Sister #1 messaged me Monday to let me know that BIL dropped some dead pine trees on her property. I told her I would be over to buck them up. Sister used her truck to bring three loads to the house. After the rains move out I will split and stack. I am not sure what type of pines these are but they grow to a fairly large diameter. There are some more dead pines on the property as well as a downed red oak and maple that I will get later this spring as well. Monday and today were spring days in February but I am sure some winter storms will be coming.
Yes, haven't been able to check any of the rounds; I was pushing it to get them covered; it was raining at the time I was covering but for now, the rain has stopped; however, we are forecast for some bad storms with high winds. Not looking forward to the next couple or three days.
The storm is over. There is some high clouds that is preventing the sun from shinning; wish the sun was out to help with warming. I am going to head out and see how much of this I can get split before having to head out to run errands this evening. It was too windy out yesterday; really strong gusts of wind that threatens to bring limbs down on your head.
My goal of getting that wood split today didn't happen. It took longer for me to move the splitter and set up than I thought it would. I did manage to split the wood you see in front of the tall pile. The tall pile; by the way, is two stacks deep. Some of those rounds are pretty large though it is hard to tell in the photo without a guide. There is going to be a fair amount of wood from that pile. Of course I know pine burns faster than dense hardwood. I was splitting fast but had to wheelbarrow the wood and stack; I split and throw in the wheelbarrow to try handling the wood as least as I can. Then wheel over to stack. I had to cut my work short and get everything covered as rains moved in again. Tomorrow should be clear but then rains for several days. I was going to take a photo of the finish stack but the rains came up before I knew it; I didn't even know it was going to rain today. Photos will be coming though.
Today is a beautiful day, sunny and no wind; I hate windy days, and mild temps. After today there is a chance of several days of showers and just crappy weather so today it is split and stack, split and stack. I had to take a loo break so stopped and took a quick photo of the first row. I am stacking it where the Bradford pear use to be; the Bradford pear has been consumed. My brother-in-law told me they will probably take the other two down; lots of limbs on these trees but Bradford pear burns nicely. I had some huge chunks that I used last night for an overnight burn. The row in the photo is around 137 cm by 244 cm (4.5 feet by 8 feet). The pine has a slight twist in the growth so when it splits it is not nice and square so as you can see, it doesn't stack as close as other woods. OK, enough time wasting, back to work.
OK, I am quitting for the day; I need to head out and run some errands and go to Sister #1 to find the wrench for the Stihl; I know I used it while in the woods but it isn't in the saw bag I carry with the tools and chains. BIL has a metal detector so I am sure I can located it. I recall tossing it in the bag and must have missed the bag without realising. Didn't get all the pine split, but got most of it. Here is the final photo before tarping; I added more to the top so it is a little taller than the previous photo. My lower right back/hip is hurting so that is another reason; I strained a bit yesterday moving the splitter.
I like this splitting, throw in wheelbarrow, haul and stack as it seems to go a lot faster; or at least it is better mentally. I use to split and throw it into a big pile. Then when I finished, I had to pick it up and throw it in the wheelbarrow and then haul and stack. Looking at that big pile of wood that needed to be picked up and stacked was sort of disheartening. This way I do it in stages and it just feels so much better. I have enjoyed the day so far and I hope everyone else is having a good day as well.
