Fire Wood cutting for winter

[sparkz]

Sean and I have been cutting firewood for about 3 weeks now had not much time for much else then saw maint and some canning when its gone dark or rain, we have been taking the lesser trees and dead and down to open up the better saw log timber to grow, we have been working on my farms and invited 2 guys to help paying them in wood so far its a good deal for eveyone,
We have a forced air coal & wood burner in basement next to a propane unit and we can heat for cost of wood most years and never bump the gas unit, Hopein to do just that this winter too,, lol

How may of you guys use wood or coal or whatever to heat?

we where lookin at getting the Hot water pre-heater for some savings there too do you guys run one?
do ya like it?

Ok Back to work
Patrick

[uscra112]

If you're cutting trees for firewood now, they had better be for NEXT winter's firewood. One year drying after being cut to furnace length is the best rule. Wood loses moisture through the ends. Leaving it in the log you can easily wait five years and it's still not dry.

Yes, I burn wood exclusively. Brunco wood/coal furnace. Took off all the electrical gimcrackery and run it entirely convection. Could burn coal - I'm in coal country - but I hate dealing with the ash. Just to make you guys jealous, I paid $50 for it at an auction. I think I was the only guy willing to haul it home. It's heavy!

[KCSO]

Yes we have about the same setup and have burned wood now for over 35 years. We usually burn red elm or oak if we can get it but in a pinch we have used cottonwood and even mulberry. I trim trees for friends and neighbors during the summer and cut and stack the wood. We use a rotation system so most of our wood is dried for two years before use unlees it's dead trees we are removing.

[mold maker]

In Oct of 2011, I had two 100+ yr old oaks cut, that were a danger to the house. Both were mature and starting to drop limbs. I also have a wood/coal burning furnace of 1949 vintage. In the 70s we put in an oil fired hot water boiler and radiators. Because of the price of oil and the inefficiency of the boiler it needed a replacement. I installed a comercial tankless water heater in place of the oil fired boiler and another for domestic hot water. Both just sip on the gas and we are warm as toast. The old 1949 furnace has burned about half of the two oak trees, and we have warm floors.
My gas bill last heating season was less than 1/4 what the oil used to coast.
The tankless water heater cost 3-4 dollars a month (above the minimum) in the Summer, and I suppose it is about the same during heating season.
When this wood is gone I'll buy more. Nothing like going back in time and mixing technology from our parents time with the efficiency of todays.

[mroliver77]

I heat with only wood. We had all of the ash trees die in the last few years. There is so much firewood to cut! The ash and the dead elm can be burnt the day they are cut! they dry well while standing!
I cannot find anybody that wants to cut wood on shares. I have some fence rows that I let anybody cut with the understanding that they cut everything and stack the brush. There is a lot of good wood and some not so good wood and brush. I have been told it is too much work. They want the easy stuff for free!
I want to heat my water with wood but have not got round to it!

[Freischütz]

I use wood as a secondary heat source (primary when the electricity goes off). As uscra112 said above, wood must be split and dried if you're using an EPA approved stove. One year is a good rule of thumb for softwood like cottonwood or pine, and that's what I have available.

Burn time is a lot shorter than hardwood. I have a small stove (Jøtul F400), so I only get about 3 hours/ burn.

[GRUMPA]

Wood is all we use to heat the house. And just because I live in AZ doesn't mean it's all cactus and sage brash either, I live just outside the White Mountains and it gets darn cold. It's supposed to dip into the upper 30's next week but the house still holds a lot of heat for a time so I'm not worried about it. And I use to cut our own firewood but going through 3 chains for 1 truck load was a pain, we have Utah Juniper here and it's some dang hard wood. Now I just order it and delivered and cut it's right around $150 cord, and we can get by on just over 2 cords.

