HEATING WITH WOOD - A VERY BASIC PRIMER
PART 2
We've cut down our first tree. Now we need to cut down as many trees as we think we are going to
need. Our 12" oak will produce approximately a half cord of wood, perhaps a little less. As you get
experienced you will get a better feel for how much firewood will come out of a tree. Don't forget
that the crown will contribute to that total.
TURNING TREES INTO FIREWOOD
Now we have to turn our trees into firewood. Before you start this it is advisable for you take a piece
of scrap lumber (a 1"x2" or similar is perfect) and cut it to the length desired. Sixteen inches is an
excellent length for most wood stoves. Now you might be thinking that you don't need to do that -
you can cut to the right length by eye. Up to a point you are correct but a measuring stick will help
you in two ways:
1. It will speed you up. Have your partner (remember we don't cut alone) go down the trunk with
you (on the opposite side) and measure the correct length while you cut marks in the trunk 16" apart.
You can do this a lot faster if you are not eyeballing it.
2. Your eye will fool you. You have a mental image that involves a certain length to width ratio in the
wood you are cutting. As you move around and cut up various parts of the tree you will unknowingly
adjust the length of the piece you are cutting to try to make it conform to that mental picture. The
thicker the piece you are cutting the longer you will tend to cut it. If you ever have to go back and
trim 4-6 inches off dozens of pieces of mis-cut firewood, you will become a believer, especially after
you see all the waste. If you can, paint your measuring stick a bright color, otherwise, if you drop it
on the forest floor, walk away, and then come back and look for it, you'll have a hard time finding it.
The first thing we need to do is cut all the branches away. We want to cut the branches off at the
point that they become thick enough to be firewood. This is purely subjective and up to you. You
might want a supply of thinner firewood to be used as kindling or for use in a cooking stove.
When possible, cut off branches on the opposite side of the trunk from where you are standing. The
object is to keep the trunk between you and the cutting edge. Try to avoid cutting using the end of
the bar away from you. Chainsaws have a tendency to "kick back" towards you. This tendency is
very pronounced at the tip of the saw. When the saw kicks back it will do so suddenly and
unexpectedly. If you are right handed keep your left arm stiff but not locked. Hold your saw firmly
but not in a death grip. This will tend to keep the saw away from you if it kicks. Take your time until
you get a good feel for your saw.
Cut until your movement is restricted by all the cut branches around you. At this point step back and
have your partner clear the branches away. Put them in a pile away from your work area. This will
provide a good future hiding place for small animals. Then begin cutting off the larger branches in
firewood lengths. If the tree is held up by one or more large branches leave these for later. What you
are trying to do now is whittle the tree down one piece of firewood at a time. If anything is keeping
the tree off the ground (like the branches we mentioned earlier) try not to disturb this until you have
to. It is so much easier to cut pieces off a tree when it is in the air and each piece just falls off out of
the way.
However there comes a time when you have done all the trimming you can. You now have a
somewhat reduced tree in one of two positions - flat on the ground or up in the air (supported by
branches or another tree). You attack each situation differently.
If it's up in the air we have to cut away whatever is holding it. We want to do this very carefully.
There will be one thing working against you - the still enormous weight of the tree. If you take a piece
of wood, support it at both ends and cut in the middle, the two pieces you are creating will try to
drop down into a "V" shape. When this happens the top of the cut will close. This closing will often
catch your chainsaw as tightly as any vise. Now you don't want this to happen since you have
absolutely no chance of lifting up the tree and getting the bar out. It is this binding that makes cutting
interesting (and sometimes dangerous) at this stage. There are several ways around this. 1. Rather
than simply cut down through the tree, you can cut a notch out and progressively enlarge it. This is a
fairly simple and safe way. 2. You can cut from the bottom. This is more dangerous and requires a
certain degree of experience and some strength. You are using the top of the bar and the chain is
traveling in the opposite direction from what you are accustomed. Don't try to cut fast. The saw will
move in unaccustomed ways and you will need some strength to control it. Try to use this method on
smaller wood or only in those cases where you have no other option.
We talked previously about putting another piece of wood under a tree in this situation. Select a
good size piece - 6" or so in diameter and as long as you can maneuver and place it under the
midpoint of the remaining tree. Cut away the supports and let the tree drop on the log. It will stay in
the air on the upper end (the trunk is thinner and weighs less). Now cut off all the pieces of firewood
you can. Now take a smaller piece of wood (say 3") and put it in the middle of whatever tree is
remaining. Cut the tree so it drops on your new piece of wood. Cut off as much firewood as you can.
