Coppicing A Small Area Of My Woodland For Firewood 

I love this channel. My girlfriend says, "why are you watching this guy chop wood?" I say, "because he's free and I envy him".

I feel sorry for those who have never felt the pure satisfaction of having put up a year's worth of firewood. And to have done it with your lovely partner... What more could a man ask!

Take it from someone trapped in a building full of coughing folks, you are truly living the dream. Thanks for sharing!

Must be a great feeling to be self sufficient and self reliant. All debts paid, no incoming bills, land free and clear. Have a nice house, a big workshop, a plant bulding, etc. Plenty of tools and equipment. He has sheep, chickens for eggs, and lots of organic produce. Solar and hydro power as well. Sounds like a great life, and let's not forget his awesome second half, Dot.

Dot's so cool. What a "guy's chick" she is. My hubby called me that nearly 30 years ago and I took it as a compliment. I'm the kind of girl that likes to work in the yard, paint the cabinets...etc. We ARE over 50 now (old?) and still enjoy working together.🙂

There is a wooden log house in Mora ( Sweden ) . It's estimated that the wood that it's made of is from 1237. Still standing.

I would just stop paying attention to the people who are clearly wrong and try and reduce the rants you go on about them being wrong. It's just good to hear what you're up to, how projects are going and what life on your land is like. Collecting all that firewood looks really satisfying and having Dot stay with you is great, happy for you mate.

Here’s an idea I was given recently....lay an old car tire of a suitable diameter on top of your splitting log (fasten it down). Then place your firewood into the tire and split. The tire holds most of the pieces from flying off into the distance so you can keep splitting them! Genius.

I'm living in Kentucky, USA. I don't have a "woodland" quite, but do have many trees that I've cut for pollard this last winter. I too have a small house. Straw bale, and super energy efficient. Anyway, after pollarding many of the trees on my land over the winter I've managed to get wood enough to last for 3 years. Stockpiled and ready to heat the house. I'm also growing materials for a new woodshed, but will have to wait a few years for my black locust posts to get large enough to support the whole thing. Cheers.

I'm in the process of doing the same thing over here in Maine. Have 3 cords so far. Figuring out a new containment shed for the fat wood which I mix in during the wood-stove season. Being a woman pushing 60 living alone. Cutting and stacking 4000+ pounds of unseasoned wood is no joke! Thanks for the video- and your good nature.

I totally agree with how long wood can last. I helped rescue an old church in upstate NY, USA a few years back. The hand hewn post and beam structure had to be removed from a ruble foundation on one piece of land and relocated to a different parcel of woodland a few miles up the hill overlooking a lake nestled in the Adirondack mountains. We cleared an area and moved the building into place. We blocked it up 16 feet in the air and poured a 14 foot concrete foundation in place while the building was suspended above us. When the building was in place we cut the roof off to add a 3 story. Whilst removing the clapboard siding I had noticed they hadn't used nails to fix the clapboard to the ship lapped board underneath. They instead used hand hewn pegs as dowels and to my surprise the wood was in perfect condition. The building was 136 years old. I labeled everything and had the wood analyzed and discovered it was hemlock. I finished adding a 3rd story and roof package and reinstalled the original siding. I had a mill cut new siding to the exact specs to fill in the gaps and you can't tell the difference once we were finished. I suspect it should last another 100 years. Cheers

Isolation just got better, another video from kris, stay safe 👍

Watched all of your earthbag workshop videos within the last 10 days, while beeing stuck in South Africa and even inside of the hotel. Never thought I'd watch them all, I thought I'd only watch the hydro and some selected videos. Now I'm glad I did, awesome to see such an incredible big project come to life, congratulations on your success! (Although I'd be even more glad to get back home and outside again.) Looking forward to the top workshop.

Greetings from North Carolina in the USA. I have been watching your channel for a while now. I started watching as you were building the hydro generator. I have started documenting some of my projects around the homestead as well and posting them on RU-vid. Thanks for being such an inspiration.

I love watching your videos. You are a very hard working man. I did that as a kid growing up on a farm in 1948-1960. A wonderful time to be alive in the USA. Sadly it's not the same anymore.

If you don't have woodland to cut your own firewood, it's worth calling local tree surgeons and they'll often happily drop a load of logs for free. They also have lots of woodchip which is a great resource for mulching ground ready for planting. Saves them paying to dump it.

5kw off a home made turbine, you sir are on top of it. Keep it up and good luck

can't help but smile as you smile as you recount your list of activities!

Thanks for the episode. Nice to see the two of you working with each other.

A bit of a newer subscriber and I just couldn't be more thrilled with catching up on so many of the older videos. So much useful information for anyone that might be considering this type life style. Great job Kris, very professional. Keep doing your thing brother.

I laughed when you said and then showed you had wood stacked and stored in the outdoor toilet. That's something you would never do here in Oz. There would be Redback spiders and more in there. And believe me when I say that you wouldn't want a Redback anywhere near you family jewels. lol

We have a lot of old trappers cabins in Alberta here built from Larch still standing after 50 yrs and probably last another 50 before it even starts to rot away. Great video.

