Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[WinterDeere]

Ours are definitely longer than 8 feet, and I'd guess CalG's 20'ish feet is close to what I see loaded on logging trucks here. They logged out the property behind mine when a neighbor built his house, and I remember the lengths being roughly that long. But 8 feet would be a nice length, since I think I'm going to have a lot of trouble swinging 20's around in my processing area, already set up for 15 footers.

As to buying wood being "worth it", $100/cord in log form is still miles cheaper than running oil or electric, here. it allows me to just keep the house at 70 - 80F all day and night, every day and night, rather than playing games with timed thermostats to save a little money. Given my wife and I both work all sorts of odd hours (international customers), that's a huge advantage.

Our big old house has a very high heat demand, we usually burn 1000 gallons of oil + 10 cords of oak + a lot of electricity for various heat pumps and resistive zones + a little propane for garage and billiard room. The house has 6 zones of oil heat, 3 zones of heat pump, 3 zones of electric resistive, and 2 zones on propane. Without wood, our heating bill might be larger than average household income, in some poorer parts of this country.

 

[thclimer]

Ours are definitely longer than 8 feet, and I'd guess CalG's 20'ish feet is close to what I see loaded on logging trucks here. They logged out the property behind mine when a neighbor built his house, and I remember the lengths being roughly that long. But 8 feet would be a nice length, since I think I'm going to have a lot of trouble swinging 20's around in my processing area, already set up for 15 footers.

As to buying wood being "worth it", $100/cord in log form is still miles cheaper than running oil or electric, here. it allows me to just keep the house at 70 - 80F all day and night, every day and night, rather than playing games with timed thermostats to save a little money. Given my wife and I both work all sorts of odd hours (international customers), that's a huge advantage.

Our big old house has a very high heat demand, we usually burn 1000 gallons of oil + 10 cords of oak + a lot of electricity for various heat pumps and resistive zones + a little propane for garage and billiard room. The house has 6 zones of oil heat, 3 zones of heat pump, 3 zones of electric resistive, and 2 zones on propane. Without wood, our heating bill might be larger than average household income, in some poorer parts of this country.

Do you have multiple wood stoves or are you using an outdoor wood boiler?

 

[WinterDeere]

Multiple wood stoves. Used to be 6 or 7 in this house, counting the various old thimbles. Prior owner had whittled that down to 4, and now we're down to 2 wood + 1 gas free standing stoves.

 

[thclimer]

Wow that must be huge house!

 

[shooterdon]

8 feet?

Your loggers are only half the men that work here in New England!

LOL...just wimps here in Michigan.

Just over 8' is the ideal log length here. Logs are stacked on trailers and pups across the width of trailer. Most logged wood is going to firewood processors or to mills as pulp wood. Some veneer and furniture grade wood too.

Anyway, my "baby" processor would struggle with anything longer than 10'. The larger commercial firewood processors can take longer logs but everyone I have seen use the shorter logs.

Met with a guy this morning to take down 18 trees that I am not comfortable felling. He has maple at $75/logger cord and that is a great price. If orders pick up, I will buy another 60 logger cords this year. I am sitting on 70 logger cords currently. Last year I went through over 40 logger cords.

Most of the trees I need felling are soft maple and I cannot sell that. It will be for our use as "cheap" firewood.

 

[WinterDeere]

Wow that must be huge house!

By the standards of the time in which it was built, definitely. But not so much in today's world full of cheap McMansions. I'm heating just shy of 8000 square feet, roughly 6500 in the house and 1500 in the carriage barn converted to a shop. That's not huge or tiny, but the bigger issue is the way it's broken up into many phases of construction, and populated with windows mostly installed before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The advantage of a place like this, for someone who really relied solely on the zoned boiler, is that you only really need to heat the parts of the house you're using. For us with two teens running around, that's most of the house right now, but was much less when the kids were little. Some day when they move off to school or career, I guess I'll drop back to just heating the office and bedroom.

 

[Molalla1]

I hear you. With the tractor (modified with limb risers, belly pan, grill guard and falling object protection), logging winch, forestry grapple, Metavic forwarding trailer, dump trailer, multiple chainsaws and probably some other toys tools I'm forgetting. I gave up pretending this was about saving money long ago.

Back years ago, when my boys were young (I'm 82) it was a lot more fun and cheaper labor wise.

 

[BackRoad]

I had to look up "logger's cord", and it was what I assumed...equal to a cord of split wood, still in log form.

When buying in the real world, how often does a logger's cord actually end up achieving an actual split cord? Any firsthand stories?

I recall mention that in some states, "a cord" of split firewood is a "regulated" market term. Is a logger's cord an actual measurement, or just a best guess?

 

[CalG]

I had to look up "logger's cord", and it was what I assumed...equal to a cord of split wood, still in log form.

When buying in the real world, how often does a logger's cord actually end up achieving an actual split cord? Any firsthand stories?

I recall mention that in some states, "a cord" of split firewood is a "regulated" market term. Is a logger's cord an actual measurement, or just a best guess?

I've bought enough "log loads" over the years to question that same measure.

My orientation has always been "A cord of wood is a the amount contained in the volume 4' wide, by 4' tall, and 8" in length.

That's a difficult measure when carried random butts on a logging truck.

So one year, I cut the entire log load at four foot length and restacked it four feet high and as long as it took....

Ended up the measure was nearer 6 1/2 cord done up that way.

BUT, it was so much work, I lost interest!

$1000 every other year (I suppliment with my own cutting.) is NOT too much. It's when the "hardwood" ends up being poplar that I get riled. I hate a cold fire with no coals.

Again, I enjoy the work, keeps me from being ugly all the time, as I get too tired to be ugly after a day working up fuel wood.

 

[WinterDeere]

Most of these trucks hold about 1000 cubic feet of wood in log form. 1000 / 128 ~ 8 cords.

No, it's never going to be the same as a split and stacked cord. Heck, you'll never manage to re-stack the same cord to equal the same volume twice. But it's close enough for firewood!