The wood lot

[Green Acres Homestead]

Great stories. Around age 10 I started cutting wood with my dad. We' d burn around 4 full cords a year. There was a lot of soft ground in and around our woods and the water table was usually less than 18" below the surface. When the ground would freeze in the winter it is was wood cutting season. We cut our buts off every weekend we could to make sure that that we had heat. Some winters would be really wet and we couldn't get our full hauls, so we always tried to finish the winter with a couple years worth of wood in the bank.

Our equipment consisted of an old Ford tractor with trailer, a couple of well used saws with 20" bars, an axe, a couple splitting mauls, a sledge hammer, and a bunch of wedges. We would fell, and buck in the woods. The stuff that was too big to carry was split in the woods by hand, the rest we'd stack and split during the evenings through the week up by the house using the porch light to see what we were doing. The wood always split easiest when it was cold out.

My dad is 82 now and there is now a gas line in front of his place. So all that old equipment is idle now. I quit heating with wood when I sold our last house in 2006, but I still enjoy felling trees. I have 4 boys that are too young for a saw, but they still love to watch me knock down trees. The last couple years I have started to cut a few more down to expand my garden area and have been giving the wood to one of the neighbors that still heats with it. They stand in awe and cheer when the tree crashes to the ground. I now understand what my father must have felt when he used to take me in the woods.

I've always loved my dad, but it is amazing how your appreciation grows as you walk farther down the road of life.

Very true. Our memories are sweeten with time. Nice story.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Really fun to read about the various wood gathering adventures. Having ‘put up’ wood in various quantities for some 48 years i’ve Developed a system that accommodates my current need of about 4 to 5 face cords annually.
Starting in the woods I cut logs in multiples of 16” lengths depending on the diameter each log can be from 48” to 12’ long. With my grapple or a chain as necessary consolidate the logs to a common point and haul them to a storage area behind my barn. When the need or mood strikes I then buck the log pile into 16” stove lengths letting them fall where they are cut. Using my FEL then push the cut rounds into a common pile for splitting. Breaking out the splitter, I then position my FEL now with the pallet forks attached and holding mesh wood bags I buy from Ticonderoga Packaging in PA I simply split, toss, and be done. Each bag is about 4’ square and around 5’ high and holds around 3/4 of a face cord randomly tossed. When the bag is full I simply lift it with the attached straps slide a pallet underneath and move the whole shooten match to the covered storage area. No stacking, re-stacking.
I’ve been using this system for about 5 years now and find the wood drys about as fast as convential cord wood stacking and when it comes time to actually enjoy the heat of your wood cutting efforts, simply jump on the tractor and move the whole bag full to the shop, porch, or basement.
Each bag costs about $12 bucks and lasts about 3 or 4 years depending on how carefully they are handled.

B. John

For an old fat guy like me, handling a cord of wood takes 1.5 hours. The bags saves you a lot of time

 

[Budweiser John]

For an old fat guy like me, handling a cord of wood takes 1.5 hours. The bags saves you a lot of time

Indeed they do and I’m surprised they are not more popular. The system does require a fairly stout tractor/FEL with pallet forks and a little more storage space if storing under a roofed area.
As an aside, another very useful wood handling tool is a ‘Pickeroon’. Similar to an ax but with a pointed hook on the business end. They work great for pulling cut rounds up to the splitter table with out having to bend over.

B. John

 

[deezler]

mesh wood bags I buy from Ticonderoga Packaging in PA I simply split, toss, and be done. Each bag is about 4’ square and around 5’ high and holds around 3/4 of a face cord randomly tossed.

B. John

Hey B. John, where did you buy these affordable storage bags from? I searched "ticonderoga" and couldn't find any. Other industrial forklift storage bags are $30+ apiece.
I really want to find a lot of IBC totes to convert into firewood storage frames, but people around here want silly prices for used ones full of caustic chemical remnants.

Thanks!

 

[Ken45101]

Hey B. John, where did you buy these affordable storage bags from? I searched "ticonderoga" and couldn't find any.

Thanks!

Me too! It sounds worthwhile.

I started out using pallets to form a box but those do not hold up very well. I went to building my own out of pt lumber. Those are a lot better but expensive. These bags may be worth trying.

 

[Budweiser John]

Deezler, Ken, wood bags.
The contact number is 1 (800)-724-6003.
The last time I ordered some was September of ‘17

B. John

 

[deezler]

Deezler, Ken, wood bags.
The contact number is 1 (800)-724-6003.
The last time I ordered some was September of ‘17
B. John

Thanks, that phone number led to this site:
Air Bag Void Fillers - Corrugated Dunnage | Tyoga Container

And these bags:
Firewood Bags | Dino Bags

 

[Budweiser John]

You found them, sorry for the misspelling.

B. John

 

[Paystar]

While I don't have as big an operation or equipment as many of you, I also enjoy playing in my woods and doing firewood. I live in maple forest. I burn about 12 face cord a winter plus some oil in the furnace.
I only cut dead-fall and the trees that are unhealthy or that need to be removed to keep the forest healthy. I have a retired forester neighbor that helps me with that as he knows more than me.
I would love to do this all the time, but unfortunately i have to go to work every day trucking. But I do most of my work in the winter and spring while there are no black flies and mosquitoes out.

Used to do most of the work with my Polaris Sportsman 500 HO to skid and haul in a dump cart. But now I use my Kubota B2620 to build and maintain one kilometer of bush road (the rest is just cut ATV trails.) Still do all my cutting with an old Stihl 029 that has been absolutely trouble free.

 

[Paystar]

As for equipment I use my Polaris Sportsman 500HO, the B2620 Kubota, and my Stihl 029 saw.

For splitters I have the old one my father built in the late 70's/early 80's at his welding and fab shop. It was an old Lincoln welding machine trailer he made into a splitter. It has had Ford, GM, Mazda and currently Toyota engines on it. (he always lent it out and got it back dead, LOL)
Now I also just bought a new 25 ton Forest King that is easy to pull around with the ATV.

Then I clean up branches and bark with the Wallenstein chipper/shredder.