Firewood
May 2017
We hired Randy, the "Tree Topper" to take down 7 trees that were either too close to buildings or too risky for me to want to do myself. They left maple logs piled four deep on the path between my tractor mower...
and fir logs next to the shop.
That produced four cords of fir...
...and three and a half cords of maple.
This was the tenth and last "Habitat" load I placed out in our woods. Only a few decades ago, this would have been burned. The ecological method now is to let spoiled wood decay in the woods as long as it doesn't produce a fire hazard.
I built this structure in 2005 so that I would not have to move the wood at the end of summer. This worked well until people began helping themselves to my wood because it was so close to the driveway.
I moved the shed in 2008, so that it was away from the driveway, was visible from the house and it got better sunlight. In the winter of 2009 however, the wind lifted it off it's supports and this was the end result. All this wood had to be moved to the old shed, which was further from the house.
About the same time, I had built this shed for Basil and the same wind collapsed it too Notice the flatter roof slope I had thought with the first roof that it would shed snow But, the snow stuck to the steep roof and there was more surface to stick to, so I went to the flatter roof which is easier and less expensive to build.
In 2010 I built a new flat shed, placing 3 anchors on each side. These were driven several feet into the ground and cabled to the roof beams.
The shed stood up to all winds through eight winters 2010-2017.
With a three foot aisle down the middle, the log splitter sat in the middle and I back the trailer up to the uphill end 2011 was my first year to actually split all the wood inside the shed and it worked great.
...and three and a half cords of maple.
This was the tenth and last "Habitat" load I placed out in our woods. Only a few decades ago, this would have been burned. The ecological method now is to let spoiled wood decay in the woods as long as it doesn't produce a fire hazard.
2003
I had been cutting and burning firewood for heat since 1965 when I moved to WA. Almost all the 5.5 cords of wood here came from a single old maple tree in 2003. This area was at the top of our driveway where I used to dry new wood in the sun, then move it to the covered shed after Labor Day each year.I built this structure in 2005 so that I would not have to move the wood at the end of summer. This worked well until people began helping themselves to my wood because it was so close to the driveway.
I moved the shed in 2008, so that it was away from the driveway, was visible from the house and it got better sunlight. In the winter of 2009 however, the wind lifted it off it's supports and this was the end result. All this wood had to be moved to the old shed, which was further from the house.
About the same time, I had built this shed for Basil and the same wind collapsed it too Notice the flatter roof slope I had thought with the first roof that it would shed snow But, the snow stuck to the steep roof and there was more surface to stick to, so I went to the flatter roof which is easier and less expensive to build.
In 2010 I built a new flat shed, placing 3 anchors on each side. These were driven several feet into the ground and cabled to the roof beams.
The shed stood up to all winds through eight winters 2010-2017.
With a three foot aisle down the middle, the log splitter sat in the middle and I back the trailer up to the uphill end 2011 was my first year to actually split all the wood inside the shed and it worked great.
Removing tree stumps was hard work and hard on my back. Most of the ones I took out were within reach of my electrical cords so I found that burning them out worked well in the winter months when everything was wet. Using first my electric drill and auger, then heat gun and finally air from an old vacuum through a metal pipe created a hot fire inside the stump. Conveniently, the fire followed the core wood in the roots rather than the thinner sap wood areas so it formed a shell as it burned.
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