Firewood Cutting

[rusty6]

This post might seem to have nothing to do with antique tractors but I can tell you that pile of firewood my uncle Don is sitting on was all cut by his John
Deere AR tractor. I can clearly remember the sound of the governor on the old 2 cylinder opening up for every block of wood sawed. This would have been one of his
last wood piles as I took the photo about 2000 and he died a couple of years later. I miss that yearly routine of helping out on the wood sawing job. Made it
into a jigsaw too. Pretty challenging this time and it took me 17 minutes on 108 pieces.

Firewood Pile

 

[J Hamilton]

That's a good size pile of firewood. But with a good sharp buzz saw it doesn't take long to make a pile or fill a wagon!

 

[FWB in SK]

Nothing to split Where you find all the wood the right size.

 

[ttown chuck]

that's an impressive wood pile, what type of wood and how long did it take to burn through it, neat puzzle too

 

[rusty6]

(quoted from post at 21:11:11 12/06/23) that's an impressive wood pile, what type of wood and how long did it take to burn through it, neat puzzle too

Poplar is all we have here for firewood and it took a lot to keep that old wood stove gong and cooking meals all summer too.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

At least you had the Poplar trees to cut. Where my mama grew up, near Estavan, they didnt have many trees. My Grandfather would make 2-3 overnight trips to the strip coal mine, and dig coal for there heating fuel. You could buy it dug, or dig your own and save a buck, so that is what my Norwegian Grandfather did. Mama said she thought hed have a 6 horse hitch on the wagon, because of the distance and the weight of the load, so not to tire the horses out before they returned home.
My first farm had a lot of Poplar bush , and I used to cut a fair bit to burn in the fall, but once its dry, you nearly had to sit right beside the stove and keep pushing it in !

 

[Hoofer B]

That is a big pile. I wonder how many pieces are in it? Bill

 

[db4600]

Fall was always firewood season. Starting in September between harvest, calving, butchering, and milking there was wood to cut. The farm house and shop ran on wood so 8-10 cords a year were needed. There was an old McCulloch back in time. In 77 Pa bought a 61 Husqvarna. I finally retired it around 2005. There was a home built 3pt saw that was powered originally by an 8N and later a 1520 and 4600. There was also a home built hydraulic splitter. The pole wood and block wood were brought back to the farm yard via an old Kelly Ryan manure spreader less beater and apron. But the best memories were neighbors coming to help saw pole wood. There were two neighbors that were very good on the saw. Once Pa had the blade filed to sing a crew of guys could fill several barge boxes that were now empty of cob corn. The reward was chicken, dumplings, and apple pie from Mas kitchen.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Were those just the limbs from logging, or was that as big as the tree got before it was cut for firewood? Took a lot of trees that diameter to make a pile that size. They must grow like weeds or it seems like you'd run out of wood after a few years.

That pile of wood looks like something from my nightmares though. I absolutely hate dealing with limb wood. You work just as hard as you do moving split chunks for 1/3 as much wood.

 

[rusty6]

(quoted from post at 05:54:52 12/07/23)
That pile of wood looks like something from my nightmares though. I absolutely hate dealing with limb wood. You work just as hard as you do moving split chunks for 1/3 as much wood.

No, these are the main trunks as the branches were piled and burned back in the bush. I've seen those poplars grow to well over a foot in diameter if disease or drought or flooding does not kill them. Trust me on this, knowing that farm as I do, you could burn the wood stove 24-7 and never run out of firewood just cleaning up the dead wood. If the dead wood does run out then start cutting green poplars to lay and season all summer to make even better firewood. Nobody bothered much with the green wood as it was a lot heavier to handle. The dead wood as seen here is quite light and nobody ever complained about it not giving enough heat.

 

[rusty6]

(quoted from post at 04:15:07 12/07/23) At least you had the Poplar trees to cut. Where my mama grew up, near Estavan, they didnt have many trees. My Grandfather would make 2-3 overnight trips to the strip coal mine,

Some of Estevan coal likely made it's way by rail here to burn in the big old wood/coal funaces in the basement. They used to like to put some coal on for overnight so there was some heat overnight.
Plenty of bush and firewood in this county years ago. Only time they'd need to haul from a distance was if they needed bigger trees for logs to build the first barns and houses. Prairie fires used to take out the bigger trees before the land was farmed.

 

[jhwis]

I still enjoy cutting firewood today. In particular, I like scabbing firewood laying around in the woods. It's much easier with an outdoor boiler. There's something satisfying in cleaning up the woods. Nice pic.

 

[rusty6]

Thanks, I enjoy it too, now that I don't have to do it. My yard is surrounded by bush to the North and West. Also some rows of planted evergreens. A lot of the poplars, chokecherries, saskatoon, have died out in the past decade or so. New ones are coming up but I am keeping busy cleaning up as much of the deadfall that I can. It looks better, maybe a little less fire hazard too. I wait til there is little snow on the ground and then burn the piles right in the bush. Did 3 just last week. Took a bit of video of one.
Fire in the woods

 

[Ellis Kinney]

I have a really good friend that calls it chainsaw therapy. Ellis