This is old oak and cherry inventory from before I started making Brad and Veal quality splits. I must have brought the whole dang willow oak home with the amount of limb wood in this stack. Huge Arnold swartshinjigger size cherry splits.
Yes Sir, Covered since birth. There were a few pieces towards the bottom of the stack catching water off the tarp and some pieces so ridiculously big that they didn’t get on the truck.
I like that..."covered since birth". Reminds me of the old born on date on Budweiser cans. Ive been trying to be more religious about top covering right away, but not one one my strongest wood hoarding attributes. With the shed for bundle wood and current evolution of storage im getting there. Ill do the same...unsellables get culled out.
I can’t afford to cover immediately anymore. The splits in the pic were on 2x4 racks too. Back when I was buying or could afford brackets, boards and tarps. Now I gotta sell enough to free up tarps to cover splits.
I didn't realize how sensitive I would be about selling wood to somebody and them letting it sit out in the rain. It was bone dry when it got there, now it's wet on the outside at least. Not sure how long it takes to make it hard to burn. It's their product to ruin but I would prefer that they are happy with how it burns. I did make deliveries in the rain. It doesn't bother me to work in it and I minimize the rain exposure by driving fast. In my part of the country, if I waited for the rain to stop I would either never do the delivery or I would lose the sale.
I try to work deliveries around rain and put a tarp over my truck load if in the forecast. I even use a large bath towel over the wheelbarrow when unloading and stacking. And if the customer is burning the same or next day, I put a dozen pieces inside my truck cab to keep dry. Since my deliveries are in the 60-80 mile range, 90 minutes at 60 mph has it dry bone dry at arrival. Casual day today. Split and stacked one, delivered 1/2 a cord, purchased 1/2 a cord, and loaded 1 FC for delivery tomorrow. With tip, banked $450 for the 1/2 cord. A 8' and 4' rack. Customer said just bring me some dry stuff. S0 a mixture of Ash, Cherry, Maple, Hickory, and Oak. Makes for a nice color when stacked.
Last customer today had 4x4 runners to stack my sugar maple on. Mentioned that I would be happy to cover the firewood after I finished stacking in order to keep it dry. Customer didn’t have one. The remaining firewood was rotten and infested with ants. I tried and won’t give up.
Happy I stopped advertising Monday. Haven’t had an empty day and booked through this coming Monday. Was making a lot of four face cord deliveries to multiple customers. Way too much effort loading the day before and then the driving, wheelbarrowing and stacking. I like just delivering 1/2 cords per day just using my truck. Also mentally exhausting towing a 18’ trailer around a city with tight streets.
Something I have been doing for awhile now is what I call cracking/popping the splits. I hit the bigger splits just an inch or two with my splitter until the piece cracks/pops. This really speeds up the drying time and only takes a second or two. Three year plan? I am on a 6-12 month plan and even shorter if my moisture meter allows. I also stack my pallets about six feet high and lined up together for 100-125'. I remove the top foot or two from three or four pallets when loading a face cord. The top layer drys the fastest and then the remaining wood gets more sun and wind exposure. This probably saves me a month or two of drying time in addition to the cracking.
I got a $20 tip today. Guy only wanted a face cord of oak for his campfire ring. Gave me a Ben and a $20. And I don’t deliver!
No BL on my property or surrounding area. Even my local Logger doesn't have any in his yard. Not a TN tree I guess. Oak and Hickory is what folks want in my neck of the woods. When a customer says "just bring me dry hardwood" they also receive some ash and sugar maple. WO is king firewood in my area.
Easy day, just delivered two white oak loads. Bagged $300 each with tips. Off to Cadiz, KY in the morning. A long haul for a Nashville resident that has a cabin in the Land Between the Lakes. A big Amish area, so have to watch out for the horses and buggies. Have a hand full of Nashville people with second homes that want firewood delivered a far. Most of them volunteer to pay for my diesel and driving time, but some don't. Most of these deliveries have some very scenic routes, so don't mind the occasional long haul delivery for a big steady customer.