[27judge]

Im kind of lucky I have a huge area of downed locust trees that are dry and hard as a rock. I normally just cut what I need for the winter. I use them in a large old wood stove makes up for about 3/4 of my heat . Some of these trees have been down on the ground for 20 years some really hard wood. Something came thru our area 25 -30 years ago and killed every locust tree in the area ,after 5-10 years the wind storms would blow them down tks ken

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I burn wood also.
The small town I'm in has a compost site. The city cuts and drags full trees there from Street boulevards and storm downed trees. I get nearly all the wood I can cut there...and talk about easy, I never have to down a tree, I never have to cleanup, the city just uses there frontend loader to push the brush into the pile when I'm done cutting. I just cut and haul away.
Jon

[sparkz]

I have a woodchuck 2900 (Made by Meyer, guys make farm equpt) we have used it for about 9 years and we have seen winters we never turned on the propane, But we are in the sticks and closest nabor is over 1/2 mile and after that 2 miles so its a long road and I am at the end,, lol
we Split and burn all kinds of wood if it grows we burn it I have a few hundred acres of timber we sell from time to time and keep the tops of Oak and hickory and maple, Beach <- One of my favs., but we do use poplar in day or early season and do fine and sometimes we do have to burn un seasoned wood too if it is what we have this year we will burn mixed hardwood and a bunch of poplar as that's what we are taking for timber so no waste, haha,,
I wanted to look at a Pre-heater it goes on the cold water feed of a tanked system and the tank heater should never turn on but to just hold temp,
I guess they go in the flue or some how in the firebox,, was hopin you all might be able to give ideas as to whats good and was not so good,,

Ok well back to the cut & split operation,, haha


Heat-on boys

Patrick


PS:
Dont over look Pallets for a firewood sorce some vendors are free for askin

[starmac]

Just curious, what kind of saws do you guys that depend on them use?

[GRUMPA]

Stihl

[WILCO]

How may of you guys use wood or coal or whatever to heat?

I ran a wood stove for many years. Gave up on it for a variety of reasons.

[sundog]

+1 on Stihl (for the past 40+ years!).

[mroliver77]

Stihl 30+ years. Use Stihl oil and chains. Sharpen with a Harbor Freight $29. grinder.

[southpaw]

We have a stihl 064 (actually we have a few stihl saws) and a husky 576xp. We like the stihl saws better but we got a pretty good deal on the husky. Don't get me wrong they are great saws.

Wood is our primary heat source. Come to think of it, it is our only heat source short of a couple propane heaters. It is alot of work but we like it and it gets us outside in the winter and keeps us busy.

We burn whatever we can get our hands on. Seems like mostly oak, cherry, maple and ash.

Jerry Jr.

[starmac]

It looks like I'm in the minority, I have 6 huskys, and don't at the time even use wood. I do help some others cut wood though. I have a friend that is primarily a stihl man, but after using my 346 a couple years ago, he had to have one, all of his bigger saws are stihl though.

[dagger dog]

Husqvarna.

Sold my 28 ton splitter this June, still have an American Stove Co, wood burning furnace with t-stat controlled forced air blowers, piped it to the duct work in our 1920's 2 story farm house. Have a 20X10X10' wood shed attached to the house where the walkout basement door is located.

Started burning wood when Hurricane Ike blew through our area Sept 2008 and took out a bunch of our trees , sugar maple, butternut, red oak, hickory. Bought and installed the furnace that late summer and the log splitter the next year. Relined the chimney the 3rd season.

With #2 fuel oil running $600.00 a fill up, wanted to off set some of the heating cost. So it's been 5 seasons with wood, can't beat it for having warm floors and basement. BUT being it's just the wife and me, spending most of my spare time 2 months every spring, felling, cutting ,splitting and stacking it got to be too much. Plus the stoking, tending, dust, and chimney cleaning.

It's a young mans job ! I had a new high efficiency LP furnace installed this June.

[bob208]

we have a potbelly stove in the living room. burn coal in it most of the time. for wood I get old creates they pick apples in. they are oak. we use kerosene heater if we need it. in fact I am going for a load of coal tomorrow.

for a saw I have a buzz saw hooks on the back of the tractor dive off the pto.

[buckwheatpaul]

We cut and split 3 cords per year plus one ton of pellets......sure saves and think about the workout you got without having to go to the gym!

[starmac]

The old saying that wood warms you twice, does have some meaning. lol

[jaydub in wi]

My saw is a husky 55.
I heat the house/ hot water with a central boiler outside furnace. I have a 16' by 16' shed. If it is full, that is enough for the winter. By full I mean stacked 6' high. Burn mostly oak, ash, elm but will burn almost anything.

