Growing Wood Pile

[NHlocal]

First off goodonya for helping those in need and less able than yourself. I too have more wood this year than ever before, due to a neighbor who has a bad heart and cannot thin or clean up his own property. I am thinning his place for him, and in exchange he gave me his Husky 61, which is one of my fav saws. I get to keep all of the firewood, and so far have barely made a dent in the 40 acres of pine and oak. I will be turning 71 in a couple of weeks, and I believe working hard all my life is what keeps me healthy. Most of my friends my age have died off in the last 10 years. It is a great way to spend a day with my dogs, cutting and hauling. We get to see deer and turkeys, and an occasional elk while hauling. A real bonus is those winter fires, burning the slash piles and enjoying the outdoors. The Lord has been real good to me and mine. This is a great site for saw enthusiasts, and I have really learned a lot here. I have had saws for over 40 years, and never knew how to maintain them properly or even that there was different size and pitch of chain until I started visiting this site. May GOD bless you all.

Well done sir, you are definitely thinking the right way, getting outside, helping out your neighbor. :msp_thumbup: Our bodies were created to work, and when it's done in moderation the body will continue to work well for "a long time". Getting outside and cutting firewood is one of my favorite ways to "work". Thanks for the post.

Work safe. :msp_thumbsup:

 

[SierraWoodsman]

Is that a Makita I see in your pile. Just picked up a couple 6401's, haven't ran them yet..

I think You'll like your Dolkita's.
I Like the 6401 it's a rugged/powerfull Professional grade saw that balances well with a 20" Techlite on it. You can do so much to it with Hi-Flo filter systems and Big-bore kits etc. I Got it two years ago when Bailey's had a fire sale-($480) on them around Christmas. Latley I've been considering turning it into a 7900 and letting Brad Port her properly to get the most out of her. He's done a few of these that really turned out so nice. I've got to tell you though Between the Husky 562xp and the Makita6401 I've got to say that the 562 is my "Go to saw" in the 60cc range, especially if their both factory stock.

 

[REJ2]

Good load on that Chevrolet,although that sycamore is heavy and tuff to split.The other wood I saw on your truck is what we call hornbeam here in WV.Makes good wood.Kudos for helping out your family.Kinda hard to see the need for firewood in 100 degree heat,but it sure pays off when there 2 foot of snow on the ground

Im seeing a lot of Hackberry along with those smooth bark rounds in the pickup load.

 

[SilverKing]

Im seeing a lot of Hackberry along with those smooth bark rounds in the pickup load.

yep Ive heard it called hackberry too.also called hornbeam.

 

[fastLeo151]

Well done sir, you are definitely thinking the right way, getting outside, helping out your neighbor. :msp_thumbup: Our bodies were created to work, and when it's done in moderation the body will continue to work well for "a long time". Getting outside and cutting firewood is one of my favorite ways to "work". Thanks for the post.

Work safe. :msp_thumbsup:

Great post! That is one lesson my grandfather shared with me not to long ago. Rep for you

Andy

 

[Bigrod]

Always called it hackberry round here. Glad I had the splitter for that. It's pretty stringy stuff. Had a good bit it of wild cherry, walnut and a little ash in there too.



I had order the high air flow kit for the 'Dolkita' and got it today. Got the black plastic top also so it will look the same. Was thinking about doing some modifications to one of them to see how they compare. Needed a saw in the 60cc range other than my 038.

 

[R DeLawter]

Is that a Makita I see in your pile. Just picked up a couple 6401's, haven't ran them yet.

Have to get the stuff cut up and split when you can. I work nights so most of it I have been doing as it breaks daylight and hitting it for a couple of hours before it gets to hot. Then shower and bed. I sleep a little better after a good workout. The fellow that farms down by my place said that he will be clearing out the water way this fall and wanted to know if I could use some more wood. Hmmmmm what to do. He has a skid steer with a grapple on it and dumped that pile up in the yard last year. Doesn't get much easier than that. Drop it trim it up and getting put where you want it. Kinda hard to pass that up.

One Heck of a man.
Working nights and then cutting and splitting wood during the day. I would only be able to do it a couple days and would be shot for the week. Plus getting it all stacked!!

 

[CTYank]

That is exactly how I stack and so far it has worked out just fine. The wood on the outside dries a bit faster but no rotting problems in the center as long as I stack on pallets. The pile all seems to shrink at about the same rate, I got no rot, the wood burns without spiting and boiling so I gotta believe it is drying OK.

The average time firewood stays in my stack is 16-24 months before burning. Stacking 8' deep may slow down the drying a bit, but it doesn't seem to stop it.

It'll certainly slow drying significantly. "Air-drying wood" says it all. The breezes need access to the wood. Some folks think that wood that's not dripping is dry enough. Get the MC below 10% and it's primo. Water burns lousy.

Even in a single-row stack, rainfall seems to really linger down in the stack. (So I cover the tops.)

 

[jra1100]

First off goodonya for helping those in need and less able than yourself. I too have more wood this year than ever before, due to a neighbor who has a bad heart and cannot thin or clean up his own property. I am thinning his place for him, and in exchange he gave me his Husky 61, which is one of my fav saws. I get to keep all of the firewood, and so far have barely made a dent in the 40 acres of pine and oak. I will be turning 71 in a couple of weeks, and I believe working hard all my life is what keeps me healthy. Most of my friends my age have died off in the last 10 years. It is a great way to spend a day with my dogs, cutting and hauling. We get to see deer and turkeys, and an occasional elk while hauling. A real bonus is those winter fires, burning the slash piles and enjoying the outdoors. The Lord has been real good to me and mine. This is a great site for saw enthusiasts, and I have really learned a lot here. I have had saws for over 40 years, and never knew how to maintain them properly or even that there was different size and pitch of chain until I started visiting this site. May GOD bless you all.

Well said on all fronts. I am nearly 10 years younger and cut for over 30 years and really didn't know much about saws either. We have all of the same animals watching except the Elk. We did however have a bear wandering around N. Iowa last month. JR

 

[turnkey4099]

That is exactly how I stack and so far it has worked out just fine. The wood on the outside dries a bit faster but no rotting problems in the center as long as I stack on pallets. The pile all seems to shrink at about the same rate, I got no rot, the wood burns without spiting and boiling so I gotta believe it is drying OK.

The average time firewood stays in my stack is 16-24 months before burning. Stacking 8' deep may slow down the drying a bit, but it doesn't seem to stop it.

It'll certainly slow drying significantly. "Air-drying wood" says it all. The breezes need access to the wood. Some folks think that wood that's not dripping is dry enough. Get the MC below 10% and it's primo. Water burns lousy.

Even in a single-row stack, rainfall seems to really linger down in the stack. (So I cover the tops.)

I heated with Willow for near on 30 years. Stacked in ricks about 12' long and as deep as the area allowed, some of them were 22' in depth by the time I started using it. Never a problem with wood in the center either rotting or not drying. Average time from cut to use was 2-3 years. Jusst burned the last of the Willow this season and it was 5 years old, still no sign of detioration except for the layer in direct ground contact.

Harry K