Wood gathering with Crosscut and his better half.

[Crosscut]

This is the top half of an oak that broke off and was lying about 30' in the woods off the forest road.  In our younger days we'd have cut it up where it fell and carried it out to the trail/road, but at a combined 110 years of age between the two of us now we work smart and not hard, and the truck and chains really save us a lot of time (and aspirin).  And our youngest (50 lb) dog wondering if we expect her to fetch that stick.


That one cut up and on the 4X8' trailer, but room to spare so we weren't done for the day yet.  Hope the bumper sticker in the back window doesn't violate the no politics rule   The milk crate in the truck bed holds the mixed gas, oil, and a small tool/parts kit.  I used our smaller chainsaw today but I always bring two saws in case a blade gets pinched in a tree and I need to make a relief cut to remove the tension to free it.  The chains come in handy for this purpose too.


Chaining tree #2 up after felling it but while it's still off the ground, then a series of V cuts on the part attached to the stump to get it on the ground without binding up the chainsaw blade from the weight of the tree on top of it.


Dragged most of the trunk out onto the road with the truck leaving only the scrap on the top in the woods which was cut off.  Some logs from the smaller top branches we already cut are piled on the edge of the road in the far background.  Then the trunk of the tree is cut half-way or so through into woodstove length, and then we roll the log over to cut the other half so we're not cutting into the dirt with the chainsaw.  For some of the biggest trees we've taken in years past we had to use the truck and chain to roll the log but this one wasn't that big.


Pretty much a full load for the trailer, but for the biggest trees we've had to use the truck bed to hold more in the past. 


Driving home.  Older dog #1 is napping in the backseat just happy to go for a truck ride, and dog #2 is showing us the way home.


Back home, about 2 face cords of wood for the splitting pile (and about a dozen ticks between the Mrs and I, about par for this course).  I really need to buy a log splitter of our own, but for now we're still renting one for a very long 8 hour day of log splitting each year. 

[EBuff75]

That should be some great firewood.  It's nice with Mother Nature pre-seasons the wood for you!

[Crosscut]

Yep, we're always on the lookout for the seasoned oak. The bottom half of that tree is still standing, but about 20-22" in diameter at the base which is bigger than we like dealing with generally.  I would have taken it yesterday since its well seasoned but wasn't sure it'd all fit on the trailer, which means using the truck bed too and that's more work to load and unload.  Splitting the big ones is a pain too.  We'll get it first on the next trip most likely, which might be today since it's supposed to be nice weather again.

The second tree is ash which isn't as dense, but still a good burning hardwood and has less moisture so it'll burn even when green.  That one looked to have died just this past winter, so still very green.  We'll likely get it split this month, and being near the top of the pile it'll be the first ones split and be in the back of the wood shed so we won't get to it until the end of the heating season next spring.  The only other trees in any abundance here are pine and aspen, we use a little of that for kindling but mostly it's just campfire wood.

[EBuff75]

Gives me flashbacks to my childhood.  My grandparents heated their house with wood and I remember going out with my grandfather a few times when he would cut down a few trees and load the wood into his old Ford Ranger.  Sometimes we'd get to ride in the back on top of the wood when he drove it back home!  Ah, fond memories of stuff that would get adults thrown in jail nowadays! 

[EBuff75]

I'm actually mid-stream on rehabilitating an old electric chainsaw right now.  One of my neighbors threw it away last year and I snagged it out of the trash before the scrappers got it.  Bar and chain are rusted-to-hell, but otherwise it just needed some cleaning.  I've ordered the parts plus a scabbard for it, since it doesn't have a case.  It's a 4.0hp Craftsman and once it's spun up, it takes a bit to wind down, which would seem to indicate that the bearings are in good shape.  The oiler is working on it too, so it appears that they just tossed it because of the rusty bar/chain.  I have a gas powered one already, so I'll probably donate it to my CERT group for emergency use.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Having never chopped wood in my life, what does it mean when the wood is 'seasoned' ?

I keep hearing folks talk about that on the various off grid/homesteading TV shows I watch, but no one ever explains what that means.

I'm assuming that just means the wood is dried out enough so as to burn better.

[echo83]

I know this was a ton of work, but you make it look really fun. 

When I was younger, my parents had a wood stove and would have a few cords delivered before the start of winter. It was always dumped at the greatest possible distance from the house; I swear this was by design to keep myself and my siblings occupied.

We kids would form a bucket brigade of sorts to carry the wood to the front porch, which was about 15 feet up from the yard. Inevitably, the eldest brothers would get fed up by the slow going and begin tossing logs up to the youngest on the porch (me and my sister).

At best, you could keep up for a short time and get a good stacking rhythm, but it was only a matter of time before you caught a log between the shoulder blades, or jammed a finger. 

Tears didn't make the logs stop flying...it just made them harder to see. Good times!

