Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[BackRoad]

Y'all make this one of the best threads on TBN.

Everyone contributing is helpful and there is no attitude...seriously.

 

[Jstpssng]

Ash is the only wood I know, that has so little moisture in it during the winter, that it could be burnt unseasoned.

I've always heard that but never found it to be true. I have never intentionally cut it to burn but often will cut a small, 2-4 inch tree to get it out of the way, then throw it onto the fire. Even after a couple of months it still sizzles, like any other green wood.

 

[wolc123]

I won’t miss the ash trees, but I do miss the days when I could work on firewood in the winter. It was nice in the old days, to drag the logs out on frozen ground, with no mud or rutting. Our ground didn’t freeze at all last winter and it don’t look good for this one either. This was the view down the back lane yesterday:

I’d love to get at those standing dead ash on the left right now but it probably won’t be dry enough for that until mid June.

I do have a small load of ash logs on my bucking trailer though, that I could work on once I burn up a little more of the seasoned stuff, and feee up some space in the woodshed.

At least the winter mud don’t slow me down at all hauling seasoned firewood up to the house, since I finished the woodshed, with stone driveway to it. It was pretty rough last winter, when I had to carry wood stacked outside under tarps by hand, across the muddy lawn all winter. High winds and deep snow from two blizzards made dealing with those tarps extra special.

 

[wolc123]

I've always heard that but never found it to be true. I have never intentionally cut it to burn but often will cut a small, 2-4 inch tree to get it out of the way, then throw it onto the fire. Even after a couple of months it still sizzles, like any other green wood.

I never tried it ether, however with those smaller pieces, there’s not enough of a percentage of “heartwood” to burn. The outer layers just under the bark is where the moisture is held. Your results would be different with bigger stuff. Most of the wood that my brother in laws father burnt all winter, was fresh cut live ash, for many years. At least that’s what he always told me.

 

[Jstpssng]

I never tried it ether, however with those smaller pieces, there’s not enough of a percentage of “heartwood” to burn. The outer layers just under the bark is where the moisture is held. Your results would be different with bigger stuff. Most of the wood that my brother in laws father burnt all winter, was fresh cut live ash, for many years. At least that’s what he always told me.

I'll have to try it, just for curiosity sake. I plan to cut some logs later this winter, but there's sure to be a bad butt end to chop off.

 

[groundcover]

That could be the name for our new band " Bad Butt End "!

 

[shooterdon]

Same here. I find it comical when folks get fussy about keeping them all exactly the same length. We have lots of bonfires, but I do try to err on the short side, so that they all fit in the wood stove.

For personal use I feel the same way…if it fits it burns. I am starting to sell wood and it matters to some folks.

 

[Gordon Gould]

For personal use I feel the same way…if it fits it burns. I am starting to sell wood and it matters to some folks.

Size matters for all kinds of different reasons. For me - my wood shed is 9'-4" inside wall to inside wall. I want to get 6 rows of 18" wood stacked 7' high in there and be stable. If the lengths aren't held pretty close I get a lot of air space, rows that lean, and a pita to stack - searching for the right length stick to fit. It's a lot easier for me to keep the lengths uniform when I cut them.

gg

 

[shooterdon]

Size matters

gg

Hummm...where I have heard this before? LOL

 

[deezler]

Same here. I find it comical when folks get fussy about keeping them all exactly the same length. We have lots of bonfires, but I do try to err on the short side, so that they all fit in the wood stove.

Agreed, the idea of hanging a tool off the side of the chainsaw bar, or meticulously measuring and painting logs, seems pretty ridiculous to me. But different strokes, and whatnot.

You have a nice barn/shed/wood setup! Where's your approx location, to calibrate that "3-1/4 face cords" consumption report? And all wood heat, or do you have some backup in play as well?

Here in southern Michigan I think I'm at the same rate, just over 3 face cords burned through my woodstove thus far. We did use mini-split heat a lot in November/December whenever the ambient temps were up above 40f (quite a bit) which delayed our firewood consumption in the early season.

Our snow piles look like yours also... just the crusty piles remain.

 

[deezler]

Ash is the only wood I know, that has so little moisture in it during the winter, that it could be burnt unseasoned. That could be handy if you ever ran low on wood in the late winter. Of course that don’t matter now around here because all of them are dead anyhow.

