Backyard Firewood

Reactive Publishing

Cut heating costs, master efficient processing, and build an independent winter fuel supply straight from your property or local area.

Heating with wood provides genuine self-reliance and dependable warmth, but managing a private supply requires the right methods. Without proper technique, harvesting and handling firewood turns into backbreaking, inefficient labor that leaves you with smoky fires, rotted stacks, and dirty flues. Getting the most heat out of every log demands an understanding of species selection, efficient woodlot maintenance, and the science of natural moisture reduction.

Backyard Timber & Firewood provides a structured, practical approach to sourcing, processing, and seasoning clean, high-output fuel. From evaluating standing trees on a small acreage to selecting the correct tools for clean splitting, this handbook details the essential practices needed to build a safe, dry woodpile that burns cleanly all winter long.

Inside this guide, you will discover:

• Species Identification and Heat Values: How to evaluate regional hardwoods and softwoods by density, BTUs, drying rates, and coaling properties.
• Safe Harvesting and Felling Practices: Practical assessment of standing trees, storm blowdowns, lean angles, and basic felling cuts using sound chainsaws and hand-tool safety protocols.
• Efficient Bucking and Splitting: Mechanical advantages, wedges, mauls, and hydraulic splitters, paired with ergonomic methods to reduce physical wear and strain.
• The Science of Seasoning: Why internal cell-wall moisture matters, how to use a pin-type moisture meter, and target thresholds below 20% to avoid chimney creosote buildup.
• Stacking Architecture: Traditional cord rows, cribbing, and circular Holzhausen methods engineered to maximize airflow, shed precipitation, and resist ground rot.
• Storage and Safe Combustion: Off-ground staging, rodent deterrence, seasoning schedules by season, and getting the highest thermal efficiency from modern stoves, inserts, and hearths.

Whether you manage several forested acres, clear fallen trees after winter storms, or source bulk green rounds locally, this manual delivers the step-by-step guidance needed to work safely, build tight cords, and keep your home warm through the coldest months of the year.

Take control of your home heating. Pick up your copy of Backyard Timber & Firewood today.