Happy for you that your new splitter met/exceeded your expectations! I do have a request if you’d care to help out: Please direct some of those 40* days down South we’re in some real need of relief
When it’s 30 below in winter and we send some south y’all complain about snow & ice it got to 77° (yes high temp today) and 8 mph breeze AND it’s warm in the sun
If you can wait a bit, I'll mail you some free snow! Got the two trailers emptied and the wood stacked this morning, but it got hot quick!
You just reminded me of something funny from my youth. My oldest sister is a half sister. Her mother moved to Florida when she was 5. She summered up here with us. We used to make a few snowballs during winter and put them in the deep freezer for her when she'd come up in June. Mostly a funny novelty but sometimes she'd make a real snow cone with help of a little koolaid. She still lives in Florida and still misses Snow.
Shoot, where I live it does get cold and we do get snow, but it just is not the same as when we lived further north. That UP just keeps calling me and taunting me... You might say I still miss it but without my Judy I just don't get back there often. Haven't been there since last Agust.
Haven't updated this in a while because (I hate to say), I haven't done any 'firewooding' in a while. Such is life. Hoping to start bucking and splitting all those oak logs soon but wanted to straighten up the processing area first. Had five pallets of random wood that needed to go (3 with red oak pieces and 2 with less-than-ideal birch & beech). Was debating what to do with them but thankfully when my logger neighbor was over last week to discuss some future tree work, he said I can bring the wood over to his shop and he'll just use everything in his OWB. Three trips and all cleaned up. Took a few pictures of a couple of his 'junk' piles (stuff not good for the mill so destined for the chipper). Some of those are logs are impressive, and the splitter he has for dealing with those large logs is pretty gnarly. The plan is when I start processing to just go into splitting mode and try to get through the log pile. I can then stack at my leisure. Not how I would prefer to do it (I usually split into trailers and then stack as opposed to just making a large pile of splits on the ground) but I just want to get all this stuff processed before the snow flies. There is one dead oak (last pic) that needs to come down before I start processing in the lot and I was hoping to drop it today, but with wind gusts forecasted up to 37mph, opted on the side of caution.
Nice that you were able to easily dispose of the junk. Not that often I'll get stuff like that although i do have some rounds hanging around I should process/dispose of. Good feeling to gets things reorganized. Always a work in progress for me. I don't like it when i go against my normal routine of saving labor. Ive been trying to split off the truck as of the last year or two. Cut I'm currently working I'll bring splitter over as its close by, split, load PU and stack right off the truck back at storage. Three miles away. Currently rebuilding a two cord rack, but cant work on it as the pile of CW splits from last week cant be moved to the bundle shed as the ground is too squishy from recent rains. Seems I need the planets to align for smooth operation in the woodyard! Smart move opting out of felling in the wind, especially with a dead tree.
I took need to get back at it. Good call on not felling in 30+ mph winds. That's just dangerous. I need to sort out my Tecumseh on my splitter. It ran great after I cleaned and had the carb rebuilt. It wants to start, just won't stay running. Dumb linkage issue. Then I need to get hauling and stacking after splitting what I have here. I'll need to keep my eyes open on fbm for scrounged, or head to one of my buddy's places and cut
It was an unexpected and greatly appreciated aid to be able to do something with those pallets of wood. I would normally have processed the oak pieces, but I already have three and half bins full of oak shorts/uglies/cookies/chunks and will end up with more from the logs waiting to be processed. I also still have a huge pile of oak limb wood that will probably fill the four remaining IBC totes. With so much more to process, I don't mind losing some of the 'random' pieces (I even gave a half-bin full of oak pieces to a neighbor this past weekend, along with the pallet bin). Just need to clear up that woodlot. I would much prefer to split into the trailers and then stack; however, some of the due-to-be-processed wood will be going where I currently have existing stacks (those will get moved into the woodshed over the next month). Having a backlog of projects makes it seem as if I always have to do two or three things before I can get to a certain project. Trying to clear some of that logjam up (which is difficult when you can only gimp around).
And that's just the 'tip of the iceberg'. Plenty more standing dead oak that need to come down on the property, so I definitely need to start getting going with the processing. I still need to replace the valve assembly on my old Troy-Bilt splitter but that will probably have to wait until next year. It's always something. Best of luck with the FBM scrounging.
Good for this year. 5 cords all set fully dry. Next year I have to work on. I have 1.3-1.5 cords in the bay for 27-28. I have about a 3/4 cord of pine, ash, and a little horse chestnut that I have all cut to rounds, just need to split and then stack in the shed. The stuff I have in rounds I got over summer. I cut them all to length a couple of weeks ago, and wanted to get them split, but the splitter was acting up. So I probably need 3 cords to cut and split for 27-28. I'll try to get that done this Fall, but I will probably get it done in winter. I've got more honey locust too, but that stuff I like to give 4 years to dry. Probably 1.5 cord of HL that is 2-3 years dry.
You're at the fun stage right now. Plenty of logs procured and ready to buck. The stuff I enjoy less happens before and after that.
Oh and I don't have to build a huge carport with my buddy like I did last Christmas break. I'll be able to add to my hoard then.
