Winter's Wood

I was some shy of 4 years old when I got my hands on a splitting axe. My Dad saw the desire to chip in on the Winter's supply of wood, and he also saw that the axe was way to big for the kid. So he cut down an axe handle and made me one of my very own.

As long as I stayed with the smaller rounds I was doing ok. The axe would get stuck when I took on the bigger logs and I didn't have the horsepower to flip them over my head and smack them down like Dad did. It came in time.

Of course I had my eye on the chainsaw right from the start. But I was a young teenager before Dad let me loose with a saw. Back then a low horsepower chainsaw weighed in at about 20 pounds, and for the most part, they were gear drive. You could buck the spikes up on a log and lever the saw right through, there was no stopping one by force, even with a dull chain.

Over the years I went through a lot of chainsaws. Homelite used to offer some decent saws.

Then it was off to the Jonsereds, and finally, the Husquvarna and Stihl saws.

For quite a spell I was hooked on the Husky saws, but then they started selling through big box stores and dropping the servicing dealers. So the final choice was, and still is the Stihl chainsaws.

How much saw do you need for firewood? Not as much as I use, but then I've always been a power monger in tools. At one time, when I was younger, I owned an 066 Stihl. Now that saw had power. It could pick me right up off the ground if I grabbed a high log in the grapple pile. Dad tried it but once and said it was way to much power and refused to use it. It did make short work of a grapple though. Was a heavy saw, and admittedly, more than was needed to get the job done.

The Wood Boss is a good choice. My Brother-In-Law had an 028 that was close to 30 years old when I horse traded him for it. It had been in an outside shed and not run for over 5 years. I checked to see if there was gas in it and yarded on the starter rope not expecting much to happen. And it started on the second pull! Two more season of wood got bucked up with that old saw, and when I sold it, it was still running strong.

When it got to a point I had four chainsaws I figured it was time to thin a couple of them out. I kept the 345 Husky and Ina bought me the Stihl MS 361 for Christmas a couple of years back. One heck of a saw. Plenty of power and she'll handle a 25 inch bar and chain without whimpering. I have 3 bars and chains for the 361, a 16", an 18", and a 20 inch depending on where and what I'm cutting. It more than gets the job done.

Splitting has been an off and on thing with a log splitter. Always did favor the axe and splitting mauls as I grew up splitting that way. But as the years sneak up on a man there comes a time when the log splitter is the tool of choice.

There simply is no greater heat source than seasoned hardwood. I've burned wood for heat for some over 55 years now and plan on doing it until the end. Nothing can beat the crackle of a fire in a fire place, nor the warmth from a wood stove. The smell of the smoke on the Fall and Winter air brings back so many memories.

A lot of folks burn green wood, and I know of no way to get in trouble quicker. Green wood hisses, puts out little heat, and will creosote a chimney in short order. Not long after there will be one hundred foot flames coming out of the chimney and if it's a tile and brick chimney it's done for. Myself, I'll take the Metalbestos chimney any day of the week. Much easier to maintain, and if you do light one up you just let it burn out and add more wood to the fire in about 10 minutes.

In New England, oak is prime, maple is good, apple always. Beechnut is superb, birch is always pretty in the fire place, and ash is also good. For a time, elm was great, cherry is good on occasion. Stay away from pine. Poplar, or Aspen as it's sometimes called is best kept for the smoker, and this you do want to burn green on an outside fire.

Smoked trout and salmon cooked over an open fire with a good bed of coals and fresh poplar limbs on it will make a meal you'll never forget.

Ah, but the charm and warmth of a wood fire. No man should be without a wood stove. When the power grid goes down you can still cook, heat water, and stay warm.