lI am thinking about cutting today. It is 12 outside right now. That's considered very cold for here. The firewood logs will be in the sun. I wonder if The Barbie will start?
Rain, Sleet, or Snow...do you still go?
- Thread starter ReggieT
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philoshop
Addicted to ArboristSite
Keep her in the heated cab til you're ready. 
I might bring it in the house too. It looks like the sun may not appear today. There are clouds.Keep her in the heated cab til you're ready.
I did a little cuttin' yesterday when it was 'round 5°... just some of the smaller stuff from a fresh elm blowdown for the heater in the shop. I left the bigger stuff for another day... another day when I ain't fightin' this damn chest cold. I may go out and work a bit more on it this afternoon if'n I'm feelin' better... but right now I don't even feel like being out'a bed, let alone cuttin' firewood. Supposed to start snowin' anytime now... so far it's stayed southwest of us, and the east wind is helping to keep it there. Maybe some snow will put me in the mood... maybe not.
I might cut and split a little today...as soon as I clean things off a little. This isn't much snow compared the what the guys back east get but it's plenty for now.
vanhalenps4
ArboristSite Lurker
I might cut and split a little today...as soon as I clean things off a little. This isn't much snow compared the what the guys back east get but it's plenty for now.
I like that cutting stand. if I had the 2x's it looks like it'd be a good quick project for this snowy day..
vanhalenps4
ArboristSite Lurker
The snow and the cold aren't bad for cutting but a couple inches of powder makes walking in the woods dangerous.. The leaves underneath already cover ruts and holes and the snow glosses over and hide sapling stumps, rocks and all kinds of things with ankle spraining potential. Carrying a 40 lb log in front of you obviously increases the chances of an accident. That said, it's all I want to do right now.. Having the stove running and clearing space in the shed has put me in a cutting mood. seeing dead wood standing from the kitchen window is making it hard to resist. There's enough stacked for winter and other things do need done, but my productive hobby is so enjoyable and saves me trips to the gym.
Rain on the other hand is a deal breaker. I tried cutting a few times in the summer while it was raining, and as a guy that wears glasses and safety glasses, downing trees and rain don't mix. Your boots and jeans get wet, its still hot and bug spray washes off. There's also the extra water weight to carry, the pieces dig into the ground and get muddy and stacking it wet doesn't help anything.. Okay I'm starting to sound like a woman here.... If it were necessity or my occupation I'd find ways to make it work. Cold/snow+clear path=win. Rain, no thanks
Rain on the other hand is a deal breaker. I tried cutting a few times in the summer while it was raining, and as a guy that wears glasses and safety glasses, downing trees and rain don't mix. Your boots and jeans get wet, its still hot and bug spray washes off. There's also the extra water weight to carry, the pieces dig into the ground and get muddy and stacking it wet doesn't help anything.. Okay I'm starting to sound like a woman here.... If it were necessity or my occupation I'd find ways to make it work. Cold/snow+clear path=win. Rain, no thanks
Gee golly. I just brought home a little load of nice firewood, and I am a woman so I hope I sound like one. I didn't realize that the snow was so dangerous. No ankle sprained.
mainewoods
Addicted to ArboristSite
Walk through a stand of beech with snow on the fallen leaves and you will do a river dance from hell !!
1project2many
ArboristSite Guru
If you need firewood you will cut firewood. You will not ask about weather, you will deal with it. You will not ask about the saw, you will run it and find out what happens. When you need firewood it's a different story than if you want firewood.
If I don't need to, I try not to cut when I'm tired or distracted. I try to recognize and respect the times when it's easy to make a mistake. Rain changes how things behave including our muscles after enough time in it. Snow changes traction where our feet are. Cold can be ignored for a time but if fingers or toes start to feel it you might think you're doing OK when you're not. Push yourself when it's too hot and you could end up making a fatal mistake. Work a little too long into the dark and a simple slip or missed step could be downright dangerous. Don't fear this. Respect it.
I was out Saturday in 20 degree temps walking back and forth from the road to the truck picking up wood dropped by the utlity co contractors. That wasn't too bad weather and I cut plenty. The week before I was out in 10 degree weather cutting and splitting in front of the wood shed. Today started with snow, then freezing rain, then ended with rain. Not a good day to be outside. If I'd been at home I wouldn't have gone out to cut unless something critical required it. When I had only one woodshed I'd cut from the third consecutive day over 40F after March until the shed was full, straight through the rainy season. No fun there but if I didn't get the wood in, I'd have no heat come winter. I don't have to do that now but I still cut and split under the lights and I'll work in the heat if needed. Still, with 3 years worth of wood on hand, I might skip a bad weather day here and there and do some inside work rather than take a chance that I don't need to take.
If I don't need to, I try not to cut when I'm tired or distracted. I try to recognize and respect the times when it's easy to make a mistake. Rain changes how things behave including our muscles after enough time in it. Snow changes traction where our feet are. Cold can be ignored for a time but if fingers or toes start to feel it you might think you're doing OK when you're not. Push yourself when it's too hot and you could end up making a fatal mistake. Work a little too long into the dark and a simple slip or missed step could be downright dangerous. Don't fear this. Respect it.