If you do this skillfully you can cut up a tree in no time. You will be left with a relatively short, straight
piece of trunk you can maneuver. This method works so well that after a time my brother and I
would position logs where we expected the tree to fall.
However, there will come a time when you have a tree lying flat on the ground that you must cut up.
The first step is to reduce it to lengths that you can maneuver (usually you just need to be able to roll
them 180 degrees). There is no simple, easy way to do this (at least we never found one). What you
are trying to do at all costs is avoid hitting the ground with your cutting chain. This will dull it almost
immediately. Some of the things we did do include: 1. Digging a very small ditch under the point you
wish to cut through the trunk. Make certain that the trunk doesn't settle as you cut through and bind
or trap your saw. 2. Use a long strong pole (usually a branch we put aside for this purpose) as a
lever to momentarily lift the tree an inch or so as you cut through. 3. Cut at the end of the day when
you already had a fairly dull chain that was due to be sharpened. 4. Cut a 2-3 inch notch and nibble
away the bottom until you were through ( caution - this is a kickback situation)
Let's assume you now have one or more pieces of tree that you can roll at least 180 degrees. All we
have to do is cut them up and we're finished this tree. Cut through the tree about 75% of the way.
Make sure you measure as these are the pieces that usually end up too long. When you have made
all the cuts in this piece, roll it 180 degrees and finish the cuts from the other side. Cut gently. These
are larger pieces and if they jerk as you finish each cut you can bind your saw.
YEAH! We've done it. The tree is cut up. Now we only have to do 10 or 20 more. When you've
become proficient at cutting up 12" trees you can tackle 18" or even 24" ones. Remember a 24" tree
has over 4 times the wood of a 12" tree. The largest tree we ever tackled measured over 36" in
diameter (it was a man thing). Even after several years of experience we had to struggle to down it,
cut it, and split it.. We had found our limit. We went back to 24" trees.
DRYING THE WOOD.
You have now accomplished the part of the job that must be done early. The wood is in firewood
size lengths and even if not split at this point will dry fairly well over the summer. Just make sure that
all pieces are laying horizontally. Any vertical pieces will not only collect rain on the top side but also
wick up moisture on the bottom side. Firewood left vertically will not dry sufficiently to be used the
following fall. However, if you can, it is best to go ahead and split the wood now. Green wood is
easier to split than dried wood. Also, I personally wouldn't leave firewood in the woods over the
summer especially where the next wood cutter is apt to think they've struck gold when they see your
nice wood all cut to length.
The next question is: Do we split the wood in the woods or at home? I always personally preferred
to get it home. That way I could split even if I only had a spare 30 minutes. In addition, I didn't have
to worry about the wood not being there when we went back in the fall. (Summer is too hot to be
doing this stuff). We often cut 1/2 mile or more in the woods so when the time came to bring the 20
cords (5 for me, 5 for bro, 5 for Dad, and 5 for the landowner) home we mobilized like an army.
Wives, kids, parents, everyone. Each person had an assigned job and in one weekend we would
move 20 cords of mostly unsplit firewood a distance of three miles - first by tractor and then by
pickup.
SPLITTING THE WOOD
If you have selected the right firewood and right trees this will go a lot faster than if you haven't. You
objective is to reduce a round piece of wood that far too big to burn (or lift for that matter) into
usable pieces. Sounds simple to me and for the most part it is. I'm going to describe how to split a
section of tree using three methods - all manual. If you can do it manually you'll have no problems
with a hydraulic splitter as long as you're careful of your fingers.
USING AN ORDINARY AX
You should use this method on only the smallest pieces you want to split in half. If you try this on
anything substantial you will spend all your time prying the blade out of the wood. Leave this tool in
the shed.
USING A PITOCK (pea-tock)
This may have other names around the country. This looks like a very fat, wedge shaped,
single-bladed ax mounted on a straight handle. You can split a surprising amount of wood using one
of these if you know how to use it. On smaller pieces, 10" or less you can often split the piece first in
half and then the 2 halves into smaller, wood stove sized pieces. On larger pieces you can reduce the
piece by splitting sections off the side. Keep in mind that this is not a baseball bat and you are not
trying to hit a home run. It has a heavy head for a reason - that weight gives it inertia and thereby
splitting power. Let gravity and inertia do most of the work. Don't try to drive it through the wood.
