Tips for making a log store?

reply to post by intergalactic fire


You can't do any delimming work with a maul, you'd likely get your leg gashed.
Mauls are really just for harder splitting jobs that the heft of the ax can;t handle.
A Forest ax is shorter and lighter than one for splitting work but the function is the same.

A collection of axes and saws is always helpful for splitting wood.
I have an Estwing hatchet for trimming small branches.
Gransfor Bruks makes excellent axes for reasonable prices.
Whatever you get, you want it to last for years...so don't be cheap.

Asktheanimals has spot on advice.
Especially with the steel toe boots...a major plus!
Although I use meta-tarsal boots for even more coverage.
But it's all personal preference...just alot of hard work.
There's not much more to it than that.

Once you start, year after year it becomes apparent how hard living was before conveniences.
Electricity and furnaces have made things much easier...and people much lazier...!
But even I enjoy the comfort of turning a furnace on instead of splitting wood.

reply to post by CX


What we need to fire two houses:



And a big circular saw (10kW).

We cut the trees, cut them in 1m pieces, then tow them to the splitter with a tractor or the cable winch, split it and bring it to the storage place. Then after sitting there for a time, we cut them in 33cm logs and store it inside.
No need to work hard or split them by hand. We have to fire two houses and we make our hot water with it.

But you need equipment such as a tractor and a dumper, the wood splitter and the big saw.

Thanks again for all the great replies, most helpful as usual you all are.

I've just bought this book too, "The Wood Fire Handbook", actualy as a present for a friend, but i will be getting one for myself, it will make great reading and has lots of interesting info from someone who has lived the life all their life.

'Fire warms, consoles, and touches the very hearts of us, like a loving, worldly-wise relative' - Vincent Thurkettle

The Wood Fire Handbook will teach you the best way to approach wood fires in a way that suits your lifestyle, resources and surroundings.This beautifully detailed book is a practical guide to everything you need to know about creating the perfect wood fire, indoors or out.

Discover the wider benefits of the wood fire lifestyle, from improving your fireplace to improving your social capital and allow yourself to be inspired to collect your own fuel and build fires for many practical purposes, whether for cooking, for heating or otherwise.

The Wood Fire Handbook will teach you:

The best types of wood to burn, from Alder to Hawthorn
How to split logs and chop wood safely and economically
How to store and season your firewood
Creating the perfect woodstore, as practical as it is beautiful
How to lay and tend a fire, from lighting to clearing the ashes
Choosing wood for scent, such as spicy Bay wood, to the homely scent of Ash, or sweet Fruitwood
Cooking on an open fire
Campfire styles, tools, and safety

Illustrated with a mix of line drawings and evocative photographs, this beautifully crafted book is a great practical handbook for the wood fire experienced and newcomer alike.

The Wood Fire Handbook

Heres the author....seems like a nice guy with a lot of knowledge....sort of person i'd happily share a cuppa round the fire with....



I received a copy of this the other day, and it is a great book. Solid in it's build, and packed with great info.

CX.

We have a similar structure that we built for our woodshed.
The one change to ours is that we enclosed the side as well, and only left one panel off as a doorway.
We also sloped the roof toward the back so the snow would shed away from our workspace, but that all depends on the amount of snowfall in your area.

We built it for free with large shipping pallets. They were perfect hardwood panels, they have airflow everywhere and the snow even falls down through the floor when we enter to get wood. We even had some old metal roofing that someone had given us. I guess we bought a box of nails, so the project wasn't totally free, but pretty close for a shed that holds 7 cords of wood!

One other thing that I have noticed with wood cutting tools is that the secondhand tools have lasted longer for us. I bought a maul and an axe at a secondhand store when we got our woodstove.
My husband saw a new one that he thought he would like better that he picked up, and we have bought 4 additional replacements since then. The old maul and axe are still in solid use and I think he finally gave up on his fiberglass handles and made in china heads.

reply to post by woodsmom


I've been looking at better quality tools recently, i've heard lots of the same as what you've just said.

I do have an old axe a friend and tree surgeon gave me to clean up and sharpen, but i'm also looking at the Gransfors Bruks axes, they seem to have a good reputation. Just picked myself up a Lansky puck and honing oil, i have found it's so much better for the larger blades.

CX.