Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Jakers]

Any time there is any doubt in my mind about which way it would go when cutting, I break out one or two. Get a throw line and get that rope a good 30 or 35 feet into that tree and you'll be surprised what kind of leverage you can get once you tie a recovery strap around an anchoring tree. You can completely reverse a fall if you need to. Use a good 3 strand rope like New Englands 3 strand safety blue. I tried using my half inch Yale bull rope on it and it just slipped on the spool! Talk about frightening. 3 strand is the way to go.

i have decent luck using the safety blue climbing line as well. it sometimes slips under a light pull but its firm enough to sink in and bight well. 3 strand is best though

 

[Marshy]

Hows everyones wood pile doing? I know mine is taking it rough. I got my snowmobile all fixed up and moved about 1-2 face cord of wood yesterday. The only thing I have left is burried under snow on top of my log pile. Fall last year I wasnt too sure I had enough wood CSS so I cut, split a piled some and left it on my logs as a backup. Well, time has come and I need it.

Last years cold weather was all the talk and had buzz words like "polar vortex". WTH are they calling it this year? This month is on track to break records. Coldest month @ 9*F (average) which beats the 12*F record from 1934. This is the 3rd snowiest February ever, the record was 72.6" in 1958. Highest day time temp this month was 32*F and coldest was 17*F.

Syracuse or Boston: Which city has had it worse?
http://www.cnycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=1167932

There has been lots of talk of the harsh weather in Boston. So I did some comparing Boston to Syracuse for this February, 2015 to see which city has had it worse.
Boston has had 62.6" with little more expected this final week. Syracuse so far 54.5", but has several more inches coming, this could close the gap. We'll give the win to Boston for this for now.
Here's the facts you may not have heard by the national media and why our weather has been worse:
Boston's average temperature has been almost double that of Syracuse this February, 18.2° versus 9.3°.
Coldest temperatures: -3° Boston, -17° Syracuse.
Warmest temps: 38° Boston, 32° Syracuse.
Days above 32°: 19 Boston, 0 Syracuse.
Days below 0°: 2 Boston, 11 Syracuse.
Greatest snowfall for Boston in a month yes, with plenty of melting of snow due to the temperatures. Top 3 February snowfall for Syracuse (could go to #2) with likely our coldest month ever recorded.
Granted, Central New York knows how to handle excessive snow much better, from commuting to work by average Joe to clearing the streets by our DPW. What a month for both cities and it's not over yet! Who's ready for Spring?
EDIT TO ADD: Syracuse snow total for season 101.3" compared to 99.9" for Boston (Thanks to my wife for reminding me, she HATES this winter)

 

[Marshy]

Here in northern CT the snow just keeps adding up, another 7-8" last night! The fence in the pic is 48" high and a few inches off the ground.View attachment 406130

If that was out in my back yard you'd only see the top 12" lol

 

[SteveSS]

My wood pile has fared pretty well up to this point, but we've had a pretty mild winter so far. Once I figured out that I was way over filling my boiler back when it was still relatively warm, my wood consumption went way down. I'm getting it figured out now that the temp has dropped the last couple of weeks. Now I'm back to full loads to keep the water up to temp during the overnights and days when I'm at work. Water temp was 130 this morning, so I could've used a couple more sticks before I went to bed last night. Last Thursday it got all the way down to 117. Took four hours to get back up to temp in the 3 degree weather. Ugh! We haven't any snow to speak of this winter yet (maybe 3 inches last week, that's all gone now), but right now my weather station is telling me that it's 13 degrees outside. It's been that way for a solid couple weeks now, with Saturday showing a warm day at around 35 degrees. I'm guessing that I still have somewhere between 2 and 3 cord that's still css in my pile. We're almost all the way through February now, so hopefully the burn season is coming to an end. Fingers crossed.

