As I have been riding around my property on my new electric motorcycle I have been spotting trees that are dead but still standing. With much of the wood still good to burn, it should make for good firewood material. Lots more to find, but these are the easiest to get to. And then as time goes on I can go deeper into the forest to find more.
Instead of buying firewood by the pallet, my plan is to many dead trees all over my property. And bring them back to the barn for processing into firewood.
This pine is ready to be dropped.
We can see its quite dead, its bark is starting to fall off.
Cutting it down was pretty easy, done with my cordless sawzall.
Looks like it was about a 15 year old tree. Not sure what killed it.
Now I got this tree blocking my path, got to cut it all up.
It was still quite cold outside, ice crystals emerging from the ground.
Cutting off all my branches first, I load them up and bring them to the furnace.
Next was the trunk of the tree. I cut them into large pieces I can haul back to the barn where I have my solar power to use for more powerful tools.
I work until night fall, gathering the last few loads. With temperatures well into the freezing I need lots of logs.
Next morning was chilly, got down to 12.9F (-10.6C). All that wood I hauled will be used in one day when its this cold.
The next tree I am cutting down is a cedar tree that died.
Its top broke a long time ago and now its laying across the top of the live tree canopy around.
I cut off what I can, and be careful of the trunk overhead.
Approaching the trunk its quite big. I wont be able to cut through this with my sawzall. But since its so old I can pull it over. It already is leaning so I will keep pulling in that direction.
Green briers, these things are a huge pain in my ass.. and my hands and anything else they touch.
I load up a whole cart full of just the branches I cut off before even bringing the tree down.
Some of these branches I bring directly to the furnace. But a few need to be cut down to size.
During the day I burn up all the sticks, and at night I put in the logs when it gets really cold.
We can see the fire growing deep inside.
A minute or so later it erupts from the top of the furnace. I can close the door and let the machine do its work. Turning hundreds of pounds of firewood into ash.
Got to let it air out for a minute.. lol
Going back to the barn, I used corded power tools. All of the power comes from solar when its sunny.
Another day, got as much wood as I could. Usually its enough.
As the sun goes down so does the temperature. Getting well into the freezing temps again.
On the following morning. I hook up a tow strap to that dead cedar tree and pull it over.
It takes a few tries, and moving position of the straps twice. But finally I pulled it over using my UTV.
Now I can reach all of its branches.
I secured the tow straps using a lashing technique. Using the friction of the straps to hold into place. Any knots I put into this is really hard to get out. So using this way I find works well.
Another load of wood to haul back.
I come by with my cordless chainsaw later to cut up another log ready to go.
Cutting them into pieces as big as I can carry. I then bring them back to the barn to cut them up further.
My corded chainsaw makes quick work of them, bringing the log size into something more manageable and that will fit into the furnace.
That is usually how my days go right now. Keeps me busy.