Love your home 🏠 how green everything is. Wishing you and your lady well from Yuma Arizona... Don't worry only you know what's up in your woods people are all ways going to have an opinion.... Keep it up looking good...

Your channel takes me into a world I can only dream of 💙 Keep safe xxx

You have a VERY beautiful helper. You're living the dream... Stay safe and take care.

Dot playing the harp would be very nice The harp build was special

Love the idea of coppicing. As far as I know, it's not done here in America at all. Makes perfect sense, being able to schedule and selectively harvest a finite resource, so that you always have that resource available.

I used to chop wood for our fire aged eight, then I would light the fire! The newspaper held in front of the coal shovel in order to create a 'draw' would routinely burst into flames and I just beat it out with the shovel :) The workout you get from this lifestyle is enviable!

Good job my friend 👍 from florina Greece 🇬🇷🌹

Hey Kris, a good tip I learned for splitting logs is to attach a car tire to the top of the chopping block, that way the logs don't go flying and you don't need to do so much bending down.

"I've got a pile in the toilet"... best place for it mate.

So happy for you guys. Blessed is the folks what got each other! Blessings for health and longevity to you and all here.

You are so lucky to have your own land man, I'd do anything to get myself a little patch I could go off grid on

HI Kris, Dot, Snoop, hope you are all well. Split larch was widely used for boundary fencing in many city housing estates, and ninety-odd years later is still going strong. Thanks for sharing. Stay safe and keep up the good work. 👍🖖😎😺🐔

Kris . Put a car tyre on your chopping block put logs inside the tyre it doesn’t fall on the floor saves bending down picking the wood up every time you chop 😀👍

You have such a amazing way of life , living and working in town your way of life rocks.

I do like stacked firewood, we had a wonderful open fire in my last Paris flat. I built a library close to it and next to that I had logs stacked neatly against the bookshelves and against the living room wall - Parisians thought I was nuts but it really made the living-room inviting! Well… it did to me anyway.

Nice to see the labor of your hard work and excellent management of wood resources. Stay well.

This is my new favorite channel. Amazing carpentry brotha. You’ve got me and my missus wanting to go off grid. Went back and watched your very first video recently. Needless to say it hit way harder than I thought it would.

kris your brillant you work so hard . be carefull be safe m8. grate videos. john UK

Its sooo relaxing watch your videos. Wish I could help you out and walk a bit trough the woods. Keep up the good work and the vids of course :)

wow nice place i love nature

LoL ,ye bugger .... fifty isn't that old 😂😂 Going on 60 and still falling my own trees and cutting it up for my fire wood . Made me giggle then I was like .... Hang on there ! LoL

Fantastic to see you tanking on. Keep up the great work. Stay healthy.

Good day Kris!

In Gothenburg Sweden they pulled down some old buildings to put in new. These old building sat on pine logs, a float for them the ground is very boggy. The wood was in good condition and you could still smell the pine wood. These where large building the logs basically pine trees.

Dot is a great stacker of fire wood, she is so organized

Another amazing video, hope everything's well and you're keeping well kris

Good to see the cat you and Dot .. please be safe...😍

I have enjoyed your company for some time now and love your RU-vid videos. I had a funny thought about your wood lot looking like I imagine the forest of Merkwood from Lord of the rings.

I'm rather surprised you don't subscribe to the idea of a Mass Rocket Stove heating system. It would seem to be right in your wheelhouse. Less fuel, less pollution, less stoking. That said, I really enjoy your videos. Love your house and workshop. I wish I had the youth and energy to try something like what you're doing. I'm always looking forward to your next episode. Cheers!

Kris it must be a really good feeling to be going into winter with all that firewood stacked up.

You two are friggin' adorable!

That first felling was a monster.

Doing great ! Awesome videos 👍

Great video Kris! 👍👍💯💯

nothing in the world like swinging a log maul or an axe splittin logs plug into my music and split 4 ton great way to spend an afternoon

I'm always amazed at what you do with the small Makita saw in construction, but for firewood I can really recommend the larger DUC353 with two batteries because it has much higher chain speed. I have both the 254 and 353, and there really is a world of difference. The 353 is very comfortable with trees up to about 15cm, I have cut hardwood thicker than 20 cm with it, but there it really struggles and it's time to get the Stihl. You probably have to watch the expenses a bit, but I think you'd love that larger saw.

I noticed the Who Gives A Crap wrapper! Awesome.

Nice work over here its common to heat your house with wood and alot of my childhood memoris souronds stacks of wood or playing in sawdust. Everybody have alot of tips but collecting splittring togheter is sometimes nothing to speed up. It looks as ure enjoing it.

In tune with the weather and season tasks. Great watching

in central Texas at the ranch when an oak tree dies we cut it off at about 2-3 ft so we can see it and not run into it. It takes 5+ years for the roots to rot enough to tip it out with the tractor. Oak isn't stable enough for fence posts what we call cedar (actually a juniper) makes good fence posts 20 years + old telephone posts seem to last forever for corner and gate posts

Hey its me again, cool vibes on the vid. We have the opposite lives. I grew up in the middle of Herefordshire, building dams, hay making on the farm, cutting wood, climbing trees etc, now Im in the rat race of NYC LOL! I miss the country life for sure and you my friend take me right back when I see what you're upto, mind blowingly cool what you've done. The cats commute to work, made me chuckle :)

Just a thought no criticism leave the stools more rounded, creates better growth, love what you do BTW! Cheres

Super stash!

