Mud season is coming

[mainewoods]

After a very snowy winter, like many of us have had, mud season is sure to be one for the ages. At the moment many of us have snow depths that make firewood gathering difficult, if not nearly impossible. As soon as the snow starts to settle I plan on getting as much wood as possible out while the ground is still frozen.Wood on the landing will hopefully make up for the loss of time that is surely coming during , what I would guess to be, a prolonged mud season. With so many people either running out or nearly out of dry wood,how do all of you handle mud season in your area when it comes to getting your firewood out to where you process it? Seems a lot of you cut and split in the woods and haul it out with smaller equipment, which would make a lot of sense this year. Anything that helps get some kind of head start on the firewood season seems almost imperative , after a winter like many of us have had.

 

[Chris-PA]

Oh man, is it ever. It's possible I may head out to the woods one day and never be heard from again - I dunno, the tracks just stop here at this mud pit.....

I split and stack as close to the spot the tree is as possible. Generally of course I will relocated to a dry spot. We're on a hill side with a lot of watter crossing it, so there are some areas with better defined drainage and other where it just kind of oozes out everywhere.

In recent years spring is very wet, not just the snow, and then at some point in summer everything dries up. I don't want the wood down at the house until fall anyway, so I'll end up waiting until the dry season. It'll be stacked and drying right where it is.

 

[zogger]

Some years I have no choice but to haul out wood during like august and september when it is the driest here. It's nice during the day now here but the mud is getting deep again. I have a lot out, but not as much as I want. We don't have the snow, but actual frozen to depth days are few. There's 9 months of mud here, two months maybe dry enough to drive around and not get stuck or leave big ruts, one month of iffy.

I have no cheap tips...wheeled vehicles that are huge and have giant ground clearance, or tracks.

 

[mainewoods]

This year a snowmobile and a sled is the best way to get around up here. Unless of course you have a skiddah.

 

[Steve NW WI]

Mud season? I just wait it out. On my sand ground, it's just a week at the most. You can watch the melt water ponds on my place fill as it starts warming, then drain almost overnight when the frost lets go.

 

[Cheesecutter]

Mud season is going to be bad here I'm afraid. The frost is 4 -7' deep around here. I'll cut until mid April weather permitting then bust butt hauling it home by May 1st. I usually try to haul a trailer load home each time I go out, but this fall was rainy and then ice and snow, so I didn't get much home.

 

[UpOnTheHill]

After a very snowy winter, like many of us have had, mud season is sure to be one for the ages. At the moment many of us have snow depths that make firewood gathering difficult, if not nearly impossible. As soon as the snow starts to settle I plan on getting as much wood as possible out while the ground is still frozen.Wood on the landing will hopefully make up for the loss of time that is surely coming during , what I would guess to be, a prolonged mud season. With so many people either running out or nearly out of dry wood,how do all of you handle mud season in your area when it comes to getting your firewood out to where you process it? Seems a lot of you cut and split in the woods and haul it out with smaller equipment, which would make a lot of sense this year. Anything that helps get some kind of head start on the firewood season seems almost imperative , after a winter like many of us have had.

I'm in the same boat here. I have anywhere from 16 to 30 inches of snow on thr ground right now. Can hardly get the 4wd kubota around let alone cut wood and move it. Supposed to be in the 30's and 40's the rest of this week so hopefully I can get out this weekend to do some cutting and hauling. That is... If the snow melts down somewhat. I always fell and buck in place then move to a pile next to the barn. Once the pile gets big, spend a whole weekend splitting and stacking. Repeat 3 or 4 times. This year i might have to skid the logs to near the barn. Never done it before but I'm sure I can figure it out quick like with some chains and hooks. Time will tell what the weather brings. Good luck to all.

 

[cantoo]

A few years ago BIL and I bought the tops from a logged bush. When it was too wet I just spent my time walking thru the bush and cutting all the branches off the tops. When summer and dry weather came we skidded them to a clear spot in the bush and stacked everything up as long logs. When it got cold and frozen we either hauled home the long lengths to process or I cut the logs into rounds on the pile and threw them onto my dump truck and dump trailer to bring home to split and send up my conveyor. This years bush is right behind my house and my plan is to walk the bush and trim branches from anything that is down and cut down any standing dead and left them lie until the wheat is combined. Then it will be a scramble to get it hauled home as logs to process at the house before they plough the fields. It is cash crop land so there is no access to the bush without driving on crop land. I'll be cutting for a big owb so it will be pretty decent sized pieces.

