Wow, sooooo much here to think about. I hate the chips in my shoes/boots when bucking rounds. Hate the sap from the vergreens......ditto all the branches. Knotty rounds get kinda annoying. As has been mentioned, the bending is hard on my back, but I enjoy stacking, since I've solved all world problems many many times while doing that. Yeah, that, but If I cut the work sessions short, I recover quicker. For the younger folks, it's called getting old-er. It's a FHC thing, eh Dave?
I used to hate stacking, but now that I roll splits off the truck right onto the splitter, and then bring the splits right to the stack, it's not so daunting like when I would have a cord plus split in a pile. I hate how it kicks the crap pit of my back and shoulders. But I really like the positive effects a lot of continuous processing has on me physically. When my back used to let me swing an axe, I used to really like the effect that had on my wife.
I'm a splitter guy. I love splitting. I drag a lot logs with the quad and log arch, that's pretty fun. But any time I'm in the woods with Ruger, I'm enjoying myself.
Yo, MikeyB I grew up in Ronkonkoma. My brother still lives there in Nesconset and I have family in kings park and Port Jefferson. Caught alot of fish growin up there.
Likes: free heat. Five years running, haven't burned a drop of oil. First winter I paid for a couple log loads, since then all free. With our home hearing needs, I figure I have saved at least $10k and stayed a lot warmer than we would have otherwise. I enjoy the whole process - gathering, cutting, splitting, even stacking if I have a partner. Love staring at the stacks, and loading the owb unless it's filthy outside. I love the smell of my mostly seasoned wood burning, so much so that I specifically burn apple on Christmas morning, and open the windows so we can enjoy the aroma. I also love being able to share both wood and labor with my neighbor and friend, who has had it pretty rough the last few years with a heart condition. Dislikes: Stacking alone. Too much bending, though in the last couple years I have been splitting into the truck bed, which mitigates that a lot. Also the time factor.. Fifteen cord a year is pretty time consuming, looking forward to the future now that we are switching to an indoor stove. should help the honey do list shrink a bit. Last dislike is ugly weather - mud season sucks to load the boiler, up to the ankles pushing a wheelbarrow is not fun - and ice sucks, especially in the small hill leading up to the boiler, because I faceplanted last year UNDER the wheelbarrow full of wood. I'm sure it would have been a riot to watch, but laying face down in the ice and ash at -10 with a hundred pounds of wood on my upper body was a little unpleasant. Wife laughed her azz off after making sure nothing was broken... I did too, I guess.
The list of likes are similar to other members. Top of my list Waking up before sunlight on sub-zero Fahrenheit days with the OWB doing its job overnight. Get the coffee started. My old black lab wagging her tail, as I put on the insulated bibs; knowing we are going out but will promptly return. Outside, it is dead quiet. Ebbing is sniffing the air for whatever. Open the boiler door to red glowing embers. I estimate the load to get us through to sundown. Ebbie and I spend a little more time walking about. Return to the house for a cup, in my PJ’s with the house as warm as I wish it to be, for pennies. Then I let out a silent bwahahaaaaaa! take that Rural Electric. Really looking forward to the fireplace on the weekends. Ebbie likes it too. Hate chainsaw issues , but ended that with my big saw. Recently gave up trying to sharpen mine. Bought three chains for each saw. Don’t touch them with any file myself. I find each will last through several job before changes. then I give them to a deputy who is now running a third generation small engine business at home. Refuses to charge me but I throw a Subway card his way. Frustration gone, for under a hundred bucks. Then of course there is the comrades on FHC who cheer everyone on its every post on what they did outside. We are a lot which is easily pleased, aren’t we?
1. Splitting, I love splitting 2. Stacking, so I can split more 3. Transporting, bringing home rounds to split 4. Axing limbs off, I love axes 5. Felling, bringing down rounds to split I guess that would be my top 5, bucking is ok but I could do without if it were possible. Cleaning up brush isn't too bad, unless it's in a yard. Being outside away from a tv and doing something productive and enjoyable is a huge plus.
Finding a score of nice clean straight logs that are in a spot where I can literally pick the rounds up and turn and put then down in the truck is nice! Another dislike I just thought of, when I dont fill the tote the night before. I try to remember to reload it so it's right outside the door. Nothing more invigorating than going barefoot on the enclosed porch when its 15 below to grab wood for the stove when you first wake up!
Love ( in order of favorite first), felling, repelling out if the spar, climbing, bucking, splitting w/ axe. Dislike ( least disliked to most) : splitting with splitter, limbing, brush, brush disposal, stacking. The wife stacks.
Also, I love it when I have to crack 30" Red Oak into 1/4's just to lift it into the trailer.. She won't admit it, but Melissa loves watching me make firewood . . I can tell
Likes in no particular order: - chainsaws - bucking - felling (I get a little nerves sometimes) - burning - free heat - exercise outside - something to do on holidays at the farm besides "visit" around the dinner table - splitting (easy to medium difficulty) - drinking a bunch of old mill when finished! Disliked in no order: - cleaning brush/limbs - stubern difficult splitting that I keep trying to split like 20 times until I am worn out and am to tired to get something done that will actually work! - all/any stacking - not having enough time to css more often - since I dont css enough I'm sore for 3 days after css for 2 - halling wood around the house by wheel barel when it's time for old mill! - cleaning ash and fireplace windows Overall the pros outweigh the cons by a long shot!!!
I like selecting and marking trees I don't like felling all that much I don't like dealing with brush, but because I have a wood fired maple evaporator I do process smaller to help support that. I like skidding I like processing with my processor I like processing with my cordwood saw I don't like bucking with a chainsaw on a pile I don't mind splitting wood on my splitter, but now that I have the processor, most of the stuff I use the splitter for is huge and I don't like that very much. I don't really enjoy stacking all that much, but it's not so bad now that I have made half-cord pallets (makes it seem not so overwhelming) I don't mind moving wood stacked on the pallets because of my tractor. I like burning the wood I hate maintaining my POS Central Boiler I like the "free" heat I don't like that my wife insists on keeping the house at 74 and needing to wear shorts in the house all winter I enjoy that satisfaction of knowing I can provide heat and hot water from renewable resources right from our property
I guess I'm pretty typical. I like felling, bucking, splitting (love splitting), being out in the woods etc. I don't like dealing with brush or handling large rounds (anything over 20 is a pain). A couple of things I haven't really seen brought up are the tools and skidding. I really like all of the tools involved and modifying them to either suit a purpose or to just improve them (getting ready to open up my muffler on my 310 ). I also really like skidding because of the strategy it takes sometimes to get a tree off a hillside. Plus I get to drag stuff behind my truck which rules. In end though my favorite is the satisfaction that comes with end product of all my hard work. The fact that no matter what I can keep my family warm and I don't have to depend on anyone for that. The pride I get with neat, uniform stacks of glorious BTU's. OK I'll stop...
