Well who's got a summer plan?

[AIM]

Well folks the heating season is drawing to a close. Turkey season is days away. Sittin by the pond slammin cold ones is coming soon. I really want to cut some wood this summer. At least on the days that aren't 90+.
Maybe early mornings??? I have a GOLD MINE of GREAT wood to cut if I just get after it.
Anybody got a game plan to stock up? I really hope I can FINALLY get something done during the summer.

 

[zogger]

I cut the bulk of mine in the summer and early fall, the only time it is dry enough to drive around off road here and not leave huge ruts.

Ya, it gets hot..I don't care, beats freezing in the winter with no wood.

I don't use AC, apparently I adapt better than most folks here to the heat.

On deck as soon as my back heals up better, probably around a dozen standing dead bark falling winged elm and sweetgum and dogwood (great stuff), with a smattering of this or that, some good trees, a few pretty big dead oaks if I can figure out how to get them out of the woods easy.

I might wind up waiting on the big oaks until maybe next year, get a gas powered capstan winch thing.

 

[chucker]

first off for me this summer will be at the church camp with blow downs from last fall/winter. red oak that was dead standing for maybe 3 to 5 years before the wind finally took them down....some thing like 8 cords of red oak(8" to 16") with 6 cords of pine(red, white, jack) for the charity works...... all it will cost me is the use of the hyd splitter for their 3 cords(the camp cuts their own wood) for campfires! the county has a fair share of clean up also with the aspen/popple that I need to finish after the road restrictions go off in may........... approximately 30 cords. and then there's what ever the regular customers find for me to deal with on the lakes. ???? AIM, you had to ask ! lol no rest for this ole fat man!! ?anyone wanna stack wood for practice?

 

[svk]

Lay in as much scrounge as I can. And the power co is going to cut about 25 trees on my property at some point this summer.

 

[Eagleknight]

Since I just put in a wood insert last fall and started to burn. I hauled a bunch of craigslist scores back and just have been dumping it in a big pile. Once I get my garden out I am going to work on getting it split and stacked. I think for the most part this will be my plan going forward. Go out and get the wood in fall/winter when ground is frozen. Dump it off at the house and then process in the spring.

 

[Ironworker]

I try and get all my wood done before the heat, actually before fishing season.

 

[trukn2004]

Plan is to do a little at a time, as often as I can. I need to build my stacks and clean up deadfall near the house. 9 cords by fall is the goal, and I think right now im around 3-4.

 

[johnny5ny]

I've got a LOT to do. I need about 200 yards of clean fill before I can seed my backyard. It's a muddy mess right now, but before any of that can happen, I need to get a chit load of wood moved from the other side of the property. Lots of bucking and hauling.
Love to get it done before the skeeters come out, but that ain't happenin

 

[Whitespider]

Right now my plans don't go much further than this comin' weekend.
Plannin' to pick up (and re-stack ) what fell over last week, split and stack what rounds are left laying in the yard... although, I could toss some of in the trailer and haul it to the house (even though I'm done after this mornin'... really... I'm done).
It's been rainin' for the last couple days (lot's of rain), and we have a little snow out there this mornin', so it'll be too muddy in the woodlot.
I'll likely clean up 'round the fire pit, dig out the chairs and whatnot (get a pic or two in the fire pit thread)... Saturday evenin' looks like it will be 'bout perfect for the first spring cook-out.

Long-range summer plans?? Well... those always seem to get side-tracked for some reason.
Still, it don't hurt to have a goal... I just ain't made one yet... we ain't quite got passed winter 'round here yet.
*

 

[Whitespider]

Oh... and Saturday mornin' I'm drivin' to the saw shop.
Need a couple rim sprockets, few cuttin' chains... and after 22 years or so it's finally time to replace the 16-inch guide bar for the trusty 026. I likely could stretch it another year or so, but I'm down to just one 16-inch chain left... a brand new, still-in-the-package, Stihl RS. Figurin' if'n I've used up all the old chains, gonna' break out the new chain plus buy a few more new, and replace the rim... just seems appropriate to slap a new guide bar on.
*

 

[sledge&wedge]

I've got 9 full-sized pin oaks down and bucked from last winter. Once I get those loaded up and hauled back to the house, I've got some to clean up around the homestead. Then I've got to get down and cut up a giant black walnut that a buddy lost about this time last year. Considering I burned about 3 cords this past winter, and my 6+ cords already drying... I'm going to be set for quite some time by the end of this summer. I hope all of you have the same fortune

 

[svk]

Oh... and Saturday mornin' I'm drivin' to the saw shop.
Need a couple rim sprockets, few cuttin' chains... and after 22 years or so it's finally time to replace the 16-inch guide bar for the trusty 026. I likely could stretch it another year or so, but I'm down to just one 16-inch chain left... a brand new, still-in-the-package, Stihl RS. Figurin' if'n I've used up all the old chains, gonna' break out the new chain plus buy a few more new, and replace the rim... just seems appropriate to slap a new guide bar on.
*

How many cords do you figure you've cut on that bar?

