UPDATE: So last weekend, I started splitting this mound. ^ This is how I left it yesterday. And this is how I left it today. Put a hurtin' on it! Uglies pile. I'm going to chainsaw the rest of the pieces that are crotch wood or something I think will blow out in an attempt to control the mess. Put a tape on the stack and it looks like I'm @ about 3 cords. Still plenty to split. Still plan to make the end just as high as the rest, so not quite finished, and I'll have to put the rest in row 2 which is on the backside, which you can see on the 3rd pic in this post. @ the end of the garage, I go 4 splits wide when needed. Brought a smallish piece in with me when I ate lunch. Checked MC after I finished for the day, so it was @ room temp. And I did that because the reading in a piece outside seemed a little low to me. Here's my 63' privacy fence.
Little late as I wasn’t on the forum much this summer, but what a tree, and you were like a friggin surgeon on that thing. Some big wood to take on but those are the most memorable trees for sure Nice work Jason!
Thanks all. I’m a special kinda sore today! Feel like an old man. That oak is no joke, it’s downright heavy! Wife helped a bit yesterday, loading my trailer and stacking. Boy do i ever appreciate help when I get it. Also wanted to share these cool grain pics here. Couple crotch places that were too rotten to use for anything, unfortunately. Reminds me of how water would flow at a swirl spot in a stream.
More great work, brother. Yes sir, help is nice. That is some crazy grain. I wonder if there is anything that it could be soaked in to stabilize it, and then be used for craft things...
There are wood hardeners that are relatively cheap. Never tested to see how hard they get,,,probably not much. On the other end of the spectrum there are two part epoxies with thin viscosity designed for coating or soaking. Not cheap tho.
Re-reading over this post, I really see what you're talking about. For this past winter, I swapped out the old Baker wood/coal stove for an add-on England's furnace. That 3 cord hole was what we burned this year. I know it wasn't a hateful season but there at the end it got bitterly cold. Over the past years we pretty much averaged 6 cords per winter! Hindsight is 20/20 as they say but boy do I wish I could have realized how much less wood I could have been using the past 10 years! This also makes me realize I am more than likely well past the 3 year plan now. My 63' row is approximately 9.5-10'cord alone and I have other stacks. This red oak will be well seasoned by the time I burn it.
Got almost all of the monster processed. All that’s left is a few chunks that will need noodled down to size. Didn’t split because of grain orientation (crotch pieces). They were blowing apart making my uglies/chunks pile grow too fast. Probably 1/2 cord in that pic^^. It will more than likely get used as fire pit wood and for cooking. The gooder stuff turned out to be an additional 1.3 cords. Because I measured and calculated conservatively, 3+1.3+.5=5. I’m calling this one tree 5 cords! Holy wow Batman!! After I cut up the remaining chucks and add to the stack, I know it’ll boost it to 1.5. I’m pretty blown away. That’s a lot of wood for one darn tree. Here’s what I added in to finish out the main stack. It’s at full height the entire run. Now I need to go back to page one and see what my early guess was. Edit: I guessed 4.
Heck of a nice outcome. I think my biggest haul from one tree was a beech. That was many moons ago and have no idea how many cords. I remember my brother in law and I could not join hands with both reaching around the tree and it was not hollow like a lot of beech trees. We both burnt off of that tree for a winter.
Thanks Tom. When you put it that way it seems crazy! I don’t see myself ever topping that. I spent 5 days on the splitter so I guess I’m good for a cord a day, at least of that heavy azz oak. Will be interesting to see how it dries. I split it larger than normal.
That big muhunga was a ton of work for sure. Your area has a lot of those big yard trees and unfortunately they come down. I am sure you will get another. I think I would have went to the rent all and seen about getting some hydraulic help. I have hydraulic, we just don’t have trees like that up here.
WOW that's a really nice score. That's oodles of noodles. Have you calculated how many cords in that tree??