[southpaw]

82315

We burn a little bit of wood.

This pile is for me, my Dad and brother. The pile is 30'x 33' and upwards of at least 6' high in the middle and just about 5' on the sides. No, its not stacked.

With any luck we should have some left over this year.
Jerry Jr.

[27judge]

Been using stihl for over 40 years good saw .Due to the size of wood we not cut we have dropped down to 028-29 -31 whereas we used to use a couple 041 farm boss l tks ken

[largom]

Before leaving Maryland I heated my home and shop exclusively with wood. Would burn 10-12 cords each year. I had U. S. Stove wood furnaces installed in home and shop. I cut only down trees and allowed everything to age one year before using. I intend to put a wood burner in my shop [next year] here in Tenn. but will use electric/propane in the house.

Larry

[turmech]

The old saying that wood warms you twice, does have some meaning. lol
I always heard three times. Cutting, stacking and when you burn it.


I supplement my heat with wood as well. I burn about 2-4 cords a winter depending on our winters.

I like my Stihl l but to tell the truth I have a very old Homelite that I would not trade for my Stihl. Most would think that is crazy( I would have as well before I stumbled on this old girl). She is probably twice a powerful as the farm boss. Bad thing twice as heavy as well. I would not own a new Homelite.

[MaryB]

Been looking at adding a small wood stove for backup heat. Cost of the chimney pipe is scary though!

[BD]

We're in a 6,800 HDD climate in northern Maine. We've heated pretty much everything we've ever owned up here with wood. Currently we burn about 3 cord a year as supplemental heat in our passive solar house and workshop. The first house I owned up here consumed 11 cords a year and was a real nightmare when the power went out so I built this house specifically to reduce my wood consumption, and to eliminate freeze up concerns when we're away. It takes about 30 hours work a year to cut, split and stack it. I've been running Huskys for the last ten years, Jonsereds before that. Stihls are great saws as well, but the only local saw shop is Husky so they make sense for me.
BD

[uscra112]

Just curious, what kind of saws do you guys that depend on them use?

Stihl. Bought used from an auction of "surplus" equipment from the country roads dept. I'm sure they didn't treat it nicely, but so far it's needed only a carb rebuild and it's on its' second new chain. Has cut umpteen cords of wood.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

yes , we heat with wood , I have a 8x12 shed if it is stacked 6 foot high that does us for the year

the shed is not pretty , but it is great to have a roof over the wood , it burns so much better when it is really dry

Stihl

if you really want to save money , learn to sharpen your chain with just a file and guide , if you can cast boolits you can learn saw chain sharpening , the chains last years unless you hit a nail or rock. you can make a chain cut like new every time , adjust the gauge teeth to the wood your cutting , and pull those nice big chips every time , and it really only takes a few minutes to do on the saw when you stop to gas up or every other gas up

I tried the harbor freight grinder when i first got my saw , it like most grinder end up taking more than you need off
sharpening by hand i have been cutting on the same chain 3 or 4 years now it probably has a year maybe 2 left in it


that's more money to buy molds and boolits

[sparkz]

Stihl 440MS with 20" Bar ( also called 044 & 440, this is a Bad-Boy, haha)
and
HUSQVARNA 136 with a 16" Bar (also called a 36 )
and Love them both ( YES buy a file and keep it sharp, most better chains have a witness mark to follow if your not keen on angle, Keep it sharp as dull chain will kick back and vib more on user)
we have a Mac timber saw also ( pro-Mac 610 AKA; the Tank, like 4.5 HP)

and I bought Sean a old splitter we did some work on, Its about a 15 ton and we have never hit a log it would not bust so best 200 Bux we spent,,

Patrick


As to what saw to buy,,

To Name a few good saws you may want to look at;
Jonsereds, HUSQVARNA, new polan (Those three use most all same parts) Stihl and all good saws, ( Might ask some tree or logger guys in your area also)
Buy whats poplar in your aeraand what your buddys use so you have spairs and can change parts when its broken or to help t-shoot it,,
just like ford vs Chevy ya buy what everyone has it pays off in long run,,
Buy a Comm, type qualty not a home owner type, I dump the Low kick back chains almost first thing,
( but I know how to use saw, you may need that chain)

[Iowa Fox]

Going into our 32nd season of wood heat. The house has a LP fired boiler for hot water heat but it rarely kicks on. Nothing better than the warmth of the stove on a sub zero day. I'm not sure how many more years I have left burning wood, its a lot of work as a person gets older. Just taking the ashes out seems to be a lot of work anymore. As a kid growing up on the farm a wood and coal furnace is all we had but the old two story farm house was warn from the basement to the attic.

