This person's woodyard nirvana...kinda....sorta

I missed the spring hoarding CSS time, with a broken wrist. There was wood needing to be replenished in the woodyard.

Well, with my SIL as supplier, her friend with a tractor and splitter, and my friend with the pickup, I've gotten caught up!


These 4 racks are recent fills. All red oak




A peek down one of the aisles


I do have room for 3 racks. 1 is a replacement, and 2 will be new.

One here


And two here, including relocating that short stack of white oak under the blue cover. That stack backs up against a tree. There was a rack of wood in front of it, making access difficult.


Over near the tools shed, are 3 racks all ready to go. In the event of a huge snowstorm, that's where I'd pull wood from, before being able to snowblow my way back to the woodyard. My snowblower is stored in the shed for the snow season.


I also brought wood up to the deck, which freed up a rack for new RO splits.


I still have this area to move, but need new 2x4's to build new racks for it. Most of it is RO. There's some black birch there that I plan to stack by itself. There's more BB logs at my SIL's to get.

 

Looks good Mike I think it's a fair estimation to call that woodyard Nirvana. I know when I'm outside looking at mine, especially when the season is on the cusp of change, I get a feeling that could best be described in a single word, Zen. There's a certain spiritual value to be found admiring the fruits of your labor and being in tune with the rhythm of the seasons.

 

Looks awesome!! My 3 year old would have a hay-day hiding behind those racks.

 

It is maze-like.

My goal as it evolved, was to be able to snowblow my way to any rack. So, spacing between racks was considered. There's a few racks that are buried between, or behind other racks, making access difficult. For those racks, they were stacked with same species and at the same moment in time. I'd pull splits from the "blocking" racks, the pull from the rack thats behind it.

 

Looking great there Mike! Seeing the hill in person gave me more appreciation of the challenges of storing wood in that area. I LOVE seeing empty spots as that means "more hoarding"
Your scrounging is a perfect example of how an "average" burner can get on the three year plan.

Hoard on and cut safe my friend!

 

Stacks are lookin' good to me!

 

I really like how you put the date on the one split. I used to believe I'd be able to keep with my oldest to newest stacks, but it didn't always work out.
Great job on the wood stacks..

 

I have dates, and wood types on all my racks. Keeping it simple, for I am but a simple man.

 

I thought the word was gonna be semi

 

Nice stacks,,,,,,close deck. If you have any little critters in the area we are talking hours of plinking fun with a BB gun.

 

One of the greatest songs ever written.

 

Neighborhood cat patrols the area frequently.

Wood stacks and stone wall are magnets for chipmunks.

 

I reckon too that you set it up also so if you burn one stack, then the other behind it will be exposed, even if for next season.
But that looks really good. What was your cord total? IIRC you use up 3 or 4 a year?
With oil prices moving the way they are, I stoked you made up for lost time and stayed on the 3 year plan. Thats awesome!

That is how to make use of every space without dominating the landscape with cordwood.

 

12cord today. 13 with the 3 new racks that'll go in.

Just over 3 cord burnt during an average heating season.

 

Cool beans.
The maze idea is intriguing.....if newest stuff is back, the maze could be used front to back, and replaced the same way.....

So far, my latest change is stacking 20" splits 3 rows wide for a 60" row, 27' long, and as close to 6' tall as I can (6 cord).

Nice to have that all on hand.
Perhaps a dumb question, are you fairly well wrapped on scrounging for the year (after stuff at SIL's place) or do you think you'll bring in some rounds for splitting when racks are freed up in the spring?

Once this next score is done, I'll be in that same spot.....almost gridlock.

Sca

 

There's no real order to how my racks are emptied, aside from the dates I put on them, when stacked. Wherever the oldest rack is, that's the one used. Could be most anywhere in the woodyard. It's worked for me over the years. It's like a treasure hunt, checking dates on the 36+ 8ft racks.

Regarding cordage to replenish this upcoming heating season's wood, I have a few ash trees here on-site that are EAB victims, and, there's wood for me at my SIL's.

The ash will be tricky, given their locations. More than likely, I'll be contacting a tree service for their opinion on takedown, and logistics for log placement that I can then process.

Over the years, I've been fortunate to have accessible wood. I might not know exactly where it'll be coming from, but I always seem to have wood find it's way to me. Friends and family know I'm a hoarder and always will find room to house inventory.

With price of non-wood heating going up, I suspect the number of new wood stoves coming online will increase. With that, the availability of wood around here, is sure to decrease.

 

we're in a similar boat.
Everyone here knows I cut wood, and have been at it since 2019. Family, church folks, friends, co workers.

With the price of non-wood heat going up, I've allowed that to be my motivation to get more while I can.
It will be interesting to see the numbers of new wood burners this year over previous years. Especially if prices do really go up.

Looking back, I feel blessed that we got into wooding when we did, collecting in '19, stove went in late '20, despite the plague, have had a few big scores since, twice Ive had people call me when their getting rid of css wood, and had an abundance of help to do it all...which takes us to today: wood on hand for 4 going on 5 year plan, one friend stocked on a 2 year plan, a larger tree job imminently, and in the face of possibly historical oil prices. ($4.39/G today)

Sca

 

A good boat to be in.