Anyone cut firewood for health/exercise?

[fried1765]

Not 100% for that reason, but partly?
I have an ideal firewood spot, a 16’x24’ concrete pad I poured years ago. I could split wood on it. Have a friend that will sell me as many rounds as I want.
Quick backround: I grew up in a house heated primarily with firewood wood and backed up with oil furnace. My dad and I would split 15 cords a year or more. Between firewood and hay bales, I developed a really strong shoulders and arms.
Well, now the bales are handled by tractor. I have lifted weights to supplement, but I’m bored with that. Rather be outside. My wife says jokingly “you live outside” (probably helps our marriage lol). Cant stand being cooped up inside.
Anyway, I was curious if anyone else chopped wood not just for firewood or profit, but for healthy exercise?

We are obviously cut from the same cloth!

 

[Hay Dude]

I’m a Chopper 1 axe guy, myself

CHOPPER 1 AXE

www.chopper1axe.com

 

[CalG]

Cutting firewood, and then splitting it all by hand, was my primary form of exercise most of my life. Especially after a frustrating day at work, it was a great way to work off stress. Grab a huge round and some big wedges and a sledge and have at it.

That all went by the wayside a couple years ago when I gave up and went to a pellet stove. Gave up because firewood, in the area where I live, is almost impossible to get. The last few years I drove 240 miles (one way) to the Burns, Oregon area and bought my firewood there. Now even that source has pretty much dried up. Drives me nuts - the wildfires kill miles of trees, yet no one is allowed to harvest the dead wood.

Miles upon miles of dead trees going to waste:
View attachment 710628

Getting ready for some exercise:
View attachment 710629

Check out those wedges:
View attachment 710630

Just one knotty round like this was enough to give a guy a pretty good workout!
View attachment 710631

(The photos of the rounds are of firewood I bought in Oregon.)

I can tell you will not be splitting that stuff with an axe or a maul! ;-)

 

[Solitary Man]

Been there, done that. No thanks. Wood as a source of heat is for camping only.

 

[CalG]

I enjoy the exercise. We heat primarily with wood. 'Have been for the past 30 years.

Delivered by log truck, I cut a fuel tank worth at a session.
Then split the rounds and stack for drying and storage. (Wood houses, the round stacks that look like mini silos ;-)

Not too much of any one thing at a time. Cutting, splitting, hauling ,stacking, repetitive work and motion will get me stiffened up.

Every time I start in, I tell the wife how much money we are saving in gym memberships ;-)

 

[Jstpssng]

Putting up/burning wood is something that you either love or you hate. I grew up with it, and have always enjoyed it.

I tried selling it once but with a chainsaw and maul it wasn't very efficient; then once I dropped it off people suddenly didn't have the money to pay me. Now, wood is my main source of heat plus I sometimes cut and split a couple of cords and give it away.
I also brought home my father's woodsplitter which makes it a bit easier. I generally split it into quarters and fill the woodshed; then use a light maul to split it to size as I bring it to the house in the tractor bucket.

 

[turnkey4099]

I heat with wood, 6=7 cord/yr. and sell 6 cord 86 now and still cut, split, pile, etc. Exellent healt for my age, actually almost unbelievable. I figure it is the exercise from the 'wooding' that keeps me still able to do it. Very enjoyable work and it works every muscle group. Just did get back from a small load this morning. 4 hours total in two different cutting areas. 4 hours sling the saws is a bit much for me now so my usual is around 3 hours per session. Haul rouns all summer and then split/pile all winter weather permitting.

 

[Thomas]

In my younger days use to get 2 truck loads of logs than cut split and stack,but now order little over 5 cords cut split and deliver still have to stack the wood,if the Mrs. didn't like the wood heat I would choose another source.

 

[dodge man]

I’ve never paid for firewood, I’ve been lucky in that respect. 100% free, you know $800 worth of chainsaws, $750 for a log splitter, $20k for the tractor, $1500 for the fire place, you know free.

 

[Jstpssng]

I’ve never paid for firewood, I’ve been lucky in that respect. 100% free, you know $800 worth of chainsaws, $750 for a log splitter, $20k for the tractor, $1500 for the fire place, you know free.

Plus purchase price and taxes on the land, your time...

 

[fried1765]

I’ve never paid for firewood, I’ve been lucky in that respect. 100% free, you know $800 worth of chainsaws, $750 for a log splitter, $20k for the tractor, $1500 for the fire place, you know free.

Sorta like hunting and fishing!

