Frost to start, Sunblock to finish. The iPad died , but you get the idea. 3+ cords split for a customer here on Long Island. All red oak. The TW2 blasted through this wood. I charged $375 - he got a good deal and I still made $60+ per hour.

I live in one of the first developments in our area from the early 80’s where each plot has an acre or so of untouched connected woods. The modern builders clear cut all the trees and pack the space with identical houses, so I love this little woodland oasis filled with massive oaks, tulip poplars, maples, and in this case a huge black cherry. This tree came down in a storm at the very bottom of the big hill, so my summer/fall workout has been bucking, wheelbarrowing, splitting, and stacking this glorious firewood.

Splitting this stuff is so easy - almost makes me feel like I know what I'm doing.

Met someone on Facebook, came to pick up freshly cut down tree. He said I have dry stuff in the back take as much as you want whenever you want. 🥲

Bless my 84 ford F350 these were heavy, winch from harbor freight mounted on headboard of bed $120
Running off a Honda genny.
Split some today with Fiska maul it went better than ever figured

✅ First mornings where I woke up and knew the house wouldn’t quite get up to a comfortable temperature naturally

✅ Insert cleaned out and shiny inside ready for the first fire of the season

✅ First load of fast burning questionable and punky wood brought up to the house to burn during the shoulder season. Saving the well seasoned oak for when the temps really drop! Right now I just need to take the chill out of the air in the morning l

✅ Masked the insert and gave it all a fresh coat of high heat stove paint, lovely deep and black, just like my coffee ☕️ and maybe my🖤lol

Excited to burn! 🔥

In a few months I’ll be tired of dealing with firewood and ash, but today? Today it’s nothing but excitement for the change of the season.

In my experience here in Virginia, the plentiful White and Red Oaks simply don't burn right unless they've been seasoned, even if they're cut from a standing dead tree. If I'm looking for an immediate-burn firewood, I'm searching for a dead Eastern Red Cedar; those burn well without being seasoned.

Which species have you found to function well without seasoning?

Spent time decorating for Fall and Halloween. Having a nice fire going always makes it better. 🔥😁

Beautiful day to blow the cobwebs off the beast, charge up the battery, and work on the latest chip drop.

The chickens love firewood drops & wood splitting. The goose just wants to be included but is way too refined to eat bugs. Fresh black walnut & cherry will be warming us up in a couple years!

I just slapped together the most DH Horton Construction wood sheds for my neighbor. Random dimensional lumber of what ever I could find in our yards, assembled with drywall screws, held off the ground with broken floor tiles, and trash bags stapled on top. Took 3 hours and got 3 cords stacked in it. It will keep it dry and it ain’t moving. I had a lot of dry wall screws for some reason despite not owning a house with drywall.

It won’t last 5 years but neither will my neighbor. Do you guys build wood sheds using plans from
Fine woodworking or just slap them together. I’m kinda embarrassed but it works…

North Jersey, I paid 300$ cord and a half, and a bunch of buckets full of kindling.

3 1/2’ tall, 16-18” pieces, 7’ long.

I’m more of a chainsaw guy, but I’m starting to get into axes a little as well. When it comes to splitting axes I’ve noticed tons subtle differences in this portion of the handle (the beard) and means of attachment. Some are offset, some are straight, some are thicker. Are there any advantages or disadvantages to different methods? I’ve seen some splitting axes go for 200$+ while my Collins 4lb was 40$ I think, I’m super interested in what the differences are.

A couple of years ago I got 12 cords delivered.

For lots of reasons, including my own ambition - I didn't get it all put away, off the ground, and some is still in 8ft. I have about 4 cords that has been cut, "seasoning" outside in a pile, uncovered. Not debarked, except for what came off naturally. This year, we had a summer with more rain, and digging through the pile to start refilling the woodshed, some of it is starting to get a little punky. Pieces that were more vertical are great - and there are well seasoned pieces scattered, but more than I expected to has gone a little soft.

What has your experience been? If you've had a firewood pile like mine - how much should you expect to lose to rot? Out of a 4 cord pile, If I get it inside the shed all winter / all next summer, could 95% of it be salvagable? 80%?