[Wal']

Another Stihl user, 30yrs, have been heating the house with wood ever since the second wife moved in "gone now" she liked being warm & also loved fresh air, windows open & wood heater going flat out all winter. :bigsmyl2:

Water is gas heated, price is Ok down here.

[Wis. Tom]

We use Dolmar saws with 16" and a 24" bars, and have a boiler room built onto the heated outbuilding with a wood boiler. I trenched everything underground to the house when building it 6 years ago for the domestic water, the infloor, and the forced-air heat exchanger, that keeps the house pretty nice all winter. The pumps electricity are supplied with a small wind turbine, so if we lose power during the winter, we just have to keep the fire stoked, to keep the house and outbuilding heated. I kind of enjoy cutting wood, as it is a way to get away from the rest of this screwed up world. Nobody out in our woods yet, telling me what I can or cannot do.

[mroliver77]

I disagree about the grinder using up chains. If one uses it correctly the chains last a long time. I barely touch a chain that needs freshened up. My teeth normally outlive the pins in the chain. When the pins wear to the point the chain is stretched they go in the scrap pile.
A lot of my wood has dirt on it from falling into the creek. Log jams are pulled out and cut up. This is hard on chains but I still get a long life out of them. I can get a chain a bit sharper(maybe) with a file but it is not worth the time involved for me.

As to the new carburetors. I hate them!! All saws are run very lean now and have emission regulations. (geesh!) Modern gas is hard on stuff too!
J

[Mal Paso]

We use Dolmar saws with 16" and a 24" bars, and have a boiler room built onto the heated outbuilding with a wood boiler. I trenched everything underground to the house when building it 6 years ago for the domestic water, the infloor, and the forced-air heat exchanger, that keeps the house pretty nice all winter. The pumps electricity are supplied with a small wind turbine, so if we lose power during the winter, we just have to keep the fire stoked, to keep the house and outbuilding heated. I kind of enjoy cutting wood, as it is a way to get away from the rest of this screwed up world. Nobody out in our woods yet, telling me what I can or cannot do.

Very Cool! I heat with wood and would love to be rid of the woodfire dust. I have been looking at freestanding outdoor boilers.

Another Stihl, 18 year old 038 Magnum (4.4 CuI) 12,000 rpm, great saw! Echo and Shindaiwa too.

An Oregon Chain Grinder and a Micrometer keep the chains sharp. Might be the granite dust but nobody I know here hand files. I buy Bailey's Woodland Pro Chain 6 at a time when they go on sale. http://www.baileysonline.com/

Tractors are right behind chain saws as wood getters.

Edit: I think saw chain is so much better now, it's almost as hard as the files, and harder to do by hand.

[starmac]

I have never been great with a hand file, so when I used a saw for a living I had a small 12 volt hand grinder, and just touched up the chain every time I filled the tank with gas. It wouldn't work for a logger, but in the firewood cutting business it worked well enough.

[kenyerian]

I'm very lucky . I leased my oil rights for my property 30 years ago with the provision that I get free gas . I haven't cut firewood for my self since.

[mroliver77]

My wood cutting trailer.

http://photos.gunloads.com/images/mroliver77/sc01275.jpg
http://photos.gunloads.com/images/mroliver77/sc01277.jpg
http://photos.gunloads.com/images/mroliver77/sc01274.jpg

[Reg]

The propane tank holds the hyd. oil ?