[Crosscut]

Gives me flashbacks to my childhood.  My grandparents heated their house with wood and I remember going out with my grandfather a few times when he would cut down a few trees and load the wood into his old Ford Ranger.  Sometimes we'd get to ride in the back on top of the wood when he drove it back home!  Ah, fond memories of stuff that would get adults thrown in jail nowadays! 

I hear you, I used to sleep in the rear window of Mom and Dad's '68 Cutlass, and later among the luggage in the back of the station wagon on long trips. 

Never operated one of the electric chainsaws, but the weight makes it tempting to get one for pruning-type work at least.  One of the reasons I use my smaller 42cc gas chainsaw whenever possible is the lighter weight than the Husq 450 Rancher, moving around in the underbrush with all the trip hazards is scary enough with any chainsaw let alone a heavy one.

Skipped getting more wood today, but did move some split oak seasoning under a tarp from last year to the wood shed.


Something close to 1.25 cords ready for next winter, about 1/3 of what we'll likely need.  The width is a little under 8' and the horizontal 2x4 on the back wall is 6' high, and that's 2.5 rows of wood so far.  Should have done it this year, but next year at least I need to remove the pallets and clean the leaves/debris off the plastic vapor barrier underneath. 

[majorhavoc]

Having never chopped wood in my life, what does it mean when the wood is 'seasoned' ?

I keep hearing folks talk about that on the various off grid/homesteading TV shows I watch, but no one ever explains what that means.

I'm assuming that just means the wood is dried out enough so as to burn better.

Actually, it means it's been sprinkled liberally with salt, pepper and - deponding on the region - other herbs and spices.  Having grown up close to Canada, we used to season our firewood with Montreal Steak seasoning.  Made the whole home smell like a steak house!

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Having never chopped wood in my life, what does it mean when the wood is 'seasoned' ?

I keep hearing folks talk about that on the various off grid/homesteading TV shows I watch, but no one ever explains what that means.

I'm assuming that just means the wood is dried out enough so as to burn better.

Actually, it means it's been sprinkled liberally with salt, pepper and - deponding on the region - other herbs and spices.  Having grown up close to Canada, we used to season our firewood with Montreal Steak seasoning.  Made the whole home smell like a steak house!

So since I'm in Texas, I can just use some mesquite seasoning on my wood ?

[EBuff75]

Having never chopped wood in my life, what does it mean when the wood is 'seasoned' ?

I keep hearing folks talk about that on the various off grid/homesteading TV shows I watch, but no one ever explains what that means.

I'm assuming that just means the wood is dried out enough so as to burn better.

Actually, it means it's been sprinkled liberally with salt, pepper and - deponding on the region - other herbs and spices.  Having grown up close to Canada, we used to season our firewood with Montreal Steak seasoning.  Made the whole home smell like a steak house!

So since I'm in Texas, I can just use some mesquite seasoning on my wood ?

Or just cut mesquite wood, that way it's naturally seasoned! 

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Having never chopped wood in my life, what does it mean when the wood is 'seasoned' ?

I keep hearing folks talk about that on the various off grid/homesteading TV shows I watch, but no one ever explains what that means.

I'm assuming that just means the wood is dried out enough so as to burn better.

Actually, it means it's been sprinkled liberally with salt, pepper and - deponding on the region - other herbs and spices.  Having grown up close to Canada, we used to season our firewood with Montreal Steak seasoning.  Made the whole home smell like a steak house!

So since I'm in Texas, I can just use some mesquite seasoning on my wood ?

Or just cut mesquite wood, that way it's naturally seasoned! 

Ah, that saves some time and I don't have to add any extra seasoning. Sounds like a win win to me.

In all seriousness, though, I'm pretty sure I could find some mesquite in my AO. There's a few guys in a local sales group I'm in that have cords of it for sale every summer.

Only problem is that I don't have a BBQ pit anymore and I suck at cooking. 

[Crosscut]

Having never chopped wood in my life, what does it mean when the wood is 'seasoned' ?

I keep hearing folks talk about that on the various off grid/homesteading TV shows I watch, but no one ever explains what that means.

I'm assuming that just means the wood is dried out enough so as to burn better.

Just allowed to dry out is my understanding, our wood shed doesn't have a door but just an opening that faces away from the prevailing wind direction so snow and rain doesn't blow in (much) but I really should add some vents on the back wall to allow some breeze to enter.  The pallets and moisture barrier really seem to speed up the drying process, the shed was built in 2019 but previously we used just pallets and a tarp that didn't work as well.  Plus it was a real PITA when we'd get a heavy snow fall that left a foot of snow on top of the tarp, or when the tarp edges near the ground got frozen into blocks of ice from snow melting and re-freezing. 

I know this was a ton of work, but you make it look really fun.

