Ten-Year Woodpile

Ed and Walt returned yesterday to split the last of my wood into chunks I can handle on my own.  I expected them a couple weekends ago, but sadly, their father passed away after a long illness.  May his soul, and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

The guys showed up at about 8:00 and were finished by 12:30.  The area they worked on slopes off toward the road, creating a rather large hole.  Thus what seemed a small pile of logs turned out to be surprisingly large.  They kept pulling out one log after another from this depression in the ground.  Many of these were "butt logs" up to 3 feet in diameter.  These large logs had to be split by hand first, using a maul and wedge.  The large chunks were then lifted onto their splitter and turned into smaller chunks.

Ed splits a large log using an axe and wedge.

Walt (left) and Ed split a large chunk into smaller chunks.

These smaller chunks are then split again.  This is hard
physical labor, but they seem to enjoy it.

Now all my wood has been reduced to a size I can handle without assistance.  And I have a hobby that will keep me busy for several years!  You can see how much wood I have to process in the photo below.  Friends Glen and Wendy, who live in the Kalamazoo area, dropped by yesterday on their way to see Glen's brother in Rogers City.  As they left I asked them to pose against the woodpile to help indicate the supply of "raw" wood I have to work through.  I won't know my actual rate of consumption until I fire up the stove this winter.  However, I think I have enough wood to keep me splitting and burning for at least seven years, and perhaps a decade!

Wendy and Glen give some perspective to my new
hobby of processing firewood.

The couple have a wood burning stove and were most impressed by my firewood supply!  They also showed lively interest in the electric log splitter. •••