Half this winters fuel laid in

[MaryB]

Half my winters fuel is in, last 2 days I moved 5,000 pounds of corn. Shoveled it to the back of the pickup so it could fall into the auger. I am going to be paying for that move!

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd248/maryalanab/IMG_20161028_1625018271_zpsvoiwf510.jpg

Next week I start on the 2 tons of pellets I want to stash in case this winter is colder than normal. Plus they burn cooler so I can burn earlier in fall and later in spring to keep the furnace off. My back is really going to be hating me!

[rancher1913]

I use a gravity wagon and augers but thats just me [smilie=2:

[quilbilly]

Corn! That is new to me. At least you don't have to plan two years ahead like around here since it takes a couple summers to dry things out. I am studying my trees now to decide which to fell, cut, and split this winter for the winter of 18-19.

[GhostHawk]

I ran corn one winter when nat gas prices spiked and corn was under 2$ a bushel. Mine was a homeade affair starting with a fish house wood stove but when the winter was over we came out about even with what the nat gas had cost. Considering I had to check fire every 2 hours when the following year came, price of corn was going to 8$ a bushel and nat gas was down so I just mothballed it in case of an emergency.

Corn burns well with a very nice smell to it but it needs some extra air to keep it going.

[PaulG67]

I got 1.2 tons each of pellets and coal into the cellar just last weekend. I have never burned corn as it is not readily available here. Can one use it in a pellet stove? I have been heating with pellets almost exclusively for about 25 years, Installed a coal stove in the cellar about ten years ago, now the cellar where my reloading is done is nice and warm and the floors above are also warm, makes a huge difference in comfort.

[MaryB]

Corn is VERY corrosive when burned so it takes a special stove and special venting or it rots out in a year. Otherwise same principal as a pellet stove and I can burn either. Around here it only takes an acre to grow what I burn in a winter. The pellets I am buying are backup and fall/spring use because they burn cooler. Corn was $3.32 a bushel(54 pounds) this year and on a par with natural gas. But the heat is much more comfortable and even instead of cold/warm cycles from the forces air furnace.

I need a gravity wagon but hasn't been in the budget and the little ones are hard to find. I only need a 200 bushel wagon. And a 4wd to tow it into the backyard... I tried with a borrowed wagon one year and my 2wd truck won't cut it on damp grass. Due to the angle the wagon would sit at I would still be pushing corn to the chute too.

[corbinace]

I too, found your burning corn interesting, as I had never heard of such a thing. Any idea as to why it is more corrosive than other fuels? Being a mechanic, I have grown to hate corn in the tank of anything with an ICE.

Pretty spoiled here with all of the cheap hydroelectric power in the lines. Domestic water and electricity is about $12-1300 a year for two people in an older 3500 sqft house and outbuildings.

My grandparents burned coal in Colorado and it was always very toasty in their home.

[tomme boy]

mary you need to stop beating yourself up. We are not getting any younger! No neighbor kids to help?

[Geezer in NH]

Laid in my full years fuel last august filed the tanks took 413 gallons from last years july a full 13 months heat and hot water. We now have 1 1/2 years oil on hand bought and paid for not waiting to get delivered.

[MaryB]

Burning corn puts out nitric acid, the exhaust can actually make your nose burn. Smells like burning popcorn too!

Kids no longer want to work to make money... mommy or daddy will but it if they have a fit... plus I have to move it during weekdays when they are at school. They don't do small load out on weekends, only rail car loads and semi loads headed to the ethanol plants.

[CLAYPOOL]

Jack the gravity wagon up on one side after blocking the wheels. You can also purchase them with unloading augers built in. Look on the internet. Used can be tarped over and/or repainted. See if you have any duck hunters in your neighbor hood to help older people. Collage kids need money. Country kids have 4 wheel drives and friends to help. Dad may sell corn..?

[CLAYPOOL]

Farm sales for used wagons. I sold mine when I got out of the cattle business. We stored protein pellets in ours of and on..

[tomme boy]

I hear you about not wanting to work. Better halves parents have a neighbor that has a huge operation. Raises feeder cattle for market. Grows all his own feed. He has to hire lets say south of the border as NONE of the areas kids or HS students will work. They want the money but not have to work for it.

We go up and help drive wagons around for him sometimes so that I can hunt on his land that can't be farmed. He is more than happy to let us help him. Plus he has a mini slaughter house out in one of the machine sheds. Thats were we do our deer at. This year I am soo messed up I am not able to get out and help. But there are always things to do so maybe this spring I will be in better shape to help some more.