 

[sunfish]

I try and get all my wood done before the heat, actually before fishing season.

^^^ This!

My summer plan is to stay out of the woods... I'm done cutting for now, just need to split what's blocked up and stack it. Already have two seasons worth stacked in the dry. Time to start fishing around here...

 

[chucker]

^^^ This!

My summer plan is to stay out of the woods... I'm done cutting for now, just need to split what's blocked up and stack it. Already have two seasons worth stacked in the dry. Time to start fishing around here...

GO FISH.......

 

[jrider]

Working in the heat isn't a big deal if you are smart about it. Stay hydrated, very hydrated. This means if you plan on putting a day in when its hot out, no alcohol the day before. Makes no sense trying to play catch up because you won't ever get hydrated enough. Drink water before you even feel thirsty. Know when to take a cool down break.
I process all of my wood at my moms farm out in the field in full sun. I modified a 8' umbrella over top of the splitter so at least I'm in the shade at some point. When I start feeling sluggish, I hop in the pool for 5 minutes. The whole changing into my bathing suit, dunking in the pool, and back into work clothes takes about 10 minutes and I feel so much better. On those really hot muggy days, I may do this 3 times but dropping the core temp gives me so much more energy. On the days that it's pushing into the upper 90's get an early start and quit before noon.

 

[farmer steve]

picking sweet corn, picking peppers, picking sweet corn, picking beans, picking sweet corn,picking whatever else gets ripe,picking sweet corn. you get the idea. no wood cutting till fall unless there is some storm damage.

 

[sunfish]

Heat not so much of an issue, but Ticks & chigers are just too damn bad here to be in the woods from Late May through Sept. I start cuttin again in October.

 

[Whitespider]

How many cords do you figure you've cut on that bar?

Oh man... whatever guess I'd make would likely be way, way off.
Actually the bar is damn close to 30 years old, when I say 22 years that's just the current saw... it was used on an 024 for a few years before I traded it for the 026.

Let me tell you how that went... in the 80s I bought a near-new-lookin' 028 with a 20-inch bar from a guy who's truck had broken on the road and had it towed into our shop. He and his crew ended up spending a few days at the motel while we fixed it... by the time they paid the bill(s) they'd run out'a cash. He (they) needed gas money to get home... I'd spotted the 028 in the box and asked about it. He walked over and pulled it from the box, started it on the second pull, shut it down, set it at my feet and said, "Hundred bucks?"
So after I'd used' it for a year or two dad borrowed it one day, hooked a fence, and promptly broke the crank. I hauled it into the saw shop and traded it for another 028 wearin' the 16-inch bar, and I kept the 20-inch also. A few years later ('92 or '93) I traded the 028 power head for a lighter, brand new, first year, 026 power head... (i.e., I kept both my used 16 and 20 inch bars).

That 16-inch bar has cut a lot of wood... there ain't one single speck of paint left on it and it's worn down to the point where the drive links almost bottom-out in the groove.
It's time...
*

 

[kingOFgEEEks]

First nice spring day, I'm going out with my grandfather to drop a bunch of trees around his treestand that are ruining his view. He will mark and I will cut.

And the locust patch needs thinned out, since it's been a few years.

Between the two, I should have at least 1/2 a year's wood down in 2 days of cutting. Then to get it drug out and processed, which shouldn't be too bad. Once that gets done, I'll spend a few summer mornings with the 4-wheeler, dragging dead and leaners out, and probably a couple days with the tractor to get the bigger stuff that's accessible.

By fall I should have a bunch of wood drug out and blocked. Once it cools down in September I'll go after it all to get it split and stacked. Hope to have 10 cords ready by November.

 

[Erik B]

Like Spidey, gotta wait until the snow melts and mud goes away before getting too serious about working with wood. Have a lot blocked up that needs splitting and am hoping to get it done before it gets too hot or too busy with the garden.