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Post by Bullshop on Nov 8, 2023 11:12:59 GMT -7
I got behind this year on getting in our fire wood. We burn 10 chord a season so to stay ahead we try to get that much put up each year. We have about a three year buffer but I dont like the supply to shrink beyond that . If I can get in ten chord per year we stay even with the three year buffer which makes me feel comfy. I cant do two to three chord loads any more its just too much work for an old guy. Doing one chord loads like this one gets me to hurting plenty and takes a couple days recovery before I want to do it again. Our weather seems to be cooperating and in a couple more days and Lord willing I will get in the tenth load for the year then be satisfied not only that it covers another years use but also the God has blessed me with the ability to do so. I am packing the 50-70 along because we still have two weeks of hunting season left and I still have two deer tags. It would tickle me to no end to pull in at home with the tenth load for the year with a deer draped over the load. Diesel wont allow me to go alone because he just worries too much when I am gone. He enjoys the ride and when at the wood location he has a purpose which is to guard our lunch from marauding thieves. He stays in the truck while the trees are being felled but likes for me to leave a door open I guess so he can quickly come help if needed. When I start bucking the logs he likes to come out and take an elevated perch to keep an eye on what is going on around us. When the loading starts he is right there in a supervisory capacity wanting to help but lacking thumbs is limited. He is my Bud though and his always being there staves off any loneliness that may otherwise creep in. Its good to have an always pard.  Attachments:
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Post by missionary on Nov 8, 2023 15:32:33 GMT -7
Looks like a big bunch of work getting that stack that high up !
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Post by Bullshop on Nov 8, 2023 16:13:10 GMT -7
It is some work for sure. The part you dont see is unloading which is an equal part of getting in a load. The way I stack for storage goes higher than what you see on the trailer. The way I stack for storage is to lay down a rick then the next rick crosses the first in the opposite direction and each rick on up to over my head is crossed in the same manner. This way the wood stays much dryer in the long term. If the logs are stacked all parallel they hold in moistier and soon begin to rot. Stacked this way it wont rot for a very long time. Its a lot more work but a better way to stay several years ahead on wood supply and have it stay solid and sound. If I remember I will try to get a picture of the stored wood tomorrow. Today is over and after casting a large bullet order then unloading the trailer I have had enough. Diesel is still in the truck and refuses to get out. I guess he is telling me he is ready for that tenth load. Attachments:
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Post by todddoyka on Nov 9, 2023 10:25:25 GMT -7
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Post by Bullshop on Nov 10, 2023 15:54:21 GMT -7
Yea Tod she looks like about 10 pounds of pure terror.
Got the tenth load for the year in today so wood cutting is done for the season. Good thing too because the trailer broke and will require some welding to repair. I was able to do a field repair to get the load on and get it home but wont use it again until it is fixed right. No hurry now though.
I also have to get the buzz saw filed up. It cuts but not good. I have only been using it for the thin slab wood we get from the local mill. It works good enough for that. When its freshly filed and set it will buzz through an eight inch log about as fast as you can push it. It just goes kind of KAZING and right through then slide the log forward then KAZING again. It is work but for some reason that job has a mellowing affect on me. You just get into the rhythm and pretty soon the world goes away.
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Post by missionary on Nov 11, 2023 2:18:35 GMT -7
Work is good for the soul. Our doctor down in Peru says it is the best stress reliever there is.
Praises to God for giving you the ability to move that wood safely. Also keeping the trailer together enough for your field expedient repair to hold for the last trip.
That stacking method does work well. Fresh circulating air does good things to wood. There was a small family sawmill about 30 miles from where I grew up in SW Michigan that had a large lot of drying hard wood logs that were stacked in similar fashion. No idea how long they had to be there stacked until dry enough to cut.
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Post by Bullshop on Nov 11, 2023 8:21:02 GMT -7
It takes a few years to completely dry a green log. It helps to score the bark in a couple places for the length of the log. That helps moistier to escape. A green log that lies on the ground will never dry. It will rot first because it will wick moistier from the ground as well as absorb rain and snow that falls on it. Moistier is what rots wood. The wood I get is standing dead. Standing dead is as dry as it can get because it has gone through a slow drying process without absorbing moistier from the ground or from precipitation. Most of what I get is lodge pole pine so the mature trees are very uniform in diameter and quite long but with few limbs mostly at the top. It wont burn as long as the eastern hard woods but its what we have. For now other than the cost of gas and the work its still free but I worry about what this administration could do if they get a hint that it causes green house gases. They could put an end to fire wood gathering on all federal lands and that would put a major crimp in my style.
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Post by grasshopper on Nov 24, 2023 13:03:35 GMT -7
I honestly think you are going to be just fine in regards to greenhouse gases pard! The current honcho can’t seem to remember from minute to minute what was said, who said it, why it was said, what it was about, when it was said and where the person that brought it up might be. If this chronic pattern continues id bet a paycheck you are gonna be A OK!!!
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Post by Bullshop on Nov 24, 2023 17:43:50 GMT -7
I don't really see myself changing my heat source. About all that will change is that I will become a criminal. I never imagined there would come a day when I would have to poach firewood. Reminds me of a native fella I met near top of the world when I was setting up my camp for subsistence moose and caribou. Moose was open and caribou was to open in two more days. Around towards evening a young native fella pulled up to my camp. I invited him in and since I was cooking I asked if he was hungry. Turned out he had been driving all day and was really hungry so I fed him. After dinner we talked and he told me he drove down from the north wanting to get some caribou. When I told him season opens in two days he said he knew and is why he was in such a hurry because poaching season ended in the same two days.
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Post by grasshopper on Nov 24, 2023 20:06:38 GMT -7
Ha! That’s a story I have never heard! Good on you pard! I wonder how many eggs he was able to poach in those two days?
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