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I wrote an article the other week about harvesting some trees and today I finally felt like splitting a few pieces to start the seasoning process. For those that don’t know, when I refer to “seasoning”, I basically mean to be dried out and ready to burn inside my woodstove. Burning “green” or wet wood is not only difficult but it can also build up creosote inside of your chimney which could lead to a chimney fire.

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If you ask two different people how long it takes to season a certain wood, you will usually get two different answers. I think it all depends on how big and old the tree is, of course the type of wood, water content, how it’s cut, the actual weather when it’s harvested, whether you split it or not, where and how you stack it. This wood that I have here is really green, soft maple but no bigger than it is and where and how it’s stacked, it should be fine to burn sometime shortly after the New Year. I know some would say these are the perfect size logs to burn, but my woodstove has a small door which makes it aggravating when trying to put larger pieces inside. Plus, I wanted to split them so they can be drying out quicker. I normally have my wood pile already stocked up by now but I had a few extra speedbumps this year that slowed me down along the way.

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Here is some really good and dried scrap that I will use for kindling and getting my fires started. I will take my saw and cut these in to small pieces and even split them… they will be perfect!

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Here is some leftover wood from last year that will be burned first.
I prefer to burn Oak because it’s the most efficient to heat with. Why is that, Mr. Bandit? Glad you asked! Oak is a really dense wood and therefor burns hotter than other types of wood and takes longer to burn up. I burn all different kinds of wood, I’m not picky and I hate to see wood just lie on the ground and rot. Sure, it creates compost and blah, blah, blah but I would rather make better use out of a fallen tree like make something out of it or heat a home with it.

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Speaking of using different woods to heat with, do you use Pine, Bandit? I heard that you’re not supposed to burn Pine in a woodstove. I’m so glad that you asked that question, Safety Sally! Here again, if you ask two different people this question, you will probably get two different answers. In my OPINION, I think it is perfectly fine to burn pine as long as it is dried very well. People say that pine creates a lot of creosote but the other people say that it’s the moisture in the wood that creates the creosote. So I tend to believe the other people and burn whatever just as long as it’s good and dry! I routinely clean my chimney and every time I do, it looks as clean as a chimney could be. Before and after each season, I also use a creosote log to treat the flu and I haven’t had any problems yet…Knock on wood, pun fully intended!
 
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**Notice the small sliver of curled wood?**
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Here is a picture of the tools of the trade that I use while splitting wood. Today I didn’t use all of these axes but I wanted to give them some camera time anyway. I like using this 10 pound splitting maul; it does a good job and will give you a good workout. I like using the red handle axe for a beat around axe so I don’t have to worry much about it. I know that sounds stupid but when I was young and stupid I use to live on a farm and I remember breaking about 3 axe handles in a row because I was reckless with it. Once I saw they made an axe with a polymer handle, I bought it and never looked back, until I discovered Gransfors Bruks that is! Here is where some of you might call me an idiot. Gransfors Bruks is high end hatchet/axe manufacturer. They’ve been in business for over 100 years with only 32 people that export to 30 different countries!
Each product may vary just ever so slightly when it comes to the quality and feel of the axes because much depends on the experience and skill of the individual craftsman. Each axe is signed with the smith’s initials as a guarantee of quality. You can see the initials on the heads of both of mine and I could tell a difference also. The one made by MM was sharper out of the box. Make no mistake; both of these tools were EXTREMELY and DANGEROUSLY sharp out of the box. It was just one had a finer edge to it. You really have to have a profound respect for these tools guys. If you were to take the smallest one out of its sheath and just drop it straight down, I have no doubt that it would chop your toes off through your shoes via gravity alone. Here is where some of you will call me stupid. The small hatchet costs around $145.00 USD and the next size up cost me $190.00 USD! And I don’t have the full sized one yet lol! But if you go to their website and read what they’re all about and see how much pride they put in to their product, you will be able to better understand the price. And if you was to ever use one, you would definitely see the quality and have a respect for it that you just can’t get from something that came from a big box store. I can’t help it, I like quality when I can afford it.

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So anyways, this is about all the work I got done today. I know it’s not much, but I just have got over a little spell where I wasn’t feeling so hot. Hopefully I can get back at it tomorrow and get some more accomplished. I would like to get a couple of cords of wood for the season. Before I let ya go, I will tell ya how much a cord of wood is because I know damn well some of you youngsters and city folk don’t know lol. One cord of wood is a stack 8’x4’x4’.
 
You guys have a great day!
All photos belong to me!