The Woodsman's Bible by Wade Mercer

From readers who heat with wood

They stopped guessing. Their woodpiles noticed.

Short cords caught, service calls skipped, winters that didn't run out. Here's what changed for them.

Caught a short cord

Measured my “full cord” the way Chapter 5 shows. It stacked to 94 cubic feet, not 128. I showed the seller the numbers and he brought the rest the next day. The book paid for itself before I’d finished it.

Dale K.Duluth, MN

Skipped a service call

Our stove smoked every time we opened the door and I was about to book a technician. The three-path test pointed straight at the wood: 28% inside a split. New batch, no smoke.

Rachel T.Asheville, NC

Read it in one evening

Finally a wood book that isn’t 300 pages of nostalgia. Read it in an evening, printed the checklists, and they live on the woodshed door now.

Tom B.Bangor, ME

First winter on wood

New to heating with wood and nervous about getting it wrong. Plain language, and it tells you exactly when to stop and call a professional. That alone was worth it.

Linda M.Bend, OR

Wood that finally dries

Restacked the pile the Chapter 4 way: raised base, top covered, sides open. Wood that used to hiss now catches in minutes.

Gary P.Marquette, MI

Didn’t run out

The winter supply worksheet meant we didn’t run short in February for the first time in three winters.

Mike & Jen S.Burlington, VT

Instant PDF · 7 days to decide. Didn't learn something useful?
Reply to your receipt and every cent comes back.

The $27 math

One short cord costs more than this book.

Firewood is sold by volume, and a loose load hides a lot of air. Put in your last delivery and see.

Did you get a full cord?

Stack it, then measure in feet. A full cord is 128 cubic feet (Chapter 5).

Length Height Depth You paid $

01 full cord

96cubic ft

75%of a cord

$75paid for air

📏

The short load

Stack a “cord” that measures 8 × 4 × 3 and you paid for a quarter of it in air. On a $300 cord, that's $75 gone.

💧

The wet load

Wood over 20% moisture spends its heat boiling off water, then coats your chimney in creosote. You pay full price for less warmth.

🔧

The needless service call

Smoke and weak heat are often fuel or airflow. Check those first, before paying someone to tell you the wood is wet.

⛓️

The worn-out chain

A dull chain or dry bar wears parts fast. The two-minute pre-use check in Chapter 10 catches it.

$27, once.
Printables you'll reuse every season.

A note before we startHeating season, '26

Before you read anything else…

I grew up in a logging town in the Cascade foothills. My father repaired equipment, and our house was heated with wood. So I learned early that a warm morning starts months before the first cold one.

An axe resting beside freshly split firewood

Here's the trouble with wood: it looks simple until you buy a wet load, blunt a chain, or wonder why a stove that worked last week is smoking today.

The old-timers rarely wrote anything down, and today folks reach for the expensive answer first—a new stove, a new saw. Nine times out of ten the fix is sitting in plain sight: the fuel, the tool, the airflow, the storage.

So I wrote it down, plain. Not folklore—I checked everything against Forest Service data and EPA guidance, and where a job belongs to a pro, I say so.

If you heat your home with wood, this is for you. And maybe for whoever you'll hand the axe to one day.

P.S. Winter doesn't ask if you're ready. Read it for 7 days—if it doesn't change how you burn wood, reply to your receipt and every cent comes back.

The woodsman's year

Winter is won in spring.

Every season hides one expensive mistake. Here's where each one waits, and where the book shows you the fix.

SpringPlan + process

March – May

How much wood does next winter actually need?

Most people guess, then run out in February or overbuy in October. The answer is already in last winter's pile, if you wrote it down.

Count what you burned, note which batches were still wet, and buy or cut early so the wood gets a whole summer to dry.

The full methodChapter 17 + the Winter Wood-Supply Worksheet

SummerSplit + ventilate

June – August

Why does “seasoned” wood still hiss?

Often it's the stack, not the wood. A drying pile needs five things, and most piles are missing two.

Rain off the top, air through the sides. A tarp wrapped to the ground only makes the pile sweat.

The full methodChapter 4 + the Moisture & Inventory Log

FallTest + inspect

September – November

Is that delivery short, wet, or both?

The seller says “seasoned.” The truck says “a cord.” You can check both in under ten minutes, before you pay.

Stack and measure every load, split a few pieces and test the fresh face. Book the chimney inspection before regular heating.

The full methodChapters 3 & 5 + the Buyer's Pocket Checklist

WinterRotate + record

December – February

Smoke in the room: bad wood, or stop right now?

Some stove problems are a five-minute fix. Some are a safety stop. Knowing which is which is the whole game.

The three-path test sorts it: fix the fuel, check the manual, or stop and get help.

The full methodChapters 15 & 16 + the Seasonal Stove Check Sheet

Inside the book

Eighteen chapters. Eighteen rings.

Here are six that pay for the book on their own. Scroll, and watch the log grow.

Chapter 00 / 18

+12 more chapters

And the rest of the year, covered.

01The Truth About Good Firewood
02Choosing the Right Wood
06Ten Firewood Mistakes Worth Avoiding
07What the Old Loggers Got Right
08Know Your Timber
09A Sensible Woodsman’s Tool Kit
11Handling, Splitting and Storing Logs
12Ten Tool and Timber Mistakes
13The Basics of Wood Heat
14More Useful Heat, Less Wasted Fuel
16Chimney, Smoke and Ash Safety
18The Season-Ready Woodshed and Home

58 useful pages. No 300-page filler.

Seasoned and ready

The whole year, in one book.

Less than a quarter of a short cord. Less than one wasted service visit. Yours in the next two minutes.

Launch price · instant download

58 useful pages. No 300-page filler.

The Firewood Guide: never pay for air or wet wood againCh. 1–6
The Logger's Handbook: tools that last, jobs done safelyCh. 7–12
The Wood Heat Handbook: more heat, less smoke, fewer call-outsCh. 13–18
Quick-Reference Kit: 6 printables for the woodshed doorincl.
9 plain illustrations · every future editionfree

You get the complete 58-page PDF + all 6 printable checklists/worksheets.

$27~~$39~~SAVE $12

Accepted Payment Methods Instant download · You stay on this page

7DAYS

The “learn something or it's free” promise. Read it for seven days. If you haven't picked up one thing that changes how you buy, stack or burn wood, just reply to your receipt email. Every cent comes back. No forms, no questions.

Straight answers

Questions from the woodshed

Is this worth $27?

If it helps you catch one short delivery, skip one needless service call, or keep one wet load out of your stove, it has paid for itself several times over. And if it doesn't, the 7-day guarantee means you've lost nothing.

Is a paper book coming in the mail?

No. It's a PDF you download right after paying. Read it on any phone, tablet or computer, or print it; the checklists were made for printing.

I'm not good with computers.

After paying you'll see one big "Download my book" button, and the link comes by email too. Any trouble, email me and I'll sort it out myself.

Why only 58 pages?

Because you'll actually finish it. No 300-page filler, no history lessons. Three short field guides you can read in an evening, plus six printable sheets that do the remembering for you.

Does it teach tree felling?

No. Felling belongs to trained, equipped people, and the book says so plainly.

Can I try something before buying?

Yes: print the firewood buyer's checklist from the book, free. Take it to your next delivery.

What if it's not for me?

You have seven days. If you didn't learn something useful, reply to your receipt email and you'll get a full refund. No forms, no questions, no hard feelings.

Winter doesn't ask whether you're ready.Your notebook should.

The wood you burn in January should already be stacked, tested and covered. Start tonight, before the next truck pulls in.

Instant PDF · 7-day money-back guarantee · reply to your receipt to refund