Welcome to the site Kyle. To pin yourself on the map, go to the uppermost "member" tab and then go down one line and to the left to the "map" tab and follow directions. You will love it on this site. It is fun to see how far and wide your post actually make it.
Welcome to the forum Kyle Mulligan Sounds like you are a quick learner especially with the wet wood problem. You should do just fine. No doubt you'll pick up ideas especially for stacking the wood and the top covering with something other than the tarps. They will work in a pinch but not the best. For some other tips if you get the time you might want to take a little read here: Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage | Firewood Hoarders Club btw, that, along with some other great topics and advice can be found in "Resources" which you can click on at the top of the page where it has "Home, Forums, Resources, etc."
Thanks backwoods! That was a good read. Sounds like you have many more years of experience then myself and have found out what works for you. I am still working on getting my system down. With my time constraints, space constraints and the fact that I enjoy cutting and getting the wood much more then splitting and stacking has led to my wood not being processed as efficiently as it could be. I think I need to sit down and draw up a plan to get the most out of my time and the best end product. Do you stack different species in different areas?
Welcome aboard, Kyle. One fellow you'll likely want to meet is member 166, as in Dolmar 166, at his shop "The Cutting Edge" a bit NE of Saratoga. That's on NY 29, just west of Greenwich NY. Why and how, you ask? He'll host a GTG once again at his shop in late April. Last year, probably 150 people attended. Steve sells Dolmar saws, lots of Dolmar saws, and generally has a trailer-load of demos to audition. Even a few Wankel-Dolmars. Typically has a few truckloads of logs handy to try saws in, with a few huge (5-6') cottonwoods to try the big-iron. Lots of folks, including Steve of course, can tell the story about what a good time is to be had there.
Your first thread and your fitting right in already, very nice! Welcome aboard Kyle, you will like this place. There's lots of guys on here with an immense amount of knowledge pertaining to firewood, stoves, and saws. Great place to hang out and learn a few things. One thing you asked about is separating wood. I do separate wood into species, similar btu wood normally gets stacked together like soft maple, cherry ect. But the better stuff like locust and oak gets stacked by itself. I like being able to grab exactly what I want to burn and not have to dig through a stack for certain weather changes.
Like everyone else, welcome! I am fairly new to this forum, and lifestyle for that matter, and this group has been great with support and knowledge. My oldest, 11 going on 16, tried some splitting this winter and was pretty good. I am going to wait a little bit longer before letting him use the saw, but he is a big kid and has a good head on his shoulders. Again, welcome, and enjoy this great community.
Thanks CTYANK. I am familiar with the Cutting Edge. I heard a lot of good things about them from a few local dealers. I called them about a piston a few weeks ago and i have to go pick it up soon. I have never been there and I am looking forward to it. They are about 40 minutes away from me. I have never been to a gtg, only what I have seen on YouTube. Do you get to bring the wood home with you that you cut?
I already do! I was looking through pics of guys stacks yesterday, that made me feel completely inadequate. Thanks for telling me how you do things. I think I might start a new stack with longer seasoning woods.
Thanks for your input HC. I will have to see how it goes with the boys. One thing I am really surprised by joining this forum is how many people from what I consider southern states that burn wood. I always had this conception that no one below the mason-Dixon line burned. How cold does it get in NM?
Where I live in NM, I am at ~7,000'. I just got to work this morning and checked the weather and it said 8 degrees, Fahrenheit, but feels like -6 with the wind. We get pretty cold over night, but even with that low, we are going to get up into the 30's today. We usually only have a fire going during the day on the really cold days and to take the edge off, but we have to get everything warmed up for overnight. It is nice, since I have used little to no propane this winter. The only thing really using it is the water heater.