No such thing as too much firewood

[mainewoods]

Apparently many more people than usual ran out of wood, are almost out, or are into next years supply, this winter. Many have said they "would never be caught without enough firewood again", yet quite a few have been, and not for the first time. I realize a lot of you don't have a woodlot, and have to scrounge for your firewood, but do any of you have plans to do things a little different this year than in the past?

 

[740jsmayle]

YES!!!! This is my first year burning in a while. I greatly underestimated what I would use. I have been bringing in 2-3 loads a week and I plan to keep it up (weather permitting) till the end of March when I go back to work. I'll split and stack all I have brought in and in the fall I'll start it again.

 

[Whitespider]

Differently?? No, nothing different.
I'm plannin' on workin' hard at it this spring and next, gettin' ahead by three or four, and then I'm gonna' kick back and be lazy for a couple years... just like I've always done.
No sense swappin' horses in the middle of the race... especially when the one you're ridin' has never fallen down.
*

 

[Gavman]

My outdoor stacks are going to be covered, and covered they will stay from now on in the wood shed, I have an old shed that I was planning to replace and hadnt filled it this winter, following advice gleamed from on here I thought I would be smart and just stack it outside like some do...
Last week I patched the roof or rather shingled it with tarps to get another winter out of it, already looking forward to the improved quality of the wood I should have.

It goes to show what works for people in one area dosent mean it will work in another region....

 

[Cheesecutter]

About the only thing I'm trying different is stacking on skids right at the landing. 2 places I'm cutting at are perfect to try it out. One has a large flat landing area for processing. The other has a gravel driveway to use as a landing site. It runs end to end in the woods, and was put there just so the loggers didn't cut ruts. It's 20 acres of hard maple and oak tops plus any tree over 40 feet high. The landowner likes smaller trees and wants the bigger ones gone, even in his house yard, because big trees "are messy, aren't as pretty, and shed too many leaves". Yup, he's a bit eccentric, but this is the 3rd time he's asked me to clean up his woodlot.

 

[Coldfront]

This will be the first time this coming spring / summer I am going to get a years worth stacked inside a shed. Come hell or high water I am getting a full year ahead this spring / summer and by a year I mean 5 cords more than I burn this winter as a safety cushion. 10 - 13 full cords should do it. I am not going through this again next winter. And I am getting a 10 cord 100" log of mostly Ash delivered next week. I finally found some wood for $85 a cord. Plus still scrounge some oak off and on.

 

[demc570]

yep,i have been out getting any wood thats in the paper,craiglist,or friends tell me about,even knocking on doors when i see a tree come down..i will do this from now on..my plan is to try to find a truck load of wood or more a week to cut...if i can find it,it will be cut!

 

[CTYank]

Nope. Steady as she goes. I've gotten to where my local shortage is storage space. (Hold the tomatoes, eh!) Quite a bit of red oak that's been sitting, top-covered, in the summer sun for 2+ years- should be extra-primo good. Hard for me to use over 2 cords/season.

Some folks I do some volunteer cutting with let it be known I'll have to accept some ash and oak this year. Oh well, I'll suffer. Let's cut.

 

[chucker]

?? yupp ?? put up more wood than I did last year??

 

[philoshop]

No change in plans here as far as the wood goes. Replace what I burned this year and stay a little over a year ahead.
Then again, at 2 1/2 cord a year, panic is never really an issue.

I'd like to finish the interior trim on the windows and doors so that I can eliminate those extremely minor air leaks. Maybe.

 

[Cheesecutter]

yep,i have been out getting any wood thats in the paper,craiglist,or friends tell me about,even knocking on doors when i see a tree come down..i will do this from now on..my plan is to try to find a truck load of wood or more a week to cut...if i can find it,it will be cut!

You scrounge exactly like I used to do. Hopefully, you can find a great score and it becomes an ongoing situation with the landowner. I've scored several trees knocking on doors and offering free clean up.

 

[mainewoods]

With all the snow that has fallen, I foresee a nasty mud season in the making. I am cutting and hauling logs out now, while the ground is frozen. At least to a spot where mud will be less of a problem. Good chance a lot of valuable time will be lost once all of this snow starts to melt. Now is a good time to plan for that possibility.

 

[hamish]

With the snowfall here this year, the frost never got into the ground. Next year I will be taking more to the house, the back and forth on the snowmobile to the pile is fun but would much rather just go for a ride.

 

[UpOnTheHill]

We just moved into this place a little over a year ago. Last year i was scrounging wood all I could from dead trees around the property and I borrowed some from a friend. I cut enough in the spring to get me through this winter but barely. I wanted to get out this coming weekend to get some dead ash trees dropped and bucked but we got about 14 inches of snow today. My plan is to cut dead ash trees until I can't take anymore wood cutting. I want to be at least a year ahead by summer. There are some older tops left from a logger in my woods that I can get after also. Some oak and maple. Gonna sink some posts this summer and build some rafters for a roof only. I want to figure out a way to have a removable roof so i can split and stack inside the posts then put the roof on in the fall. Pull the roof off in late spring. I have big plans, only time will tell if I get it all done.

 

[stihly dan]

I'm 7-10 yrs ahead. I use around 5 cord a yr, still my goal from here on out is to get 7-10 cord a yr. Replenish what I use in the winter and add a little more back up. Gotta get while the gettens good.

 

[UpOnTheHill]

I'm 7-10 yrs ahead. I use around 5 cord a yr, still my goal from here on out is to get 7-10 cord a yr. Replenish what I use in the winter and add a little more back up. Gotta get while the gettens good.

So you have 40 to 50 cord of firewood laying around....hmmmmm... So you wouldn't notice if 1 or 2 are gone then! Lol

 

[sunfish]

I stay 2-3 years ahead, so nothing different here. I will pack the wood shed at my folks house a little tighter for next winter though, they'er burning more than me. My brother has been scrounging this winter, so I think he'll do something different for next season.

 

[zogger]

Trying to get more ahead and realize the only way I am going to do that is go ahead and learn to work in the mud better. I've only been cutting and hauling when the ground is dry, but past few years..this ain't very often. I'm several years ahead but want to be ten years or better.

That and either modify the zogger smogger for better mileage, or build one of those hybrid rocket stove/russian masonry units. pretty rocks I got. That would be making what is cut be that many more years ahead.

 

[stihly dan]

So you have 40 to 50 cord of firewood laying around....hmmmmm... So you wouldn't notice if 1 or 2 are gone then! Lol

Yup, but I would notice any missing. Kind of protective of my wood, it's like my 4th child.

 

[dave_dj1]

I would like to have more stockpiled. Right now I have about two years worth cut, split and stacked with another 4 loads dumped waiting to be split. Now with all this snow I'm out of the firewood biz until spring. The only problem with that is I'm a builder and I already have a ton of stuff lined up for spring. I like going off road with my jeep but I can cut one day of the weekend and wheel one day, or do a weekend of each. I was caught short this year as I really didn't "plan" on burning full time at the house this winter. I do like having it above 70 most of the time and I don't like paying the oil man.