I always stayed several years ahead on my firewood supply, so I never took advantage of that, back when they were all healthy. Back then, ash made up less than 25 % of the wood we burnt. For the last 15 years (ever since the eab threat emerged) ash had made up more than 90% of what we have been burning.

That is the main reason that I am so sick of it right now. I’m sure that a day will come, after it’s long gone, when I will start missing it. It really does split easy, compared to most others. I probably wouldn’t even have a hydraulic splitter, if ash was all that I burned.

First time I'm hearing someone who dislikes burning ash that much. If you think Ash leaves a lot of woodstove ashes behind, try some thick-barked walnut! Leaves a poofy mess behind (good BTUs int he meantime though, and one can always pull the bark off before burning).

When we built our house in 2015, I didn't have any firewood ahead of time. So the easiest stuff to grab and chop up was the standing, or recently fallen ash. And it was indeed pretty easy to burn after just a month or two of seasoning after splitting... but I figure thats at least partly because it had been dead for 6-8 years and dried itself out already.

 

[deezler]

I've always heard that but never found it to be true. I have never intentionally cut it to burn but often will cut a small, 2-4 inch tree to get it out of the way, then throw it onto the fire. Even after a couple of months it still sizzles, like any other green wood.

Agreed. Of course it has water in it... it's a tree, that's how they work. Only big dead ones left here in southern michigan. They do dry out quite a bit when standing dead and proud in the woods for years after the borer's been through.

 

[Helogabals]

Got reminder that Sunday just is not the day to work.

First logs "sucked" chain bar sooo many times. Like I am the guy first day in the forest with saw

And at the end this

And at very end - welder didn't work


5 h on the road and 2 hours being productive

 

[FriendwithTractor]

Got reminder that Sunday just is not the day to work.

First logs "sucked" chain bar sooo many times. Like I am the guy first day in the forest with saw

And at the end this
View attachment 849222

And at very end - welder didn't work


5 h on the road and 2 hours being productive

That's how she goes sometimes. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
Here's hoping this week goes better for you!

 

[wolc123]

Agreed, the idea of hanging a tool off the side of the chainsaw bar, or meticulously measuring and painting logs, seems pretty ridiculous to me. But different strokes, and whatnot.

You have a nice barn/shed/wood setup! Where's your approx location, to calibrate that "3-1/4 face cords" consumption report? And all wood heat, or do you have some backup in play as well?

Here in southern Michigan I think I'm at the same rate, just over 3 face cords burned through my woodstove thus far. We did use mini-split heat a lot in November/December whenever the ambient temps were up above 40f (quite a bit) which delayed our firewood consumption in the early season.

Our snow piles look like yours also... just the crusty piles remain.

I’m a little NE of Buffalo NY about half way between Lake Erie one Ontario. We do have (2) natural gas furnaces also, each covers half the house.

The one that covers the half that the wood stove is on is only used for heat when the sunrise temperature is above 35 F (it gets too hot on that side to use the wood stove when the morning temp is hotter than that).

We leave the thermostat for the one on the other side of the house set at 65 F all the time in the winter (our daughter likes it cool and her bedroom is on that side). Her side also has an AC unit tied into the furnace, while the one on our side does not.

The house is well insulated and just that one AC unit keeps the whole house cool in the summer. In the winter, I switch our side’s furnace thermostat control to “cool” even though it lacks AC. That moves hot air from the wood stove down to the basement on the other side. That heat comes up through the floor on that side, and usually keeps that furnas on that side from coming on.

I also run it on “cool” in the summer, when it does the same thing, and the temperature is usually 2 degrees warmer in our side than on the air-conditioned side.

I switch the NG furnas on our side to “heat” when the morning temp is higher than 35 F and set the thermostat to 69 F in the day and 67 F at night, and don’t use the wood stove.

When it’s on “cool” and I’m burning wood, the thermostat on that one is set to 71 F.

It’s easy to keep track of wood usage because our side porch (next to the wood stove), tractor bucket and three point carryall all hold 1/2 face cord, while each row in woodshed holds 1-1/2. Other than piece length, this is all fairly exact science.

 

[Jstpssng]

I am starting to sell wood and it matters to some folks

If I was paying for it I would expect uniform lengths, otherwise it's impossible to know how much you really have. I believe that I mentioned recently about my cousin who bought a truckload of 8 foot hardwood which measured 90 inches on every stick. On an 8 cord load that adds up to 64 cubic foot loss, or 1/2 cord.