Give it a boost while you guide it to where you want it to hit.
WEDGES AND A MAUL
This are the true wood splitting tools. You can buy steel wedges in most good hardware stores. Buy
at least three and preferably four. Select a maul (they come in different weights and handle lengths)
that you can control. This is far more important that size and brute power. My youngest daughter at
the age of 8 used to spend hours engaged in what she was convinced was one of life's true pleasures
- splitting wood using steel wedges and a small hand maul. (pity she had to grow up). She was
successful because she knew technique and she had learned to read the wood.
Technique
Every piece of wood has a spot where it will split easiest. Things to look for include the pattern of the
grain and small cracks in the wood. This is not something I can really explain - you have to try it and
learn for yourself. Just don't try splitting a piece of wood at dead center or your wedge will become a
giant nail. I have always had the best luck splitting a large piece in half by starting about a quarter of
the way in. The wedge is lined up with a line through the blade bisecting the center of the piece
(where the smallest tree ring is). When you have decided whether to try splitting the piece in half or to
try splitting off a piece from the side and you've selected the spot for your first strike, line the wedge
up and use the maul to hit it lightly to just get it started. Be sure to wear gloves. Wedges quickly
develop a blossom on the top and pieces of the steel flake off in razor sharp pieces. Wear boots,
preferably steel toed ones. Despite your best efforts, pieces of wood and wedges ARE going to fly
through the air and pieces of wood ARE going to fall on your toes. Be prepared - you can't prevent
it.
Now strike the wedge with the maul. Again don't try to kill it. You will just cause accidents. Let the
weight and inertia do the work. You will also wear yourself out. Remember my 8 year old splitting
wood with a 3lb maul.
Reduce the log to firewood a piece at a time. If your wedge gets stuck (and sometimes it will - that's
why you bought at least three) don't panic. Line up a second wedge a distance away and drive it.
Knowing where to put that second wedge is really something that comes with experience. If that
wedge becomes stuck (and sometimes it will) again don't panic. However you should reassess how
you are attacking this piece of wood. You might need to drive the next wedge from the side or
bottom or you might need to split this piece from the side a piece at a time. You have to decide.
WARNING: NEVER, EVER TRY TO FREE A STUCK WEDGE WITH A CHAINSAW. A
STEEL CHAIN HITTING A STEEL WEDGE CAN PRODUCE FATAL RESULTS.
Before you get discouraged reading this, you should be aware that most pieces of firewood split
cleanly and fairly easily. Those that give you a great deal of trouble are the ones containing knots.
Some wood cutters elect to leave those pieces containing large knots - like those where 2 or 3 major
branches converge- in the woods to become compost. I have always brought them home. Partly
because I am too stubborn but also because the wood in these pieces is incredibly dense. (and
because we often rent a hydraulic splitter).
STACKING YOUR FIREWOOD TO DRY
There are really only two important things to remember:
1. Keep it off the ground. I generally use lengths of pressure treated wood to stack my wood on but
almost anything will do. Remember that regular lumber used for this purpose will rot away in a year
or two (as will your firewood if it's on the ground).
2. Keep it covered. If you don't cover your wood, every time it rains the wood will soak up water
like a sponge - thereby negating all the nice drying it just did. I use cheap blue poly tarps that cost a
couple of dollars at Home Depot. They will last for one season. Then the sun will destroy them and
you replace them. I've tried the heavy duty tarps (both silver and brown). They cost twice as much
and last for two seasons. Take your pick.. How you actually stack your wood is up to you, just don't
stack it next to your house (termites, carpenter ants, etc) Some people stack it between trees - that's
okay. I like a neat compact pile so I begin a row by stacking the wood in a crisscross pattern (like
you build a log cabin) and I make the pile higher in the middle than at the ends. This helps water to
run off. In winter you don't want a frozen lake weighing several hundred pounds sitting on top your
wood pile. Make sure there are no sharp pieces sticking up or they will quickly tear a hole in your $3
tarp.
Okay. You've got your firewood cut down, it's home, split, and stacked. Here's the fun part. Get a
beverage of your choice, sit on your porch and watch it dry. Take it easy - you've earned it.
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