[mroliver77]

Most folks ask if it runs on propane! lol Most of it was stuff I had laying around. The tank was handy for the hyd oil. The 12" x 12" I beam never flexes a bit! :bigsmyl2:

[FISH4BUGS]

We have just installed a new Jotul Norsk stove and a pipe chimney. Historically I have burned wood and coal, and I actually like the coal better, but that is impractical here, so wood it is.
We have laid in 7 cords of dry wood for winter, but I may well start buying my wood in log length next spring and cutting/splitting and stacking it myself. You can save some money by doing that - log length grapple load is $1000 and gives about 7 to 7 1/2 cords. If you buy dry wood it is $275 a cord here. You can do the math.
But then again, there is the time involved, the equipment, and the grunt labor. It might be fun to do......for the first season anyway.

[starmac]

I have an old Jotul wood cookstove, that I can't find any mention of on their website. Apparently they quit building them some time ago, and this one has never had a fire built in it. The stove is smaller than most cookstoves, more like a cabin cookstove.

[woody1]

Another wood cutter here. About 95% of our heating is with wood. 3 Husky's. An ancient 61, 272xp and 394xp with bars ranging from 24-32". And yes I need the long bar. Regards, Woody

[Herb in Pa]

Cut and burned wood for 23 years in a Vermont Castings Parlor Stove, heated the whole house........used to run 700 degree surface temperature when it got really cold....cut with Stihl saws. Bought a Harmon Pellet stove in 2005 and never looked back. Sold the Vermont Casting stove in 2005 for more than I paid for it. No creosote problems and a 40# bag of pellets makes a cup of ash, lights itself and a thermostat controls the temperature.

[starmac]

Another wood cutter here. About 95% of our heating is with wood. 3 Husky's. An ancient 61, 272xp and 394xp with bars ranging from 24-32". And yes I need the long bar. Regards, Woody

I still use one of those ancient 61's, they are hard to kill.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

but I may well start buying my wood in log length next spring and cutting/splitting and stacking it myself. You can save some money by doing that - log length grapple load is $1000 and gives about 7 to 7 1/2 cords. If you buy dry wood it is $275 a cord here. You can do the math.


I cannot imagine buying wood. Heck I can't even give it away around here!

I was in a pinch about 3 years ago, and had to move 9.5 full cords of dry split hardwood off of the property I "had" permission to store/age it at. I had no where to go with it, it had to be sold. it's tough to sell at a fair price around here as mroliver77 stated about MI. I sold 7 of those cords to a close friend for $700. No one else would pay anymore, I figured I may as well help a friend instead of a stranger. the remaining wood was sold to strangers for the same price per cord. Lots of cheap firewood here in MN...and the Ash Bore really hasn't done much damage here yet.

[starmac]

I see it advertized as high as 300 bucks a cord here, I'm not sure what price it sells for on average.

[bandit7.5]

I use a fire place blower. With my brother working in land clearing I get about a dumptruck load of logs a week. I m behind on splitting about a load and a half. I bought a stihl farmboss 11 years ago its still running strong. In chain saws unless your pruning roses there is no such thing as too much chain saw.

[starmac]

I use a fire place blower. With my brother working in land clearing I get about a dumptruck load of logs a week. I m behind on splitting about a load and a half. I bought a stihl farmboss 11 years ago its still running strong. In chain saws unless your pruning roses there is no such thing as too much chain saw.

I used to say that, now my back claims differently. lol My 346 gets the most use these days, but it depends on the size of the logs too.

[Three44s]

Run a Liberty (Lopi) and our heat pump/electric furnace for back up.

Sthil

A hydraulic wood splitter makes a lot of difference!


Three 44s

[novalty]

Been working on firewood for the past month and a half, with father-in-law and brother-in-law. Laid down about 6 cord of wood, and cut and split aout 2 and a half. I burn about 4 cord of wood in the winter to reduce the use of heating oil. Running a Viessman boiler with a bunch of zones in my house. We burn around 300-400 gallons of #2 oil per year.

Have about 2 cord of firewood left over in my basement from last year, and going to throw another 2.5 or so down and stack, so it dries out from being under cover, plus it will dries alot when we are running the wood stove--just have to run a dehumidifier.

Although we have enough laid down for next year, and some for the year after--my arthritic body is telling me I ain't going to be make it a life time of cutting wood. Thinking a wood pellet stove might be in my future, as well as a electonic hot-water heater for the summer so I can shut down my boiler and save on oil.

