This person's woodyard nirvana...kinda....sorta

IME that black locust bark will come off eventually whether in the stack or before. I’ve only seen a few pieces where it really stuck on there.

 

Have you processed all those BL logs you had on hand?

 

I still have the hoard from Canton area, many of which are lumber grade. Saved them just in case. The other three piles have been converted to firewood.

 

Topping day!

Last load




Covering it up


I do have another near empty rack. BL splits are destined for it.

 

It's been very rare for me to have BL rounds as large as these. So, time to make them smaller.


The remaining rounds, in this area.


Came across a few things unexpected.

1st a worm


And then, not kitty litter, by Bradley litter!


I found the BL to split easier than the RM. Slightly smaller rounds and less crotches.

 

Yeah BL is a pleasure to hand split and does generate a lot of shards. I always have an empty feed bag handy when splitting it.

 

The worm is fully expected. Whenever I split BL in quantity the neighborhood sparrows learn quick to hang around. As soon as I leave they’ll come swarming in to feed off the bark and dropped bugs.

 

Yup agreed, full expected.

Thankfully, there's very little rot/insect damage.

 

Moved some old BL round/chunks yesterday and thought of this thread. Most of these had the bark washed off so 3-4 yrs in the pile. I moved to the front and split them. Ill stack today and probably sell in a couple months. Lots more there with loose bark, but with the nasty schmutz under it, so I'll move and let them get washed off. BL lasts for years as its extremely rot resistant for any newbies reading this.

 

Stacked all the splits. Ill split more logs to top off the rack which makes a 1/4 cord of BL and 1/4 cord of hickory. The front row will be a half cord....4'x12'

 

You scrounging BL made you think of my woodyard thread? Hmmmm.... I think I'll need to post security cameras and guard dogs.

 

LOL!!!

Your safe Mike! If anything I'd be bringing more for you!

 

It was mid-20's overnight and I hadn't made any firewood for a couple of weeks.

I finished the BL rounds that were dropped here. There's still 6-7 of them to process.


I have one round with a burl on it. I'm not sure if it's worth the bother of trying to cut/split around it. If not worth it, then I'll just cut it off and split as normal.

 

Save the round, let the bark weather off and keep it as a conversation piece/wood yard decoration. It doesn't rot. I have a couple hanging around and one for sale on FBM for lathe crafters.

 

In between weather events means it's moving time for BL

Almost a full rick.




Including the Secret Squirrel code


There's still 10 rounds to split. There's room for more on that rack. If there's more needing to be stacked, I'll find room for it. Not a bad problem to have.

 

That's a beautiful sight Mike. You know how I feel about BL!

Nice to have all of one species in a rack.

Im so about that I hate to mix species in a stack. One year woods usually go into a general cordage stack. If I have enough higher BTU woods (sugar maple, black birch, beech) I'll mix them togather.

 

Nice work on all those stacks. When I first started reading you said you had gotten behind because of a broken wrist? Then I realized that was in 2022. How did that heal up?

 

The broke wrist is fine, thanks. No surgery. Had a cast for a few months followed physical therapy. However, I have learned to adapt to a torn rotator cuff. Life happens.

 

I emptied a rack today. So, on to the next rack of red oak.


4-5yr red oak doesn't hold onto its bark anymore. It just releases as splits get moved.

I collected almost a full 8' rack of them last year, instead of flinging them I nto the woods. They make for good kindling as well as burn bright in the campfire pit.



That's the just-emptied rack.

 

Thos should close out the postings about my BL score.

I had 2 rounds left that looked knotty. So I wedged them in halves and x27 split them.


That's half a facecord. Giving me half a cord in total. That'll last a while. I've been using other BL for overnight fires. One piece of BL and a piece of RO l3aves me with enough coals for an easy morning re-light.

I b3li3ve i have a new splitting stump!


A 12in end cut of BL. Unless I end up splitting it accidentally, it should last me a long time.