Oh, and we noticed the gravity wagon issue too. Seems everyone has gotton too big and needs the biggest thing out there. Amazing how big some of them are now!

[jonp]

You didn't say how much it came out to in bushels and how much per bushel? I'm surprised so many have not heard of this. It was a big deal up in New England for a while but the cost of pellets came down and no-one I know burns corn anymore

[dverna]

We are old fashion and still burn wood. 15 cords put up and that is enough, but will plan on another 4-5 cords this week. Wood has been cut. Just needs splitting and stacking. My gf Mary is here to help. She is the Valve Operator on the splitter.

It it feels good to be ready

Don Verna

[MaryB]

I bought 100 bushels this year(yes it came to 100 even!) at $3.30 a bushel. Price wise that puts it a tiny bit cheaper than natural gas and the heat is much more comfortable because it is even. Pellets are running $200 a ton versus corn at $118 a ton. Even in years it is a little more expensive than natural gas I run it because it keeps me warmer!

[dragon813gt]

We are old fashion and still burn wood. 15 cords put up and that is enough, but will plan on another 4-5 cords this week. Wood has been cut. Just needs splitting and stacking. My gf Mary is here to help. She is the Valve Operator on the splitter.

It it feels good to be ready

Don Verna

Man, the cost of that wood, if I had to pay for it, is 33% more than I pay for natural gas and electricity combined for the entire year. Both have come up from their lows but not much. I'd hate to have to split and stack all that wood let alone cut it all down.

[MaryB]

I thought about a wood stove but I do not have a wood lot to cut my own and firewood prices are insane here at $125 for a pickup load(about 1/2 cord)

[dragon813gt]

It's $200 a cord here for split and delivered. That means dumped in a pile in your driveway. And it's usually barely seasoned. I'm sure if I lived in a colder area I'd want something other than a forced air natural gas furnace. Thankfully it doesn't drop below 20 very often.

[TXGunNut]

Do you have rodent issues with that much corn around, Mary? Seem to recall you have a few cats around, hopefully one or more are good mousers.

[leeggen]

Mary B do you know how much moonshine that would make? You would never get cold, unless you drank too much of it. Still need to cut wood for next year. Sap has not stopped flowing yet in the trees. They are holding alot cause of the dry weather around here. another month and I'll have it ready to go. I need to move my dry wood into the wood shed this week that will make room for the new cutting in the log yard.
CD

[dverna]

Man, the cost of that wood, if I had to pay for it, is 33% more than I pay for natural gas and electricity combined for the entire year. Both have come up from their lows but not much. I'd hate to have to split and stack all that wood let alone cut it all down.

There is a lot of logging here so about half of it is almost free, except for fuel to pick it up. The rest is purchased...$60-80 per logger cord...we get about 2 1/2 face cords per logger cord. Most is birch, ash, and maple. Oak will be at the higher end price wise. I estimate 80% of my neighbors use wood as their primary heat.

Don Verna

[MaryB]

Some mice get in the corn, I have sucked them into the house via the vacuum system that cleans the corn and fills the inside tank. Funny to watch one plop into the tank and run in circles but a pain to drain out until the mouse comes out. Tigger is my mouser. This fall he is getting 2-3 a week in the house(parts of my house were built in 1880, field stone foundation... they always find ways in) but everyone in town is complaining that mice are really thick and trying to get in. Friends on the other end of town have killed 5 a week this fall.

If I had wood readily available I would burn it. But having to buy it corn comes out cheaper per BTU and the corn to heat every house(~100 houses last census) in my town could be grown on 160 acres or less so it is a very renewable fuel. If I can find a cheap corn stove I may put one in the garage for heat and run it during the day when I am up and let it cool at night.

[MaryB]

Some price comparisons per 100k btu

Natural gas $1.76 (85% efficiency)
Wood $1.74 (60% efficiency)
Electric $3.70 (100% efficiency)
Wood pellets $1.73 (85% efficiency... yes pellet stoves are super efficient and this is likely low, more like 92%)
Corn $1.21 (same as pellet stove efficiency, 90+%. I can hold my hand on the vent pipe it runs so cool)

Wood stove efficiency has improved with newer stoves but I do not know what the figures are at. My furnace is 90% efficient so that number per 100k BTU would be a little lower.

But when it is -20 and I can hold my living room at a toasty 78 and the rest of the house at 74 without the up and down cold and hot spikes of the furnace it is worth the extra work to burn corn and pellets! Pellets burn a little cooler(less dense so the burn pot doesn't hold as much fuel) so I run them fall and spring.