[Boondocker]

Hey there Sparkz, I have burnt wood for 30 yrs and made a home water jacket out off 4"id x 16" square heavy wall tubing. I cut a hole in the upper rear of the stove and welded this in with 1" sticking out with 2- 3/4" pipe nipples sticking out. The lower nipple for cold water was inserted into the tube a foot. Remove the drain on a extra hot water heater, I got a used one,run 3/4 copper to that from the lower port in stove to the drain port on the bottom, run other to a tee with a pop off valve in the end where the pop off valve port is. Run a cold line in the top and the hot out to your cold line on your electric heater. You need this tank within ten feet of the stove. and the hot will thermo syphon on its own,farther you may need a circulation pump. Make sure you put a bucket under the pop off because you will make more hot water than you know lol. I now have a coal furnace with a commercial coil in it hooked to the same set up. Wood made hotter water tho. Let me know if you need some pics. If you need a pump I have a brand knew one,never used for 85.00 plus shipping. Was a 120.00 never needed it.

http://www.survivalmonkey.com/threads/domestic-hot-water-from-a-woodstove.32038/

[MaryB]

Pellet stove is a lot of work moving and storing pellets. Move them to storage in the fall then a bag at a time to the stove as needed. Been there and I think burning wood is easier.


Been working on firewood for the past month and a half, with father-in-law and brother-in-law. Laid down about 6 cord of wood, and cut and split aout 2 and a half. I burn about 4 cord of wood in the winter to reduce the use of heating oil. Running a Viessman boiler with a bunch of zones in my house. We burn around 300-400 gallons of #2 oil per year.

Have about 2 cord of firewood left over in my basement from last year, and going to throw another 2.5 or so down and stack, so it dries out from being under cover, plus it will dries alot when we are running the wood stove--just have to run a dehumidifier.

Although we have enough laid down for next year, and some for the year after--my arthritic body is telling me I ain't going to be make it a life time of cutting wood. Thinking a wood pellet stove might be in my future, as well as a electonic hot-water heater for the summer so I can shut down my boiler and save on oil.

[waksupi]

How long does a bag of pellets last?

[jmort]

From what I have seen a day. At $5.00 per forty pound bag, that is around $150 per month for heating a house. Not too bad.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

well, yesterday was the third day of splitting/hauling/stacking one large ash tree that came down in a June Storm, that I cut up a few days after the storm. some of the logs were 36" across, these last three days were alot of work, 9 trailer loads of wood [trailer was a little smaller that a fullsize pickup box, because this was on my friends lawn and didn't want to make ruts]. Nice thing was I sold two loads for $120 to cover gas and such.

[SeabeeMan]

I heat the pole barn with our old deer camp cast iron stove that's been around forever. I burn more than in campfires than I do in that thing and I can pretty much keep it fed with blow down from the year on our land. I would love to get an outdoor boiler to heat the house through the forced air system, but the cash isn't in the cards right now. As far as a saw, its a trusty McCulloch 10-10S that my dad gave me years ago. He's a DNR forester nearing retirement and swears by his Husky's but keeps pushing me towards Stihl. He's also in charge of the university fire crew and teachers all their saw handling courses throughout the state. He taught me how to sharpen by hand and it is amazing what an old saw like that 10-10s can do with a good edge on the chain. I've never used the grinder but I have sharpened my way all the way through a chain over the last 8 years or so.

[John Allen]

I have been burning wood in our insert for about 10 years now. I can not imagine going back to oil heat for everything. We use about 30 gals of fuel oil a year for those cold nights when the thermostat causes the heater to kick on.

[lostsixgunner]

Been burning wood since I was 21. Drop the tree, if standing.buck to length, load into truck or wagon, haul to home, unload, split, stack, then season till it's time to bring in the house. For the last 28 years, when I moved into my current house I have been burning 7 to 8 cord every year. I have a wood stove with a blower on it in the fireplace and a better'n bens in the cellar, I only start when it gets really cold. That has a loop of S.S. pipe in it hooked to a resivoir tank hanging above it. Heats all my hot water when the stove is going. I really need to hook that up to a couple of old radiators in a couple of rooms. I'm running a couple of Huskys, a 262 and a 288, and I have an American wood splitter to take a little pressure off. I'm 58 now, and don't intend to give it up anytime soon!

