Firewood Season 2022

[indyjohn]

You were lucky, the gardener was driving through that coming back from Lafayette last night.

Ooof! We were going to run errands after delivering the firewood but you couldn't get from the porch to the truck without slipping and falling. Knew the roads would be no better.

 

[tmschuller]

bocefus - If time was not a factor, would you say that grinder does as good a job as freehand with a file?

I have had great results with this.. and there are YouTube videos on testing of it. You can buy cheaper ones but my wife had bought me one a couple of years ago and it’s been working out well.

STIHL 2 in 1 Easy File Chainsaw Chain​

 

[Leadeye]

Full disclosure: I'm stihl dealer.

Now that that's outta the way, here's a little prepping info you wood hoarders may find useful.

I was informed today that there is a shortage of stihl saw bars and chains. Lots of the common sizes are already gone, and may not be seen in 2022 at all. We just ordered $15k worth of them, and only got half of what we ordered.

Stock up on bars and chains while you can. I did.

Even some of the aftermarket solutions are getting backordered at this point.

I'm curious if the demand for saws is up.

 

[bwframe]

I'm curious if the demand for saws is up.

Maybe it's like new gun owners? Bumping up hospital numbers for "covid?"

I worked for a restaurant franchise in the late 70's. Jimmy Carter inflation and fuel prices really bumped up the firewood biz. Wealth owner of my work and his rich buddies thought it was cool to cut their own wood (to get away from their wives) on the weekend. Smart business guys, plenty smart enough to run a chainsaw, right?

My owner running his mouth, standing too close to buddy running the saw. Buddy turns around with running saw and nearly lopped off my ignorant owner's right hand.

 

[Leadeye]

I've got a lot of respect for saws, even though I've been running them since I was in my early teens. An old friend had a saw kick back hard on him hitting him on the right side of his face. His glasses saved his eye, but he saw Blofeld in the mirror for the rest of his life.

 

[indyjohn]

Full disclosure: I'm stihl dealer.

Now that that's outta the way, here's a little prepping info you wood hoarders may find useful.

I was informed today that there is a shortage of stihl saw bars and chains. Lots of the common sizes are already gone, and may not be seen in 2022 at all. We just ordered $15k worth of them, and only got half of what we ordered.

Stock up on bars and chains while you can. I did.

Even some of the aftermarket solutions are getting backordered at this point.

Thank you for that info. After reading your post the OG decided we needed to go looking for at least spare chains for both saws. We found an Oregon bar for the Farm Boss and a chain for each saw. Not Stihl but at least we have a backup in case something breaks.

 

[Rosenbah]

Thank you for that info. After reading your post the OG decided we needed to go looking for at least spare chains for both saws. We found an Oregon bar for the Farm Boss and a chain for each saw. Not Stihl but at least we have a backup in case something breaks.

yes, bocefus78 and indyjohn,

it's a good idea to stock up on chains. I have 3 needing sharpening, one on the saw, and one new. Oregon is a decent chain for the Farmboss. I'll look for some more.

Does anyone have luck sharpening chains with a cheaper grinder than bocefus78's beauty? I have no luck with a file.

Also, any thoughts about storing the fire wood? Pile with a tarp over it?

 

[Rosenbah]

Thank you for that info. After reading your post the OG decided we needed to go looking for at least spare chains for both saws. We found an Oregon bar for the Farm Boss and a chain for each saw. Not Stihl but at least we have a backup in case something breaks.

yes, bocefus78 and indyjohn,

it's a good idea to stock up on chains. I have 3 needing sharpening, one on the saw, and one new. Oregon is a decent chain for the Farmboss.

Does anyone have luck sharpening chains with a cheaper grinder than bocefus78's beauty?

 

[Rosenbah]

woops! Is this sharpener any good?

Oregon Compact 120-Volt Mini Bench Grinder, Universal Saw Chain Sharpener, for All Chainsaw Chains (310-120)​

Amazon product ASIN B00Y0S84WE

 

[indyjohn]

Also, any thoughts about storing the fire wood? Pile with a tarp over it?

