I am not following the rules about firewood. I did very little cutting this spring; none during the winter. What little poplar I have won't last any time at all when heating seasons gets here. Things have not been going that well for me. I hate the idea of buying firewood this winter when I have a wood lot. Hopefully I will start feeling better and get to work on the wood. I have not been on the forum for awhile now; I hope I have not miss anything important.
Hoping you get well soon Kimberly. Poplar dries pretty fast so there's still time to get some cut and split before winter, all is not lost yet.
Yes. My friend thought I should try to sell the huge poplars but I don't see a lumber company coming in for such small loads.
I also hope that you will begin to feel better soon. Hate to feel so ill you can't get important stuff done. If you can afford to buy the wood, maybe that is better than trying to do too much too soon. Get enough to get you through the winter. Know then that you are secure, then work on the three year plan as you can, when you can. I don't own land enough to cut wood. We always bought ours. They delivered it tree length and we worked it up. Did that for years. Now not able to work up wood, so we burn pellets. It is not the same, but it is wood heat and we love it.
We bought a load of logs just so we could get more inventory back in 2009 or 10 and it still was money well spent. I hope you're feeling better.
Target the tulip poplars. These dry really fast and burn decently. You could still get some green tulip C/S/S now to dry enough to burn this winter. If not, it's ok to buy wood/oil/propane. Be in it for the LONG term, not the day-to-day.
Yup, do it right or don't do it... making a smoky mess that your neighbors deal with or drive through doesn't earn us hoarders any merit badges...
There is a local company here that does tree work. In the summer they sell mulch and in the winter they sell firewood. I usually see a dump truck sitting at places either full of mulch in the spring/summer or in the winter full of firewood with a sign with their number. The wood is hardwood and split. So I do have a source if I can not get enough on my own. I thought I would go through the wood lot and get as much as the solid dead that might be there; the locust have all died out for one. Get it cut and split and drying. I was thinking this morning as I drank my coffee that I need a barn raising; except in this case cutting wood. At the end of the day I could offer a nice dinner/BBQ for those that helped. Mum did that with building the shed. Mum worked in the kitchen providing lunch and dinner at the end of the day. It was mostly family in that case but we managed to frame, roof, and sheath the walls and roof in one day. It was not a big shed; 16'x24'. It shows what can be done with plenty of helpers. I don't have that resource that Mum did; Mum is gone, the twins have relocated, etc. I still have that stack of dead red oak in the woods; so that needs to come out, split, and stacked. I worked at getting a road back there. I had to fill a dry wash with old limbs and such so The Old Girl can cross over. I attached a Harbour Freight steel carrier to the front to help with stability; I think I posted a photo of that. The weight on the front makes a big difference; especially since I don't have the fluid in the rear tyres.
I was down in the little valley checking on the veggie garden down there. There is a huge white oak beside the garden. My friend thinks I should sell it for timber. However, how much would I get for a fully matured white oak? I don't want to clear cut the wood lot and that is what a timber company would want to do. That white oak is not a tree that I will feel safe trying to drop; I don't have the knowledge or skill; however, it would definitely provide a lot of nice firewood.
Aka GTG, or I call them chainsaw parties. I've done it, it really makes a huge difference, and everybody has a great time. Do it!
Mum did that with building the shed. Mum worked in the kitchen providing lunch and dinner at the end of the day. It was mostly family in that case but we managed to frame, roof, and sheath the walls and roof in one day. It was not a big shed; 16'x24'. It shows what can be done with plenty of helpers. I don't have that resource that Mum did; Mum is gone, the twins have relocated, etc. Not sure how much land or how many trees you have or want taken down. What I do is run an ad on Craigslist offering half of what they cut into blocks they take and the other half stays there for you to split, hence 1/2 & 1/2. I am sure you can get somebody to take down the trees you aren't comfortable doing for 1/2 & 1/2. Like yourself I can't keep up and now have 4 guys cutting half and half, two I met here on FHC by just posting asking if there were any members close by, not a bad idea as I even had a response from a member 45 minutes south of me. Says sometimes he gets to the Big city lol. Most people would be more than happy to help you cut up dead, seasoned trees for 1/2 of the wood if they are Hoarders and don't have the access to wood like you do. Just a thought and I hope things get better for you. It doesn't hurt to ask and don't let your pride stand in the way, you never know you might meet someone who has the need that you can fill.
Kimberly, many people have been in your situation. Yes, a get-together could be one answer. Getting log length delivered to you is another. As for the white oak, if only one or two, forget trying to get a logger in for that. In the first place, most won't want a yard tree because there is too great of a chance of hardware being in the tree and that can ruin saws and even chains on the chainsaws. Plus, would it be worth their time to get one or two trees? I doubt it. Do what you can to get through and also think about next year even before you get this winter taken care of.
I think he was saying that if you cut and split the poplar into firewood, that it would be burnable for this winter. That's what u would have said at least Look for dead standing trees, and trust your moisture meter. The IP half of dead standing trees will be drier than the lower half. Dead and down trees are another to look for. At this point the only way to ensure that you have dry wood to burn is to rely on a moisture meter. If you don't have one yet, get one ASAP.
Can you get your hands on some silver maple or pine? You might get those seasoned in time for the winter if you have a nice sunny and windy spot to stack them. Good luck!
As with everything else in life, if you don't make time and do it, it doesn't get done. I never had that I had been time to do things I was interested in (martial arts for one; requires years of commitment) but when I pulled the trigger, it got done. In most cases, no one will do it for you. With you being a scientist (or whatever it was you had mentioned months ago) you can be sure that a way is there for you to tackle the task. Just get started on it! That's the first step!