 

[Hay Dude]

Yeah never bought firewood, either. Hay fields and construction sites always have trees to be removed and so I always have some on hand. Even sell some here and there.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Spent most of Saturday doing firewood excercises, split and moved a couple cords of wood. The tuff part is that this year we had a wind storm on the 28th of March that blew down lots of Ponderosa
Pine in the area. Most of them in the 40" plus diameter at the stump range. Cut them to a length of 16" rounds to let them dry all summer, lifted these rounds with a tractor onto splitter. A very slow and tedious process trying to figure out the safest way to handle the large rounds.
Have never processed rounds this large before and will not be doing it again any time soon.

 

[deserteagle71]

I’ve never paid for firewood, I’ve been lucky in that respect. 100% free, you know $800 worth of chainsaws, $750 for a log splitter, $20k for the tractor, $1500 for the fire place, you know free.

But the benefits of the "free" exercise you got from firewood are priceless!

 

[sea2summit]

I get really sick of traditional exercise. Cutting and handling firewood is one of about four seasonal-ish activities I plan for retirement to keep me active and healthy. Don't really plan to make any money just doing it for me.

 

[shooterdon]

I spent 3-4 years getting "free" wood from what the loggers left behind. My mentally challenged son and I would jump in the SxS and roam around picking up stuff. I never put a pencil to the cost of doing it but it gave us something to do. It was not an efficient use of time but it made him feel good to know he was helping out.

 

[ning]

We joke that instead of CrossFit we do FarmFit.
Doesn't do much for cardio but at least I look good and stuff gets done

 

[cqaigy2]

We're fortunate too in we have many trees and haven't needed to pay for wood. Just spent last couple days processing wood for the stove for next years burn. I'd much rather do firewood exercise than go to a gym or other traditional exercises.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Not 100% for that reason, but partly?
I have an ideal firewood spot, a 16’x24’ concrete pad I poured years ago. I could split wood on it. Have a friend that will sell me as many rounds as I want.
Quick backround: I grew up in a house heated primarily with firewood wood and backed up with oil furnace. My dad and I would split 15 cords a year or more. Between firewood and hay bales, I developed a really strong shoulders and arms.
Well, now the bales are handled by tractor. I have lifted weights to supplement, but I’m bored with that. Rather be outside. My wife says jokingly “you live outside” (probably helps our marriage lol). Cant stand being cooped up inside.
Anyway, I was curious if anyone else chopped wood not just for firewood or profit, but for healthy exercise?

Homes are sure more efficient nowadays, aren't they? I remember my grandfather burned about 8 cords a year. Wood is still my primary heat source, and I'll burn maybe 2 or 3 cords a year. At 74, I cut and split my own firewood, stack it where I cut it to dry, then move it to the woodshed this time of year, when it's dry enough to sound like marimbas when I toss it around. That's nowhere near enough exercise to keep me in shape, just one more chore out of dozens.

This week's exercise is to clear out half the shop, sweep the floor and work benches, service the tools, then repeat on the other half the shop. When fire restrictions will let me run my tractor again, I'll do some brush clearing and pile some slash to be burned in the rainy season. Winter chores also include tree pruning. I'm thinking about building a smoke house big enough to hang a couple hams and sides of bacon. Spending my time just splitting wood would be boring.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

We heat our home primarily with wood. Gas furnace for those days when the fire goes low and it's really cold out. In harsh winters we'll go through almost 6 cords. Last year was about 3.

I, too, enjoy the activity of firewood gathering and processing. I use a chainsaw to cut it and a splitter to split it. The only real weight lifting type exercise I get out of it is lifting the wood onto the trailer to bring it home, or tossing it off the trailer when I get home. Then lifting it onto the splitter.

I don't get much weight lifting type exercise tossing or stacking the individual pieces of firewood, as they are so light.

I'd think splitting by hand would do more damage to my body from the extreme shocks of sudden impacts from the maul, sledge, axe, etc., than benefits from lifting weights.

With that said, I still enjoy the process and being outdoors.

Heat pump here. We keep the thermostat set at 60, so if we are away from home we don't have to heat a cold house. Most winters it never kicks on.

We heat with a combo of wood and passive solar, with 80 square feet of glass on the south side of the house shining on a tile floor, and and an old Fisher air tight insert that is coming up on 50 years old. They'll make me destroy it when I sell the place, but it's a joy. The double doors will accept a 10" round, and the fire box is 24" deep. It will hold a good bed of coals overnight, and the hearth also holds a lot of heat. I have a lot of madrone, which is the premium firewood around here. It heats as good as oak, leaves 1/3 the ash, and the deciduous bark leaves the dirt in the woods instead of the family room. Plus, rounds check so bad as it dries that the wood almost splits itself.

The floor on the south side of the house is heavy tile on top of cement backerboard, on top of R-21 insulation. It's probably only 2 tons of thermal mass, but it keeps the house warm until a couple hours after sunset, when we switch back to wood. With gravity feed water, my wife loves that the comfort level of our home doesn't change when the power goes out.