I think you guize is usin' the wrong shovels- go to the shovel store and buy the one marked 'Honda' or 'Ariens' or 'Toro'. While at the shovel store, but a shovel fuel container, then stop at the shovel fuel store on the way home. Pour some shovel fuel in the shovel, pull on the cord (or press the button depending on the shovel grade you bought) and shovel away....

Sort of like how burning wood will keep you warm four times:

Cutting
Splitting
writing a check
Stacking
Burning

:-)

Brian

FIFY

Since your wood is delivered to your front porch.   

Since I find myself with plenty of time to do things these days  I haven't got the snow blower out at all this year. I've been doing it the old fashioned way and getting a lil bit of a workout whilst I'm at it.

Be careful. A man of your age.....

Be careful. A man of your age.....

 

Yeah, the back yard but you're right- and I don't stack it 'cause I cannot think of a bigger waste of effort. I just leave it in the pile the dump truck makes. Then I am down to one handling when I load the trailer that I use to bring it to the porch.... if I could get around that one, I could have it so the first time I touched the wood was when I was putting it in the stove.

Brian

FIFY

Since your wood is delivered to your front porch.   

On the stacking thing--somewhere around '76 Pappy shut off the oil furnace, prices were just crazy he said.  Wood was the answer, so come summer time it was off to the woods we went, a bike and 3 wheeler in the bed of the pickup and 2-3 chainsaws, 2 gallons or premix gas for the saws, and a jug of bar oil, 2 mauls, 4 wedges, 2 axes, and an empty gas can for the bikes.  We would cut big rounds from downed trees, (fir, no hemlock allowed) roll them down to the truck (unless of course it was the best of the best old growth, which we would roll up hill, across a creek or whatever was in the way), roll them into the truck and repeat until the wood was almost level with the cab.  Run it home and dump it in a predetermined spot (wood shed is about 100 yards away, but seeing as this wood is for a couple families close to the road so they can get their "split" after we split the wood).  Repeat this several times during the day.  Eventually we would get the green light to go ride ( we filled the gas can on the way back from dropping off a load of wood).  While we were riding Pappy was getting the last bit of wood, usually the extra thick bark and other easily handled bits, run that home (about a 1 hour trip each way).   We would get back, load the tools and toys, spend an hour in the dark finding at least one of the wedges, and head home listening to the Mariners on the AM radio.  Sunday was the day to start splitting, no stacking yet, as we still hadn't "split" the shares yet.  Sunday eve it was back to moms place.  The following Friday saw us splitting some more, repeat splitting on Saturday, with the family who is getting a "split" of the wood showing up to help split the pile.  Needless to say the split pile is really stacking up by this time.  A truck is backed up to the pile and is stacked neatly into the truck as it can carry more this way (yes, a 3/4 (camper special with helper springs) ton truck can hold an entire true cord (4X4X8, no gaps greater than a squirrel size) of wood if stacked properly.  Do this all day, if we had good old growth fir we would usually be done splitting by the end of the day.  Go ride around the property as a reward for working, Pappy would start hauling his "split" of the split wood to the wood shed using our old Gibson tractor and home spun trailer.  I forgot to mention the movement of last years seasoned wood to the basement, once the basement was filled, we would move the seasoned wood to the front left bay of the wood shed (8X15 bay 10' tall).  Sunday saw us moving the split wood to the shed and carefully stacking the wood, at 4 foot intervals (vertical) we would string some barbless fence wire to the end poles to keep the piles from shifting (who wants to re stack all that wood, right?)  Once the back bay was filled we would start stacking the wood in the right front bay.  Once the wood shed was filled (Brian has seen this wood shed FWIW) anything left over got added to the families split.  We often helped several families out as that is what friends do, we had the saws and we had the truck that was dependable and sturdy enough to haul the wood.  Pappy also had the 2 sons that could be coerced into working for the price of a gallon or 2 of gas.  I neglected to mention the back porch-it has a space below for wood to be on hand for the inside stack to feed the basement stove.  The porch itself has space to stack a weeks worth.  Inside the house we had a wood box to be filled for the evenings fire, yes stacked neatly.  Many years later (think 1999) Pappy was starting to age and good wood was getting tougher to find, and my brother and I had our own families and didn't live close by.  I convinced him that a pellet stove would be much easier and more efficient.  He caved in and got an insert model for the upstairs and made a space to STACK the bags of pellets in the basement.  Finally, something that only needed one stack   We still have the basement stove, but that cut our wood needs by a third (heat rises and Pappy likes a nice warm floor for his feet).  So, go ahead, skip the stacking, we understand who the Maryjanetinklepants is

Remember, this is all because the price of fuel oil went up to some 75 cents a gallon.

