Creative Woodpile

[Onfoot]

Those of us who depend on wood for staying warm all winter are intimately familiar with the never-ending task of cutting, bucking, splitting and stacking the fireword (not to mention getting to the woodlot and then bringing the firewood 'home'--a good Kubota chore).

Anyway, as one who depends on wood, I was very impressed by the creative woodpile at http://www.alastairheseltine.com/images/a/a1/a1a.jpg.

But who would have the heart to start disassembling the tree after all the work involved in creating it? Anyway, very impressive bit of 'firewood art'.

 

[bczoom]

That is neat. Someone has way too much time on their hands.

 

[EastTexFrank]

That is really cool but I agree with bczoom, someone has waaayyy too much time on their hands.

 

[Kerry]

in-between the bays

I stack my stove wood in-between the bays of one of my equipment sheds. This still gives me storage room for my tractor attachments. The wood stays dry and easy to get a Kubota load from here to the 1/5 of a cord wood rack in the garage. I use up about 5 cords per winter. The shed hold 6 cords. Last winter I spent $60 on propane to heat 4,000 sq ft house.

 

[Onfoot]

Very impressive shed, Kerry! And you have certainly done well on the heating bill! Well done! Thanks for sharing your pic.

 

[tk1469]

Kerry - you have the right idea. I have a place that is 18 acres of mostly woods and I heat by wood too. In the Spring and Fall I pick up all the "downed" stuff that is easily identified with the brush and foliage down. Then in the Summer, I cut up those trees that Mother Nature has taken down for me. Hey - it's free heat. And ...heating by wood makes you "warm" several times...cutting, splitting, stacking and finally burning it.

Hey I like your shed. Pretty nice.

 

[muleman RIP]

Here is my woodshed and slab wood pile. It was not filled when these were taken. I have certainly used a bunch of wood heating the greenhouses this cold winter. The slabs are purchased from the Amish sawmill for $30 a dump truck load. I burn them as much as possible as they are a lot less work than splitting all the wood we cut on the farm.

 

[Kerry]

the way I do it

Guys, the way I do it is in the winter as I empty a bay stack, I refill it for next winter. Last year it took 22 Kubota loads to replenish the stock. I have been fighting (and winning the fight) colon cancer for the last 3 years. Doing it this way has been the best physical therapy you could have. My doc thinks it is great for me and one of the big reasons I am winning the battle. Every now and then we do come across what we call chemo logs. These are logs that are cut too damn long for the woodstove.

This winter I bought a log splitter. My conservation agent has me doing what they call healthy forest thinning. The rule of thumb in doing that is for every inch in thickness of a tree base, you don’t want another tree for one foot away from it. The log splitter is a great match to the 900. I keep it hooked to the 900 and keep it horizontal. As I split the logs I just fill the bed. We save about $1,800 per winter in propane cost and keep the house in the 70s. A warm house is great when it is free.

 

[Onfoot]

Good on ya, Kerry! Very good to hear you are winning the colon cancer battle. My dad fought (and won) that battle too. No doubt the exercise, working in the woods, plays a very positive role. That is my thinking too--using every year the Lord gives me to enjoy the outdoors and good physical labour. We have a different approach to splitting, though. I cut and buck the trees in the woods, and then stack them 'in the round' in my woodshed, splitting them as I use them, typically a week's worth of wood at a time. And my splitter is an 8lb. splitting maul. I expect I will go for a powered splitter someday, but for now I appreciate the challenge and exercise of swinging my maul.

I am with you on the wood-heated warm house---writing this in front of our Vermont Castings woodstove in the greatroom.

Best of the New Year to you!

 

[Doc]

Good pics guys!!!!! Man that's some wood.
I have 50 acres, 42 or so of it wooded. One day I'll be heating with the wood that way, but for now I have a gas well hookup.
Way to go Kerry. Congrats! That sounds like the best therapy possible.