Homesteader's Guide on How to Safely Gather Firewood, Reforestation, Emerald Ash Boring Beetle

With the cold weather approaching it's time to gather firewood. We have used wood as our main source of heat for the past 20 years or so. Getting fire wood for the forthcoming cold weather can be a daunting task, but it is something that I really enjoy doing.
When living in New Jersey we would need to have about 10 cords of wood to heat our home. Well, with the kids out on their own now, and being retired and living on the farm for the past several years, four cords of wood now does the job.

What is a cord of wood?
A cord of wood should stack out at 4 ft wide x 4 ft high x 8 ft long.
The two stacks in the following pictures are about four cords of wood.


This is the Emerald Ash Boring Beetle. Ash borer beetles arrived in North America around 2003 on cargo ships and planes arriving from Asia, hidden in packing crates made from ash wood.

Emerald Ash borer, is an invasive beetle whose larvae feed on the inner bark of ash trees. This disrupts water and nutrient distribution, contributing to the tree's demise.

Having large stands of Ash on our farm, and with our area being identified with this destructive beetle, most farmers are harvesting their Ash trees before they have no value. The trees that you see in this photo are Ash trees. These trees will account for about 95% of this year's firewood.

We will mill some of the larger bolts of wood for different projects around the farm.

As these trees are removed, saplings will be planted. In an effort to revitalize our little piece of forest, over the past 12 years we have planted several hundred Black Walnut, Black Cherry, and Poplar trees. With the area that was cleared this year we will continue to replace the trees we have taken down.

For those of you that may be new at yelling TIMBER, practicing safety and proper techniques for dropping trees will keep you safe and out of harms way. The very first thing you want to do is determine which way the tree may be leaning.
Once you have established the lean of the tree, there are three cuts that will be made to safely drop the tree in the desired direction. The first cut is made at a comfortable height, parallel to the ground, on the side of the tree in the direction that it will fall. This cut goes about 60% of the way through the diameter of the tree.

The 2nd cut is made at a downward angle, connecting the horizontal cut to the angle cut.

Upon finishing the 2nd cut , a wedged piece of wood should be able to be slipped out of the trunk of the tree.
As the tree falls in the direction of the cutout wedge, the gap created by removing the wedge will allow the tree to fall freely.

The final cut is made on the back side of the tree. It's also made at a downward angle. This cut is made until you see the cut start to open as the tree starts to fall.
Once you see the gap in this cut start to open, stand back and watch as the tree falls to the ground.

TIMBER

With the tree safely on the ground, it's time to drag the tree to an area where you will cut it into rounds.

To drag the fallen trees out of the woods we will use our quad. The blue handled tool you see in this picture is a cant. This tool gives you the leverage to move the log with very little effort.

Cutting the fallen tree into manageable pieces can be a little tricky. More times then not, the fallen tree will lay on the ground with voids under part of it. This is where you want to cut. Before cutting, you want to place a couple of smaller logs under this area so that as you make your cut your saw doesn't bind. This will also allow you the room to work the chain under the tree.

The placement of the chain is critical. This picture shows the hook of the chain facing the wrong direction. Attaching the chain in this fashion will have you jumping on and off of your machine to reattach it to the log.

Proper placement of the chain will allow the chain to be pulled through the larger hook, tightening its grip on the log.

A chain that is used to pull bolts of timber must have two different size hooks on it. One hook should be larger so that the chain can slide through the hook to choke off the timber. The other hook, pictured here, must be smaller so that it will not slide as you start to pull the chain.

With the bolt moved to the area where the tree will be cut into log lengths, you're ready to get busy.

As is the case with all jobs, the right tool for the job is paramount. Having different size chainsaws will not only save you a lot of effort, it will keep you safe. The saw in this picture has a 24" bar, and is used to cut the timber into log lengths. A smaller saw, one with a 14" bar is used to trim all of the branches from the tree. This saw only weighs 9 lbs and is easy to maneuver while removing the branches. Using the larger saw to remove the branches can be dangerous as the weight of the saw can become tiresome, making it more likely that you will make a mistake.

With the cost of new blades for a chainsaw ranging in price fro $40.00 to $26.00, you will want to keep the chain from running into the ground. This can be done by keeping your saw parallel to the ground as you cut the log.

I make all of these cuts first, and then finish the cut after rolling the log with the cant.

Finishing off the cut by cutting from the underside will give you one continuous cut. This practice should only be performed after you have gained experience with your saw. This cut needs to be made with the saw running as you place it into the cut. Since you are cutting from the bottom up, the saw has a very good chance of kicking up towards your face as you lay the saw into the existing cut. Not a recommended procedure for beginners.

Cutting from the top is much safer, and until you have gained the experience necessary to bottom cut, use this method.

With all of the wood cut into log lengths it's time to split.

As mentioned before, 95% of our firewood for this year will be Ash. The beauty of burning Ash is that it's the only hardwood that can literally be cut and burned the same day. All other hardwoods need to be cut a year in advance before burning. This time is needed to allow the resins in the wood to dry.
The wood in this picture is the only tree that we dropped that was not an Ash, it is a Hard Maple.
This maple was dropped about six months ago, and will be used last, probably around April.

The beauty of providing one's own heat via firewood, is the fact that it will warm you up multiple times, and that's before you even

Let's just count how many times this piece of firewood has already warmed me to my core.

1. While dropping
2. dragging out
3. cutting into stove lengths
4. Stacking the lengths for splitting
5. splitting
6. load in wagon for transport
7. stack outdoors
8. stack inside

Besides these bonus BTUs you get from collecting firewood, you stretch and bend, lift and hoist, grasp and tear, pivot and rotate, and generally this will get, or keep you in pretty good physical condition.

Lets get splitting.

Splitting and stacking the 4 cords of firewood took two rather short days, about 16 hours in total.

With a good load ready to travel, it's back to the house. 👍

There are just a couple of items I would like to address before letting you go. To stay safe, and avoid serious injury or possible even

here are just a few of the more important safety habits you will want to foster.

• Maintain your chainsaw, always making sure the break on the saw is working.
• Prior to cutting tree down, look up to make sure there are no widow makers above you.
• Have an exit route away from the base of tree you are taking down.
• Keep the chain properly adjusted on the bar.
  If it is hanging from the bar in this fashion, it needs to be tightened.
  A lose chain can fly off of the bar, resulting in serious injuries.

The adjustment screw on the STHIL chainsaw can be found right here.
After loosening the two bolts, simply turn it clockwise to tighten.

• Wear protective head gear, safety glasses and ear protection.

BRING IT ON OLD MAN WINTER, WE'RE READY!
GOT FIREWOOD TO MAKE IT TROPICAL INSIDE.

GOT FIREWOOD FOR OUTDOOR FIRES

GOT FIREWOOD FOR MAKING THE MAPLE SYRUP

Hope you enjoyed, and possible picked up a few things you may be able to use in the future.