Sunday, November 13, 2011

What a Year...Waiting on Winter

Hello Everyone...
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Well, it's been an interesting year for me as I now head into what I like to call "Burning Season." Today I fired up my Hardy H2 for the winter and now I begin the daily routine of feeding the furnace its compliment of logs to keep the home toasty warm.
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When I say it's been an interesting year it's mainly due to the way "life got in the way" of my woodcutting. This year Northeast Ohio had the wettest spring in our history and the rain...along with the muddy fields...kept me, my saws, and my truck at home until things dried out...which was about early July around here. Once July came the temperatures went up into the 90's and stayed there...which made things too hot to cut wood. This fall when the weather started to cool off I was hit with a significant case of pneumonia which I am still recovering from. All of these factors, along with dealing with a sick family member conspired to keep me from bringing home the season's wood needed to ensure a warm winter.
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These unfortunate events...weather, calamities, etc...are why I have always recommended to keep at least a two-year supply of wood at all times. I am pretty sure I will have enough wood to get me into the spring but I may be cutting things close. We shall see. I have to say the pneumonia has been a huge deal for me. I'm mazed how my poor lungs have been much more debilitating to my wood procurement than even when I broke my ankle a couple years ago. You can never take your health for granted and certainly these last six weeks have driven that fact home. Along with the coughing, discomfort, lack of energy, dizzy spells and near-fainting episodes I have really been sapped of my desire to cut wood...even to organize my wood shed. I am very behind...
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On a positive note for the year, I did manage to add a new toy to my wood cutting operation...a log splitter. After a lot of thought I went with a tried and true Troy Bilt 27 ton hydraulic splitter. I know it has a slow cycle but I liked that I could pull it to the work site to split up the large rounds my big Dolmar 7900 provides. It will work vertical or horizontal which can be a back saver. I haven't got to use it as much as I planned,...because of what I wrote above...but it's nice to know I have it and can pull it out of the barn when I need it. Here is a picture of my new splitter the day I brought it home this spring. Yes, it was raining that day too.
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That's all for now. I will be taking some pictures of my wood pile in a couple days to show you my progress. Ohio is supposed to have some 60 degree weather this week so I will be taking some more time to organize the wood pile. The problem now is when I get home from work its too dark outside to see.
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OWB

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