I finally got around to some splitting action yesterday. Of course I picked the warmest November day ever... Been a good while since I last split. The hoard pile was feeling a little neglected. It’s pretty much just a big mixed bag pile of whatever you can name. Started off with the sugar maple that came down in the sugarbush during Isaias. Got that cut up and hauled to the pile a few weekends ago. Moving along through the pile I also got through a small bit of white birch, some red maple, ash and a little shag hickory. All that got tossed into the truck and then backed into a pile to stack on pallets next to the full wood shed. Also split a gnarly piece of black walnut - first time splitting walnut. Came from a limb that fell off a big ol’ black walnut tree at the farm. One of the guys I work with cut it up and tossed it all into the wood chipper pile in the compost yard. Wish I had known about the limb sooner. I kept the better looking chunks to make some small boards out of. One piece is big enough to make a rifle stock. That’d be cool. Anyways, the rest of the splitting was some stuff that I’m having a hard time ID’ing. The trees were massive. It’s got bark like oak. Wood is like black birch when split - kind of has a pinkish hue to it. Smells sweet not like birch but almost like bubble gum. I don’t know. Splits up really nice. That stuff got loaded into the ATV trailer and hauled over to the sugar house stack. Ended up being a great afternoon doing some awesomely cathartic wood splitting.
Got one week left of the off season before things pick up and get crazy for me. Starting a new chapter outside of farming and very much looking forward to it. First time out with the Stihls this year to get on a pile of ash, cherry and maple. Some of it on the bottom has been sitting too long. The ash is from a recent score with a Lewis Tree picking crew. I should have had this pile done a couple months ago but I’ve been dealing with some medical crap. Recently was diagnosed with a rheumatological disease. Waiting for the confirmatory test on Lupus. Finally getting some answers to the issues I’ve always thought were related to the tick borne crap I’ve had. So my doctor and I have been chasing ghosts and nothing was working. But, starting off on the good side of things now with some better diagnoses and management plans and nothing will keep me from the hoarding! So I got some cutting done this morning. Looking to tow down the splitter tomorrow and start making trips up to the wood shed. Felt so good to be out this morning!! Of course, I hit some hidden wire fence buried in the ash. Replaced a three year old chain with a brand new one this morning… only three cuts in… Such is the way it goes haha.
