Wednesday morning as I was leaving for work I heard a chainsaw start up down the street. At the same time my wife got back from her morning walk and said to me, ‘Hear that, they are cutting wood for you’. Turns out it was one of the guys who brings me wood. He saw my wife and told her that he had some wood for us. So when I got home from work this pile of ash was in my back yard. 6 hours of splitting later. It looks like more than it is cause some of the splits are 12” or so. It was a yard tree so it was a bit difficult to split. Lots of crutches and knots. It was a double stalker from the base of the stump which proved to be somewhat un-fun. The lengths were not cut as consistent as they usually are. Probably due to the way they had to piece the multiple stems down. It by no means was a single log. The stump round certainly yielded a lot of splits. I’ll let it shed its first half of water over the next few weeks in the single row then move it back to the long term stacks. My test ‘shingle’ has lost 11% of its weight in 3 days. I’ll be able to get a reasonably good idea of how dry the rest of the wood is based on how dry this piece gets compared to the % loss on the other pieces that I tagged. That’s how I figure it out. I sent my tree guy a text thanking him for the wood and he thanked me in return for taking it and said he has some more nearby jobs coming up. This is the second load this year. One more load like this and I’ll have last winters consumption replaced. This load should come up in the rotation for burning in about ‘23 so I’m in no hurry anyways.
I hope your realed back in that one round that tried to get away. Nice for you get wood wood cut and delivered!
The sound of a chain saw would definitely put me in a good mood for the day. Will he leave any wood for you or do you specifically ask for certain species. Sux the random lengths. Can he leave it in length?
Nice Paul, except for those 12" logs. That for sure makes stacking more difficult and also stove loading. But, it is ash so should be excellent firewood.
Something good to say about New Jersey. A state where people will cut and block firewood and deliver it for you! ..
I’ve known this guy for many years. He originally introduced himself to me when doing a job down the street. Knocked on my door, said ‘I see you burn wood, would you like...’ and I’ve know him ever since. A few years ago I gave him a Mingo marker and the lengths became remarkably consistent when ever he dropped wood. On this drop some of the wood on this one had paint marks so I know it got used. The big problem was that this wasn’t an ash tree, it was a 70’ ash bush. When they took it apart they had a lot of small parts. I got a feeling whomever was slicing up the many already small pieces as they came down wasn’t ‘trained’. And yes he only brings me the ‘good stuff’. As far as he’s concerned i’m the one doing him a favor so he’s not looking to dump junk wood. I do have another guy who brings me log loads. I’ve been getting one of them every 3 years or so. That and full service gas. The two things that I like about NJ. (I’ve said that before).
I scrounge all of it. Calling and texting guys who drop wood off is scrounging!!!! It took me a little while to figure it out but I haven’t had to leave my yard for 18+ years to get wood. So I enjoy it now but I know it’s a lark.
