Is your woodpile like a deli?

The other evening I went down to the woodpiles with the wagon to get wood for the next 24 hours or so. The weather was changing for the worse and the wood stove is the only source of heat.

While standing there in front of a wall of firewood some six feet tall and 15 feet long I could see all the different types of wood, and sizes of the splits. I could also remember where and when most of those trees came from. That huge poplar I bucked and brought home piece by piece for almost two weeks day by day as I drove home from work. That red oak that was hanging in that morass of mountain laurel in the field across the road that was particularly difficult to split. The ash that fell across the trail out back that I ride the bike on to see the view down the valley.

So as I stood there, looking at all the different logs, estimating their BTU's and burn times, I felt like I was in a high end delicatessen for wood with all the choices before me.

"So yes, I would like six quarter splits of the three year old red oak for tonight. Tomorrow moring I will need about twelve small white pine half splits with not too much sap please. Then for tomorrow evening, I will need about 15 quarter splits of that five year old ash on the top right over there."

As I walk up the hill, pulling the wagon behind me towards the house, I can start to see the fog of my breath, and I pause to admire the fading sunset. I can faintly smell the smoke from the chimney, and am grateful for the simple routines and nuances of harvesting and heating with wood.

 

What a great post, are you a writer?

This very subject is something I was contemplating just this morning with my coffee... thinking of 'educating' firewood buyers about wood; hardly anyone knows anything about various hardwoods around here; they just assume it's wood and it burns. Most buy wood before it's time. I am always thinking of ways to justify selling premium firewood. With a premium price.

 

No, but in the quiet hours of the morning, my mind is peaceful and these are the kinds of thoughts I have.
Later in the day is a different story, and that's why I try to stay busy with projects and keeping the woodpiles full.
Its not good if I think too much...

 

Is top load the only way into your stove Sav?

 

I WOOD have to agree with Yawner great post and are you a writer ? I don’t have a choice when I go to my stacks it’s all red oak with one or two white oaks in there. I do have a stack 20’x4’x4’ of pine but that I use for lighting my fires then it’s all oak.

 

My stove is small and very efficient so I probably only burn about two armfulls of wood a day. So one wagon full is about three days worth of wood.
I wish I had a tractor, but till then I have my trusty garden wagon. (Heck I just bought my first log splitter this fall.)

I really don't mind the extra trips to the woodpile. I'm the kind of person who just can't sit still for more than an hour, and I really enjoy being outdoors.
When I get antsy, I grab one of the chainsaws and the wagon and head off into the forest looking for deadfall or trees that are leaning badly and need to come down. A few hours later, I drag to wagon full of logs back to the homestead. The next day or so, I'll split the logs and stack them on the woodpile.
It's a slow process, but I'm not in a hurry. Some people go to the gym, I make firewood...

Watching the woodpile slowly shrink is like a countdown to Spring...

P.S. I like your mooses.

 

This describes me almost perfectly. Here on LI we really don’t get super cold for extended periods of time. Highs in the low 20s are really cold around here. I have a very efficient smallish insert and burn about 1 3/4 cords a year primarily from November through March (daytime highs lower than 45). I built a wood shed with my father that holds about 4 cords. I alternate sides. Right now left half of the shed has been stacked and drying for over a year and will be burned starting next year. Right side is being emptied out this winter and then refilled. My point is that I have Red oak, white oak, beech, cherry, maple, some hickory and ash. They are all mixed together and I love just looking at it. I also don’t bring too many splits in because I enjoy going out and picking out “the perfect piece and species for that moment.

 

Pin Oak, Red Oak, Hackberry, and lots of Black Locust, all on the porch, I probably have 5 face cords total on the porch. The Hackberry is for next year, but I feed a mix into the stove, depending on how cold it is, or if I am doing a morning burn with temps rising or loading up for the overnight burn. I have a firewood stand, I built right next to the stove, that holds about a 24hrs burn. I fill it every evening as the mood strikes me with the overnight burn in mind. I can always step out on the porch for more or different wood as the need arises.

I have a heavy Jersey ax and chopping block on the porch, so I can split down smaller as I need to, which is daily. That way, I can bring in exactly what size wood I need, anytime. I will refill all spaces on the porch in the late summer or fall with whatever I intend to burn over the winter. My whole winter's burn is usually on the porch by late fall.

 

I refer to the mixture of woods as fruit salad

 

I used to have a variety but lately I've been able to be more selective. Almost 100% is now red oak with one mulberry tree mixed in. When I bring wood in to burn, I pretty much have to take from the long row in a fashion that will allow me to restack splits in their place. It's a rotation that is methodical, so there is no "picking" different species.

 

Front Porch view, this morning, from my door looking out. The first picture with the dog is to my right, all of those racks were full earlier in the fall, and the space full of Hackberry was full previously, but has been burnt already and replace with the Hackberry, since it only has 8 months needed to season and figured it would be ready next fall to burn, so I put it on the porch, this year, less handling.

The second picture is to my left from the door. Two spaces of mostly Black Locust which I hope to safe for next fall/winter and various scrap wood far left on end of porch. You can see my chopping block on the floor, and my ax hanging on the post. I have a bit of a mess on the porch, but I live in the country and don't have to impress visitors. I will clean it up in the spring.

 

That is an interesting idea if one were to build a house... a porch that could dry/store your wood for the winter!

 

Yes, I built my house, about 31 years ago, and always loved long porches. It's kind of old school, as I remember some old timers stacked their wood for the winter, that way.
Before this year, I normally didn't keep much wood ahead of the current years burn and almost always stacked most all of it on the porch, except maybe an extra rick or two if I had some overage. It was usually always standing dead red oak, so was somewhat seasoned before it landed on the porch.

Now that I am on the 3 to 4 year plan or longer, I have to stack wood in the back yard, in the Holzhausens, and ricked up by the fence, to move to the porch as I need to. More handling and work, but since I am retired now, I have the time and energy. But back when I had to work a full time job off of the farm, 6-7 days a week a lot of the time, I always tried to keep my firewood handling to a bare minimum, from the woods, to the porch, to the stove.

 

Beautifully put.

 

So far with 30* nights and days, we're going through this wood bin full in about 24 hours.
We have a closet thats inside but outside the house envelope...a storm closet of sorts. But yes, we load the bin every day from outside, keeps us active and outdoors, minimizes pests coming in.....
We have some light remodeling to do...i expect that bin will go somewhere else eventually.

 

I’ve lost track of the where this came from for the most part. I’m about to finish a sweet red oak that smashed a building. I remember it because I split it into small squares thinking I would need it before the 3yr mark. I’m about to hit a stretch of white oak and I can’t remember anything a about it. When I finished cutting logs today I was thankful to be walking into a warm house that is the fruit of my labor. I was also thinking that I agree with Julian, the 462 may be the best saw Stihl ever made.

 

Can’t beat sitting in front of a nice fire while, at the same time admiring your stack of firewood! Nice setup dennis

 

Beautiful stacks! You can tell you take pride in your work