On Splitting More Wood

I seem determined to lay up a winter's worth of wood as quickly as possible.  This morning about 8:30 (while I could still work in the shade) I got busy again splitting the quartered chunks left by Ed and Walt.  Four hours later I'd added significantly to the supply, as the photos below will show.

It's well to remember how I got to this place.  In late July last year Lot 4 was cleared of most of its trees in order to make room for construction.  Tom was remarkably accurate with his chainsaw, because almost all the logs are about 19 inches in length (21 inches is the maximum for most stoves).  These logs were piled along the boundary with Lot 5, where they sat through the winter.  Then, a few weeks ago, I arranged with Ed and Walt to split the wood.  They have worked two Saturdays, and will be here again next weekend to finish.

July 2010: Tom chainsaws his way through another tree.

July 2011: Ed and Walt set up their log splitter as they
prepare to process Tom's pile of logs.

In early July I invested in my little SpeeCo 5-Tom electric splitter, and by mid-month I'd given it a test drive.  But then other tasks took priority.  Now I'm back at it, and making progress.

The electric splitter... worth its weight in gold!
And it's pretty heavy!

Mid-July: The results of my first couple days of splitting.

As it happens, nicely spaced cedar trees have provided me a way to stack the split firewood in neat groupings.  But I'm quickly exhausting the "bins" that natures has provided.

This morning, as I started work...

...and at about 12:30, when I called it quits.

Splitting wood is certainly good exercise.  Hauling the quartered logs to the splitter, lifting these chunks onto the machine, and then stacking the split wood, and all the associated lifting, bending, etc., is as good an exercise routine as one could wish for.  And better now than in the cold of late autumn! •••