Firewood Time

I drove all over the farm today, through the woods, over ditches and had absolutely no problems. Had to put it in 4wheel drive because we just had rain, played with the crawl control and had a great time. I love my Tacoma.

 

I used mine to get a couple cords of wood last Spring after I retired. Don't care for the high gear of reverse nor trying to get it out of 4 wheel drive. I had no issue backing off the road to get a windfall Doug Fir, got two loads out of it, but only the bed level full, was not sure how I would come out of the hole with a high load. Nice truck.
Duane

 

I get a quarter cord a few times a year. No trailer. Not sure what that weighs, but it seems to me that is probably the limit. Any guesses?

 

The average weight of a cord of wood is between 4,700 and 6,075 pounds. The weight of a cord of wood varies according to the species of the tree & water content.

With that said I would venture a guess of between 1,175 to 1,518 pounds. (Quarter of a cord)

 

I hauled 30 bags of Steer Manure blend over 100 miles when I workd out of town to my place out of state. Truck squatted a little, gas mileage was still pretty good, in the low 20's, had to shift down on hills. About 1050 lbs or so at 35 lbs. a bag. With side racks of some sort, half a cord would be easy. Out west here, I cut black oak which is the heaviest around, green softwoods can be heavy if a green windfall is cut. Heck, I've had that much (half cord) on my last two mini trucks, a '93 Toy and a '80 Chevy LUV. Don't win any races though. The LUV had a helper spring and overload shocks on the rear, flatbed.
Duane

 

Usually start with a 1/4 cord, then add as much as I can fit on top of that...but way short of a half cord. I get seasoned mesquite, which is pretty dry. Mesquite is also more "branchy" than split logs like oak or pecan. So it packs looser. I'm pretty sure I'm at or just slightly above the limit, but the truck can definitely handle it. And I take it easy.

 

I live in southern Illinois, lots of white and red oak. I pull a 5x10 trailer,as shown in the picture. Yesterday at the end of cutting it was split and stacked as high as I could fill it and thr truck pulled it out of the pasture with no problem.

 

Not a 3rd Gen, but:

 

That's impressive.

 

That dump trailer makes everything easy. Cool.
Duane

 

You still have to fell, limb, buck, load, unload, split, reload, then pile.

Yeah, that's easy.

 

Wow, what a buzz kill.

 

Maybe "everything" was not a good choice of words, makes unloading easier.
Good exercise, now that I'm retired, I'll be using around 3 cords a year again, my main heat source. Before my bad back, I enjoyed splitting wood by hand. Now, I have a splitter. Of course, our western woods are easier to split than the hardwoods back east. Here in the mountains, we have some oak, the rest are soft woods, Doug Fir, Red and White Firs, Incense Cedar, different pines, plus Lodgepole. Oak and Doug Fir are highly sought here. Funny, when I go camping, I bring odds and ends of pine, or the firs. When friends come up and bring wood, they bring oak. A little scarce here.
Duane

 

Just razzin'! I shoulda .

We use about the same on average, depending on how harsh the season. Last year was mild, so we only used 1 1/2 cord of elm, ash, and some soft maple.

We got lucky this year, as the power authority was clearing power lines as per the above pic, so we ended up with about two years worth of mostly soft maple, then ash and elm.

... and yeah, I have a splitter too. It's Mennonite built, 12 years old, and works like new. I've only changed the oil, replaced the plug twice, and the air filter once. I cover it with an ATV cover. This is a pic from last year.

 

I have I guess a 20 year old Brave brand splitter, vertical/horizontal I bought second hand. Replaced the detent valve maybe 10 years ago, I had a friend modify it, making a longer tonque for easier backing if I ever do that and raised the beam 8" so I don't have to bend over when in horizontal mode. I don't drag it out into the woods, stays by my stacks of unsplit firewood rounds. I have about a three year supply, besides what's in my woodshed. That is nice as one year I crashed and burned on my mountain bike, breaking three bones, so I would have been unable to get wood that Fall. Money in the bank. I live a quarter mile from Forest Circus roads, so have quick access to firewood.
Duane

 

Looks like near two tons per cord varying by species. A few higher than that when green.

 

that's a bunch of shit, man.

 

No shit. Went out of town today, got over 28 mpg coming home at 65mph for about 40 miles then 56mph for 30 more miles. Best ever, no wind or load.
Duane