Currently 2 years ahead C/S/S and was happy that we were ahead of the game. Figured late winter we could work on a few large oaks and maples that had blown over out back once the ground froze, which I am thinking would get us another 4+ cords and wrap up the 3 year plan. Fast forward to yesterday: got a call from a friend who's brother owns a tree service company asking if I needed any wood. Well who in their right mind would say 'NO' when that call comes in. I collected myself for a second and calmly said, 'Yeah, sure, we could use some wood, whats he got?' Come to find out he had a full tri-axle load and was working a mile from my house. Guess they cleared the land and stacked the logs late summer and are there loading and moving the wood off the property this week. Now we were not planning to purchase any wood but we got a smoking good deal on the load, so I told him to come on over. 1 hour later the truck was unloaded and I told him if he had any more wood to unload at that price to drop it off. We shook hands and he was on his way. Looks like ~8 cords of oak, hickory, black birch, maple and one big sassafras. Plan to every morning for an hour and have a couple friends over to help split (with a hydraulic splitter) and stack what ever is ready on Saturday. BBQ and beers to follow! The wood out back can wait as they are blow downs, completely uprooted so the wood is off the ground. They may stay there now until a deep freeze next winter! I have plenty to work with at the moment!!!
I'm down to just about three years ahead and a 7 to 10 cord log load of oak in my yard would be great.
Ahhh, I won't be done cutting all that by the weekend. The plan is to cut what I can and split what's ready on Saturday. This will be a work in progress for the next few weeks. I do have a day job. Hahaha Load was $400, typical price would have been $850-$900 for a tri-axle. Tell you what, I was just out there cutting and can say it is a little nerve wracking working on a pile that tall. Cutting the ends first and some small stuff in the front. Keep having visions of the pile collapsing while I am cutting.
I've never really understood the fear of cutting on a pile like that. If one is fearful of it, then it is a simple thing to roll a log at a time down and cut it up then repeat; very simple. Good for you getting that load. No brush to handle with this either. And congratulations on getting ahead.
That is nice big load of wood. That is great and this will get you ahead of the game. I do not think I have ever got that much wood at one time.
You could pull down 1, 2 or more logs and cut away. Sometimes more than the one(s) you want come down too, but just stand out of the way. They'll tend to sort of cascade down....they won't drop off at the ends. I've used a hammer, a rake, or whatever I had on hand to help get 'em down. Quite often, I just gave a good shove from the opposite direction I wanted them to fall, and down they went. Always have an escape path clear, though. It's more fun to watch 'em come down when the stack is about 8' high or more.
Not scared of the pile but definitely mindful. No way anyone's first time cutting a pile like that they didn't have some nerves. Keeping it safe and will be knocking down the logs as I am ready for them. Will post pics as progress is made. Smiling evertime I look outside.
Speaking from experience, that's a lot of fun to tackle with 3-4 people on a cool Saturday morning. 8-10 cords is a full day's work but that amount could be cut, split and piled (not necessarily stacked unless you are stacking reasonably close by). I took on a pile about three times that size last spring with my brother and father - I was cutting, dad was splitting and my brother was moving rounds and loading splits onto my tractor bucket, and I was making a 1/4 mile round trip to dump. We got through maybe six cords of it, but not all of it was transported, there was still a large pile of splits that I picked away at for a few days. Another person would have made a bit more production. At the end of the day though, it was very satisfying to see it all worked up and done.
It's a lot of work but less than collecting those logs in the bush. Plus you got a good mix. Is sassafras a good firewood?
Sassafras is so-so, so I hear. I'll have 1st hand experience next year. Sure smells cutting, though. The air is filled with the sweet scent of root beer!
Run a bunch through a chipper and save the chips for the smoker. Soak them in water before adding to the smoker...mmmmmmmmm good! Probably the better use for sas.
