As the temperatures drop consistently into the freezing range, we are using the wood furnace a lot. Which means we need lots of firewood. Going through a few dozen large pieces a wood a day, along with smaller sticks to build the fire it really makes me work for that heat. But honestly I like it, things slow down around here in the winter. So having a constant job of collecting wood seems not such a bad thing, it will slow down when we do not use the furnace in the summer. But for now it needs a constant supply of firewood.
The barn cat helps out, she looks for mice and I throw her a little twig once in awhile. She dives into the pile and likes to fetch it sometimes.. lol she keeps me company while out in the homestead.
My tools:
Cordless sawzall (my most used power tool)
Gloves as my hands get all torn up handling firewood all day.
Pruners of different sizes
Tow strap for downed trees in the wood lines that I want to pull out.
Its fun pulling trees out of the woods, something about the raw power of just dragging out a tree is great. My diesel powered UTV is quite powerful, with over a 1000 pound towing/weight capacity it can do a lot.
I use a lashing technique for the tow strap around the tree, which is a friction knot. Makes it easy to remove after removing the tree.
After loading up the UTV I heard back to the barn and dump out everything I collected. My UTV can dump its bed which is quite nice. I just back up and let all the wood fall out.. of course I watch out for the kitty. She tends to run from the loud UTV sounds anyways. But she quickly returns to the fresh pile to see if anything is inside. And to check out all the new smells.
Takes me around an hour to pile up enough cut wood in my truck bed, its okay though its pretty mindless work and I just enjoy doing it while listening to some music or a podcast.
Got a new tailgate for my truck. Its a Stromberg Carlson VGD-94-101, fits quite nice. I bent my old one unloading some wood pallets so it was time for a upgrade. Now when I get my gooseneck trailer the tailgate will not need to be lowered or removed for hauling.
I add different cuts of wood to my truck bed, depending on the stage the fire is in, we use different sizes of wood to keep it going.
Once I cut up enough wood I drive my truck over, when the ground is not too muddy I use my pickup. But when the ground is soft I try to use the UTV more.. since it weighs less and does not rip up the ground as much.
While I was unloading my truck she jumped into my trucks wheel well.. She start meowing at me for attention, you got a wait a few minutes kitty I am busy.
She always gets under my feet, need to watch not not to step on her.
Slowly the pile grows, I stack it near the back of the barn to keep it all dry.
I use my lobbers to cut smaller branches and save the larger ones for the sawzall.
Its very quiet where I live, so I like just working out by the barn by myself and thinking about stuff. It feels like therapy sometimes and quite calming.
Organizing the wood into three piles, large rounds.. medium size branches and small twigs.. Each have their place inside of the wood furnace as I build up a good fire.
Lacking small branches can cause problems like getting the fire started without. Or the fire burning out before the large rounds catch.. Theres a lot to learn about just starting a good fire.
Heading over to one of my forest roads we cut down a dead pine tree that was ready to fall and block the road.
This is some good wood, its dry and no longer green since its dead. Ready to be used, so we load up my truck a few times and bring it back to the homestead.
After a long day I just sit in the workshop and feel good we have heat for another few days, and then we will do it all over again collecting more firewood.
Shortly before going to bed for the night, I fill up the wood furnace with the collected firewood for the day. Its great going from cutting and hauling wood, to it keeping us on the farm warm at night. Feels good, even if my muscles ache a little sometimes. Its all good, I will pace myself. And remember I can go back to using propane any time I want for heat, along with electric heaters. But the wood furnace seems to be the way to go, with enough wood and time it will keep you warm along with heating the water tanks in the house.
