This is difficult to admit...

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While I'm far from "out" of wood.... this year's stash will be up the flue by March at this rate. Then that's it, I shut her down and pay the oil man. I'd rather let next year's stuff keep seasoning and cut a little more for the future. Plus by that time I'm sick of it and ready for the easy life.

I swept the chimney last night, cap was plugged, and this is the most seasoned my wood has ever been so not sure what's going on there. Oak & pine, cut, split and stacked all before summer of '12 with the oak all dead standing stuff. Damn you red oak!
 
I've been burning since late September, mostly pine, and I'll start the hardwood come Jan 1, if the pine lasts till then. I've gone through almost 5 cord of pine with another 5 cord for March, April and May. I'm trying to keep 6 cord of Beech, cherry, locust and maple for Jan and Feb. That's my burn plan for this season, it's good to have a plan as long as the weather cooperates.
 
This picture is from a year ago. Even the rounds shown are burning good. Pile is 5 rows deep and covered with plastic. Been cold but haven't made much of a dent in pile.
 

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I was thinking last night as i was looking at my nice neat rows of wood how much i hate seeing them disappear. They look so pretty stacked up to the ceiling in the basement, nice neat straight rows. I sure hate to burn them and hate seeing the stacks shrink at an alarming rate. Maybe i should leave my wood room full year round just so i can look at all that pretty wood anytime i want and burn the outside stuff instead? I was also gauging the rate of decline in my stacks and figure at this rate i'll be out in mid feb sometime. I do have some 20% box elder out back i should be able to use to get me thru march but i keep thinking damn, this stuffs going fast for only mid Dec.
 
Once burning starts I mark the progress by rows as the year wears on. I've always had three quarters to one row left over. Well, I "short loaded" the woodshed this year so I'd use more of that last row. Maybe not the best decision I've ever made.

Farmers almanac said it was going to be "biting cold" this winter and so far has not disappointed!
What else does it say? I had to burn my copy.
 
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Damn, the way you fella's carry on bout how much wood ya'll cut I can't believe there are this many of ya's runnin' low. I am ripping through it pretty quick myself though but no worries about running out.
 
Hey Spidey,

I am not far from you, yah it's been real cold.

Did you say wood.

287qf45.jpg


20zwayb.jpg
 
It's not as cold here, and I believe I have enough wood - but it is not all down at the house. I had to get some other projects done with the last warm days and didn't haul all I needed. I'm not in too bad shape, I just don't want to take apart the stacks that I use as a wind break on the upper porch this early, but will if I must.

I'm home the last couple of days with a fever but still hauled a big cart load down, and swept off some other piles and covered them with a tarp. It is going to snow more the next couple of days and then get quite cold, so I will be using a lot and don't want it buried. We have no back up but some space heaters.
 
Ive had to burn some of my hard maple/beech during the day with yellow birch and ash because it's been friggin cold here and the junk wood aint cuttin it alone during the day. As stated in another thread I cut more than enough in July/Aug but it wasn't easy in that kind of heat. Hope the thermometer goes up or I'll probably have to tap into next years wood by the end of this winter.
 
While I'm far from "out" of wood.... this year's stash will be up the flue by March at this rate. Then that's it, I shut her down and pay the oil man. I'd rather let next year's stuff keep seasoning and cut a little more for the future. Plus by that time I'm sick of it and ready for the easy life.

I swept the chimney last night, cap was plugged, and this is the most seasoned my wood has ever been so not sure what's going on there. Oak & pine, cut, split and stacked all before summer of '12 with the oak all dead standing stuff. Damn you red oak!

Incomplete combustion? Too much damper and not enough air?
 
This early cold snap has me rethinking how much I'm gonna use this winter. Not to mention, the thought that I wouldn't need to get to the stack out on the hill this winter. I wasn't going to plow out to that stack, now I think I'll make sure it's accessible, just in case.

If you need me this weekend, check outside. I'll probably be tossing more wood down the chute. I swore I was gonna have 5 cords inside before the snow flew, but that didn't happen. Time to make that a priority. right now I've got enough inside to get through the next week, maybe, unless it gets subzero on us again.
 
also wanted to add, this is why I am not a woodsnob, and don't firepit much. Now I did firepit this summer, maybe two to three cord total (hard to measure really, a lot though..), but that was from the sheer volume of branches in the yard, and all the wild privet sprouting up, both my boss and Gf were ragging me on it, so I burned a lot. the branches got the green privet going. if it was all up to me, branches would have sat until crispy super dry and got burned in the stove, along with the privet stems. Some really super rotten termite brand pine as well went, but not a lot of that, ten big branches worth maybe.

Hmm..another expensive firewood tool needed..need something to process branches into firewood logs, a compactor, wrapper dealie. Something that will suck in odd branches, squish and wrap (like baling twine) and cut to uniform size logs. A branch processor.

Chips are OK, but need a special chip stove then, rather have normal logs.
 
I'm not really in danger of running out... there's 'round 10-cord oak stacked outside, near 6-cord is 3-years seasoned.
It's just that... well... I wasn't plannin' on using any of it this year.
I started with (roundish numbers) 2½ cord hard maple, 1½ oak and 1½ "other" in the basement.
But lookin' at the amount I've used... I'm about where I thought I'd be in mid-January, not mid-December‼

The "other" is down to a dozen, maybe a dozen and a half or so armloads, the maple sits something just under 2-cord, and the oak is closing in on just a cord left. I'm in serious need of some more "other" (I hate to burn hard maple and oak during the daytime unless it's super cold)... and there ain't no more "other" in the stash. Yeah, it's sort'a my fault, I was plannin' on puttin' another cord or so of the "other" in before we started serious burnin'... but that damn serious burnin' started a month early‼ Man, the last couple weeks put a real hurtin' on the piles in the house... a real hurtin'‼ Now "they're" sayin' more snow tonight, below zero or single digits through the weekend. Even next week ain't what I'd call a heat wave... lower twenties during the day, but low teens and single digits overnights.

Oh well... it-is-what-it-is I guess.
A-cuttin'-I-will-go... a-cuttin'-I-will-go... hi-ho-the-dairio, a-cuttin'-I-will-go...
 
I've been burning since late September, mostly pine, and I'll start the hardwood come Jan 1, if the pine lasts till then. I've gone through almost 5 cord of pine with another 5 cord for March, April and May. I'm trying to keep 6 cord of Beech, cherry, locust and maple for Jan and Feb. That's my burn plan for this season, it's good to have a plan as long as the weather cooperates.

Holy crap. That's a load of wood. Would do me almost 3 years.
 
I've been burning since late September, mostly pine, and I'll start the hardwood come Jan 1, if the pine lasts till then. I've gone through almost 5 cord of pine with another 5 cord for March, April and May. I'm trying to keep 6 cord of Beech, cherry, locust and maple for Jan and Feb. That's my burn plan for this season, it's good to have a plan as long as the weather cooperates.

Wow. That's a bunch of wood to burn. Drafty old farmhouse? Heating multiple buildings?
 
Old farm house from 1857 and a greenhouse. In order to further insulate this house I would have to remove most of the inner walls and start from scratch. I've done some updating on the insulation but not enough to keep the wood usage down to normal levels. Can you imagine what my oil bills would be if I used the oil furnace in the winter ??? 250 gals per month was what it was before I put the boiler in. The wood is basically free since it's on the farm, just have to cut , split and stack.
 

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