Firewood

26 comments

Muddywalters was asking about our log pile. I’ll remove the blog once he’s read it, as it’s not really ‘gardening’. Update Dec. 11: OK, due to much appreciated pressure from GoY members, I won’t !!
A lot of Nova Scotians depend on their own wood lots for firewood. We have mostly spruce on ours, which does not provide a lot of heat, and also coats the chimney with creosote, which can catch fire.
Thus we buy in 8-ft logs of hardwood – birch, oak, maple, beech, etc. It seems so wasteful, but no-one is processing the wood for other uses such as furniture, except it seems, Patrick. There are usually several large, straight boles amongst the pile, and when he’s splitting for firewood, he puts those to one side for milling. Then the smaller or twisted boles are sawn into 16" lengths and split for the wood furnace, which is what heats our big house.
The milled wood is air-dried outdoors and then indoors (and kiln dried by others if necessary) and then used for furniture-making.
Here’s the process in photos.

Fuel delivery

The lumberjack’s assistant

Selecting the larger logs for milling into boards

The portable mill for sawing the large logs into boards – with lots of help from neighbours

One of the resulting stacks of boards

The lumber is used for such projects as enlarging our dining table to accommodate all our friends

Here’s the lumberjack, all kitted out in his safety gear

After chainsawing the thinner logs into 16" lengths, they are split with a mechanical woodsplitter

A finished stack of firewood logs – enough to last 2 years

So that’s about it! We do it once every 2 years, although as of next spring we may start taking half a load each year, so it’s not such an onerous task.

10 Dec, 2009
19 likes

Comments

Muddywalters

Elke, thank you so much. That was really interesting. Could I ask you to leave it on site 'til the end of the day, as I would like to email a link to a 'woodfiend' friend of mine. Thanks again. Brilliant. :~))

10 Dec, 2009

Terratoonie

Elke.... Please keep this blog on GoY....
Lots of members will love to see it....
Thank you :o)

10 Dec, 2009

Genuisscuffy

I quite enjoyed it too!!! Loved your table - I bet the wood smells lovely.

10 Dec, 2009

Louise1

Yes, DO leave it.
After all, it 'is' garden related and very much of interest.

10 Dec, 2009

Elke

OK, as long as it's OK with the administrators! Thanks for the positive feedback!

10 Dec, 2009

Jacque

Wondeful Blog Elke & Perfect 4 The Tree Page On Goypedia :)

10 Dec, 2009

Gilli

Great blog Elke....please leave it on.
Nice to have your own mill. Your lumberjack does lovely work.....love your table.
Just one thing....and I hope you don't take this the wrong way....Please ask your Patrick to get himself some Kevlar chaps too....As a chainsaw mechanic, I know so many loggers who have been saved some awful injuries by wearing their chaps...and I know some that haven't worn them and regretted it too. I'm not meaning to offend...I just want him to be safe. :o)

10 Dec, 2009

Elke

Oh I agree, Gilli - the reason he has all this gear was because of a dreadful accident he had a couple of weeks prior when the chain flew off his old machine and caught him across the face. He had 40 stitches, but luckily his eye suffered no damage, not even the eyelid muscles. Perhaps I should add a horror photo!
He has actually got chainsaw pants on in the photo, the ones with the mesh layer inside that, and has some steel-capped boots, although I see he hasn't got those on in the photo (taken to reassure his mum!!). And he bought a new saw with a safety brake on it! He has learned his lesson, and is now a lot more careful. Thanks for pointing it out though, safety is very important!

10 Dec, 2009

Pamg

we have icons now at the side of the blogs , if you look at Peter's on 9th Dec it explains it all and means that blogs like yours are general blogs(sounds like dad's army :~)

10 Dec, 2009

Gee19

Very interesting blog and what a lovely, lovely table. It's good to see processes like this, thank you.

10 Dec, 2009

Drc726

Thats an interesting blog.

10 Dec, 2009

Tulsalady26

That was really interesting reading please don't remove it.I love the table.

10 Dec, 2009

Dorjac

Thanks Pam for telling us about the icon indicating blog content. A really interesting blog. The table looks lovely..

10 Dec, 2009

Mavisc52

Very interesting blog It is a nice table.

10 Dec, 2009

Bonkersbon

Agree with all the above.Please leave this lovely blog where it is ! x

10 Dec, 2009

Sanbaz

enjoyed reading your blog, alot of hard work for you there, we watch loggers on tv which is about the lumber jacks in canada and the hard work they do bringing trees down in the cold weather, and we also watch the ice road truckers to which is amazing running those heavy trucks over the ice roads before they melt, both dangerous jobs over there,

10 Dec, 2009

Spritzhenry

That's interesting for us, Elke - please leave it! :-)))

10 Dec, 2009

Elke

OK, will do! Thanks for all the positive feedback, everyone!

10 Dec, 2009

Lincslass

Its good to read and see all your blogs Elke and I also found this one particularly interesting, I agree it looks like very hard work and yes a lovely table........

10 Dec, 2009

Elke

On a brisk, sunny day in early spring, it's actually very pleasurable to be out there stacking logs. And let's face it, the view makes it even better. Once it gets warm, towards the end of May, it's harder to work as you quickly get overheated. Good exercise too, for someone like me with a desk job! I'll pass on the compliments about the table. You should see his Windsor chairs...

10 Dec, 2009

Nariz

Very interesting blog! I love to hear what people from all over the world do about various 'usual' things that are so 'un-usual' to many members. I have to say - your wood stack looks far more interesting than our little heap on our patio. We've learnt to bang each log on the ground before we bring it in for the fire to dislodge any wildlife that may be lurking and we've saved many a ladybird, spider, beetle and lizard from a nasty demise!

11 Dec, 2009

Elke

We do the same, Nariz, especially as it's stored in the basement for a while before burning, and we don't want to encourage wildlife down there!

11 Dec, 2009

Gee19

Yes, please, I'd love to see the windsor chairs :)

11 Dec, 2009

Weeding

wow, this is really great. Glad it's not going to be chivvied off the site. It belongs!

11 Dec, 2009