[MaryB]

When I was burning pellets on below zero days it took 2 bags, warmer took less

[Buzzard II]

I burn wood in an old Kresno air-tight wood stove. I've had it for over 35 years now. They don't make this brand anymore, but Vermont Castings is a good stove. I ride around after any storm with the pick-up truck and Stihl chain saw and get all the free hardwood I need. I'm 63 and still going, I was raised with a wood stove in the house.

[dragonrider]

I use coal in the cellar and pellets upstairs. Have been using the envirofire pellet stove for about 18 years and the Harmon coal stove for 6. Before the pellet stove I burned wood, got log length loads every other year, twenty years of that was enough. Coal and pellets are so much easier. I found a new pellet stove that does not require electricity, and as luck would have it there is a dealer right in town.
http://pelletstovesunplugged.com/index.html
Will be going to check it out this week.

[uscra112]

Someday I'll find my Dad's old McCullough, if it ain't lost in the move from Michigan, and give it a whirl, just to see. It served him well for at least 10 years, then he gave it to me when he got too old to haul his own wood. That was about when he turned 85. Never had much cause to use it when I was in Michigan.

Meanwhile I'll sharpen my Stihl chains with a file. Grinders cannot help but throw bits of abrasive into the chain, and any of that gets in the linkpin/bushing interface, well......

In 2010 a crew showed up to log off about 100 acres behind my place. They set up their landing 75 feet from my house. Middle-aged Amish or Mennonite fella was the gang boss, and man, could he ever handle a saw. That was when I really, truly learned to sharpen a chain. He'd give his a lick about twice a day.

I got almost three years of burning from that. They were glad to have me haul that butt-ends and junk away, since the landing area was kinda cramped. And when they needed water I ran a hose from my well, so it worked out for both of us. Most of it was poplar, but I got one huge oak bole that they skidded out, musta been 36" diameter and 18-20 feet long. When he made the first cut to bring it to sawmill length it turned out to be hollow almost all the way. He was mighty disappointed about that one. When I cut up, I found the biggest honeycomb I have ever seen inside it.

[retread]

Been heating with wood since 1979. Airtights. Stihl is my saw. Bought the current one in 1984, stihl going strong! :razz:

[starmac]

Dragonrider, my sons partner heats his house with one of those and loves it. My son actually does some work for the company on their pellet stoves up here and just got through powder coating one for them.

[wlc]

Dragonrider, my sons partner heats his house with one of those and loves it. My son actually does some work for the company on their pellet stoves up here and just got through powder coating one for them.

Are you talking about the pellet stove in his link? That's cool. Is there a dealer for them up here? I've got a friend that lives off-grid in Delta that would be interested. He's getting older and is starting to think about ways to make life a little easier over the next few years.

[starmac]

There is a dealer here, I think anyway, I will try to talk to my son tomorrow and find out who it is. He has one in his shop now that they are working on.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Here is the stump of a large "standing dead" white Oak tree I cut a few years ago with my Stihl 360 Pro with 20" bar

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/bigstumpwithStihlcloseupreduced400x300.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/bigstumpwithStihlcloseupreduced400x300.jpg.html)


About 10' up there was this crotch...one of the toughest cuts I've ever made with a 20" bar...it was lots larger than the base of the stump.
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/bigstumpwithStihlIIreduced400x300.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/bigstumpwithStihlIIreduced400x300.jpg.html)

This is my homemade wood splitter, 13hp Honda vertical shaft engine and a 2 stage hydraulic pump. built in 2004. My friend that owns a body shop was painting an allis chalmers at the time and had extra paint...otherwise it would never have gotten a professional paint job.
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/woodsplitter.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/woodsplitter.jpg.html)

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/100_1166.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/100_1166.jpg.html)

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/100_1184.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/100_1184.jpg.html)

[southpaw]

Does anybody else use a 4-way head for their wood splitters? Man, those things save so much time.

uscra112, My Dad gave me and my brother his saw and stuff when we where old enough to use it without hurting ourselves. He helps alot with the splitting and brush removal. We drop and limb them and he pulls them out with the bulldozer, then pushes the brush in pile. Smart guy.

