Well, it's been a while since I've posted or spent serious time on the FHC and definitely feels like I've been missing out. Most of the last 10 months for me have been consumed with building a new bathroom in our rental house--concrete sawing for drain lines, framing, plumbing, electrical, insulation, drywall, finishing. Had to work in-between the tenants' kids nap times and my own family activities, i.e. an hour in the late afternoon or a few hrs some weekends here/there for what seemed like forever. Now I can get back to the "fun stuff"...cutting wood! I got a load of white oak in last Saturday that I've started bucking. My guesstimate was that the self loader was 36'x'8'x6', packed pretty tight which comes out to be about 13.5 cords. I'm hoping to get at least 11 cords as I've done in the past. This will be '17-'18 wood so I don't need to kill myself to get it CSS. But it sure feels good to get the MS362 running again and to be back online as well.
Welcome back. I'm kind of in the same boat. Its been a pretty busy summer. Love the load and your place.
Great to see you, Blue!! Was wondering how you've been! Don't feel bad, many of us have been very busy......family life comes first! Looks like you'll be back at it with that load of logs!
I'd love to see another log load in the driveway. That should keep you busy for a few minutes or so. Coming back is like riding a bike......you only fall off a few times before you're back at it.......running into trees and stuff.
Take lots of pics, you have a beautiful homestead. Working around nap time, I hear ya, not much doing.
Yes he does! And his Quadrafire 7100 is one of the nicest ZC fireplace installs I've ever seen....love his fireplace!
Thanks for all the kind words fellas. Last winter we used some 3+yr old oak and man we can't ever go back to anything else. Well, maybe Ash, but even my wife noticed how well the Oak burnt and heated. My last load I had dropped off a few years ago was a mix of oak, ash and maple. I went for all oak this time. But Scotty, your build out still sets THE bar for all installs. Looking forward to seeing that train set up again during Christmas time.
Hey Blue, I'm wondering what you did in your spare time over the past several months? Now for sure we know what you'll be doing. Nice load of logs.
Good to see ya, Blue. Iff'n that log load is for 17-18, and you get it CSS soon ( we bet you will), it will be READY. Awesome homestead.
Starting to make a dent. I took advantage of the cooler weather the last 2 days (60s/70s) to do some cutting and splitting as the last week has been pretty warm here, in the high 80s into the 90s. More hot weather in the mid 90s is coming starting this wknd. It was nice to get out and work off some dinner in the cooler evenings. The logs are pretty straight, very few knots or curls which made for really easy hand splitting with the X27. My 5 yr old was a great help marking lengths w/sidewalk chalk and even helping me run the smaller MS250 (with me holding on of course... ) Before... and after (so far)...
Hey Wood, I paid $1300 for the load which yielding the expected 11+ cords works out to be about $118/cord (or less). That's pretty awesome considering split cords of oak around here go for $300-$325/cord. $350 is not unheard of. Depending on distance of delivery some outfits charge $1400-$1500 a log load. My neighbor's son has cut and sold 8+ cords at $325/cord delivered to earn $ for college the past few summers. He gets loads from the same person I get mine from. The log loads, along w/some misc scrounging, gets me what I need to stay ahead. Moreover, it saves me time which at this point in life w/little ones in school & activities is something I am willing to pay a little to get.