This is my first time collecting firewood. So this week I agreed to buy about 10 cords worth of hardwood from a local tree guy. All loose logs - some up to 40" across. He will deliver when the ground is frozen. If all goes well I'll have a 3 year plan prepared in one season. Working by myself this could be mildly epic. I expect my 18" MS261, X27, and cant hook should get thru the stuff 24" or less. But along with my tractor it's all I've got at the moment and I need to get equipped to handle the bigger stuff. I expect a hydraulic splitter for the back of my tractor, and a larger saw (Stihl MS441 or 461, Husq 365/572XP or 576XP). I'm thinking about buying used ones and if this project kills me I can sell them for minimal loss. I also need to pick a worksite. Since these logs will average 1000lb, I expect it's wise to process them where the delivery unstacks them. My soil is silty loam and very fragile when wet. Shoulder season and warmer winter days are a muck fest so I plan on working when the ground is frozen. Until it gets cold and my logs are delivered, I'm brooding over how to best approach this project. I have a couple of spots on my property to consider. Pink is now fenced pasture and not available. Option A (blue) is near a drainage basin and the ground is sopping wet / saturated right now. I'm concerned that the big stuff won't be processed before the spring, or that a mid-winter thaw and rain will allow the big logs to sink into the ground. If it gets torn up and filled with shavings, won't matter to clean up. Option B (orange) is basically part of our lawn out alongside of the house. It's the highest ground and farthest from the horses/barn. The downside is it's right out in the open and my wife will be walking past it several times a day - and that's all I'll say about that. I don't mind if I have to do a little reseeding, level some divots, and let it recover in spring, but if it prevents grass from coming back, not ideal. Another possibility is to get forks for my tractor and use that to move the logs to an out-of-the-way place for work. That is more work, but maybe having a log on the tractor forks will be a good setup for bucking(?) What are your thoughts?
I'd pick the high spot maybe put down a tarp to catch sawdust - it will turn lawn yellow sucking nitrogen as it starts to decompose I would NOT try to work cutting and splitting in a flood or mud zone during the Winter.
I'd use your tractor for as much of your moving as possible... yes, forks can be a big help with bucking (at waist height)... (for yer honey) put the full stack of logs anywhere it will not matter, & they might sink the lawn a bit, they will... but not too far for the tractor to carry tho, to your stacking site... be sure to have the guy unload 3-4 logs off first and lay them as stringers, to stack all the rest on. (You could even have a few 2x8x24" pieces ready to slide under each of those stringers as "shoes", to help keep the heavy load from shoving the stringers down into the ground more. Use what you got. Final thing DG... take your time. Don't let a giant pile of logs intimidate you into thinking you gudda get r done before lunch. Do short sessions at first. Work up to your easy work speed. You'll enjoy it soooooooo much more. The split stacks will grow exactly at the speed they're supposed to. Your speed. Merry Christmas and have fun... ...
I do have a number of old oak fence boards and 2x6's that I can lay down. I think they'd be fine with setting some up cross-wise too. Many of the big ones are not very log-shaped so I still expect a number of them to be laying on their own. My soil becomes muddy very easily, as it's primarily silt. It is saturated from October until April, and frozen in mid-winter. The difference in the two spots is one sits higher and further from any puddles.
Doesn't seem like a hard decision to me. Any time you have the ability to buy an implement and the wife will agree to it, buy the implement.
She hasn't explicitly agreed to anything yet. I mentioned pallet forks today and didn't get an objection so that's definitely on the list. The bigger saw will have to happen without fanfare. I think I'll rent a splitter at first since that's a big investment and rental cost is not too high.
Und Understood. Look at it this way, the money the wood will save you on gas, propane, oil or whatever you use this year can be applied to needed equipment. At least it works SOMETIMES for me.
Forks on the tractor No bending, no pinched bar, no hitting the ground with the chain Drop the rounds in one area, close to where they'll be split & stacked Actually might end up being less work
That reminds me, I need to pick a location to build stacks. Ideally it would be right where I process. In seriousness though my wife suggested we get a truck or two of gravel and spread it over the grass at Option 'A'. That would make it the ideal location and be a suitable place to stack.
Thats a good idea, gravel will also keep weeds out. They love to grow up around the stacks. If you can process close to where you stack that is best. Also a few of us use pallet racks, a few different methods but basically they are individual racks of firewood. If you have forks for your tractor they work great. Move the rack over load with wood, then put it where needed to season and follow up with moving it to the house when ready to burn. You can do all of that and not have to handle the firewood each time.
A big saw n splitter gonna be $2k..and very worthy investments..while the 261 is a great saw...i would look at 70+cc...while you can buy used..you just dont know what your getting...Terry Landrum sells new ported 372xp autotunes fer bout $1k...while thats nothin to sneeze at..i bet its a truly bad azz saw..anyhoo..you def got your work cut out fer u...
Quite the undertaking for a x27, even for up to a 24" round. Like many have said, find a decent work area that the material can be dropped at and pick away. Tractor will help, hydraulic splitter and lots of patience.
I cut, split and stacked a huge load pretty much in place. Oak and silver maple both up to 54" in diameter. No splitter, just me, my MS 441, X-27, 10lb. sledge and 4lb. wedges. Took all spring and summer; like eating an elephant, one bite at a time This is only part of the load.
If you can keep it dry the area you highlighted in blue would be great. Right by the driveway and easy to get to. And the woodpile wouldnt be right there by the house. I love the look of a good wood stack but while working on it they can look like a mess.
I surely would not put it up close to the house where you or your wife have to look at it. A pile of splits are nice to look at but not so much a pile of logs in the front yard. I would not do the drainage area unless you do the gravel as you say. Personally I would more consider taking some fence down in one of those pasture areas and dropping there. I know you said they were out of the question but I had to say it.
Getting forks for the tractor would be a big help, along with a bigger saw and splitter That being said, I cut up dump truck loads from my tree guy with a 291, split them with an x27, and then haul it out back. The spot it gets dumped in gets very soft and soupy when wet. Don't get to caught up in planning minute details about the delivery, it'll cut the same no matter what
You can slice off chunks of the bigger rounds w/o a massive saw. It'll just take longer. Rent the splitter once you get a years worth of logs bucked up. The idea is to get as much as possible c/s/s ASAP, since the wood doesn't really begin drying well until it's split. Personally, I'd rather own the splitter than a bigger saw......for a while, so if you plan to spend some money.....I'd get the 22 ton Huskee. Since you have a tractor, do like Sean suggests with the pallet racks. I'd love to be able to do that.......what a back and time saver. Only you know the property. I'd done a couple log loads in the driveway on the other side of the pole barn. If they'll do it, have 'em do as has been suggested and put down stringers/runners before dropping the logs. You'll be happier in the long run. Looks like a private drive.....I wouldn't be concerned about logs near the house, but that's me. Makes it a lot easier to hit the stack as opposed to WAAAAAAY across the property. I've done both, but close is gooder. I'm the one dealing with it, not someone who comes for a visit.....they have no say in how I do it.
Your gravel idea is a good one ! I'd like to raise the stacking area up about 6" with gravel then put the landscape cloth back down. Make it drain better & be a lot drier.
