Woodshed filling up

The woodshed is filling up nicely. even if we have a hard winter...we are ready. i am loving our wood furnace. last year we used less than half of the propane that we used in previous years for heating the house. so it is saving us a ton of money. but we won't talk about all the labor of getting that woodshed filled.

If you remember, a few months ago we had 3 trees taken down. we have now managed to take care of 2 of them...all but the thick trunks.

We cut off all the smaller branches and leaves and put them through the chipper/shredder. so far, i have gotten about 12 trash cans filled with mulch. i have 5 of them now waiting for me to distribute them. i have a plan but it won't get executed for a week or so.

Unless you cut up your trees yourself i don't think people realize what goes into getting the wood from the tree on the ground to the woodshed. we had to strip all the smaller branches for the chipper; cut the limbs into 20" segments for the furnace; cut the trunks into 20" segments; split the trunks into manageable chunks. the chainsaws have been busy for weeks.

Here's where we are now. this is a 5 foot tall pile of fencing and pieces of lumber no longer needed. the fencing came from my sister's house. do you notice how a lot of her stuff winds up over here? but she was just going to burn this...it was just half rotted wooden fencing from the beast...so i brought it home. it will make great fire starters. or when you just need a bit of a fire. it is stacked just outside the woodshed. we will cover it with a tarp for the winter.

Our 'woodshed' is 2 no longer used dog kennels covered with tarps. very redneck. LOL  the first 'room' is packed 4 rows deep and all the way to the ceiling. birds and bugs and snakes love it in there. me....not so much. but i stacked every piece of wood in there.

The second room is only half filled...still have room for 2 more rows. the shelving holds thicker branches picked up off the property...great fire starters. picture me driving around 40 acres in the pickup...stopping to throw branches in the back and then bringing them to the house to be cut up. such fun!  you should come help. hahahahahaha  see, if i had a helper it would be easier...you could sit on the tailgate and when i stop for a branch...you just hop down...throw the branch in the truck...and hop back on the tailgate and away we go to the next branch. my dog, Suzy, isn't much help...she just wants to ride shotgun in the truck.

This is what happens when you try to split wood that is not dry enough. it splits all funky and jim had to take the axe to break them apart. after doing one piece of trunk we decided they needed to dry out more.

So here are 18 trunk chunks (try saying that fast 5 times) that are drying out on the north side of the woodshed. hopefully next year we can split them up. jim got some logging tongs .... those things are awesome. these chunks weigh a ton. we put the tongs on the tractor pole and i hooked the tongs to the log and he lifted them onto the trailer and carted them home and unloaded them. it took 3 loads to get these here. and the trailer was not small...it was 12 foot...the trunk chunks are HEAVY.

We still have trunks from the tree by the house that we have to saw into sections and try to split and see if they are ready or have to dry out, too. Then there is the last tree laying out in the front yard that we haven't tackled yet. when i mow i have to go around it and the grass is about 18" tall in those tree branches now. at least there are no leaves on that tree to deal with. that won't be too much fun to get to......it may still be there for a while. we're waiting for cooler weather.

So, if it gets really cold this winter and your heat goes out and you don't have a wood furnace....come stay with us....we'll be toasty.