Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[Luke'sScreenName]

May all the rest of your stumps be smaller and somewhat rotten:laughing:

Lol. You know how there's the serenity prayer or the Lord's prayer? There should be a "Woods Tractor Prayer" with that in it.

'May the biting insects be rare. May the stems be straight and sound. May my chaps be light and cool.
Provide me with the insight to avoid the barber chair and pinched bar. Give me the strength to walk away when I'm over my head. Etc etc.'

I want to start a thread but I'm afraid it would derail into a religious argument!

 

[Everhard]

Speaking of yearly heating bills and firewood.... I posted this back in 2010. Still holds true today....although natural gas prices have dropped considerably since then. When I really take everything into consideration, for heating my house, if I put a monetary value on my hourly time spent felling, cutting, splitting, stacking and hauling firewood, I don't save much if any money by heating with wood VS working the same number of hours at a minimum wage job.

From 2010:
If I move well and don't mess around it takes me about 4 hours (4) to drop enough trees for the entire year (we burn 6 cords), then about an hour per cord to cut into firewood size pieces, so another 6 hours. (that's 10) Then another 6 hours to load it (that's 16). Then another probably 2 hours to split and stack each of the 6 cords so 12 hours (that's 28).... plus driving time, repairs, etc... let's say 32 hours and that makes 4 full days of work this year to heat my home. Then it takes me about 3/4 hour every two weeks to haul in wood to the basement.... 6 months of wood burning, so 12 trips to the wood pile so another 9 hours on top of the 32 for a total of 41 hours, or about a full work week out of my life.

If I worked for $10.00 an hour at, say, 40 hours, I could make $400.00 (before taxes). I saved about $800.00 in natural gas last year by burning wood (this was 2010 gas prices. It would have only been $600 this year, 2015-16). So I came out ahead a few hundred bucks. The advantages don't seem much monetarily, as I make more than $10.00 an hour. However, I get a bunch of exercise, I enjoy being outdoors, I enjoy running a chainsaw, I enjoy running a tractor, I enjoy vigorous work in snow on a sunny day at -20, I enjoy the heat of the stove, the smell of the wood and the feeling of working for warmth. Call me kooky!

Well that's an interesting look at the heating costs question! Agreed if I had natural gas as an option to heat with like when I lived in town then ya it wouldn't be cost effective to heat with wood. But where I live I'm in the country and my house has electric baseboards... It's crazy expensive. As an example when I go away in the winter for a couple weeks I set my thermostats to 12c (53f). During that period my electrical usage costs go up minimum $100 per week. I've no idea how much more it would cost if I kept the thermostats at a comfortable temp but I guess it'll be a fair bit more. Also keep in mind around here electrical costs are skyrocketing and forecasted to keep climbing. I guess if I heated with just electricity it would cost conservatively $2500 per winter and I think that's optimistic. Reality would likely be over $3000 if I want to keep the house at the same temp I keep it at while burning wood.
If you use $10 per hour (I think minimum wage here is around $12?) and 40hr work week it would take 7.5 weeks to pay off $3000.
But I agree with you there's things about burning with wood that can't be measured by dollars. The physical workout I get that keeps me strong and healthy - I joke with my friends and co-workers when I point to the pile of wood and say that's my gym! (I can't fathom going to a gym, to me wasting energy in there for an hour+ and not getting anything productive out of it aside from my own fitness makes no sense. I want to see something for the energy I put out.) The pleasure of a wood stove burning - not like I'm going to sit next to a baseboard with a coffee in the morning or a drink in the evening! Lol. I like that it gets my lazy *** outta bed to reload the stove!
And finally the money "saved" I can spend on other things like taking a vacation somewhere.
When I started reading your post I questioned my own logic for a moment till I crunched the numbers again. I do dream of ways to heat my house cheaper, but yep, I think I'll be burning wood for a long time to come! Lol.

E.

 

[John_Mc]

Speaking of yearly heating bills and firewood.... I posted this back in 2010. Still holds true today....although natural gas prices have dropped considerably since then. When I really take everything into consideration, for heating my house, if I put a monetary value on my hourly time spent felling, cutting, splitting, stacking and hauling firewood, I don't save much if any money by heating with wood VS working the same number of hours at a minimum wage job.