 

[Ambull01]

Any time there is any doubt in my mind about which way it would go when cutting, I break out one or two. Get a throw line and get that rope a good 30 or 35 feet into that tree and you'll be surprised what kind of leverage you can get once you tie a recovery strap around an anchoring tree. You can completely reverse a fall if you need to. Use a good 3 strand rope like New Englands 3 strand safety blue. I tried using my half inch Yale bull rope on it and it just slipped on the spool! Talk about frightening. 3 strand is the way to go.

Thanks my friend. That's exactly the type of info I was looking for.

 

[pennsywoodburnr]

Marshy, all things considered, my woodpile isn't doing too bad. I'll have more than enough to get through the rest of this winter. Already got some new splits ready to put on the rows I've laid out when spring breaks. Got about another cord + that still needs to be split, and various tree jobs already lined up. The wife is thrilled with all the heat I'll be scrounging this year, my back......not so much. haha

 

[svk]

Hows everyones wood pile doing? I know mine is taking it rough. I got my snowmobile all fixed up and moved about 1-2 face cord of wood yesterday. The only thing I have left is burried under snow on top of my log pile. Fall last year I wasnt too sure I had enough wood CSS so I cut, split a piled some and left it on my logs as a backup. Well, time has come and I need it.

Last years cold weather was all the talk and had buzz words like "polar vortex". WTH are they calling it this year? This month is on track to break records. Coldest month @ 9*F (average) which beats the 12*F record from 1934. This is the 3rd snowiest February ever, the record was 72.6" in 1958. Highest day time temp this month was 32*F and coldest was 17*F.

Syracuse or Boston: Which city has had it worse?
http://www.cnycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=1167932

There has been lots of talk of the harsh weather in Boston. So I did some comparing Boston to Syracuse for this February, 2015 to see which city has had it worse.
Boston has had 62.6" with little more expected this final week. Syracuse so far 54.5", but has several more inches coming, this could close the gap. We'll give the win to Boston for this for now.
Here's the facts you may not have heard by the national media and why our weather has been worse:
Boston's average temperature has been almost double that of Syracuse this February, 18.2° versus 9.3°.
Coldest temperatures: -3° Boston, -17° Syracuse.
Warmest temps: 38° Boston, 32° Syracuse.
Days above 32°: 19 Boston, 0 Syracuse.
Days below 0°: 2 Boston, 11 Syracuse.
Greatest snowfall for Boston in a month yes, with plenty of melting of snow due to the temperatures. Top 3 February snowfall for Syracuse (could go to #2) with likely our coldest month ever recorded.
Granted, Central New York knows how to handle excessive snow much better, from commuting to work by average Joe to clearing the streets by our DPW. What a month for both cities and it's not over yet! Who's ready for Spring?
EDIT TO ADD: Syracuse snow total for season 101.3" compared to 99.9" for Boston (Thanks to my wife for reminding me, she HATES this winter)

Went through Syracuse on Saturday. You are correct, you guys do know how to deal with snow. People from Boston have no clue.

I was surprised to see how little snow was left in Buffalo after what they got earlier this winter. Some areas had only about a foot on the ground.

 

[Marshy]

Remember how I said I got my sled fixed? Well I decided to try riding out to the trail head but the problem was it hadnt been touched for quite some time. I had to (attempt to) break a trail through the woods. Well, the only way to keep from sinking is to carry enough speed to stay on top of the snow... (mind you, I already knew this was a bad idea before I started and knew exactly how this was going to end.)

So Im about 3-400 feet into the woods on the neighbors property and its a newly marked trail this year and I was slow to negoatiate a slight turn and had to stop to avoid confrontation with a tree. So what happens is you have to get off the sled and lift the front end and drag it over and get it pointed in the direction you want to head. Keep in mind, while that sounds simple, the probability of burrying the sled when you take off is 200% unless to walk and pack a path in front of it as wide as the sled for ~20 feet, the longer the better your odds are at making it out. That gives you enough traction and speed to get back on top of the snow, usually. So I hop off the sled and immediately sink up to my belly button in snow and the only reason I stopped there is because the snow pack around my crotch. So I take the next half hour breaking the snow down in front of the sled and getting it lined up where I need to go. Take off and get about a sled length past the section I walked out and get my sled burried.

