Pumping Pine: Exercise and Low Cost Heat
By Norm Vance
Note: Originally published in the Pagosa Daily Post

People using wood for home heating covers a wide spectrum of the populace of Pagosa Country. Some folks have highly efficient wood stoves that provide 100% of their winter heating utility. At the other end of the spectrum are folks who want only to cuddle on a couch in front of a crackling fireplace that provides some heat and lots of atmosphere. Many people seem to think that woodcutting and burning is in some way part of mountain living.

This article is named "Pumping Pine" because woodcutting and processing can be a lot of good exercise; it is much better to think of it as exercise than as work. A tree, even a dead and dry one, can weigh in the tons. From the first lift in the forest to carrying out the ashes you will be picking up that weight many times. Fortunately this is exercise/work that is done in the clean air of the great outdoors.

Our family often used woodcutting as special family days in the woods. We packed sandwiches and drinks and planned for a good time. Our son went with us from age five, and still helps when he’s home. I suggest that you should try to make wood processing both a fun and valuable effort.

Wood Cutting Tradition

There is a strong tradition in Pagosa Country for wood cutting and processing. The timber cutting and lumber milling business was a major part of the local economy from the earliest days of Pagosa's settlement. From the 1800s until the 1950s there were many miles of lumbering roads in the vast forest, and small mills dotted the landscape. Most of the smaller mills closed after the large San Juan Mill opened in 1959 at the junction of Highway 160 and Highway 84.

For most of Pagosa's first century there was no winter heat without wood burning. Over the years the public went into the forest and cut trees, or they could go into areas after a timber cut and salvage remaining wood or buy unused wood from the mills. Areas of past timber cuts are still obvious in the forest, but old wood there should be left to rot and help heal the soil.

This article and photos detail information about woodcutting and some tips on wood processing.

Hunting Wood

Getting wood is simple and inexpensive. The Forest Service sells permits allowing the cutting of standing or fallen dead trees along with cutting smaller "scrub oak" trees. There is a technique for hunting trees: one drives very slowly on most any Forest Access Road leaning out of the vehicle’s window while staring intently into the forest for signs of a dead tree. Signs can be the naked branches of a long dead tree or the light brown color of dried needles still hanging on a more recently deceased tree. Caution; look hard at the tree as any green needles are a sign of a still living tree.

Once a candidate is spotted it must be studied first for ease of getting the wood to the truck. Always hunt on the uphill side of the road and plot a path to roll the rounds out. Then the tree must be measured using the handy 15" ruler printed on the Forest Service’s woodcutting guide brochure. You cannot cut a tree more than fifteen inches across at your shoulder level. Read the brochure carefully as rules change from time to time.     

High Tech Chopping Block!

This is a neat device that can reduce the number of times you lift your trees. Use a large heavy round as the base. Drill four to six holes in the sidewall of a used, 15 - 16" truck tire and bolt the tire to the round with four-inch or longer hex-headed wood screws with large heavy washers.

The problem with normal chopping is when you split a round the pieces of wood spit out sideways and you have to pick up each one several times as you chop ever smaller chunks. The tire holds the wood together at its base. This allows you to walk around the block chopping in half, then quarters, and eighths or more with much less lifting.

This chopping block should be placed on something solid such as a rock roadbed, pavement or solid clay. If you have only soft topsoil pour a pad of concrete for the round.

There is a point, as you swing an ax down, where you exert maximum impact. It is at about knee height. That is "the sweet spot." Estimate the height of the wood round on the high side and trim off the bottom until it feels right for your height. Make your round just high enough so that your average length of firewood combined with the block falls in that sweet spot.

Kindling and Light Fire Wood from Lumber Mill Bundles

These photos show how to efficiently process a bundle of wood from a mill. These bundles are available from small mills in the area for very reasonable prices. There are composed of the scrap, mostly outside lengths of wood not usable for lumber. The bundles come held together with a steel band near each end. You can easily cut lengths of wood from each end but once you cut past the band, toward the center, the entire bundle falls apart. Plan ahead and put the cable of a "come-a-long" (hand operated wench) under the center of the bundle. Wrap the cable around the bundle and hook the ends together. Tighten the come-a-long and it will hold the bundle together until the last cut. This is much less work than breaking open the bundle and having to handle and cut separate planks many times.

Cut into the bundle the length of the chainsaw's bar starting on the ends. Cut down and around, and then cut the other side. Then angle cut to saw the planks toward the center of the bundle. Cut from each end alternately until you have one length left held in place by the come-a-long.

It is best to bring the bundle home and cut it on a flatbed trailer. If you have to use a pick-up truck, put two old sheets of plywood in the bed under the bundle to make a slip surface. Tie a rope securely to a tree and to the bundle and drive the truck out from under the bundle. Put the come-a-long on before the bundle lands on the ground. It is helpful to lay two 4x4's crosswise under the bundle to hold it off the ground so your chainsaw will not hit the earth on lower cuts.

Some planks are sized right to go in the stove directly while others need splitting. I've found that final chopping is best done inside by the woodstove. You will need a small round from a tree to chop on and a small space for wood and chips to fall. It is a bit of a mess, but better than chopping thousands of sticks outside and having to assemble and carry them inside.

Woodcutting is a job, but as stated above, good exercise, and a winter’s heat utility can be obtained for very few dollars compared with any other heating source.

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