When I was cutting tree length poplar for the OSB mill I had almost a load cut when they decided they wanted it cut to 9 feet.
I took my tape and walked down every stem, marking off 9 feet.
By the time I bought a grapple and went through the pile summer was gone... and there were mushrooms growing out of the wood. I then cut another load and was starting on a 3rd, bucking it all to 9 foot; when they decided they wanted it 8 foot.

I pushed 3 cords of 9 foot poplar over the banking and used it for fill.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

If I was paying for it I would expect uniform lengths, otherwise it's impossible to know how much you really have. I believe that I mentioned recently about my cousin who bought a truckload of 8 foot hardwood which measured 90 inches on every stick. On an 8 cord load that adds up to 64 cubic foot loss, or 1/2 cord.

When I was cutting tree length poplar for the OSB mill I had almost a load cut when they decided they wanted it cut to 9 feet.
I took my tape and walked down every stem, marking off 9 feet.
By the time I bought a grapple and went through the pile summer was gone... and there were mushrooms growing out of the wood. I then cut another load and was starting on a 3rd, bucking it all to 9 foot; when they decided they wanted it 8 foot.

I pushed 3 cords of 9 foot poplar over the banking and used it for fill.

That would have made me cry!

SR

 

[Gordon Gould]

I’m a little NE of Buffalo NY about half way between Lake Erie one Ontario. We do have (2) natural gas furnaces also, each covers half the house.

The one that covers the half that the wood stove is on is only used for heat when the sunrise temperature is above 35 F (it gets too hot on that side to use the wood stove when the morning temp is hotter than that).

We leave the thermostat for the one on the other side of the house set at 65 F all the time in the winter (our daughter likes it cool and her bedroom is on that side). Her side also has an AC unit tied into the furnace, while the one on our side does not.

The house is well insulated and just that one AC unit keeps the whole house cool in the summer. In the winter, I switch our side’s furnace thermostat control to “cool” even though it lacks AC. That moves hot air from the wood stove down to the basement on the other side. That heat comes up through the floor on that side, and usually keeps that furnas on that side from coming on.

I also run it on “cool” in the summer, when it does the same thing, and the temperature is usually 2 degrees warmer in our side than on the air-conditioned side.

I switch the NG furnas on our side to “heat” when the morning temp is higher than 35 F and set the thermostat to 69 F in the day and 67 F at night, and don’t use the wood stove.

When it’s on “cool” and I’m burning wood, the thermostat on that one is set to 71 F.

It’s easy to keep track of wood usage because our side porch (next to the wood stove), tractor bucket and three point carryall all hold 1/2 face cord, while each row in woodshed holds 1-1/2. Other than piece length, this is all fairly exact science.

Yikes - that a tough deal - a lot of time and work down the drain.

About 10 years ago I was cutting winter fir and selling it to a mill across the river. Unbeknownst to me one summer he changed his min length from 8' to 10' and I brought in a load of mostly 8's but he took it anyway and just said don't do that any more if you want to get paid. Good old family saw mill that unfortunately no longer exists.

gg

 

[oldtimer 66]

Here is a few pictures of how I store my wood. It got split last spring and put directly into my building. When the heating season starts I load it into my Gator and take it down to the house. If it is really cold I will use 2 loads a week. This has been a very mild winter with just the last 10 days with a cold spell. I put in about 9 cord a year. This year I still have over 3 rows left and it is near the end of January. 9 cords is about 6.5 rows typical. You notice I have the Gator loaded up. You can't do that with green wood.

 

[Hilbilly]

If I was paying for it I would expect uniform lengths, otherwise it's impossible to know how much you really have. I believe that I mentioned recently about my cousin who bought a truckload of 8 foot hardwood which measured 90 inches on every stick. On an 8 cord load that adds up to 64 cubic foot loss, or 1/2 cord.

When I was cutting tree length poplar for the OSB mill I had almost a load cut when they decided they wanted it cut to 9 feet.
I took my tape and walked down every stem, marking off 9 feet.
By the time I bought a grapple and went through the pile summer was gone... and there were mushrooms growing out of the wood. I then cut another load and was starting on a 3rd, bucking it all to 9 foot; when they decided they wanted it 8 foot.

I pushed 3 cords of 9 foot poplar over the banking and used it for fill.

Why didn't you just cut one foot off each log?