Never again

[qualsite]

When the tree companies drop off logs, there are always some very large diameter rounds... but fortunately, mostly redwood [light and won't rot]. Most get used for bollards or backstops, but I keep thinking of carving something out of them. The redwood burns so poorly, it's not worth wasting the effort to get them into smaller pieces. But then again, that's the calculation that goes into any piece of wood... is the time and effort worth it? When you have lots of wood vs not much, the outcome changes.

 

[sixdogs]

There were a few years when it felt like everything I was dragging home was over 36" diameter. Lagest was a white oak that was 60" diameter where it broke off about 15 feet above the ground, and flared out to more than 72" diameter at knee height. But there were many ash trees from the same property that were all 36" - 44".

I took to noodling most of that big stuff into 8" thick slabs, then "walking" those slabs over to the vertical splitter. You get used to moving those heavy pieces with a lot less effort after awhile, but still a total PITA.

I was only in my late 30's or very early 40's, when I was doing most of that, so still excited by such heroic efforts.

Long ago when I was in my early 20's I was so broke I could barely eat. I needed six cords for the woodstove and it was already July in rural Maine. All I could get for firewood was from the dump and it was old elm trees cut into rounds. Some were pretty big but they were free. Sign me up.

No problem, I thought, since I had splitting wedges and a maul plus my Skil low RPM chainsaw. Well, it was a problem and every one of those pieces was a life and death struggle. Still, I managed to split almost all of them and by hand. Now I know why the wood was free for the taking.

The grain twisted and turned and once I got the wedge in I had to use two more to get it out. It took me forever to split that pile but heat that winter never felt so good. Along with a couple other things, splitting elm by hand is a never again.

 

[TimberFarm]

Long ago when I was in my early 20's I was so broke I could barely eat. I needed six cords for the woodstove and it was already July in rural Maine. All I could get for firewood was from the dump and it was old elm trees cut into rounds. Some were pretty big but they were free. Sign me up.

No problem, I thought, since I had splitting wedges and a maul plus my Skil low RPM chainsaw. Well, it was a problem and every one of those pieces was a life and death struggle. Still, I managed to split almost all of them and by hand. Now I know why the wood was free for the taking.

The grain twisted and turned and once I got the wedge in I had to use two more to get it out. It took me forever to split that pile but heat that winter never felt so good. Along with a couple other things, splitting elm by hand is a never again.

Been there, done that too.

 

[dodge man]

I had a tree across the road from me that fell over. The farmer said help yourself. I was a huge oak. I thought of all the great wood I was going to get. The main truck was big but it had these huge forks. I cut one piece out of the truck, maybe a couple of large rounds worth and decided the main truck wasn’t worth it. I still got a lot of firewood but the splitter earned its keep splitting a lot of twisted pieces.

 

[CalG]

Been there, done that too.

As a boy, I lived a while on "Elm Street".
Dutch Elm came through, and all those trees had to come out. Some of it went to fireplaces, BUT NOT MUCH!
We strapping young boys learned quickly. ;-)

 

[arrow]

Mama said "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach," and while you ain't eatin' logs . . .

Geeze she was smart as a whip - and never logged a tree in her 91 years.

My trouble is that when I see a tree that can be turned into firewood, no matter what its size, it calls to me like a siren on the Mediterranean

 

[arrow]

Been feeding wood stoves for over 5 decades.

I love the big rounds and the yields they produce.

I really didn’t know what I was gonna get into seeing I never really never broke up or 3foot tree for fire wood.
It’s just too much stress on everything.
Me, the splitter, the chainsaw constantly running.
Now that I have neighbors, instead of living in the woods, like I once had, I have to be conscious of noise being made, and that’s like insult to injury to me.
It was an opportunity for a lot of new coping skills, however.
If I had the stuff, I once had, maybe it wouldn’t of been so bad but somebody once said to me “don’t get old” and I didn’t listen.

 

[masseyrider]

When I was a kid Pa heated with wood and coal.
Both he always managed to wrangle for free.
I remember the one old farm house had converted to oil and he got the coal.
It had been put in the basement through a coal chute.
The only way to get it out was up the back basement stairs that were double steep and so narrow I had to go up the stairs sideways.
And it had to be the hottest week of the summer.
10+ tons 2 buckets at a time. My legs...
Also he dragged home every piece of mongrel twisted wood.
We had a couple chainsaws but he refused to get a splitter. Axes, wedges and sledges and people power.
At least 20 cords a winter.
When I started to work full time I bought a new splitter. He refused to use it himself.
Even into his later 70s the neighbor kid called him Popeye arms.
He finally had to install a propane furnace because the insurance wouldn't cover a house heated primarily with wood and coal.
He still did with the new system only kicking in in the early morning hours when the coal had burnt down.
In his early 80s he finally accepted the convenience of not getting up and loading the wood and coal at 5-6am.
Mind you the thermostat was set at 62F.

 

[WinterDeere]

I like to just make two criss cross cuts with the chain saw across the end of the "cookie" LOL to help hold the splitting wedge in. Split it in quarters.

Yeah, that method works great. But it also works from the side of the round, when you'd rather noodle than cut end grain.

 

[Jstpssng]

somebody once said to me “don’t get old” and I didn’t listen

My grandmother said those very words to me.