Firewood , firewood, usually we burn two cords plus each winter. We have wood, but most of our stand is perhaps 30 years old or so. The land was completely cut over back in the 90’s, and since then we had a chap here who was gonna spray it for free, to kill all the hardwood . We thought we were poor farmers, what about the guy, that now has no hardwood . It’s a five minute or so walk into the spot we have been cutting the last 4 daysThis is a picture from last year, we are not here yet, there is more snow on the ground, and in general we have not had much melt. Perhaps another week or so and the lane up the hill will look like this. Sometimes in the mornings it’s still frozen, and that will give us the chance to head up and drive the cut wood home
With the snow we have had this winter it’s been difficult to get into the woods with the tractor, turf tires and no chains, even 4 wheel drive gives no traction. I had considered adding a rear set of chains I have , but was afraid they would just get tore off the first trip thru the woods.
Well the only choice is to walk up, cut , create roads for the tractor and head in later when the snow is gone and haul the cut wood home
Here’s where we started on Monday, cut a path about 6 ft wide, get the wood out of the path and start stacking some of the firewood along the sidesThere are spots where there is less tree growth and the snow is still 1 ft or so deep, Still a crust early on so easy to walk, though care needs to be taken as the spots closer to the base of tress may be quite icyThe path for the road is not planned, generally though I like to go where most of the bigger hardwood stands, and thru more open areas, thus I have to cut less wood for the tractor path. The end of the road though will need to terminate with a turn around, cul de sac as backing up with a 4 wheeled trailer is not easy Always forward 🙂My son, off in the distance, seems to be in a bit of a hurry to get things done, like me when I was his age. The last thing I wanted to do was go to the woodlot and cut wood. He has discovered though, that as long as there is gas in the tank, there’s firewood laying somewhere A couple piles, the key for me was always walk as little as possible, more piles is better, and don’t create piles on the trail. Jees, that means wood has to move twice, and it’s still not on the trailerLooking around I see I have run out of resources already. I shoot for an opening, head thru there and create another loop back to where the trail isThis chainsaw is a bit heavy, I’d rather use my other lighter model, but the .325 Pitch chain and 16 inch bar offers me a good combination for cutting, and getting limbs clearAnother one down, this tree is perhaps one of the larger birch in this area, poor Farmer I know, but that’s what happens when these forests get mowed over. This area also has spruce and fir, as well as the odd maple, under 4 inch in diameter, not something I would cut for firewoodThis is the mess I leave behind, back when I was a kid, the team of workers was larger and every trip to the woodlot included a fire. The brush was burned that day, more then one tank of gas was used, and plenty of wood was cut.
I’m happy to spend 1 1/2 hrs cutting, use up a tank of fuel , go home and head back in another day. Watch for the drive Home, splitting and stackin, Walking to the Woodlot