SOOOOOO
after doing the front drive for the third time in 2 days, I decided to help out the dog, seeing as she simply can't make it thru the yard to her favorite spots.... the snow varies up to almost 3 feet in some spots....
I encircled the perimeter of the 3 Freaking acres... and then criss-crossed back and forth to allow better fun....

Momma shot this picture of me yesterday....
5 minutes after I completed this, there were a half dozen deer strolling the paths to the house... whatta hoot.

That's a lot of wood and work C!

I was out this morning splitting wood myself. I have a bunch of seasoned wood that needed to be split a bit and since it's been so damn cold I used up all the right sized pieces already.

Man, it is so easy to split wood when it's below zero outside! I must have looked like a serious lumberjack because I didn't even have to swing that maul very hard to split 24" diameter logs. Heck I was even splitting the knurly logs with ease. At that temp it's more like cleaving then splitting.     

Hey look, it's warmed up to 2 but at least the sun is shinning. 

SOOOOOO
after doing the front drive for the third time in 2 days, I decided to help out the dog, seeing as she simply can't make it thru the yard to her favorite spots.... the snow varies up to almost 3 feet in some spots....
I encircled the perimeter of the 3 Freaking acres... and then criss-crossed back and forth to allow better fun....

Momma shot this picture of me yesterday....
5 minutes after I completed this, there were a half dozen deer strolling the paths to the house... whatta hoot.

Fun for who, you or the dogs?   

Fun for who, you or the dogs?   

for the dog...

also, I was getting a bit worried that there will be a massive amount of yellow & brown snow tidbits close to the house.....
as this all thaws.... someday....

Yup, back in the olden days I did the same thing, without all the stacking of course. But then I tripped over a great source of wood: the dead ends of the hardwood used to make pallets. Set up a system where I would pick the wood up in 4' cube steel cages, trailer them home, take them off the trailer and dump them with the backhoe. It was pretty slick.... right up until the pallet manufacturer burned down (seriously).

Round these parts, we burn hardwood exclusively (soft wood (easy boys!) doesn't coal, doesn't last as long and doesn't have the same weight or heat value of hard woods). It is getting tough to find places to cut any standing wood (easy!) so the next best thing was getting log length wood and cutting / splitting it ourselves. But that too has dried up because everyone cutting any amount of wood has a processing station which cuts and splits the logs and they won't sell full logs anymore. So in the end, the most reasonable way is to simply buy cordwood. With the trailer / porch setup, it is pretty easy to handle and use, costs me less than $1,000 / year to heat the house (to underwear levels- it is NOT chilly in my house).

But I am not stacking firewood even once, never mind several times.    I only modestly 'arrange' it at best and that is only when I am putting it in the stove.

Brian

<snipped all the scary story that made me tired reading it>

  So, go ahead, skip the stacking, we understand who the Maryjanetinklepants is

Remember, this is all because the price of fuel oil went up to some 75 cents a gallon.

Pics of real wood!!

Last pic.  I bet someone could make the case that this wood warmed us many times over.  Snowstorm, I laugh at you

Well, I have to give it to you that when you do cut a piece of wood, it is most certainly worth picking up :-)

The problem with processed wood is that 1) the split sizes are kinda' small, although that is up to the processors themselves and the split grate they use but most people seem to want pretty small wood as it is easier to start in a fireplace.    The other problem is that all the edges of the log seem to end up as toothpick sizes and they are a royal pain in the butt to handle, load and then they make about 4 BTU's. So at least the wood you are handling there (easy boys but that was kinda' funny!) is worth bothering with.

Brian

Last pic.  I bet someone could make the case that this wood warmed us many times over.  Snowstorm, I laugh at you

I need to find some pics of the 6' bar and some of the stuff we cut with that, from both sides.  One in particular was across a stream that was diverting water over an active logging road.  Couldn't get the truck all that close and the mud was terrible.  Ended up making 2 paths with the bark, one to roll the rounds, and one for the return trip.  Yes, Pappy recovered most of the bark, which is the best for banking the fire at night.  Reminds me, I need to go visit that spot, still filled with majestic old growth trees and the ground is covered with moss...