A Wood Cutting Poll!

[branchbuzzer]

Between 50 cord, and 25K to 75K board feet a year some weeks it's seven days, others, during mud season especially, may only get out one day if at all.

I'm pretty close to that. All year long as opportunities allow, 50-100 cords is average. Heaviest in colder months. Just guessing I'd say 100+ days per year but again, based on availability, and not all of that is strictly firewood - some is just general contracting involving a saw.

Another interesting Q would be hours per week/year on the entire process from standing to stacked/delivered, I'm sure I would be close to if not over 750-1000/yr and I'm sure some here would top that easily. Usually 5-10 hrs. total per cord including everything.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

sept, oct, nov is usually my wood cutting months, love being in the woods that time of year. Not much on winter cutting.

 

[1project2many]

Like most of the other answers here, "it depends" is probably most accurate. I'd say 20-30 days a year if you figure by hours. If I get a call that says "Ya want some free wood?" then I'm cutting until the job is done. If it's fall and the woodshed isn't filled, I'm cutting until it's done. If it's 95 degrees and humid... I'm not cutting.

 

[Chris-PA]

I went with every other week as a reasonable average. The real answer is - "as often as I can!" The problem is that other chores keep getting in the way.

 

[artbaldoni]

I usually get out every other Saturday and a couple long weekends. This year got a full week of cutting and splitting in at one time; all the stars gotta line up for that! 15-20 cords or so a year.

 

[jrider]

In the summer I run a saw damn near everyday because that's when I have the time. Other times of the year I may go 4 weeks without touching a saw.

 

[Woodchucker Ron]

I,d have to go with none of the above. To many variables to pick just one. I cut just to heat my house and garage.I keep telling my self one of these years I will have enough to sell a little bit but I just can't seem to bring myself to do it with work, family and other distractions and the fact that it seems like I'll never have enough. Being that I am currently 4 or 5 years ahead I can sort of pick and choose when and where I want to cut but I would have to say that I look for wood 365 days of the year being a scrounger. Most of the time I cut in the spring or fall but it all depends if somebody calls or I find some easy pickins I'm there. See I am what you might call a wood hoarder.

 

[srb08]

I generally start on firewood about the first of October and am finished by April 1st.
I cut as the weather allows. Some weeks I'm able to work a few days, others not at all (I've got a regular job as well).
The only time I start a saw in the summer is when a storm blows down a tree and blocks my driveway (3/4 mile).
Realistically, I don't cut more than 26 days a year.
I really enjoy cutting and splitting , stacking, not so much.

 

[zogger]

If I could get 3/4 cord loads of Hickory for $65 I'd never run a saw or splitter again! Hell, I could work a Saturday at my job and pay for a years supply of wood!

Friend of mine in west virginia (out in the boonsticks..) gets it for 90 a cord delivered, cut to size but not split. She can't run a saw but can run a splitter. Her husband was doing poorly and finally passed recently. Before that they were cutting off their own land. She first tried hiring a local young guy to come over and use their tractor, etc, to go get wood but it turned it it was cheaper to just get it delivered.

 

[memory]

It really depends on alot of things for us. The weather and taking care of the cows are the two big things. Right now, it is so wet, we can't get to alot of places with a truck unless it is frozen. We do most of our cutting in the late fall to early spring. If it stayed frozen all winter long, I would say we would go out once a week, sometimes more. We just got done cutting a few trees down yesterday and drug them out to our field and that was probably a mistake. We should have waited to drag them out till the ground was frozen, I was cutting some mean ruts and then dragging the log through that crap. Ugh, what a mess.

 

[JeffHK454]

Friend of mine in west virginia (out in the boonsticks..) gets it for 90 a cord delivered, cut to size but not split. She can't run a saw but can run a splitter. Her husband was doing poorly and finally passed recently. Before that they were cutting off their own land. She first tried hiring a local young guy to come over and use their tractor, etc, to go get wood but it turned it it was cheaper to just get it delivered.

Kinda tells you how hard times really are. ..find..cut..load...haul...split..season...load....deliver...stack...all for $65 a 3/4 cord is a lot a work for a little cash.

