Today is the twenty sixth of July. As summer races along and autumn being just round the corner I decided to finally get the firewood situation under control for the next couple years. Along with help from Hannah and fin, I have got myself in good standing.
The first firewood to get lopped was the left overs of the lop and top from the oak thinning’s that took place earlier in the year. This was cut to lengths and stacked in the eve between the old woodshed and the new one. This being oak will probably take a good 9-18 months to be fully dry and ready for the stove. Next to the go on the pile was all the limbs and top of the sycamore that Dan and Rob helped me dismantle. The tree was in very poor health and shaded the den site and garden. With this cleared the solar array (when it is installed) will now get a huge amount more light. Sawing this all up with the bowsaw took a fair old while and a couple of sharpens but will provide enough for the stove for a full year in about 8 months time.
Next to go was a dead standing silver birch tree. Hannah took up the grunt work and threw on the chainsaw gear in the beating sun. She quickly had it logged up. To our amazement the tree was very muchly still alive in the centre despite not having foliage for the last 3 years. This tree was wheelbarrowed back using the new den wheelbarrow ready to be split into logs. The saw used was a Husky 550. Once the logs were hauled back, I split them into small stove sided pieces with the Gransfors double bit axe. This was fun and satisfying. Feels like a long time since I have just spent a good couple days splitting and hauling logs.
Once all the logs were split over two days me, Fin and Hannah stacked all of it into the timber shed. Set out with plenty of air gaps and circulation to encourage drying. The timber store is now an extension of the woodstore and looks very very good. These piles of logs will heat the cabin for Hannah whilst I am away up in the lake district studying. A big thankyou to all those who help me over the last two weeks. The Den is making huge strides forward and is looking ready for me to go away to uni.
Thank you for reading đŸ™‚ . Any questions ask below.
The Den workshop 