All bets are off now, Im stuck and headed slightly up hill to make matters worse. Only option now is to get turned around and head home. So now, to get unstuck you have to trample around the sled to give it some room and get the snow unpacked, lift the rear of the sled out of the hole it dug and drag the sled back. Trample an area of snow down off the to side and drag the rear of the sled into it like a "K turn".

Got turned around and headed out but only made it another 20 feet before getting stuck again. This time it was the worst. When the rear bumper is flush with the semi-packed snow your standing on its a bad day and very hard to lift out. To make matters worse snow does some funny thing when you start disturbing it. It acts like concrete and starts to harden up. So 30-40 minutes into trying to get this out again and the snow is starting to setup. I managed to get it out but I was exhausted after all of this and moving 2 face cords earlier. My wife was not impressed with me taking so long.

 

[svk]

Remember how I said I got my sled fixed? Well I decided to try riding out to the trail head but the problem was it hadnt been touched for quite some time. I had to (attempt to) break a trail through the woods. Well, the only way to keep from sinking is to carry enough speed to stay on top of the snow... (mind you, I already knew this was a bad idea before I started and knew exactly how this was going to end.)

So Im about 3-400 feet into the woods on the neighbors property and its a newly marked trail this year and I was slow to negoatiate a slight turn and had to stop to avoid confrontation with a tree. So what happens is you have to get off the sled and lift the front end and drag it over and get it pointed in the direction you want to head. Keep in mind, while that sounds simple, the probability of burrying the sled when you take off is 200% unless to walk and pack a path in front of it as wide as the sled for ~20 feet, the longer the better your odds are at making it out. That gives you enough traction and speed to get back on top of the snow, usually. So I hop off the sled and immediately sink up to my belly button in snow and the only reason I stopped there is because the snow pack around my crotch. So I take the next half hour breaking the snow down in front of the sled and getting it lined up where I need to go. Take off and get about a sled length past the section I walked out and get my sled burried.

All bets are off now, Im stuck and headed slightly up hill to make matters worse. Only option now is to get turned around and head home. So now, to get unstuck you have to trample around the sled to give it some room and get the snow unpacked, lift the rear of the sled out of the hole it dug and drag the sled back. Trample an area of snow down off the to side and drag the rear of the sled into it like a "K turn".

Got turned around and headed out but only made it another 20 feet before getting stuck again. This time it was the worst. When the rear bumper is flush with the semi-packed snow your standing on its a bad day and very hard to lift out. To make matters worse snow does some funny thing when you start disturbing it. It acts like concrete and starts to harden up. So 30-40 minutes into trying to get this out again and the snow is starting to setup. I managed to get it out but I was exhausted after all of this and moving 2 face cords earlier. My wife was not impressed with me taking so long.

Been there!

The only time I've ever feared causing a heart attack is when trying to free up a sled in deep snow. Tough work.

 

[zogger]

Hows everyones wood pile doing? I know mine is taking it rough. I got my snowmobile all fixed up and moved about 1-2 face cord of wood yesterday. The only thing I have left is burried under snow on top of my log pile. Fall last year I wasnt too sure I had enough wood CSS so I cut, split a piled some and left it on my logs as a backup. Well, time has come and I need it.

Last years cold weather was all the talk and had buzz words like "polar vortex". WTH are they calling it this year? This month is on track to break records. Coldest month @ 9*F (average) which beats the 12*F record from 1934. This is the 3rd snowiest February ever, the record was 72.6" in 1958. Highest day time temp this month was 32*F and coldest was 17*F.