From 2010:
If I move well and don't mess around it takes me about 4 hours (4) to drop enough trees for the entire year (we burn 6 cords), then about an hour per cord to cut into firewood size pieces, so another 6 hours. (that's 10) Then another 6 hours to load it (that's 16). Then another probably 2 hours to split and stack each of the 6 cords so 12 hours (that's 28).... plus driving time, repairs, etc... let's say 32 hours and that makes 4 full days of work this year to heat my home. Then it takes me about 3/4 hour every two weeks to haul in wood to the basement.... 6 months of wood burning, so 12 trips to the wood pile so another 9 hours on top of the 32 for a total of 41 hours, or about a full work week out of my life.

If I worked for $10.00 an hour at, say, 40 hours, I could make $400.00 (before taxes). I saved about $800.00 in natural gas last year by burning wood (this was 2010 gas prices. It would have only been $600 this year, 2015-16). So I came out ahead a few hundred bucks. The advantages don't seem much monetarily, as I make more than $10.00 an hour. However, I get a bunch of exercise, I enjoy being outdoors, I enjoy running a chainsaw, I enjoy running a tractor, I enjoy vigorous work in snow on a sunny day at -20, I enjoy the heat of the stove, the smell of the wood and the feeling of working for warmth. Call me kooky!

IMO, your last paragraph says it all. I don't do this to save money; I do it because I enjoy it. I have a couple of guys I cut firewood with, and we jokingly refer to it as our social, fitness and mental health club. I do spend less cash on my heating, and I don't count my firewood activities as "spending" time, it's something I "get" to do.

Perhaps I'd feel differently if I did this for a living. Another friend produces over 250 cords per year of firewood (from purchased logs). He does this on the side, in addition to running his own auto/tractor/heavy equipment repair shop. He does not own a firewood processor, just a 3 pt hitch log splitter (and a variety of other equipment used for shuffling logs and wood around). I asked his wife how many cords a year they use themselves: "None! We get enough dealing with firewood. We don't mess with it to heat our house."

 

[Jim Timber]

That one look's like it put up a good fight!
May all the rest of your stumps be smaller and somewhat rotten:laughing:

I'm breaking virgin hardwoods to expand an ox cart trail into a semi-truck capable road. None of them are rotten, but at least the fresh ones grind easy.

That maple was on a little ridge I was knocking over to reduce the grade up the hill. The mound it was in was on the side of a 5' deep gully to the back, and trees I'm not removing to the South, so I had 3 directions to attack from: front, side, and over the top. It took 2 hours to incrementally break and cut the roots, but eventually I was able to work it loose enough to flip it up out of the hole.

Most of my stumps can be ground and buried and will get filled over as they rot down. This one needed to come out so I could level the bump it was growing out of.

This is what it looked like before I felled it yesterday:

This is close to what it looks like now (I leveled it out more after this shot):

This is a major change from being barely wide enough to fit my rear tread.

 

[cartod]

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Speaking of yearly heating bills and firewood.... I posted this back in 2010. Still holds true today....although natural gas prices have dropped considerably since then. When I really take everything into consideration, for heating my house, if I put a monetary value on my hourly time spent felling, cutting, splitting, stacking and hauling firewood, I don't save much if any money by heating with wood VS working the same number of hours at a minimum wage job. From 2010: If I move well and don't mess around it takes me about 4 hours (4) to drop enough trees for the entire year (we burn 6 cords), then about an hour per cord to cut into firewood size pieces, so another 6 hours. (that's 10) Then another 6 hours to load it (that's 16). Then another probably 2 hours to split and stack each of the 6 cords so 12 hours (that's 28).... plus driving time, repairs, etc... let's say 32 hours and that makes 4 full days of work this year to heat my home. Then it takes me about 3/4 hour every two weeks to haul in wood to the basement.... 6 months of wood burning, so 12 trips to the wood pile so another 9 hours on top of the 32 for a total of 41 hours, or about a full work week out of my life. If I worked for $10.00 an hour at, say, 40 hours, I could make $400.00 (before taxes). I saved about $800.00 in natural gas last year by burning wood (this was 2010 gas prices. It would have only been $600 this year, 2015-16). So I came out ahead a few hundred bucks. The advantages don't seem much monetarily, as I make more than $10.00 an hour. However, I get a bunch of exercise, I enjoy being outdoors, I enjoy running a chainsaw, I enjoy running a tractor, I enjoy vigorous work in snow on a sunny day at -20, I enjoy the heat of the stove, the smell of the wood and the feeling of working for warmth. Call me kooky!

