I’ve posted threads in the past about how when traveling around the USA, I look for firewood stacks by homes and try to judge how many are wood burners, and most of my observations have been about the few people I see that apparently heat with wood, despite having abundant hardwood resources.. Different story this year. Was in Colorado for a few weeks, camping, exploring and there were firewood piles outside homes everywhere, including places 50 miles from the closest tree! When closer to tree resources in the mountains, the percentage of homes with firewood stacks went up. Hats off to you who travel long distances for pine, spruce and aspen firewood you have out there. Attached picture is a guy I passed that was 25+ miles off a blacktop road, on a badly, and I mean badly, wash boarded narrow dirt road deep into National Forest. I almost stopped to help and or at least shake his hand to show appreciation of his effort. Puts my pickup loads to shame!
I have a job this weekend that's nearly a 2 hour round trip taking down two huge standing dead white oaks, I'm hauling all the big stuff home. I gotta take the mini skid with me to load all this stuff into my 14' dump trailer so it's gonna take 2, maybe 3 trips....... Giving most of the wood away to a good friend. The things we do for the hoarding lifestyle!!
For us, an hour trip away from home is normal to find firewood. Sometimes it is longer as we travel not too great gravel roads once we are off the highway.
I've gone as far as 40 minutes each way to get wood. Been spoiled this year and a lot of logs have been brought to me
I have gone long distances to get firewood but no more. Thankfully I can just take tractor or atv and go a short distance from the house to get all the wood we need. I still admire those who work that hard to get wood but happy I don't have to. Now I just go long distances to some GTG.
We have gone 45 minutes one way or more to get logs. Most of the wood we cut, we bring in the logs. I enjoy it and we have been blessed with equipment to do so.
Same with you and all others. I just wish I could do more while we are there. Home your trip home is good, and thanks for pointing out the chestnuts. Those are the first chestnuts trees I've seen. Steve also gave me a bunch to take home.
Far for me is 40 miles, and I don't do that too often. My job is 30 miles from home and I get a lot of wood from that area, but I'm going there regardless. Hats off to the hoarders in the plains states scrounging thin shelter belts, the open Wyoming country, the desert southwest, and anywhere that doesn't have an abundance of trees close by.
My standard trip away from the house is about 150 miles round trip. That is the nearest national forest. I have plenty of aspen on my property, but it's nice to hunt for some Douglas-fir. The goal for each trip is to fill my 16' dump trailer, and have some fun.
HA! That funky old truck brought the words "Funky cold Medina" to me Wood cutting in Colo gets even better We literally lived in the foothills close/on border to Roosevelt Nat Forest 21 years. But no cutting there. First fight traffic to go buy cutting permit in town. Drive an hour by highway to the designated cutting zone. Then drive another hour on narrow one lane poorly cut "road" with ruts, gullys, washouts etc. Cutting roads only cut the smaller trees down, leaving stumps, so one must navigate the stumps and washouts/gullys. Miss a tiny short one one or slide a bit in a gully washout that catches sidewall and pops a $200 tire like we did once. The dirt road in your pic looks great compared to one we used to drive. Once in the designated cut zone continue navigating the road looking for pullouts etc. to find the marked trees may be cut (orange paint spray) but NEVER find marked trees uphill. They are always gone, only trees downslope that must be cut into moveable lengths to carry up the slope.
Haha, good post, I was on a lot of those roads you describe and saw where firewooders were scrounging for slim pickings. And as you know if the roads get wet, instant, slippery slime. Also, I am convinced the US Forest Service has a piece of equipment that creates washboard roads.
I definitely fall into this category. It seems that my biggest and best scores are always about 40 minutes away. So lately I’ve been trying to bring it home in log form.
X2 Ive driven out of state for wood, (have truck, will travel for mulberry) but its far from the norm here. As my fellow nutmeggers can attest wood is readily available in this densely populated (we rank 4th) heavily wooded state. Like Eric, I'll cut far from home, but only if work has me there.
That's what we did, in log. The F250 was a long bed and we'd pack the horse trailer too sometimes. Then 2 hour drive home and unload the next day.
I have a mulberry to take down at my stepson’s new house. You can come do the job if you want, that will check 4 boxes for you. Mulberry, out of state, far from home, and you will be working. Win, win, win and win!!!
