Firewooding 2020-2021 Season

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    ghuns

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    Nov 22, 2011
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    Doin a little firewooding today myself...
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    58d55c18965fb96f082201412b0c04ff.jpg


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    ghuns

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    Nov 22, 2011
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    Looks like fun Mr. g. What have you got going on there? Pull from a log pile and split & stack by the stove?
    Yep. My goal is always minimal handling. I'd have logs dumped right there by the stove but the wife thinks it looks bad. She's not wrong, but she isn't the one dealing with it. I have gotten good using the log tongs on the loader. I can usually snag what I want without getting off the tractor. Just have to jump down to unhook them. So it's not that bad.

    I worked from 5-10 this morning. Pulled logs, cut and split from 11-3:30. Makes for a long day but probably did enough today for about two weeks.
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    Farmerjon

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    Jul 14, 2010
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    NorthWest Indiana
    I use a set of tongs on my 3 pt. boom. I have always thought about but haven't done it yet, tie a rope on one of the tong arms and then yank it when I have the log or piece where I want it so I don't have to get off of the tractor. Nice set up.
     

    Gd999

    Sharpshooter
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    Nov 24, 2020
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    Indianapolis
    Awesome that you have some land to roam around on and use the John Deere gator.
    Can I ask how many acres you have?
    My friend and I are looking for some good acreage within an hour of Indy, that has a cheap house that I can redo and live in. And then enough room so he can build a house there too. Then we can share solar and a well.
     

    indyjohn

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    Dec 26, 2010
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    In the trees
    Awesome that you have some land to roam around on and use the John Deere gator.
    Can I ask how many acres you have?
    My friend and I are looking for some good acreage within an hour of Indy, that has a cheap house that I can redo and live in. And then enough room so he can build a house there too. Then we can share solar and a well.
    We have 30 acres west of Indy, it is 99% woods. Some years ago before we bought it it was logged, not horribly but there are still crowns laying around. The benefit from that is the logging lanes they left that meander around the entire property. They are wide enough for the gator (maybe a Jeep too?) and they really saved me A LOT of work clearing stumps and whatnot. Not so many years ago non-tillable property outside of the doughnut counties was selling at around $2,800-$2,900 per acre. Most sellers are asking north of $3,000 per acre nowadays. This property is the best investment I've ever made in my life, as you can see we have a great time being out there.

    Land is out there, set your goal and search every day. It took us 4 years to find our corner of heaven. Good luck!!
     

    Gd999

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    2   0   0
    Nov 24, 2020
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    Indianapolis
    We have 30 acres west of Indy, it is 99% woods. Some years ago before we bought it it was logged, not horribly but there are still crowns laying around. The benefit from that is the logging lanes they left that meander around the entire property. They are wide enough for the gator (maybe a Jeep too?) and they really saved me A LOT of work clearing stumps and whatnot. Not so many years ago non-tillable property outside of the doughnut counties was selling at around $2,800-$2,900 per acre. Most sellers are asking north of $3,000 per acre nowadays. This property is the best investment I've ever made in my life, as you can see we have a great time being out there.

    Land is out there, set your goal and search every day. It took us 4 years to find our corner of heaven. Good luck!!
    Thanks for the kind words.
    Did your property come with a home or did you build on it? It would be nice to get solar and of course your own well is a must. But having a friend build on the property we can share resources. Especially if SHTF then we can go someplace safe and usable.
     

    tmschuller

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    Feb 25, 2013
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    Grant county
    Dropped this ash late yesterday.. getting low on the pallet I saved this tree for this reason. It’s good a dry and it’s close to the boiler. One more in the front yard but it’s close to the road and bigger. Came inside to get something to eat and headed to the woods. Saw about 30 deer coming out of the woods this morning when I was feeding the horses. Just now the all ran back in across the bean field. Cool to watch! F207ABDF-6402-461E-A8CA-0580C10CF971.jpeg 5F460985-4148-4107-AEAC-5D3E731188BA.jpeg
     

    ghuns

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    Nov 22, 2011
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    Neighbor had a couple standing dead trees in a fence row about a half mile away that needed taken down. With the cold and snow, Saturday was as good a time as any to cross his chisel plowed field and snag them. My goal is always minimal handling so any time I can drag whole logs right up to the pile next to the boiler I will do it.

