It was a long, if not particularly cold winter this year. I had hoped to have an extra 2-5 cords of firewood left over but it was not to be. This year I managed to get an extra 2 cords across the frozen lake and stored in the shed at the cabin for next year. Other than that, I was down to digging out bottom rows of firewood frozen into the snow by the time the warm air of spring arrived. This year though I am ready!
I started cutting trees in March. I had some time off work so I could cut a couple a day taking my time but over the weeks the number of trees on the trailside steadily grew. My friend Mic came up several times to lend a hand. By the end of March I had three piles of logs ready to block. One pile was behind the house, a second at the trailhead and the third on the road beside the old gardens. April was blocking time. Again Mic came up and we spent days cutting the trees into 16" long blocks for splitting. During this time I had one splitter set up behind the house (behind the chicken coop) and in the evenings I would spend an hour or two splitting before it got dark. Most of the skids were buried under snow so stacking was interesting. I found that as it snowed more I could stack higher and by the time the snow melted in the spring two of my stacks were over 7 feet high! You normally stack to 4 feet but with the extra snow to stand on I just kept stacking up and up.
By the beginning of May I had most of the wood behind the house split and stacked. Mic and I had split and stacked all the wood at the trailhead and over a couple of weeks in May I tackled the blocks on the road. By the 17th of May I had all my wood split and stacked, just as the black flies were coming out. Perfect timing!
All in all I have lots of firewood for next year. There are 13 cords behind the house, 4 cords at the trailhead, 8 cords at the road and 2 cords at the cabin for a total of 27 cords of wood. Take that winter of 2014!!!
Now to start cutting, blocking and splitting softwood for kindling and bonfires. I think 3-4 cords of that should suffice. Oh and small hot tub wood. Sweetie wants at least 2 cords of that. Time to get back at it.
I started cutting trees in March. I had some time off work so I could cut a couple a day taking my time but over the weeks the number of trees on the trailside steadily grew. My friend Mic came up several times to lend a hand. By the end of March I had three piles of logs ready to block. One pile was behind the house, a second at the trailhead and the third on the road beside the old gardens. April was blocking time. Again Mic came up and we spent days cutting the trees into 16" long blocks for splitting. During this time I had one splitter set up behind the house (behind the chicken coop) and in the evenings I would spend an hour or two splitting before it got dark. Most of the skids were buried under snow so stacking was interesting. I found that as it snowed more I could stack higher and by the time the snow melted in the spring two of my stacks were over 7 feet high! You normally stack to 4 feet but with the extra snow to stand on I just kept stacking up and up.
By the beginning of May I had most of the wood behind the house split and stacked. Mic and I had split and stacked all the wood at the trailhead and over a couple of weeks in May I tackled the blocks on the road. By the 17th of May I had all my wood split and stacked, just as the black flies were coming out. Perfect timing!
All in all I have lots of firewood for next year. There are 13 cords behind the house, 4 cords at the trailhead, 8 cords at the road and 2 cords at the cabin for a total of 27 cords of wood. Take that winter of 2014!!!
Now to start cutting, blocking and splitting softwood for kindling and bonfires. I think 3-4 cords of that should suffice. Oh and small hot tub wood. Sweetie wants at least 2 cords of that. Time to get back at it.
Nine cords behind the house. (With a bit extra in front)
Four cords behind the house. The rows are actually 14 feet (not 16) but are stacked 4 1/2 feet high.
Eight cords at Trailhead (leaning forward)
Eight cords on the road. Two stacks, thirty-two feet long. The ATV and trailer are 12 feet long for comparison.
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