No real "firewooding" done today but I gritted it out in the tractor and got the bulk of the staging area cleaned up and things a bit more organized in preparation for dropping those two trees.
Went out and bucked the last of the 'scrap' logs that were in the main staging area (I still have probably 4 cords or more worth of red oak logs in two other spots). This scrap was white birch and silver maple that had been dropped off by a tree company a few years ago and I never got to it before I had to take my hiatus from firewood processing. There are a few salvageable pieces, but most of it is pretty punky and will end up getting burned in an outdoor pile once there is snow on the ground. Just sat out too long. Not too sad as I have so many standing dead trees waiting in line that losing a few logs isn't going to set me back any. I'm more upset that the blue pallet was destroyed. I can get more birch and maple, those blue pallets are tough to come by. If I can walk tomorrow, I'll get these rounds staged and then the way is clear to drop the two trees. Carnage to come.
I think I got a source of those blue plastic pallets 5 or 10 a piece? Are they worth it? A good thank you gift for trying your splitter??
Those are wood pallets. If they’re anything like the heavy blue painted pallets we get in Ct I find they rot faster than cheap naked ones. They soak up water and the paint doesn’t allow them to ever dry. Sorta like painting masonry, works good until you get your first pinhole
Something for me to cogitate on. Might have to take you up on it. Over the years I've only ever been able to scrounge one plastic pallet. Wish I could get a line on the IBC totes. Interesting. The few I've come across seem to be built sturdier than a standard pallet (my grapple and landscape rake came on those via freight carrier). I never really bothered to see if they were actually built better. Maybe I just had 'shiny object' syndrome and the blue ones are rare around here so figured they must be better .
Plastic pallets are great, but ya gotta keep in mind how slick they are with snow on them, and brittle in cold temps!
After taking a closer look at that standing dead red oak near the house yesterday afternoon, and rejudging the lean, I opted to err on the side of caution and texted the logger who took down those 15 trees for me last fall. His shop/mill is only two minutes from me so he swung by this morning. Great guy and we ended up shooting the bull for a couple hours (pretty cool that he won logger of the year for NH this year). I had hoped he could fell the two trees in question without needing his heavy equipment, but based on the lean of the oak and not knowing how badly compromised the trunk is, he wants to bring his skidder over and tie off with the winch cable to guide it in the right direction away from the house. Fine by me. He's going to take the three trees down in the picture marked with red stars (the other red oak would have had to come down eventually as well anyway). He's got a full schedule, but since he's so close he can do this job whenever he has a spare day (I'm in no rush as I have plenty of other wood to process already). It ties up my staging area for a while, since I can't use it until the trees are felled, but small price to pay to have it done safely (a couple of the top limbs on that one oak are partially overhanging my roof so it is danger close). I also talked to him about the new splitter coming in, and I'll be bringing it over to him at some point this winter to have some pieces welded on the push plate as Canadian border VT suggested.
The conundrum I'm dealing with now is how and where I'm going to be stacking all this wood once I get it processed. When I had 20 cords on hand before, I used to have stacks in other parts of the property. Those spots turned out to be impractical. It's not realistic to use the same system I have for my 'nice' stacks (PT boards on cinder blocks) as it is too expensive and takes up too much room (I should eventually be back up to between 12-20+ cords not counting the 7-1/2 that fit in the shed). I'm considering Holz Hausens for the smaller footprint, or perhaps start one long row along the entire back part of the staging area (just stacking on pallets and top covering). I may use a good chunk of the staging area for a large Rhino shelter next year to finally get the tractor and implements out of the weather, so I have to take that into consideration before I stack a bunch of firewood there (would love to have a more permanent structure but it's not in the cards right now). It's a good problem to have, but I'll have to come up with a solution soon.
Thanks! Moving along slowly but making progress! Health issues are pretty much here to stay, just have to live with it and push through.
Oh they are built sturdier for sure. Seem to be yellow pine and heavy. I thought the same when I first saw them,,,,treasures LOL It’s the thick paint that’s their downfall. Soak up water and never release it. I looked it up and the only reason they’re painted blue is they belong to one big company. It’s color coding for the big loading areas etc so they know which company to send them back too. After three years of use I’m picking them up in soggy pieces and I see signs of moisture rot on the splits that come into contact with them. The cheaper pallets are really not useable after three years either but they’re in better condition.
After walking laps around the non-wooded part of the property, I think the best solution for storage would be in a small side lot off my driveway. Easy access and plenty of sun/wind. It would be near the road, but I live on a very low traffic private dirt road so the chances of someone stealing any firewood are low. Possible, but not probable. If I stacked three 30' rows of 4' pallets, leaving 30" in between for a wheelbarrow, at 5' high I could squeeze in 14 cords. Add in 8 or 9 of my 'nice' stacks (if I kept using them) at 1.25 cords apiece, plus the 7.5 cords I can fit in the shed, that would give me enough stacking area for 33.5 to 35 cords (not counting pallet bins of chunks/uglies). With my health issues, it would take me a LONG time to be able to process that much (if it ever even happened), so I think this may be the best option. I may even opt for just two 30' rows with more space in between that would allow the 4-wheeler and trailer to pull through (I would lose stacking space for 4.68 cords). I'm only doing this extra work due to the large amount of trees that need to come down.
That makes a lot of sense. I had two pallets under that pile of logs, one blue and one plain generic. They were out there through at least two winters (uncovered). After bucking the logs yesterday I pulled up the regular pallet, and other than all the dirt stuck to the bottom and one broken slat, it's still completely useable. The blue one is just a pile of soggy pieces. Never knew that so thanks for the lesson.
