Premium Firewood:How Much Extra Work is it Worth?

[svk]

Looking for thoughts from my fellow scroungers

I can cut as much dead/dying birch and dead red maple as I can consume just by scrounging along roadways. We are talking carrying/tossing rounds no more than 50 feet to the truck and trailer.

I have been adding lots of oak to my "little black book" of scrounge but it's all a minimum of 1/4 mile skid by tractor or ATV from the road. Since I do not own either of these I would need to borrow one to get it done. Obviously oak is more desirable but when does one draw the line?

 

[brenndatomu]

To me it depends on your situation.
How much and what kind of wood to you have in the stacks now?
How do the softer woods burn for you and do they last long enough to work with your schedule.
How big of a deal is it to borrow that equipment and is there pretty good access to the wood and then back to the truck/trailer?

For me if it just feels like to much headache or I'm just not "feeling it", I move on. Don't wanna spend too much time screwin around with it if historically you are able to score the hardwoods you want/need a lil easier...lotta help, ain't I ?!

 

[svk]

I don't "need" it, but it's just nice to burn the good stuff. For instance, you can fill the sauna stove with softwoods three times in an evening and fiddle with the draft each time. Or you can fill it with oak once, run it with the draft open for 15 minutes and have 4 hours of uniform heat. Same goes with the boiler. 3 hours on a load of softwood or 10-12 with the good stuff. I'm finally getting to the point where I'm no longer needing to burn aspen because it was dead in my woodlot (and I'm certainly not going out of my way to cut it!).

On a time standpoint alone it's not worth it. Cutting and skidding/hauling will easily add 50 percent to the time for an 11% increase in BTUs over birch/red maple. But again the enjoyment of burning 2+ year seasoned oak is pretty high.

 

[zogger]

distance/handling is a big one for me. I could go scrounge lebenty dozen cord of just standing dead oak around here, if I wanted to drag it out somehow. Instead I burn anything as long as I can get tractor or truck close to it, real close, pasture edge close or gravel road close. I *will* separate out the oak and hickory and cherry, etc, but the bulk goes into the general fund stacks.

Not my property, else there would be more trails to make scrounging easier. Deep woods trees are usually much easier splitting as well.

It's all access and what ya got to haul with.

Primo hardwood is just that, primo, if you have to go deeper to get the good stuff, just try a few cord, note the hassle and time difference, then make a decision if it is worthwhile or not. It doesn't get 30 below here so meh, if it burns it's good enough.

If theoretically I needed just primo and had to tote it out, maybe a motorized wheelbarrow (or DR powerwagon or jonnyred ironhoss) might be the cheapest/best solution for snaking stuff out of the deep thickets.

I have no experience with smaller quads. The Kowalski mule SxS here is not suitable to just go cruising into the woods, it would get banged up fast, it's just too big. Every time I think I might try it, I remember I don't own it, so nope, stay in the open mostly.

 

[Dirtboy]

JMO but, I would grab as much as I could. My winters are about the same as yours, I'm burning Sept. thru May. I don't have a boiler or sauna though. I have a lot of easy pickins gray birch in my lot. That gets burnt in Sept/Oct & April/May. It saves my good woods for coldest months.

 

[sawjunky23]

I'm more inclined to spend the extra time for good hard wood. It's pretty much the same amount of work to cut it up and split it. You need less of the good stuff and it gets hold filling and messing with the stove every few hours.

 

[stihly dan]

3 hours on a load of softwood or 10-12 with the good stuff[/QUOTE

I don't have a boiler but that seems drastic. I love oak, I love atv's, if it was a fun 1/4 mile I would be all over that like flies on $hit.

 

[svk]

A load of seasoned balsam will burn up in 45 minutes. Up to 12 hours on good wood. Yep it's that much different.

 

[stihly dan]

Balsam doesn't count. Is that even considered wood?

 

[gary s]

Also depends on which birch, if it's black birch handy it's as good as oak for me.

 

[svk]

Also depends on which birch, if it's black birch handy it's as good as oak for me.

No black here. Lots of white with an occasional yellow.

 

[Whitespider]

Remember what my signature use to say??

Harvestin' it should be the hard part, burnin' it should be the easy part.

No possible way to get your truck into where the oak is??
*

 

[svk]

None...

 

[NSMaple1]

Sounds like you need to get yerself an ATV.

Mine is a 'must have'.

Even has play potential.

 

[nk14zp]

Split the oak on site and put it in a ruck sack.

 

[olyman]

Split the oak on site and put it in a ruck sack.

ruck sack on horse.....

 

[mainewoods]

I bought this $600 4x4 Ram for a woods beater. Chains on the rear with some weight in the bed. Skidded out a lot of tree length red oak with that truck. Purchased a one day temporary plate for $23 from DMV to move it to the wood lot. That old Dodge made a pretty darn good "skiddah" for cheap money. Just a thought.

 

[DFK]

If it were me..... I would borrow a tractor and wagon and go in after it.
Cut and split on site. Stack the wagon as full as the tractor will pull and haul it out.
You may have to make a some kind of deal with the tractor owner.

We have gathered lots of primo, standing dead oak, firewood like this over the years.
However, We do own a tractor and two wagons.

David

 

[benp]

I also say it depends on the situation.

For those of us that are surrounded primarily by softwoods and primo hardwood is a luxury......absolutely.

Which...that has always made me chuckle. The folks in the warmer climates that could get along just fine on junk wood have ample primo hardwoods.

Those of us that have sub zero temps on end during the winter are surrounded by......popple. lol

Anyways....this has been one of my best investments for scrounging. I find a good Sugar Maple blowdown in the woods...I'm going after it. No matter what's in the wood yard. I have even cut a trail in to the tree.



This was from last weekend's trail clean up behind the house. A blow down Sugar Maple then a little bit later I scored a standing dead that tipped over about 8" in diameter that sounded like 2 baseball bats being clunked together. I couldn't touch it with the Fiskars. It was hard.

 

[svk]

I also say it depends on the situation.

For those of us that are surrounded primarily by softwoods and primo hardwood is a luxury......absolutely.

Which...that has always made me chuckle. The folks in the warmer climates that could get along just fine on junk wood have ample primo hardwoods.

Those of us that have sub zero temps on end during the winter are surrounded by......popple. lol

Anyways....this has been one of my best investments for scrounging. I find a good Sugar Maple blowdown in the woods...I'm going after it. No matter what's in the wood yard. I have even cut a trail in to the tree.



This was from last weekend's trail clean up behind the house. A blow down Sugar Maple then a little bit later I scored a standing dead that tipped over about 8" in diameter that sounded like 2 baseball bats being clunked together. I couldn't touch it with the Fiskars. It was hard.

Exactly @benp !!! The people south and east of us get all of the good wood and not much of a winter compared to what we get!

I should clarify also. You could walk a tractor in there to skid logs out but a wagon probably wouldn't make the trip. ATV with small trailer would work also.

I'm trying to find someone who wants to do some bartering for a used wheeler. Will see what happens.