Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Back to Wood Cutting





It finally dried out enough that I could get back into the woods and cut up some more of the old White Oak I had felled right before that arctic system moved in.

She was about the largest tree, at least in trunk diameter, I want to tangle with when using an 18" chainsaw and bar. I have brought down larger but that was with a 24" bar when I worked for a trimming company several years ago. She is just about the perfect size for the 18" bar to reach to the very middle of the trunk allowing me to fell her with two cuts in and four cuts total for the wedge out.

I got another almost dead old White Oak on my own property but it really got it's spread on at the base of the trunk and is, I estimate, at least four foot in diameter. Not sure how I am going to fell that one when the time comes.




You can see the rings and how far the saw went in buried to it's maximum depth from the two separate cuts. The rings were much more noticeable when I cut her down over a week ago. I started counting them but kept missing the count up around the 70's or so. I would estimate she was well over 100 when she died during the drought last year.




I had already cut one load off the limbs last week but this is a picture of what is left, at least on this side. I am taking all the small stuff and easily cut limbs off while she is down before I try rolling her off the stump with the tractor.




This is how far I got with today's cutting. There's about three limbs holding the trunk up at this point and I have maybe another half load of small stuff to cut before getting down to business with the main trunk.




I already unloaded this batch this afternoon and now have about three cords of ready to burn stuff once again filling the racks next to the furnace with about a cord still down in the "Needs to be Split" stack. I figure there is going to be about another cord of splitting sized stuff off this Oak yet. That ought to get me through February and into March easily unless we get more Arctic temperature blasts to deal with. I figure that one cold spell used up almost three times the amount of wood I usually try and stock for a week or about three cords total. For December, January and February I usually try and stock about 3 to 4 cords per month.

We will typically burn into April but usually by March I am mostly just burning at night and the overall consumption drops off dramatically. Still you never know and the problem with keeping up with firewood is that by the time you realize you don't have enough the conditions are usually so bad you can't easily get more regardless.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!




13 comments:

  1. The gas company here as told customers to expect your gas bill to double due to the cold. A Duh. I wish we had wood. Snow here yesterday, with more tonight. I take the snow over the bitter cold.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rob - It was actually snowing a little here this morning when I went to cut another load. Since I once again only heated with wood this year I can laugh at the power and gas companies...

      Delete
  2. That is a nice one and about all an 18" will handle without getting into trouble. You will get some pretty wood out of that trunk and looks like it will split good. Don't worry about it being cold, we have global warming.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SF - I am now down to almost all the good sized burning limbs. The two left are currently supporting the trunk in it's position. I have them lopped off and resting on chunks of wood themselves so I am ready for the big pull over. If I figure right all I should need to do now is yank out one support and the trunk should roll/fall over nicely.

      We will see

      Delete
  3. That's a lot of work! How long is the tree? How long will it typically last in the wood burner?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Izzy - Well so far I have hauled three full loads off this girl and I figure there is about a load left in the trunk. Typically I estimate a loose load (About half a cord) a week but so far this year I been doing about a load and a half a week more or less. I got about 4 cords spread around the place now which should be enough to get me through to the middle or end of March but if it gets really cold again I could double my usage quick once again.

      Delete
    2. Oh ya and my best guess is that tree would keep me heated on it's own at least a month. Maybe more if it was mild.

      Delete
  4. I went out to the wood pile yesterday afternoon & was almost shocked at how much we've gone through already. We may have to split more before the winter is over. Oh, and be careful with that tree! I'm sure you are, but man oh man, when Paul is working with trees that big I like to be there, freaks me out how much damage even a downed tree can do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carolyn - Ya thats why I always take someone with me especially when felling the brutes. I will cut alone if the tree is already down or small but those big ones can lay the surprise smack down on ya quick.

      Delete
  5. That's a good-sized tree & should provide much warmth. Good job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RP - Ya I don't get too many chances to cut a big old Oak like that either. It's amazing how much better and longer that type of wood burns.

      Delete
  6. That's a lot of good wood. No wonder you don't worry much about alternate heat sources. As long as you can harvest it and process the wood, you don't need any alternatives.

    ReplyDelete
  7. BE CAREFUL!!!!
    I'm envious again! I need/want a wood burning stove.
    Since the kids were on Winter break and the weather was soo cold, our electric bill was over $300 this month :/

    ReplyDelete

Leave a comment. We like comments. Sometimes we have even been known to feed Trolls.