Syracuse or Boston: Which city has had it worse?
http://www.cnycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=1167932

There has been lots of talk of the harsh weather in Boston. So I did some comparing Boston to Syracuse for this February, 2015 to see which city has had it worse.
Boston has had 62.6" with little more expected this final week. Syracuse so far 54.5", but has several more inches coming, this could close the gap. We'll give the win to Boston for this for now.
Here's the facts you may not have heard by the national media and why our weather has been worse:
Boston's average temperature has been almost double that of Syracuse this February, 18.2° versus 9.3°.
Coldest temperatures: -3° Boston, -17° Syracuse.
Warmest temps: 38° Boston, 32° Syracuse.
Days above 32°: 19 Boston, 0 Syracuse.
Days below 0°: 2 Boston, 11 Syracuse.
Greatest snowfall for Boston in a month yes, with plenty of melting of snow due to the temperatures. Top 3 February snowfall for Syracuse (could go to #2) with likely our coldest month ever recorded.
Granted, Central New York knows how to handle excessive snow much better, from commuting to work by average Joe to clearing the streets by our DPW. What a month for both cities and it's not over yet! Who's ready for Spring?
EDIT TO ADD: Syracuse snow total for season 101.3" compared to 99.9" for Boston (Thanks to my wife for reminding me, she HATES this winter)

We've had several named storms, and lately we have had two back to back "siberian express" storms, based on geography, how they got here.

I have 1.5 cord left in my regular mixed stack for this winter, and roughly half a cord I guess in my siberian polar vortex express cold weather stack. I should be more than fine, supposed to be warming up starting first week in march according to the guessers.

Anything left over in the mixed stack will get moved to the front of the line on the next winter stack. Physically moved, I'll haul it over there. I'll also finish the big oak in the front yard c/s and create a new much larger polar vortex stack.

 

[zogger]

Remember how I said I got my sled fixed? Well I decided to try riding out to the trail head but the problem was it hadnt been touched for quite some time. I had to (attempt to) break a trail through the woods. Well, the only way to keep from sinking is to carry enough speed to stay on top of the snow... (mind you, I already knew this was a bad idea before I started and knew exactly how this was going to end.)

So Im about 3-400 feet into the woods on the neighbors property and its a newly marked trail this year and I was slow to negoatiate a slight turn and had to stop to avoid confrontation with a tree. So what happens is you have to get off the sled and lift the front end and drag it over and get it pointed in the direction you want to head. Keep in mind, while that sounds simple, the probability of burrying the sled when you take off is 200% unless to walk and pack a path in front of it as wide as the sled for ~20 feet, the longer the better your odds are at making it out. That gives you enough traction and speed to get back on top of the snow, usually. So I hop off the sled and immediately sink up to my belly button in snow and the only reason I stopped there is because the snow pack around my crotch. So I take the next half hour breaking the snow down in front of the sled and getting it lined up where I need to go. Take off and get about a sled length past the section I walked out and get my sled burried.

All bets are off now, Im stuck and headed slightly up hill to make matters worse. Only option now is to get turned around and head home. So now, to get unstuck you have to trample around the sled to give it some room and get the snow unpacked, lift the rear of the sled out of the hole it dug and drag the sled back. Trample an area of snow down off the to side and drag the rear of the sled into it like a "K turn".

Got turned around and headed out but only made it another 20 feet before getting stuck again. This time it was the worst. When the rear bumper is flush with the semi-packed snow your standing on its a bad day and very hard to lift out. To make matters worse snow does some funny thing when you start disturbing it. It acts like concrete and starts to harden up. So 30-40 minutes into trying to get this out again and the snow is starting to setup. I managed to get it out but I was exhausted after all of this and moving 2 face cords earlier. My wife was not impressed with me taking so long.

I have hardly no experience with sleds, only driven two different ones a few times. I didn't like back then you had to stay on trails all the time, always wondered why they didn't make one that could stay on top of the snow. I was never interested in owning one because with my snowshoes and toboggan or plastic sled, I could go in and get my wood, anyplace really, no matter how deep the snow was.

I am *still* wondering this about mechanization, small scale, in the snow, real point A to B, trails not needed. Now I saw the vids posted here of both that electric caterpillar buggy, and the russian one that used just innertubes on the wheels with some chains. Those looked to work fine, but didn't see any real work with them either, just joyriding.

