Thanks for the compliment...... It's not always that pretty, for sure. Nice logs makes the difference.
Ash is very rare in my immediate area. I know the TN department of forestry has an ash movement ban in most counties. I am currently cutting on a friends 120 acres that had over a 100 blow downs. This ash came from two trees that were in perfect condition. Haven't seen any others down or standing. I love cutting, hauling and splitting ash. Very easy in all aspects and it drys very fast. Wish I could find more!
Thursday afternoon, we got the 3 remaining totes fixed. Made new pallet bottoms that fit the cages. We used the 48x48 discarded pallets from work... The size needed to be 41x48, so used sawzall to cut nails and circle saw for the boards Fastened the runner back on the edge, bolted frame to pallet... Also added 5/4 decking boards to bottom of pallets Ready for some splits...since these 2 don't have doors, plan on stacking 18" BL splits in these. Miz Carol is a great helper... The last tote we did was the one above with the broken base. Took it apart, make a new base for it, and made a door. This tote will get 14" oak splits for now.
BL? Did someone say BL? You have my undivided attention now! Nice alteration and smart move on the PT boards. If you have a chance to get some plastic decking on the cheap grab them They work great for ground contact. How good is Ms. Carol with the circular saw?
She could learn it...lol...especially if ... Gonna get this BL processed soon, cut it in May... About half the trailer is BL, with pecan and cherry filling the rest.
Split some more of the plantation job oak Saturday night, in the tote we made the door on... Finished it up with some water oak we got the other week, this morning Then we picked up a nice little trailer load of oak and maple... Maybe we'll get caught up one day...
We had a few loads to do, so decided to use the load of small logs we got in April...1 trailer load... 1st load... We stacked it in her rack, left side and middle section... Next 2 loads went to a guy with auto repair shop. I think he has an EPA approved oil drip on his stove On his 2nd load, we used this stump cut off from the Plantation...front of the trailer... It made almost a row on the truck... This is what's left of the log pile It will go on a load this morning. That trailer load made at least 1 cord of splits.
We like to use short board cut offs, thin strips/limb wood and lay our fire in the stove this way... Lets the air really flow and gets burning fast... We recently got a new bagger system at work, several skids were available, made with S/P/F lumber. Set up the miter saw and cut a tub full Saturday morning Got another skid broken down Saturday night, 2x4 and 4x4. Some of the lumber from it Got almost a full drum from it Used a few 3x4 tulip poplar runners to top it off. Should be able to start a few fires this winter...
Have you tried the 'upside down' fire method? Big splits on the bottom, medium splits in the middle, small wood and kindling on top. With your good quality, dry wood I think the method would work very well. With an upside down fire my small stove will burn for two hours or more before I have to open the door and add more wood.