I don't burn wood because wife says it is to messy but it is the best heat. I cut and sell a bit of firewood and I make about $10 to $15 per hour clear. I am semi retired so don't need to make money. I think you are bank on with your figuring.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Lol. You know how there's the serenity prayer or the Lord's prayer? There should be a "Woods Tractor Prayer" with that in it. 'May the biting insects be rare. May the stems be straight and sound. May my chaps be light and cool. Provide me with the insight to avoid the barber chair and pinched bar. Give me the strength to walk away when I'm over my head. Etc etc.' I want to start a thread but I'm afraid it would derail into a religious argument!

lol. Got music for that?

 

[dieselcrawler]

Cartod: was wondering about you... haven't seen much from you in a while. Hope all is well in your part of the mountain state.

 

[Gordon Gould]

No. It was on my list but not in the budget.
It's a big $ here.
After using this twice, the snatch block has been moved up in priority. I have been alone and the wood lot has obstacles everywhere. Not like the smooth, clear forest floor pictures I see on here.
I couldn't get any video or pics the other day. The flies were on a mission to carry away my new winch for their own projects. Will work on getting some for context.
So the snatch block is now deemed necessary.

You are right obstacles every where even with snatch blocks but as you have found out they are necessary in some woodlots to make it manageable. Trust me however, you will learn how to pick a winching path that has easier or fewer obstacles and which obstacles are really obstacles and many other tricks. I remember when I first started it is laughable ( and scary ) thinking about it now. Just be careful and work safe and you will get better and more efficient. If you like to work in the winter snow goes a long way in smoothing up your forest floor. You don't need a self release block, they are expensive. I worked for years with two regular snatch blocks that cost about $50 a piece and I still use them along with the self release block.





gg

 

[supertaster]

You are right obstacles every where even with snatch blocks but as you have found out they are necessary in some woodlots to make it manageable. Trust me however, you will learn how to pick a winching path that has easier or fewer obstacles and which obstacles are really obstacles and many other tricks. I remember when I first started it is laughable ( and scary ) thinking about it now. Just be careful and work safe and you will get better and more efficient. If you like to work in the winter snow goes a long way in smoothing up your forest floor. You don't need a self release block, they are expensive. I worked for years with two regular snatch blocks that cost about $50 a piece and I still use them along with the self release block.

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gg

I worked for years with two regular snatch blocks that cost about $50 a piece and I still use them along with the self release block.

Yes. I have a regular one like your first pic. A Princess Auto special that I bought with no place to really use it. Now I have a reason. I will get the self releasing one though too. I lugged my guts out for years in the woods and I am looking to streamline the task. Smarter not harder. I like, in the picture, how you are safely staged away from danger and still have a path to snigging the tree where you want it.


Right now I am breaking a new path so it will take some time to get a bearing on the area I am working in. It's much flatter than places I cut wood on the property over the last few years. I picked it because with all the new gear I am not wanting to damage anything before I get to be fully comfortable with operating it.
I go pretty easy and try to check everything twice and then double check. Sometimes too careful in a way but at least i know I have minimized the chance of injury and smashing my equipment that I worked so hard to purchase. I read everything I can on here. The knowledge that people share is incredible.
Any and all tips offered are considered for being applied in my situation.
I will certainly take some pictures or video to put some of this in context. Hopefully Saturday will be a fair weather day.
Thank you for the info.