But..there has to be a buggy that can both move on top of the snow and still have some practical pulling/hauling to it. I know they make "snowcats" but I have no experience with them, and they tend to be big and expensive. Around here, the guys make mud trucks for negotiating deep stuff, this requires really substantial lifts and really bigazz wheels/tires. Most of the real mudtrucks aren't even close to street legal either. Obviously not terribly practical for riding around inside the trees.

So, does a float on the snow buggy really exist? How about the six and eight wheel drive machines, the ones that are amphibious?

 

[svk]

So, does a float on the snow buggy really exist? How about the six and eight wheel drive machines, the ones that are amphibious?

Well the powder special snowmobiles (long paddle track) are virtually impossible to get stuck unless you are out west in the mountains. You can put a basket or pull a large sled with them.

The amphibious machines like Argo will work for some snow, maybe up to 2 feet. But get them stuck and they will be there until spring....

 

[zogger]

Addendum: further thinking. Maybe it is possible to modify a normal sled with like triple wide tracks and the front skis triple or more wider?

 

[svk]

Addendum: further thinking. Maybe it is possible to modify a normal sled with like triple wide tracks and the front skis triple or more wider?

Powder sleds have double wide skiis.

Rarely does the front of a snowmobile get stuck from sinking in the snow. It's the track like shown in Marshy's pic.

 

[pennsywoodburnr]

Been there!

The only time I've ever feared causing a heart attack is when trying to free up a sled in deep snow. Tough work.

Or instead help a buddy free up a big 4x4 quad stuck in deep mud, with no winch. Same heart attack scenario waiting to happen. Told him if it happens again, he's on his own!

 

[zogger]

Powder sleds have double wide skiis.

Rarely does the front of a snowmobile get stuck from sinking in the snow. It's the track like shown in Marshy's pic.

Well, OK, so they do exist. That would be the sled I got if I lived up there then.

 

[MustangMike]

The trouble in Boston, and to a lesser extent around here, is U run out of places to put the snow.

Yesterday was warm (40) & sunny, so at least you can see blacktop on the driveway again (after plowing the new 6" in the am).

After I plow the driveway I have to go out in the road & plow along the snow bank so they can get to my mail box. A pain in the A**, but I'm thankful I've got the ATV this year. Time is limited.

 

[Marshy]

My sled is intended to be a trail sled and has a 136" long track (circumfrace) and has 1.25" paddles. Deep powder sled are somewhere around 150-160"+ and have 2" paddles. Skis are extra wide to give better float but the real advantage is being able to move more snow with the deeper paddles and extra contact patch. If I had proper speed entering a field with this much snow it wouldnt be a problem because I could stay on top and maintain my speed and have room to maneuver. Heres a good clip of getting stuck and what it takes to get out. Looks like they have a realy firm base under the first 2 feet of powder so imagine my situation with loose snow hip high and no firm base...

 

[theswampthing]

The trouble in Boston, and to a lesser extent around here, is U run out of places to put the snow.

Yesterday was warm (40) & sunny, so at least you can see blacktop on the driveway again (after plowing the new 6" in the am).

After I plow the driveway I have to go out in the road & plow along the snow bank so they can get to my mail box. A pain in the A**, but I'm thankful I've got the ATV this year. Time is limited.

You're right about running out of places to put the snow. Even in our little towns, it's tough. The boroughs are constantly loading snow on tri axles and taking it out of town to dump on the old highway. Before I had a plow I had to shovel and at the end of a snowy winter I had snow piled higher than the top of my truck on one side of my driveway. Now I just push down the driveway and across the street into the woods. I'd love to get a tractor with a FEL. The little borough I live in does a pretty bad job with snow and it's usually up to us to clear a lot of the road.

 

[Mike-M]

Hows everyones wood pile doing? I know mine is taking it rough.....

Im completely empty, done for the year. My yard is tiny, only have room for 2 cords, need to come up with a new plan there.