It is good to have a plan

 

Trees with red dots are 8" diameter class, Black Locust with approximately 24 feet of taper-free trunk. Looking to the left as I stand near the top of the slope.

Looking to the right. Each of those trees has approximately 400 pounds (dry weight) of usable firewood in the trunk alone. Estimating 40 pounds of firewood per burn-day, that means each tree represents 10 days of heat + whatever benefit I get from the tops.

My plan is to start at the far corner and work my way uphill toward the pasture where I will transport the wood out.

That way, I can abandon the tops where they drop and not have them trip me as I remove the usable wood.

There are utility poles to the left of the images and I need to use a rope-puller and wedges to ensure the trees fall to the right. Choosing days that are relatively wind-free will also be prudent.

I don't want to make this sound like Paul Bunyan timbering off Minnesota. The patch of woods is only about 6000 square-feet. I will be clear-cutting out the Black Locust and Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina). I will be leaving oak, walnut, ash and spruce.

My goal isn't just to fill the wood-shed. I have lots of standing dead trees.  It is manage the forest to ensure it stays relatively juvenile and productive.

Bonus images

A scant hour's worth of work.

I dropped six, small Black Locust today. Today is supposed to be a recovery day.

I only cut-up three of the six and ended up with five "fatties" and four fence posts.

Four, 48" long "fatties" in the 5-1/2" class is about 150 pounds.

From start-to-finish was 65 minutes. I left the fence posts on the pasture side of the fence. I was able to drag four-of-the-five fatties up to the wood-pile in my yard.

I think that in the future I will make two trips. It might take a little longer but I am an old man and dragging 150 pounds uphill is a lot of work.

Some of what I am trying to get my arms around is the time required to put-up a year's worth of wood with minimal use of trucks and other power gizmos. 

This is a bit quixotic but the surface conditions don't always support driving a truck out to where the wood is. The exercise is VERY sensitive to local conditions. I am only dragging the wood 250-to-300 yards from stump-to-woodpile. For some people, it could be a 1/2 mile or across very rough terrain.

Another huge variable is how athletic the woodcutter is. Even though I am technically a senior citizen, I am a young one at 66. Even though I am 30 pounds overweight, I am active. Furthermore, God blessed me with general good health.

If I can do it, then a 45 year-old couch-potato ought to be able to do it.

All of that being said, if noise discipline became paramount, I would really miss my chainsaw. One hour of effort will not deliver 3 days worth of firewood to the wood pile without a chainsaw.