 

[zogger]

Kinda tells you how hard times really are. ..find..cut..load...haul...split..season...load....deliver...stack...all for $65 a 3/4 cord is a lot a work for a little cash.

Ya, said that to the guy, he replied, it's better than no money coming in. And that's about it.

That's why I am just stacking mine for myself. I am many years ahead, who knows, might get to a decade ahead sometime soon here if I go out and fell some whoppers. If they are on the ground I am way more motivated to cut and haul back.

 

[cantoo]

Boy, some of you guys have a lot of time therefore money invested in wood burning. I also spend a lot of time in the wood process. Now that I have the owb it should be a lot less though. The time we spend on wood depends on the gear we have too. I have tractor, grapples, dump trailers, tons of chain saws, dump truck, 2 buzz saws, conveyor and lots of space and places to cut wood. The only thing I can't buy is time. So I cut whenever I can, it might only be a load or I might even just spend a couple of hours wandering the bush and cutting down dead trees so it is safe to pull trees out later.

 

[mainewoods]

I will give the guy credit, at least he is trying and not sitting on his duff. Situations certainly must be desperate to be selling cut-split,delivered and stacked firewood for those prices. In a way he is fortunate, people are buying, and he is getting paid to exercise instead of paying a gym membership. Always a bright side to every story if you look for it.

 

[WidowMaker]

Cutting season in the woods here is from May 1 thru Oct 1. During that time we are in the woods once or twice a week some times more. We need to get out 50 to 80 cords during that time. Some years we get shut out early
due to fire precautions....

 

[c5rulz]

In the winter months, 3-4 days /week weather permitting. This year it has been in single digits way too much and now the snow is 8-9" deep which makes it harder. The winter is very early for these conditions.

 

[pennsywoodburnr]

I threw my vote down for once a month. But like a lot of guys on here, it's hit or miss. I could cut every weekend for a month straight and then hit a dry spell for a couple months after. So I guess it about evens out. Sometimes with a CL score I'll cut continuously for 3 days straight in the morning, then have nothing for a good while. That's just how it is sometimes. I buck the trend though when it comes to when I actually run the saws if given the choice. I love to get it all out of the way before the middle of November and then usually stay away from the cutting/splitting/stacking until it starts warming back up in March. If someone offers me up a tree in that 4 month span I'll take it of course, but it just gets bucked up and tossed off to the side to deal with later. I'd rather be in front of the fire than slogging rounds out of knee deep snow.

 

[Jakers]

with my tree service i cut all day every day in the good months. this time of year i only dream of cutting while im moving snow

 

[Steve NW WI]

I think I'm close to honest when I answered monthly. Now that I'm a ways ahead, and with a better stove that doesn't burn as much, I don't need to cut as often, and frankly, things like fixing the rest of my junk, overtime, recreational activities, and general #### off time just get in the way. Things could change quickly though, anytime someone calls looking for me to get rid of some trees for them, I can't seem to say no.

Maybe the best answer for me is as much as I need to, but not as much as I'd like to.

To be honest, "back in the day", when I'd cut a load or two every weekend, the fun went out of it after a few weekends. It's better to do it now and then and enjoy it more.

 

[Locust Cutter]

Lie may on here, about as much as I need but not as much as I'd like. The one big difference for me, which others may not have to the same degree, is Mid-Western trees have relatively short trunks and wide canopies... That meas that I sped a lot more time dealing with limbing saws and brush than larger firewood pieces. I still do pretty well, but it's a lot more time consuming, (I believe) than say cutting in W.V, VA, or on my Great Uncle and Aunt's land (just North of Montgomery Creek CA, South of Shasta) where the trees are straight, long and generally easier to deal with. Couple that with a full-time job, 2 kids under 6 and old farm house that we're living in while rehabbing at the same time...

Usually my cutting is done from October-March and the June-August as conditions and other factors allow. I'll be going out a few more times hopefully before the 16th of Jan, which is when I'll be getting my shoulder scoped. After that it'll be a few days...