when to cut wood?

[injun joe]

not to familiar of how other people cut wood so i was just curious when you guys preferred to cut wood when it was wet or dry. i like to cut the trees down when there dry makes a BIG mess and wet is not the easiest to load.

 

[ShoerFast]

Guessing cutting live trees for firewood?

Some say to cut before the sap flows.

We have taken trees and cut a circle a couple inches deep all the way around it so it would kill it for next years hunting firewood, seemed to help a little.

It dose not really seem to matter as much as it dose to let it season well before you burn it.

 

[turnkey4099]

I cut when it is available and conditions let me get in with the truck. Cut green or dead? I, too, prefer tocut dead standing but they are rare. Some species are best cut green, Locust and I would suspect Hedge (Bois d arc), anything that hardens up a bunch when it dries.

Harry K

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Late Summer, Fall, Winter and early Spring are best for me. Mid Summer I can stand the heat, but not the ticks. I like the ground to be dry enough that I can drive in.

As far as what the wood will burn like or seasoning time ? If it is cut , split and stacked before June it is ready by December with some species other wise there aren't enough hot days or wind to dry it out.

 

[Butch(OH)]

When the weather and ground conditions are fit and I have time.

 

[forestryworks]

i cut firewood all last summer... everything was done by hand.

it was brutal when temps hit 100+ degrees and humidity 90%+

i'd say stay out of the heat if you can...

 

[TreePointer]

When the weather and ground conditions are fit and I have time.

:agree2: That's my rule in a nutshell.

Dead or green? Well, it's not really a matter of choice. It's what is ready (dead or broken) or needs to be harvested (good forest management). Often the windstorm or freezing rain makes the decision for me.

I never cut a healthy tree solely for the purpose of procuring firewood. Also, some dead trees stay in the forest to promote a healthy and diverse ecosystem.

 

[wdchuck]

When the weather and ground conditions are fit and I have time.

It starts there for me.

Preference is after the leaves have fallen, and before the sap starts flowing up into the tree in spring.

When landowner permits access could trump anything I prefer.

 

[trek5900]

When to cut wood

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

 

[FELLNORTH]

If Your Saw Starts And There Is A Tree Around Its Time To Cut

 

[ppkgmsy]

In North-Central VT, I keep 6 cords of dry stacked wood on hand, burning 3-4 per year. When I get around to building a larger woodshed, I want to have 8 on hand, be a full year ahead. I like to fell in late Oct and November, after the leaves are all off and before the heavy snows. Buck and maybe haul then if I have the time. Dec-Feb are for staying warm, plowing, and sledding with my son. March melts the snow but the ground is too wet to get to the wood, some forests roads are officially closed to loggers by the State. April and May, haul, buck, split, and have everything cleaned up by June.

 

[RAYINTOMBALL]

Hey injune joe I like cutting in the winter when the saps down and the leaves have fell. I cut 90 percent Hickory and Oak and it amazing how much lighter the limbs are to pile up when your having to clean up. Also it's alot easier limbing with out all the leaves. Now if it's a dead one any time of the year except in July and August here because it's just to damn hot for me. Happy cutting.

 

[thejdman04]

I cut all year, as long as I can get to where Im cutting, unless its raining super hard or well below 0

 

[alderman]

Year round

Unless it gets too hot. Most of the time even in the summer we'll have temps in the 70's so it's not too bad. The nice thing about winter cutting in the rain forest is the brush isn't so bad, but the trade off is I end up cutting in muddy conditions. I'm not a big production guy so I just cut for a bit of exercise and call it a day when I get tired. I cut more wood this year than ever as we had a lot of cleanup after the wind storms of the last couple of years.

It's been nice to fund a couple of saws through the sale of a few cords.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

We normally Like starting the first of December. As others have said, you don't get too hot and clothes protect you from branches. We normally don't cut live trees but if cleaning a fence row you have no leaves to deal with. I get poision ivy/oak bad too so 2 layers of clothes is must there for me.

When you start getting into mid January the snow and ice picks up here and wastes too much time working around it. No sawing in ice for me December you have a better chance of it melting quickly. We had a constant cover now for over 2 weeks and I'm glad we're done.

Never notice any difference in cutting dead or live trees EXCEPT osage orange. Dead, it will dull a saw quick!

 

[KMB]

When the weather and ground conditions are fit and I have time.

Yep. :agree2:

Sometimes the weather is unfit...as in too hot...but if the wood is available...I'll try to cut it.

Kevin

 

[woodbooga]

If I owned a woodlot, there would probably be a more seasonal nature to my cutting. But where I'm a scrounge, I cut as opportunities present themselves.

 

[JONSEREDFAN6069]

i start as soon as it's dry in the bush and i have a spot with about 300 cord of standing dead, very nice stuff from 12" to 30' butt's cut every weekend sat 8 hrs and sun 8 hrs rain or shine.

 

[logbutcher]

If I owned a woodlot, there would probably be a more seasonal nature to my cutting. But where I'm a scrounge, I cut as opportunities present themselves.

Not bad WB, but here's the rule here Downeast: harvest in winter. Why ? Well I hate sweaty armpits, and crotch, Black Flies in May-June, Mozzies most of the summer, Deer Flies in June-July-August, soggy ground most of the spring and summer, and fall is too damn pretty with my sweetie ( SWMBO ) for getting out into the mountains or cruising for anything else. So it is Winter for the firewood, pulp, working the woodlot. Ground is hard, and if the snow is less than a foot or two, easy to get around. Besides, when you fell, the snow makes it safer to buck up trunks and limbs.
Winter, now. opcorn:

 

[sesmith]

I cut in the winter, split it in the spring and summer when I have time, and haul it home and stack it sometime in the summer or fall (when the woods are drier). I stay a year ahead...next season's wood was stacked last fall, the wood I'm cutting now won't be burned until the season after next.