 

[Holtby]

I'll try to wait it out too. I'm on a hilltop, but edges and hollow will be wet for quite a while. The sun & wind can dry it out pretty fast...Maybe wishful thinking this yr.?

 

[hanniedog]

With all this snow I am afraid we will go thru the flood season prior to the mud season. Pity anyone in low laying areas.

 

[Poindexter]

Don't forget your bug spray. Once a breeding pair gets together a long mud season could very well make for epic bugs.

I buck at the felling site and bring home rounds. Every stick I can get out before the melt this year is coming out. I can split and stack at home waiting for the mud to dry out.

 

[Gavman]

Thats why god give us detroit lockers and 4x4, can just see her in the workshop now scheming,creating, besides theres no mud with propane if its a real issue....

 

[T. Mainus]

I think we are over 50" of snow for the year now. Its been over 75 days since we were over the freezing mark as well. So we got a boat load of snow this winter and none of it has melted. That being said we still have been able to get in the woods every weekend and get a couple of loads out. I usually cut on the week-end and then try to split a couple nights a week to stay ahead of the pile. My pile of rounds this year is such a frozen ball of crap that we are having a hard time keeping up with the splitting. We have to take the tractor to bust enough loose to even split. Total pain in the ass. We get the rounds out in the winter so when it does turn to mud we don't even try to go in the woods. All spitting is done behind the shop then. We should have all the tops cleaned up this winter, with enough rounds by the shop for the next 2 winters maybe. Going to have to start buying logs then if we want to stay in the firewood business.

 

[XSKIER]

This year a snowmobile and a sled is the best way to get around up here. Unless of course you have a skiddah.

It's slow going, but I can gather a couple weeks worth of firewood in a couple of hours. The jet sled is a little flimsy....

[VIDEO]

 

[mainewoods]

I live in logging country and every skidder around is going from daylight to dark. They know what's coming once we get some melt going. If they don't cut now while everything is frozen and snow covered, it may be quite awhile before they can get back into the woods. The paper mills don't like mud covered logs any more than we do. Looks like a lot of valuable time will be lost waiting for the ground to dry out enough this year. Those who ran out of wood are going to need every month they can get to season their firewood. Many will only get enough wood for next winter, let alone stockpile any for the future. It might be worth it to hire or rent a machine and plow a road to their wood source now.

 

[alleyyooper]

I cut all my wood in the winter and split it to a size I can handle while it is cold. As soon as the snow melts to bare dirt I am finished till some time in Oct. when I bring it to the house for the winter burning season. During that winter burning season I'll take a couple days to fire up the power splitter and split the tough stuff and not so tough I could man handle into the trailer.
Last year we didn't have much mud from the winter snow but we were getting 5 inch's down to about a inch every other day it seemed.

Al

 

[reaperman]

Mud, whats that? I remember looking over my "well log report" from the well driller who drilled my well. It shows pure sand down to the depth of 82' where the gravel/water begins.

 

[zogger]

I live in logging country and every skidder around is going from daylight to dark. They know what's coming once we get some melt going. If they don't cut now while everything is frozen and snow covered, it may be quite awhile before they can get back into the woods. The paper mills don't like mud covered logs any more than we do. Looks like a lot of valuable time will be lost waiting for the ground to dry out enough this year. Those who ran out of wood are going to need every month they can get to season their firewood. Many will only get enough wood for next winter, let alone stockpile any for the future. It might be worth it to hire or rent a machine and plow a road to their wood source now.

I always wondered about snowcats, if they could be used for some small scale logging/firewooding.

 

[greendohn]

Winter melt/thaw stops all firewood production for me. I've always cut during fall and winter and stayed well ahead of things.
Not this year!! This past fall was wet and the arctic blast kept me outta' the woods as well. The wood shed is skinny and it looks like I'll be working up firewood well into fishing season, which is never any good.
We struggled to get the lil' agco tractor out of the woods this past Monday and it's front wheel assist!
I might try walking in and bucking up rounds and leaving them until we can get in to haul it out.

 

[mainewoods]

My neighbor has a 4 wheeler that he switches over to tracks in the winter. I've seen him pull some pretty good size trees with it, clearing trails. I would think it would work great.