Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
March is time for firewood
Summer seasons lumber for winter
If the Aesop fable, “Grasshopper and the Ant” played out in March, the grasshopper might be fiddling away and thinking about spring. The ant would be busy with his chain saw, laying up a supply of firewood for next winter.
Best to be the ant when it comes to cutting firewood. Here at the shack-ri-la, March is the month to cut next winter’s wood. That way it has months to season, or dry, so it’ll be ready to burn when the first fire is lit in autumn.
Anyone who’s tried to start a fire with green wood knows the struggle. Even dead wood that is freshly cut can have lots of moisture locked up inside. Seasoned firewood starts burning in a hurry, with plenty of flame to warm cold feet by a cozy hearth.
Not only that, burning unseasoned wood is bad for the chimney. Water vapor, gasses and particles create creosote that sticks to the chimney walls. Over time, the chimney is a flue fire waiting to happen.
March is the ideal wood-cutting month, or a prudent time to order next winter’s firewood from a supplier. We know for a fact that folks in the firewood business would be glad to hear their phones ring now.
To cover a newspaper weather story during a cold snap one January, we took
pictures of two guys splitting wood and stacking it on a trailer for delivery. The team could barely keep up with demand.
“It happens every time it gets cold,” one said, wiping his brow. “Everybody wants wood now. I wish to heck more people would buy it in the summer.”
That way, wood suppliers aren’t busting their tails to fill your order and your wood has time to season.
March is fine for firewood cutting because the weather is cool. No worries about bugs or poison ivy. If you cut firewood on the same land where you deer hunt, as we do at Camp See No Deer, the hunting is over until next fall.
Years in the woods with a chain saw teaches much to a firewood lumberjack. One lesson is that cutting with a sharp saw is a joy. No use even trying with a dull saw. It’s easy to sharpen a chain’s teeth yourself and it only takes a few minutes.
Or, take it to a shop for a professional sharpening job, then touch up the teeth with a round sharpening file after each round of firewood cutting. The shop clerk can tell you the right diameter of file to use.
Over at Camp See No Deer, we have a wood splitter, all right. It’s two hands swinging a 6-pound splitting maul, but a hydraulic wood splitter is a wonderful thing.
One August, the electric cooperative ran a power line through a slice of Camp See No Deer. There were hardwood trees on the ground, hither and yon, up and down the right of way. We sawed it all up into firewood, mainly to get rid of it for the landowner.
Friends and neighbors, cutting wood in August is no picnic. Another feather in the cap for March.
We ended up with a mountain of firewood, so much that we rented a hydraulic splitter for a day. It was money well spent.
A hydraulic splitter goes through forked logs and knotty stuff that Paul Bunyan couldn’t split. By sunset, we had enough oak firewood for three winters.
Other lessons learned: Stick with oak and hickory if you’re splitting by hand. Steer clear of elm and sycamore, unless you just want to whack away for extra exercise. Experience teaches which woods to avoid.
It also teaches that the ease of firewood cutting is directly related to how close you can get the truck to the firewood.
There’s rarely a need to cut standing trees. This can be dangerous and there’s likely enough wood already on the ground.
March is also a good time to have a chimney service clean and inspect your chimney. It’s wise to get it cleaned annually, after you’ve had the winter’s last fire.
Always wear eye protection when sawing or splitting. Ear plugs, leather gloves and chain saw chaps are added protection when running a chain saw.
Take a tip from Mr. Aesop. Be the ant now and you’ll be prepared when there’s frost on the pumpkin next fall.