I think I am about done... with firewood

J

josh shrum

Guest
This is the last year I will be doing firewood. The weather today was about as perfect as we get in November, so while checking moisture content in the wood I couldn't help but take this photo. Hope you all enjoy!

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I'm with ya. I had wood stoves in my previous 3 houses and a fireplace in the two before that. I had my own wood lot at the last 2. I have a wood lot at the current house but nothing to burn it in. I may regret it, but I just didn't want to fool with it any more. The mess, the strain on my damaged shoulders, the risk of handling chainsaws and felling trees all adds up. At 69, I just don't want to do it any more.

I have a lot of ash trees. I'm hoping the emerald ash borer stays away for a few years. I hate to have to pay to have those trees taken out when they die. Maybe I'll offer them to my neighbors.
 
When I was younger

When I was younger and money was shorter, I hauled in long length of pecan wood to my house in town and cut them up for firewood with a 10 point handsaw. The saw was sharp and over a period of time i stacked up about two cords of wood, enough for a winter. I never worked more than an hour at a time on it and it did not seem like work at all.

Today, it would just kill me.

Concho Bill
 
Gents,

My firewood comes in 40 pound bags from Home Depot. The bugger pictured below does a helluva a job keeping things warm, and you still get to watch Cowboy TV. Don't even bother with our fireplace...

I still cut and split red oak for the bbq's...nothing like a ribeye cooked over oak. And I split by hand with a splitting maul. Good exercise, and something therapeutic about it.

Justin
 

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firewood

I cut a bunch of pecan one time, a guy took out a grove so he could have more farm ground, thought it was the best wood I ever burnt till I burnt some hedge. Thats the best I ever burned. Burns hot no ash to speak of. Put some oak or hickory in after you been burning hedge and and you will see the difference. Doug
 
We burned wood for 35+ years when I was working in the woods. The first house even had a Monkey Wards wood cookstove. Sold that and got a Monarch woodstove that had been stored in a barn. It was a combination wood/electric and was really heavy and a bear to move.

We burned mostly Douglas-fir, Pacific Madrone and Black Oak.

Mort
 
We burned wood for years. There's just something about a wood fire.

We're all electric now, and the most chainsaw work I do is to trim the trees every couple of years.
 
if they are big enough

vtmarmot said:
I'm with ya. I had wood stoves in my previous 3 houses and a fireplace in the two before that. I had my own wood lot at the last 2. I have a wood lot at the current house but nothing to burn it in. I may regret it, but I just didn't want to fool with it any more. The mess, the strain on my damaged shoulders, the risk of handling chainsaws and felling trees all adds up. At 69, I just don't want to do it any more.

I have a lot of ash trees. I'm hoping the emerald ash borer stays away for a few years. I hate to have to pay to have those trees taken out when they die. Maybe I'll offer them to my neighbors.
Click to expand...

and the EAB strikes you land cut the trees before they die as the saw logs are valuable. There is some evidence that shaded ash have a better chance of surviving an infestation that those in direct sunlight.
 
When winter comes and I am cold (It actually does get to 0°C in my part of Oz) I pull out my manual log splitter and after 1/2 an hour splitting redgum logs I ain't cold anymore.

As already noted, the exercise is a good workout and there is nothing that beats sitting in front of a nice wood combustion stove on a chilly night and tying a few trout flies. A bottle of red helps but it does not improve the flies.

* Doggie *
 
wrong wood here

My neighbor across the street burns discarded 2 X 4's in his fireplace. Even with the windows closed the stench works its way into our house. Probably will have the house resealed this winter. He's 94 and a nice guy, so I can't say anything to his son who hauls the wood home to burn.
 
I burnt wood for 9 years as the primary heat source. Mostly oak, red elm, and the best was black locust. Split most of it by hand.

Not going to happen anymore.

Later
Dave
 
josh shrum said:
this is the last year i will be doing firewood. The weather today was about as perfect as we get in november, so while checking moisture content in the wood i couldn't help but take this photo. Hope you all enjoy!

View attachment 24109
Click to expand...
split fence post for 60 yrs tough job then had to sharpe with ax then drive into ground with 16 bb maul to repace bad ones some days couldnt feel your hands when done .
 
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