Jerry Jr.

[starmac]

WLC the dealer in fairbanks for these is Alaska Hearth and Home.

[wlc]

Thanks starmac! I'll pass the info along to my friend.

[Screwbolts]

I use an in door boiler in an out building. I watched a friend install many outdoor boilers and could not figure out why some one would want to load a boiler out in the nasty weather. I use a Thermo Control 2000 boiler made in Cobleskill, NY. We heat our domestic year around with it also

I run Huskies 340, 345, and a 350, 40 to 50cc saws that are around 12 pounds.

[southpaw]

I use an in door boiler in an out building. I watched a friend install many outdoor boilers and could not figure out why some one would want to load a boiler out in the nasty weather. I use a Thermo Control 2000 boiler made in Cobleskill, NY. We heat our domestic year around with it also

I run Huskies 340, 345, and a 350, 40 to 50cc saws that are around 12 pounds.

The mess stays outside. This includes the bugs. The fire is also outside, greatly reducing the chance of your house catching on fire. I won't have to set up the scaffling to clean the chimney in the middle of January.

These are the main reasons that I have gotten one this year.

Jerry Jr.

[Screwbolts]

Southpaw, that is exactly why my INDOOR boiler is in an OUT BUILDING 60' from my house.

[mroliver77]

The outdoor boilers I looked at were in the $10,000 range and more with everything one needs to install it. Most people I talked to said their wood consumption increased 30-50%.

The price is from dealers I talked with. The consumption was from those with the stoves.

Any feedback on that?
J

[starmac]

Those price ranges and wood consumption figures are about what I have come up with too. Some more elaborate setups were quite a bit higher still. They all require electricity too.

[mroliver77]

I would like to keep the dirt out of the house. By spring time I am kinda sick of all involved with having a wood stove.
BUT
10 G's would buy a lot of goodies! I have been burning wood since 79 and have not spent half of that amount.

[starmac]

If a guy buys a new, top of the line epa approved woodstove and piping the costs are getting close to half of that. So if a guy was starting from scratch it wood come closer to penciling out, pricewise. My problem is the required electricity, so you would still need a backup plan.

[jaydub in wi]

The outdoor boilers I looked at were in the $10,000 range and more with everything one needs to install it. Most people I talked to said their wood consumption increased 30-50%.

The price is from dealers I talked with. The consumption was from those with the stoves.

Any feedback on that?
J

my central boiler unit was $9000 7 years ago. It does require 110v to run the water pump/ control unit. Before this, I burned 600 gallons of fuel / year. That'll cost $2000 / year. An additional benefit is the fact that I can turn off my electric water heater too. You pay your money and make your choice

[starmac]

They have been trying to outlaw the outdoor boilers, and some of the older woodstoves here, we have to vote it down every year or so. lol

[mroliver77]

My stove is an old steel box Hutch Rebel. It has served me well for over 30 years. I inherited a Vermont Castings small cast iron stove with a catalytic com buster from my Ma and put it in my kitchen. It takes such small pieces it is a pain. It does make a lot of heat for no more than it is.
I don't care anymore what laws they make. I will use my stove until I die or they rout me out of here. If a state would really decide to be free I would sell out and move but it is doubtful.
If I was starting out with wood I would buy a good second hand stove for a couple hundred or build one to suit.
There is a small valley in my yard. I think a boiler could utilize the thermosiphon effect to circulate the water. The local Campbell Soup factory scraps lots of nice 1", 2" and 3" food grade stainless pipe when they change out something. The local scrap yards will sell to customers. My new meds are helping so maybe I can get to it.
jaydub, I was stating that the price of an outdoor boiler is just not sensible or doable for me. Even buying wood it would probably pay for itself pretty fast in your situation. Would it be feasible to have a solar/battery backup for the pump. A generator? Is yours in a building or stand alone? A neighbor picked up an old(but nice) 8" galvenised grain bin with a roof he uses for a heat room. His boiler and wood are in it. Nice system!
J