-foot diameter) London plane to remove some limbs that were interfering with another tree, so I asked the tree guys to leave the limb wood for me:

Can’t complain about having wood cut and stacked right in the yard!

 

[30WCF]

Got up and split for a while this morning. Time to quit when the angry NC sun is about to break over the tree line and start baking my splitting position.

I did a little raking to get the sticks and bark up and spread the saw dust a little after I shut the splitter down and had a pretty good sweat going by the time I quit.

 

[thewoodlands]

Last year I stacked three face cord of pine in an area I usually stack hardwood, I just moved about one an a half face cord today back over to the softwood area.

Picture 4717 is what the softwood stack looked like before I moved the 1.5, 4723 is after, 4720 is pine I took a tub load from and then stacked in the middle row, I stack three deep, 4721 & 4722 is all the maple I'll split & stack, hopefully it's one face cord. The pile on the ground in picture 4723 will be gone through, the worst will go over to the fireplace and the better stuff will get stacked.

 

[NickW]

Had a pine down across the trail so I cleaned it up and cut the trunk into 4' lengths. Good to use the saw again.




Didn't do anything with the big aspen. It's a bit wetter down there and the boss forgot her boots. There's a pileated woodpecker den in the trunk on the ground that's empty. Your can see on the standing part of the trunk where they had been hammering away at it. Diameter at the base is about 22". What's standing is about 15' tall.

 

[mpaul]

Got my first delivery of logs for this year from my local tree service company. Estimate this to be about a cord or so of ash. I’ll css over the next few weeks and put in the 2 year storage area. A little rot in that front log to deal with but everything else looks good.

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Spent this morning bucking up the log delivery I got last week.

 

[thewoodlands]

After putting in more pine, I moved what was left of the second face cord of pine from the area I stacked three face cord of pine last year to the softwood area. The third face cord will get moved from that area before the end of next week, that will give me room for a total of three more face cord of hardwood.

I split & stacked three loads of maple today, the maple in picture 4727 is what's left, hopefully that fills out the face cord. One nice thing about the cold weather & wind, no bugs.

 

[AstroBoy]

We had some trimming done on our big (4.5-foot diameter) London plane to remove some limbs that were interfering with another tree, so I asked the tree guys to leave the limb wood for me:

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Can’t complain about having wood cut and stacked right in the yard!

Tried to split some of this today - wow is it hard! The X27 just bounced right off. I was able to split some shorter pieces by working around the edges, but it’s really tough wood. We’ll see if it gets any easier after sitting for a while. Initially when I looked at the pile (lengths 12” to 16”) I was wishing more of the pieces were on the long side, but now I’m thinking shorter is better. 🤣

On the plus side, since there are some big limbs from this tree that hang over our house, I’m glad the wood is strong! And in fact the arborist said that he pretty much never sees healthy limbs from these London plane trees break off.

 

[30WCF]

Tried to split some of this today - wow is it hard! The X27 just bounced right off. I was able to split some shorter pieces by working around the edges, but it’s really tough wood. We’ll see if it gets any easier after sitting for a while. Initially when I looked at the pile (lengths 12” to 16”) I was wishing more of the pieces were on the long side, but now I’m thinking shorter is better. 🤣

On the plus side, since there are some big limbs from this tree that hang over our house, I’m glad the wood is strong! And in fact the arborist said that he pretty much never sees healthy limbs from these London plane trees break off.

Looks like a tight grain wood. I’m not familiar. Kind of looks like sycamore bark.

 

[AstroBoy]

Looks like a tight grain wood. I’m not familiar. Kind of looks like sycamore bark.

Yes - London plane and sycamore are very closely related. London plane is a cross of the American sycamore with the oriental plane tree. At a glance they’re pretty hard to tell apart from each other - same mottled bark, leaf shape, etc.

 

[MRD1985]

Finished up splitting the big oak rounds. They always seem to yield more than you think. I’ll stack them later on this afternoon. The only slightly punky stuff was the very bottom but seems to be still good wood. The stump and the bottom foot or so of the tree was very punky almost all the way to the bark. That was tossed. The small pile was the ugliest and not worth splitting.

 

[thewoodlands]

I finished off the maple stack with more maple and since I still had maple rounds left, I finished off the beech stack on the right in the picture, that gives us 59.5 face cord of hardwood stacked. After I finished the stacking, I headed back to an area I had some dead cherry I split last year, there's some punk on the outside so when I get time, I'll split that off. Picture 4729 is the maple stack, the stack on the right in picture 4730 is the beech I finished with maple and the last two are of the cherry.

I had set a goal of 60 by the end of May but once I get a closer look at a few more damaged trees, that might get upped to 62 or 63.

 

[MRD1985]

Finished stacking. Next time I get the saw out I have a few big knotty pieces I need to cut with the saw other than that all done.

 

[30WCF]

Finished up splitting the big oak rounds. They always seem to yield more than you think. I’ll stack them later on this afternoon. The only slightly punky stuff was the very bottom but seems to be still good wood. The stump and the bottom foot or so of the tree was very punky almost all the way to the bark. That was tossed. The small pile was the ugliest and not worth splitting.

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That just about looks dry enough to burn.

 

[MRD1985]

That just about looks dry enough to burn.

Sopping wet actually when split. I wish it was though.

 

[30WCF]

It kinda looked like some I’ve gotten out of dead trees that were fairly dry. Oh well. Maybe in a year or two.