I was out Saturday in 20 degree temps walking back and forth from the road to the truck picking up wood dropped by the utlity co contractors. That wasn't too bad weather and I cut plenty. The week before I was out in 10 degree weather cutting and splitting in front of the wood shed. Today started with snow, then freezing rain, then ended with rain. Not a good day to be outside. If I'd been at home I wouldn't have gone out to cut unless something critical required it. When I had only one woodshed I'd cut from the third consecutive day over 40F after March until the shed was full, straight through the rainy season. No fun there but if I didn't get the wood in, I'd have no heat come winter. I don't have to do that now but I still cut and split under the lights and I'll work in the heat if needed. Still, with 3 years worth of wood on hand, I might skip a bad weather day here and there and do some inside work rather than take a chance that I don't need to take.
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vanhalenps4
ArboristSite Lurker
I didn't think it was either but I jumped out of a tree and landed crooked about a month ago and now my ankle re-sprains itself if I look at it wrong. if the right side of my foot is an inch higher and I'm not expecting it the thing buckles right underneath me.
AIM
Addicted to ArboristSite
Normally I am a fair weather firewooder but given my current supply I am going to be an ANY weather firewooder for the next couple of weeks.
If you're out in the woods, on uneven ground, using a powered cutting tool, and working with something several times your own weight... well... yeah... there's an increased likelihood of injury versus sitting in your easychair. But the thing is, 'round here anyway, if ya' won't cut when it's wet, or snowy, or cold, or windy, or whatever... ya' ain't gonna' get much cuttin' done at all. 'Round mid-October the freezing rain, ice and snow starts and continues into April, then May and June bring melting and spring storms... once the woodlots go wet in October they won't dry out until after the 4th of July. Too damn hot, weedy and buggy by then, and there's normally still plenty of slippery, slimy stuff in the woods... leaf litter and moss can hold water a long time. Not to mention all those "dangers" hidden by undergrowth... the chances of injury by something hidden are much greater than by something seen. So that pretty much leaves mid-September through mid-October... a 4-5 week window.
I'm guessin' some 80-85% of what I cut gets done in damp, wet, drizzly weather or when ice and snow is on the ground. I don't ever remember "slipping" and falling down... ever... but I sure don't "jump" off, or over something when working on uneven ground. I seriously don't understand why anyone would "jump" out of a tree... don't you know you can get hurt doing that?? I don't walk on wet or icy logs... heck, I don't hardly walk on logs period. Working in the woods with a chainsaw is relatively hazardous by it's very nature, but wet or icy conditions don't make it more so... it just makes unnecessarily hazardous acts (such as running, jumping, climbing around on logs, and lack of attention) more likely to end badly. Heck, you could slip, fall down, and die just walking out to your mailbox...
About the only weather condition that will keep me out'a the woods is a nasty lightning and thunder storm... and I've even been known to find makeshift shelter and wait one of those out if'n I'm already out there.
Wet, icy, slippery conditions in the woods?? When ain't it??
I'm guessin' some 80-85% of what I cut gets done in damp, wet, drizzly weather or when ice and snow is on the ground. I don't ever remember "slipping" and falling down... ever... but I sure don't "jump" off, or over something when working on uneven ground. I seriously don't understand why anyone would "jump" out of a tree... don't you know you can get hurt doing that?? I don't walk on wet or icy logs... heck, I don't hardly walk on logs period. Working in the woods with a chainsaw is relatively hazardous by it's very nature, but wet or icy conditions don't make it more so... it just makes unnecessarily hazardous acts (such as running, jumping, climbing around on logs, and lack of attention) more likely to end badly. Heck, you could slip, fall down, and die just walking out to your mailbox...
About the only weather condition that will keep me out'a the woods is a nasty lightning and thunder storm... and I've even been known to find makeshift shelter and wait one of those out if'n I'm already out there.
Wet, icy, slippery conditions in the woods?? When ain't it??
For some of us, the woods are our year round "office". Boo boos happen.
vanhalenps4
ArboristSite Lurker
I know I'm not as tough as you guys(and girls). I get my cutting done in August, September and October while it's nice out. There's usually a cord left in the shed at the end of winter, so there's not a necessity to be out there in blizzards and ice storms or running saws when my neighbors are trying to get deer to put food on their tables. This isn't my occupation, just something I've been doing with my dad since I was 7 or 8. We've got 12 acres of hardwood so there's always something to be cut. Right now's my time to go out while the leaves are off and mark what's ready to come down.
theswampthing
ArboristSite Operative
I got a boo boo last night and I wasn't even in the woods. Need to be more careful with the hatchet after I put it to the stone. Either the dog or the wood stove now knows what the tip of my thumb tastes like.
I cut in any weather from October to April... I do prefer the cold over rain or mud. I find I work faster that way just to keep warm. Yesterday it was snowing then turned to rain.... Sucked, worked slow and careful and took 3 hours to get a trailer load. Today, it was cold and sunny, got twice as much wood and it only took 2 hours!!! Plus it always splits better when it's cold!!!
Uzi
ArboristSite Operative
I was out this weekend at 10 degrees and snowing but my pile is fine right now, but the people who's pile is small or empty are more than excited about buying. It took longer to get a load and everything (myself included) was moving a little slower but it wasn't that bad. As long as I stayed moving and working it didn't seem that cold. I would also agree with others that have said frozen ground is still better than mud or slush. And everything does split better when its frozen. I'll probably keep cutting all winter as long as the snow doesn't get too deep to access the area.
If'n you're cuttin' in August you're tougher than me.
No way in hell you'll ever catch me out in the weeds, bugs and heat of August makin' firewood... but I'll sit in the shade watchin' ya' work while I drink your beer
We usually can't legally cut firewood in August. It is the time of high fire danger and restrictions go in place. Firewood cutting gets cut off as soon as we reach Level III, which, in logging talk, is a partial hootowl day.
