Tuesday, August 4, 2015

The Final Cut

I don't know what possessed me, but last week I managed to finish cutting all the log length wood we had. We received a truckload last fall and it was a tough time to get wood. Demand was high, supply could not meet said need, and there was some question as to whether or not we would even get the wood. After hounding TB for weeks, he finally delivered what was not the ideal load of wood, mainly because the logs were so darn thick. The thick logs, 2 feet or more, are not only hard to cut with my chainsaw, which only has a 16 inch blade, but the logs are huge and menacing, and the blocks that I cut weigh a ton.

Needless to say, I wasn't jumping for joy, but when you're lucky to even get a load of wood, there's no room for whining and complaining. Well, maybe a little. Either way, on my way to getting year 1 split and stacked, I also set about cutting the remainder, and there was plenty. Probably about 5 cords worth, so I gradually cut a couple logs a day, and last week, I cut the last of it. As I mentioned, the logs were huge, so sometimes I had to approach them from both ends. I usually shift the logs so that they are not towering above me, and which isn't easy for something that weighs thousands of pounds. Gravity becomes your friend and ally, and when the logs shifted and hit the ground, it was like thunder or an earthquake. On more than a few occasions mom checked in on me to see if I was okay.

Another problem I ran into was cutting the big logs on the ground, because you don't want the chainsaw blade to hit the dirt. This usually required cutting the log into sections so I could roll them over and continue the cut. When I was down to the final two logs, I decided to bite the bullet and finish the job. Now that it's done, I can take a break from cutting and focus on splitting. The fun never stops, does it?

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to rooshooter for the pic.

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