    This video is not my best work, but it's my favorite technique for hauling whole logs around...



    After I got these home the neighbor kid and me took the truck back and got a whole truckload out of the tops. The neighbor kid was skeptical of working in single digits, but he managed to break a sweat by the time we were done.

    After we got back I started cutting/splitting the two logs. One was a silver maple. It split the second the wedge touched it. The other log, I am guessing, was elm. The 21 ton splitter grunted ALL the way through it and even then I couldn't rip it apart. I turned it 90 degrees and did it again, and again, and again. Still too stringy to rip apart. I just hooked a chain to it and drug it out behind the barn to fight with another day. I have plenty stack up to get through this cold spell and beyond.
     

    tmschuller

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    Feb 25, 2013
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    Grant county
    Neighbor had a couple standing dead trees in a fence row about a half mile away that needed taken down. With the cold and snow, Saturday was as good a time as any to cross his chisel plowed field and snag them. My goal is always minimal handling so any time I can drag whole logs right up to the pile next to the boiler I will do it.

    This video is not my best work, but it's my favorite technique for hauling whole logs around...



    After I got these home the neighbor kid and me took the truck back and got a whole truckload out of the tops. The neighbor kid was skeptical of working in single digits, but he managed to break a sweat by the time we were done.

    After we got back I started cutting/splitting the two logs. One was a silver maple. It split the second the wedge touched it. The other log, I am guessing, was elm. The 21 ton splitter grunted ALL the way through it and even then I couldn't rip it apart. I turned it 90 degrees and did it again, and again, and again. Still too stringy to rip apart. I just hooked a chain to it and drug it out behind the barn to fight with another day. I have plenty stack up to get through this cold spell and beyond.

    Cool way to haul logs.. looks like a great way to do it. what size is your tractor??
    I don’t mind the cold and like working in it.. just have to not break a sweat.
    I cut a elm up but didn’t need to split it. Just chunked it up and load. That’s how I try to do it. Only split what won’t fit in the boiler door.
    The ash I took down was about 25” across and I cut most of the rounds in the 12-15” range. Some longer as the tree narrowed. Those will burn most of the day. Thanks for sharing your video
     

    ghuns

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    Nov 22, 2011
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    Cool way to haul logs.. looks like a great way to do it. what size is your tractor??
    I don’t mind the cold and like working in it.. just have to not break a sweat.
    I cut a elm up but didn’t need to split it. Just chunked it up and load. That’s how I try to do it. Only split what won’t fit in the boiler door.
    The ash I took down was about 25” across and I cut most of the rounds in the 12-15” range. Some longer as the tree narrowed. Those will burn most of the day. Thanks for sharing your video

    John Deere 2020. It's about 50 horsepower. With the filled rear tires and blade on the back it weighs a little under 10K pounds. Two logs like those with snow on the ground, it doesn't even work it very hard.

    When you hook up multiples and have no snow, it's a little more challenging. Especially without the blade out back for additional ballast...

    gin9mXEm.jpg


    I too have burned tons of elm. This was my first attempt to split any. I used to just chunk up big pieces and muscle them through the door. But the older I get, the smaller I want them to be.
     

    tmschuller

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    Feb 25, 2013
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    John Deere 2020. It's about 50 horsepower. With the filled rear tires and blade on the back it weighs a little under 10K pounds. Two logs like those with snow on the ground, it doesn't even work it very hard.

    When you hook up multiples and have no snow, it's a little more challenging. Especially without the blade out back for additional ballast...

    gin9mXEm.jpg


    I too have burned tons of elm. This was my first attempt to split any. I used to just chunk up big pieces and muscle them through the door. But the older I get, the smaller I want them to be.
    Understand! I have a 950 30hp and a lot smaller. I don’t use it much for tree removal but about too. It’s 2wd and doesn’t do well in the snow so right now I don’t need it or try to use it much. I can get most places with the ranger and trailer and fell a tree and pull up to it and load.
    I really need to get my splitter going had issues with it and right now the motor is off but that will be for another thread. I rarely use it but it has a hydraulic boom on it that is very handy. Like I said I need to start a thread on it just to seek some help. Thanks
     
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