In the short few years we've been doing this, we have two methods and both work fine.

Method 1: Build an open sided shed. This one is my own design and in 2019 cost me $250 in materials. 8' wide by 40" deep by 4' tall at the back wall. Will hold a full cord. Just pulled the firewood you see from 2020, it tested at 10-11% moisture. Oak and Beech.




Method 2: Stack it in the open, no cover. Two 8' 4x4 ground contact posts sitting on concrete blocks. Key is getting it off the ground so air can circulate around it. Firewood you see was standing dead for unknown amount of time and split this time last year. It tested at 14-15% moisture. Oak, Maple, Walnut.




We tried covering earlier but found that just attracts more critters than you get with it sitting uncovered.

 

[KJQ6945]

My firewood barn.



I bring it down from the woods in the front end loader or the side by side, split it and stack it here. It’s just sitting on treated 4x4’s.

 

[indyjohn]

My firewood barn.

I bring it down from the woods in the front end loader or the side by side, split it and stack it here. It’s just sitting on treated 4x4’s.

Emphasis on the word 'barn'. Takes the topic to a whole new level.

 

[Rosenbah]

You guys are awesome. My take away to to keep it off the ground at all costs! That makes a ton of sense. Pressure treated 4x4 on concrete blocks. Thanks. With all of the dead ash, I will likely get more wood that I can use in a season. Leaving it standing dead will just let it rot and get punky. So decent stacks are needed to keep it for a while.

 

[indyjohn]

You guys are awesome. My take away to to keep it off the ground at all costs! That makes a ton of sense. Pressure treated 4x4 on concrete blocks. Thanks. With all of the dead ash, I will likely get more wood that I can use in a season. Leaving it standing dead will just let it rot and get punky. So decent stacks are needed to keep it for a while.

We've found you have a couple of years that you can leave it standing before you need to harvest it. Once it's on the ground, you have a year-ish.

When we started, we never thought about selling what we cut. But we cut far more than we could use in a year. I cannot tell you if we are making money selling what we've harvested. But it is certainly paying for the gas, oil and chains we are using to conduct what we still consider a hobby.

 

[KJQ6945]

I bought this property in May of last year. All the wood I have stacked is mainly from stuff that was already dead, and on the ground.
The deep freeze last year has killed several trees, but the only one of mine I took down was the big oak that’s at the sawmill. It was to close to the house and the shop to keep standing, and I need new trim in the house.

 

[KJQ6945]

This has been the key to putting up a bunch of wood. A decent splitter.




That’s a big Sweet Gum that fell over up in the woods in a storm in June. Tough wood to split, but burns nice.

 

[KJQ6945]

On the subject of milling wood, here are some pines at the neighbors, that we sent to mill over the summer.



3 of the 4 trees had died to the heavy freeze last winter. We sent 11 logs to the sawmill.

3 logs were milled 3” thick for a new bridge. 12 to 15 foot long, and up to 21” wide.

 

[CampingJosh]

I've been out two days so far this year, but I've focused more on clearing the trails than in gathering the firewood. Once I finish this, I'll be able to get the trailer out there to actually load it all up.

 

[t-squared]

You guys are awesome. My take away to to keep it off the ground at all costs! That makes a ton of sense. Pressure treated 4x4 on concrete blocks. Thanks. With all of the dead ash, I will likely get more wood that I can use in a season. Leaving it standing dead will just let it rot and get punky. So decent stacks are needed to keep it for a while.

A ton of places by us have stacks of unwanted pallets that work great. Even the flimsier “disposable” ones will last a lot of years if you throw down some plastic under them. Never let any wood you care about stay in contact with the ground……

 

[bocefus78]

woops! Is this sharpener any good?

Oregon Compact 120-Volt Mini Bench Grinder, Universal Saw Chain Sharpener, for All Chainsaw Chains (310-120)​

Amazon product ASIN B00Y0S84WE

Personally never used it, but it's got to better than the HF one I started on. It was so loose keeping a constant angle was impossible.

Oregon doesn't make junk, and actually stand behind their products.

For $100, i think its hard to beat that value.