While I'm Waiting for Things to Freeze I cut Firewood

g_man · January 07, 2011, 05:55:52 PM

When will we get some normal Jan temps so things will freeze up. I have some wet ground to cross to get to some fir I started cutting in Sept. Then it started to rain, the leaves came off, and everything turned to swamp, so I quit. It seems like with the little snow we have the ground should be solid by now? Is anyone in the NE froze in yet ?
In the mean time I have been cutting firewood on drier ground.

bill m · January 07, 2011, 06:01:54 PM

My skid roads are frozen hard but under the snow pack only about 2 or 3 inches of frost.

chevytaHOE5674 · January 07, 2011, 06:41:52 PM

Snow on top will insulate and allow the ground to thaw out. If you want to keep ground frozen you have to keep pushing the snow off.

Ed_K · January 07, 2011, 06:57:34 PM

I have a wet area to cross that i put hemlock logs 12' wide across.Every time i cut a new tree i skid the top into the wet spot and delimb and use the pole to stuff into open spots in the road.It'll be a good road once we get some snow and pack in.

thecfarm · January 07, 2011, 11:46:59 PM

Can you drive through this wet area with no load? Snow cover will keep the ground from freezing,acts as a insulator. If you can drive through it a few times and pack the snow down,that should drive the frost into the ground.Than the more you use it,the harder it will get.I'm not froze in yet. You say a wet area.I have a bog that will not freeze at all.I cut in it all last winter and kept sinking into the holes. I can not drive on it with my tractor without making another road,which is not worth it to me.

g_man · January 08, 2011, 07:45:34 AM

Its not a bog but a very seepy side hill. During deer season I couldnt get in there without rutting it up enough to drag bottom where it was fine in Sept. I have been packing and dragging it with the atv and then use the tractor the next time as far as I can. Ive gained alot. There is only one more 50 foot section that is a problem. When it freezes it humps up with a 1 to2 inch frozen crust which collapses into the mud when I go over it with the atv. Then the crust chunks thaw out in the mud. Must be warm mud. I keep thing a couple -20F nights and I can get in with the tractor and drag some tops back to fill it.

dsgsr · January 08, 2011, 01:03:15 PM

Boy, wish we could have a few -20 nights. I'm in the same situation, only frozen where it's been cleared of snow. Guess I'll have too start shoveling the forest out.

David

tonto · January 08, 2011, 01:10:51 PM

Before our day after x-mas blizzard, we had 18" frost. Now after the 2 storms we have about 6" of frost. Tonto.

chevytaHOE5674 · January 08, 2011, 01:25:43 PM

Winter is when a dozer is very handy in the woods. You can push the snow off the top of wet areas so that they can freeze down without sinking the machine out of sight.

I've been clearing a tag alder thicket and I just take the dozer and push the snow off my main "road" into the area and it is frozen like a highway now.

SwampDonkey · January 09, 2011, 05:51:03 AM

Woods haven't froze much here. Fields are froze a little, no snow when the wind blows it all off. Water puddles freeze, but springs stay open. Never been real cold yet. Was 36 F yesterday and snow melting in the driveway. :

barbender · January 09, 2011, 03:16:57 PM

dsgsr, you can have our portion of -20° nights, I've had my fill already :

If it isn't frozen up here yet, it's not going to unless you pack it down or get the snow off of it. Some bogs are pretty tough to get to freeze, I don't know if the tannin in the water lowers the freeze point some, but I think there is more movement of the water under these bogs than one realizes. Some just refuse to freeze, there must be some kind of current or circulation that keeps warm water coming to the surface.

g_man · January 13, 2011, 07:52:42 PM

Well it has not been that cold here. Teens at nite. But Tuesday afternoon things were finially froze enough so I could get my little tractor in the woods. We got 8" to 10" of snow yesterday so I scraped it off today to keep things froze - hopefully. I'm going to start cutting tomorrow if things go to plan.

Here is a section of corduroy I put in last summer so I could get in here.

Hope you all are enjoying the snow.

bill m · January 18, 2011, 06:42:23 PM

g_man, how is the cutting going for you? Have the woods froze up enough so you can work? These are some pictures of the job I just finished for this year.

All red oak

Getting ready to dig out my next victim. I am moving my equipment to alford tomorrow for my next job.

SwampDonkey · January 18, 2011, 07:01:44 PM

First real cold is going to hit this weekend. We are in a little storm tonight and another for Friday. Nothing blockbuster though.

g_man · January 20, 2011, 05:56:30 PM

Things are frozen up tight now. I started working on my fir stand the end of last week. First day I tore a valve stem out of the front tire. Limped home. Had to bring the wheel down cellar and put it next to the wood stove to get the bead reseated. Then I spent a day pulling out some white birch blow downs from this fall that were laying across my winching path for the fir. Yesterday I was dragging my rear blade down my skid road to clear some of the 7" of snow we got on tuesday and I broke a weld on it. Today every thing went smooth. One of the smoothest days I ever had in the woods so hopefully I'm in a groove now. But I work one day at a time like everyone else. Just on a smaller scale.
That looks like some nice oak Bill.

Coon · January 20, 2011, 06:21:09 PM

Ha Ha some of you guys are wishing for colder weather to freeze things up so you can work in the bush, well for us.... we are waiting for it to warm up a little and the wind to calm down a bit here on the prairies so we can get to work in the bush. Today it is -32C with high winds and a visibility of about 100-150 yards. :D :D I guess this flat spot on my butt will just get a little big and more permanent. :D :D I hate this sitting around. >:( We also have above normal snow accumulation for the winter no place for the water to run this spring either.... guess I need a bigger boat. ;D :D

Brad.

SwampDonkey · January 20, 2011, 07:55:23 PM

Quote from: Coon on January 20, 2011, 06:21:09 PM
we are waiting for it to warm up a little and the wind to calm down a bit here on the prairies so we can get to work in the bush. Today it is -32C with high winds and a visibility of about 100-150 yards. :D :D

Oh, come on now. Dad used to like to go to the woods day after Christmas. ;D In a normal winter, lots of snow, wind, and no more than 10F for a High, but a good many -25F's in the mornings and the old gas tree farmer always started right up. Never could cross a creek even in the coldest to get to 100 acres on the other side. Wasn't about to build any roads. ;D