When I was younger, my parents had a wood stove and would have a few cords delivered before the start of winter. It was always dumped at the greatest possible distance from the house; I swear this was by design to keep myself and my siblings occupied.

We kids would form a bucket brigade of sorts to carry the wood to the front porch, which was about 15 feet up from the yard. Inevitably, the eldest brothers would get fed up by the slow going and begin tossing logs up to the youngest on the porch (me and my sister).

At best, you could keep up for a short time and get a good stacking rhythm, but it was only a matter of time before you caught a log between the shoulder blades, or jammed a finger.

Tears didn't make the logs stop flying...it just made them harder to see. Good times!

Not sure about fun but it is kind of rewarding when everything goes smooth and quick.  That day cutting was a good one, no saw blades pinched/stuck, no equipment failures, and no trees hung up in other ones when they didn't fall in the direction I wanted.  Being in an open area like that where we could use the truck and chains helps a lot. 

For getting it from the wood shed to the house, we have a wood rack in our attached garage that holds about a face cord, which is enough for a week or two depending on how much sun we get (passive solar home) and how cold it is outside.  Before the wood shed was built we'd just carry or use a cart to get wood from the pile to the garage (often getting the wife's help because it was slow work), but now it's a one person operation and only takes 10-15 minutes - I just back up the truck to the wood shed to load it up, drive the 50 yards or so to the house, then back it into the garage for unloading.  Almost feels like cheating compared to the old way we did it.

[Raptor]

Great Post! ... and a great haul of fire wood.

[EBuff75]

Got the new bar and chain today, installed them and set the tension.  It's raining this evening, so I haven't taken it out to test it, but it spins up pretty nice and runs reasonably quietly.  I did manage to overfill the bar oil and make a mess, but that was just me being a klutz...  Once the sheath gets here, I'll drop it off with the CERT commander to put into the trailer.

[Crosscut]

Didn't have to drive far for this one, it's been standing dead beside our driveway for the last 3 years.  Was saving it for two reasons, 1 for easy access that didn't require leaving the property and 2 for its "Keep Out" effect if needed.



It took out a smaller live oak on the way down, cut that one up too but we'll let that one season for a year. 



The smaller dead branches filled row #3 in the wood shed, and think it's time for the splitter next since we're running out of room on the splitting pile.  Then start working on refilling the splitting pile for next year.

[Crosscut]

Rented the splitter yesterday at 5pm for a one day rental that's due back early on Monday morning.  About one cord split and stacked before we called it quits for the evening, it's going to be a long day today...  The Mrs is really liking her new Gorilla cart for hauling the split wood to the wood shed, we've tried using a utility trailer pulled behind the riding mower and a smaller 2-wheeled garden cart in years past but this new cart seems to be working the best so far. 

Splitting pile, before.

[Crosscut]

Splitting's done, a little over 4 cords in the wood shed drying and the splitting pallets are now empty save for some really green wood and a couple pieces I need to cut smaller to fit in the stove.  7:30am - 5pm with just short breaks, then about an hour of cleaning up bark and collecting kindling.  Didn't get any pics during the operation, but we place the splitter on a large tarp so the bark that falls off is easier to clean up and I'll usually move the splitter a few times so the pallet I'm working on is right behind me for easy log grabbing. 

Talking to the rental company rep they'll be selling the model I rented sometime this fall, I'm considering buying it since has the features I like (those being the side shelves that help hold the log in place and that the splitting wedge doesn't ride inside a rail which can be a PITA to clean when wood gets jammed).  It's a Troy Built like these, but a 27 ton model and a Honda engine:  https://www.troybilt.com/en_US/tree-care/log-splitters  Considering this partly for preparedness since hand splitting this much would be brutal, but also so I can take my time splitting over a few weeks time rather than hurrying to get it done all in a 1.5 day rental.

Anyway, now it's back to cutting more trees to refill the pallets for Winter 2023-2024.

[RoneKiln]

Now that it's fall, did you follow up on if they're selling the splitter?

[Halfapint]

Nicely done! The wife and I make a great team when it comes to firewood gettin. We've had enough for the last 3 years because of downed trees on our property and 2 years ago we started a tree service company so we can take any extra wood the homeowner didn't want and can even charge a bit "extra" for removal. We closed the company down though this last summer due to idiot partners and our climber disappearing on us along with our big saw and one of or top handles.

Here in WA you can print a "permit" it's free just need to print and place in your window. They give you a map of the areas were they want dead fall cleaned up or any of the logged areas where they may have left wood cleaned up.

In the capital forest down by Olympia there around 2 dozen spots that can be harvested from. I think the wife and I might start getting those up in the spring and fall. I have a few dozen trees I need to take down here to build our supply up. I had over 20 cord last year down to about 7 now. I supply my mom, the grandparents house and our trailer wood for each season. So we go through a lot!