Not terribly far then, I think Gettysburg is about an hour and 15 from me. I’m in Dauphin county about a half hour north of Harrisburg
A lot of us die hards here love our pro model saws, but those are pricey if bought new. A Stihl MS362 59cc will wear a 20" bar nicely and handle a 25" for your bigger logs, but will set you back in the neighborhood of a $1000. An MS391 may be a cheaper alternative even though its not a pro model. If you have an OPE (outdoor power equipment) dealer close by go in and check out their saws. Its always a good idea to buy from one as they know the product and can service it if needed.
Few years back when i was running just one saw with a 16" bar i had the opportunity to cut larger red oak from a storm that hit us in the Fall. I acquired a Stihl MS460 (77cc's) and that was a serious game changer. Wasnt looking for something that big but it was dirt cheap. Being used to running a short bar then running a 28" i felt like Paul Bunyon.
Great thread. I've been processing and burning wood all of my life, only in recent years have I tried to get more efficient, mostly due to finding FHC a little over 9 years ago. I too have an acre of land, not a ton, but enough, and you have to be efficient when you don't have several acres at your disposal. All houses in our neighborhood have an acre of land, and the back yard neighbors are in a different town technically, and have half acre lots. We're on a cul de sac, and have a baseball diamond shaped lot, sand have a lot more neighbors than typical due to the shape of our lot. I too have neighbors that cut back the lower branches on nice tall balsam firs. they are on the back yard line and I'd rather not have to see them. We had a little beef with them when we first bought the house in 2008, and they assumed our dogs were pooping in their yard. They weren't. They put up a non conforming, cheap and ugly fence and that created some conflict, mostly with their grown kid that doesn't when live there, or really ever visits. That fence was taken down pretty quickly, with a little drama along the way. But in the years since then, they planted hazelnuts along that line and those are all like 8' + now. So those bushes help with the privacy thing. I put up a welded wire fence to keep our dogs in our yard when getting exercise and even more importantly, neighboring dogs out. Eventually, hopefully this summer, I'll be putting up a hogwire and wood fence in place of the welded wire fence. Further down the same lot line, I built a 3 bay wood shed that is 30' long during 2020, that's an excellent fence and my neighbors love how it looks. With the dark green metal roof, and a wood fence made of splits, it's a good looking fence. Each bay holds a little more than 5 cords. I use about 4-4.25 cords a winter. Right now I just have a 4' single row split fence on that first right bay untill I put up a bigger garden shed for my tractor/ mower and other equipment. Once I fill the shed completely fun that's the 3 yr plan, but until then I have a staging area where I haul rounds and split them and they can sit out uncovered for at least a summer and then they go to the shed. That staging are is on the opposite end of the triangular lot. There's definitely a bit of work in making firewood. Anything I can do to make it more efficient is the way I like to do it. I bring my trailer full of rugs to the staging/ splitting area, split the, then haul it over to the shed and stack it. Then I take green one of the bays and stack about 2 cords on the patio, just outside of the room where the FP insert is. I could be more efficient with a dump trailer and a Front end loader on a 4wd tractor. Maybe some day.
I really enjoy seeing pics of that shed Horkn! It was certainly a job well done. Out of curiosity though how do you hoard so much wood on such a small plot? Do you have connections with a tree service, a friend with some wooded acreage, etc? I only ask because I live on 2 acres (surrounded by my brothers dairy farm ground which is where I get all of my wood) and have had a hard time getting to 3 years ahead. I'm only burning roughly 3 cord/year. I do have 3 small children though so don't get out quite as much as I like at the moment. It always fascinates me how the 'city folks' (anyone with neighbors all around is 'city folks' in my territory) get the firewood thing done. Y'all deserve a for being able to do it with people all around.
Thanks for the advice. I’ve been debating making that leap to a pro model for awhile now and have been window shopping at my local OPE’s for awhile now, I just can’t bring myself to buy new at those prices and keep hoping that I’ll be one of those lucky fellas who finally finds a great deal on a used one. The MS 362 and 400 would most likely be the 2 options I’d be looking at, how do you like your 400 and is the magnesium piston worth the added cost?
Thank you for taking the time to share your setup, it looks like you’ve definitely put a lot of thought and time into it! It’s pretty wild how we have such similar situations, so I can definitely relate to the need for efficiency. Also, your wood shed has definitely helped me visualize what I’d like my “burn shed” to look like for what I’ll use that winter. My ground also has a slope to it and I’ve been debating whether to level it out or do a “stepped” setup like what you have. At first I didn’t think I’d like the look of having it stepped but yours looks great and I’d be more than happy to have that at my house, so thank you for the pictures! Is your staging just a section of your yard where you let them sit for the summer or do you have them sitting on pallets, tarps, stone or something else? I’m hoping to get some pictures uploaded of what I currently have going on here, some ideas for the future and certain things that I need to take into consideration or work around. Once I do I’d definitely appreciate any thoughts, tips, advice.