Wood durability. I am 37. Before I was born. Maybe 50 years ago. My grandfather cut down an oak tree in their back garden. The reason it needed to come out was because it was rotting from the inside out. 50 years on. The tree trunk is still in the garden.

Another vote for the top off fire wood chopping...

I used to love splitting logs with a 6lb axe / great cardio and for the upper body

i like your place sir my dream place very nature

your discussion on durable wood ... and you're not suggesting that a finish wouldn't make it last even longer, just not really necessary to get a good lifetime out of the bare wood. i think you're right about most situations above the ground.

Glad dottie is locking down with you now. Awesome how quick you possessed your wood. Can't wait to see you install a stove in the workshop. Stay safe and change that code on gate. Your place is perfect for a pandemic. 😺😺

Love your work and i know your a busy man. Perhaps its time to think about a heated bathroom or even heated toilet seat like your chimney water heater idea. My tenders shiver to think of a cold winters morning. Your lady friend would appreciate it im sure.

Yes, i know the feeling. Done 58 kubic meter of wood last months (cutting and splitting) hope to have plenty for several years.

Awesome video Kris, were doing the same right now, felling and logging, nice to see Dot on the big screen and that the wind turbine is performing great. Love watching your videos but go steady on the 50 year old comments, were only a few away lol.. Take Care :)

You are going to want to add another windmill or two for shop power. Perhaps for more home power. Your channel is one of the best on You Tube. Thanks for the video Kris!

Nothing more satisfying than a healthy log pile 😊

"put your top back on ya d___head" - some bloke

One day, I might do this myself. Living my dream mate.

I just found your channel about four days ago. I have been binge watching you building the round house. Awesome video's. Subbed.

I forgot you are utilizing wind power! Pretty efficient for battery recharging! Great idea!😀

If you have an old tire, and who doesn't, chopping your firewood is a lot quicker if you place several logs inside the tire on the ground and split away. The pieces stay in the tire, and you don't have to waste time fetching the split pieces.

i admire you way of life you are truly living ♥️

firewood before easter! thats the rule

Yay!! HI DOT!!! Great to see you again. Awww just saw the cat. She reminds me of one of mine...Gene. He's my cover photo on my RU-vid channel. He's about 6 1/2 yrs old now. We took him in as a "foster" when he was 9 weeks old along with his brother Hermie & sister Bella. Hermie passed away from a kidney problem about 18 months ago. We also have 2 dogs. THAT is what you are missing around the homestead!!! You need a really big dog who can help haul firewood. lol Can't wait for the next video. Stay safe & well. Bye Dot!!

Love my battery electric chainsaw as well. I've got a couple big Stihls for serious firewooding, but 99% of what I do around my house is done with the battery electric saw.

Looks like a great place to pasture goats or sheep. Dot looks like a great partner, attractive, interesting and helpful. Hang on and stay safe. If you were here in Maine, USA that stack would last a very short time unless the building is super insulated. We can easily burn 4 cords per year in the average home.

If you want to treat it naturally, use pine tar. The wood will be still be able to "breath" but at the same time your adding tar to help keep water and moisture away. Same stuff the larch logs have in them you pointed out in the video.

great feeling of satisfaction collecting your own fuel. Of course the cat loves the firewood - it is therre to keep HER warm ONLY.

Must feel great to have that all collected!

A church down the road from me was started in the 10th century, has a oak beam in the roof, its still in there today

Great job done guys.

Hi Kris and Dot, great job guys well done, you've got to keep warm in winter. Seeya Rob

That's hard work you're doing,but rewarding for sure. Keep it up. You know if you collect all of those scattered twigs&small branches on your land,you'd have a lot of starter wood for Winter

When you're splitting wood that size, put an old tyre on top of ya chopping block and fill it with ya cutting wood. Then cut away nothing falls away heaps easier

You should consider swapping your maul for a normal felling axe. If your accurate (which I’d imagine you are these days Chris) you’ll use loads less energy to split the wood a save your elbows. Just a thought.

Hard life FULFILMENT i'm in awe!

Get yourself some PPE and a decent first aid kit, Kris. I know it's expensive but it's better than sticking that top handle through your leg or arm without them. Saws are stupidly dangerous, respect them.

Awesome job mate hope u and ur partner are keeping safe with this corona virus going round. We're in our second week here in lockdown in new Zealand. All the best for u both keep up the awesome work. Cheers....... Aaron.

It is my own dream to be self sustainable and have my own homestead. Good on you Kris for proving the nay sayers and negative nellies wrong! We can be free men!

I like silver birch, easy splitting and hot, and what I have, lol. Might give willow a whirl, although I heard it likes to pop and bang in the stove, that might disquieten my dog.