All right folks, I apologize for taking so long to upload some photos but I’m sure everyone knows how life goes sometimes. Anyway, here’s some pics of my property and what I currently have going on. I just started bringing my rounds back from the farm and stacking them alongside the driveway this winter and I’m liking how that’s working out so far, except that they’re right there when you come up the driveway (more on this later.) As of now I’m planning to continue this “staging area” along the driveway towards the shed but I first need to clear the ground and drop some of the big oak limbs that overhang the driveway and that area. The small pile outside the basement doors is where I’m planning to build a proper shed ASAP before spring hits and the briars and poison start popping up (that’s why it looks so pathetic, I’ve slowly been moving that pile outback). This spot will house enough splits to get me through the winter and maybe a spot for some kindling storage, if anyone has any suggestions for something to add to it I’m all ears. My main pile is now temporarily outback, mainly due to flat ground and space, but its almost constantly in the shade except for a few hours. The rest of my splits are currently stacked on the farm and I’d eventually like to have everything here. So here’s my thoughts/plans/dilemmas… For orientation purposes, my house is on the south side of a mountain so the front yard faces south and gets great sun, the backyard though is almost constantly in the shade between the house itself and surrounding trees. Ideally I think I’d like to have everything kind of “tucked away” on the west side of the house, along the edge of the hollow, so it’s not all along the driveway for visitors to see. The main issue with that is, my septic tank and drain field are smack dab in the middle of the front yard. So I’d either have to time my cutting with being able to drive my truck and trailer to that side of the house when it’s frozen/dry or I’ve thought about adding a second access off the main road to go up along that side and avoid that problem all together. As of now I can go around back the house but I’ll be building a garage where the shed is so access that way will eventually be cut off. The other issue is that it’s blocked from the sun in the morning and afternoon due to the house and trees. Option #2 - That ugly vinyl fence is going away very soon and since I’ve seen such nice stacks on here, I was thinking about making a continuous stack on that side of the driveway in its place. This would be contingent on them actually looking nice and not too trashy, like some of mine are. I’ve also thought about stacking them down along the road, under the pines to provide some privacy. It wouldn’t get hardly any sun there but it’s a prime spot for wind and if I can get on the 3 year plan I’m hoping it won’t be a big deal anyway. Before someone suggests the nice big opening along the property out front, that property line along the west that doesn’t have any trees will be getting some type of privacy shrubs planted this spring to block out the neighbors headlights and provide a little separation between us. They decided to build that house shortly after purchasing this place, so creating privacy all along that edge is a priority and I won’t feel bad about putting a wood shed and wood piles outside their back windows. I think that about covers it for now. Please let me know any thoughts or if you have any questions, since I’m sure I’m forgetting some stuff. Also, a big thanks to everyone who’s taken the time to share their setups and thoughts and will continue to do so!
I LOVE my 400. Run it mostly with a 20" bar. Bought used, albeit ever so lightly, with several extras the prior owner added on. Third Times the Charm
It's definitely not country and definitely not city either. I can't call it city when we have our own septic and our own well. I've got enough money on recent years into both of those systems to buy some nice toys. Instead I have running water and a septic system that doesn't back up . We used to have an old growth woods about 20 minutes away that had plenty of beech, shagbark hickory, sugar maple and ironwood ( hop hornbeam) as well as elm and other trees. That 4 or so acre woods could pretty much keep me supplied with wood on its own. That land has since been sold, but I have a buddy with 24 acres about a mile away that I can get whatever I need for firewood from and a diesel 4x4 subcompact JD, as well as another buddy that likes like 6 miles from me that has 50+ acres of woods, and he has a bobcat Toolcat. I also look of FBM and CL for free wood, Sometimes the wood finds me. On Saturday, cleaning up some branches and sticks from our heavy snow we had a few weeks ago, a neighbor asked me if I was interested in freed wood. So we took a look. Some decent sized box elder were damaged as well as a choke cherry, and a decent sized ash tree that needs felling. I'm sure there's a couple of trailer loads of good wood.
I thought about leveling the land when I went to design the wood shed, but I wanted something different. I like how it turned out. It's not quite complete, as I will have little mids to do to our to make it more useful and some for aesthetics. Hopefully you don't have as bad as my one neighbor. He's a real gem. My staging/ splitting area is actually on a bunch of bark from past scores, most of it ash and Norway maple bark. It's basically mulch. I've had no issues even with pieces on the bottom. I've got access to nearly endless free plastic pallets, but I don't bother with them.