[rancher1913]

if we did not have all the dead wood that had to be cleaned up every year, we would probably burn corn too. one of my neighbors has a corn/pellet stove in a trailer, the old kind with the axles still under it, and it was getting to hot for him so he uses lama pellets and it is perfect for him. lama's tend to dump in the same spot so its easy to collect.

[KCSO]

My wood pile if plumb full and I have two more truck loads cut and ready to move in, I am happy.

[Shawlerbrook]

Similar to rancher here. With 110 acres, cull trees are all I need( plus a lot of time and energy , it gets harder at 60 years old). Thank God the wife helps.179918Sorry about upside down.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I've got about two years worth of hardwood, firewood cut, split, and stacked and ready to go(although some needs seasoning). I burn 3 cords per a winter season (that'd be real cords, 4x4x8). I cut my own (so far, anyway) at the city's compost site, but you have to be "johnny on the spot" when the city drags boulevard trees out there, because there are a couple other fellows that watch for those logs, many are lumber worthy and worth lots more than firewood.

Also, I am quite lucky, one old friendly fellow, who lives on the edge of town and has many trees on his lot, will cut trees and haul the brush away, and asks me to come in, cut up the logs and haul them away...and this year, he cut some trees on a neighbors property, who didn't want anyone else on their property, then he hauled the cut up logs to my house...what a pal, huh.

Very few burn wood for heat in my area, so I guess I'm lucky that there isn't a lot of competition for the free wood.

[leeggen]

Shawlerbrook thought you were on the other side of the planet at first. That wood pile was going to fallinto space.
Just has not gotten cold enough hered to cut yet. Still getting 70's to 80's in the day and 50's at night. Ground is teribbly dry, been irr. a area in pasture to keep it somewhat green for the goats. Going to thin the herd this weekend, getting rid of 14 and keeping 14. That will help with the pasture. Next week it is to cool off some but not enough to stop the sap flowing. Winter wood dries lots quicker than wood with all the sap in it.
CD

[bob208]

we had a pot belly stove which was nice if you had the time and sat next to it. then we bought a harmon coal stove. works great heats the whole house. we burn about 800 lb. a month in the really cold months. I have 2 1/2 ton. in now. 1 1/2 in 5gal. buckets. the rest in a pickup bed trailer.

[NavyVet1959]

I bought 100 bushels this year(yes it came to 100 even!) at $3.30 a bushel. Price wise that puts it a tiny bit cheaper than natural gas and the heat is much more comfortable because it is even. Pellets are running $200 a ton versus corn at $118 a ton. Even in years it is a little more expensive than natural gas I run it because it keeps me warmer!

Hmmm... $3.30 per bushel of corn and supposedly 2.8 gallons of ethanol can be made from a bushel of corn.

I'm thinkin', "give me some corn squeezins"...

We have natural gas for heating here, but I could get away with just changing all my lights back to incandescent during the winter and still keep the house at a comfortable temperature.

[AlaskaScott]

I loved burning coal with wood in my soapstone fireplace I used to have. It was the only fuel source cheaper than natural gas up here

[leeggen]

Mary B how is your back and shoulders now that a few days have gone by? Just had a cort. shot in my left shoulder after some heavy work out for the last month. Hope your ok.
CD

[MaryB]

Brewed beer Saturday so back is not a happy camper. Glutton for punishment! 5 gallons of beer wort in a bucket is pushing 50 pounds... I do 10 gallon batches so 2 awkward buckets to move and tuck into the fermenting fridge. Need to get 75 more bags of pellets tomorrow weather permitting... get the pellets in storage and I am down to just brewing every 2 weeks or so(depends on how many friends drink my beer! Traded 2 cases for use of a 3500 pound trailer to get pellets tomorrow)

[Col4570]

My danged Chainsaw will not start,i have a nice pile of Logs from last year and plenty more to cut and split.Must get the saw on the bench and check her out.Talking of Rodents,I have Mice in my Garage,they got into my Shooting Box through the Carrying Slots and chewed through a Plastic box of CCI Top hat Percussion caps,scattering them and ate through my Shooting Mat.I must turn my cat loose in there,she is a good Mouser.
http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s452/livebattery/LULU04082012001.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/livebattery/media/LULU04082012001.jpg.html)

[MaryB]

2,800 pounds of pellets today(cleaned them out! 5 bags short of the 3,000 I wanted). Most weight my old truck has handled! put 2,000 on the trailer and 800 in the box and I could tell the weight was back there! Kept it at 40mph all the way home so the pallet of pellet bags stayed vertical. 50 bags to a pallet so it was 4' off the trailer deck. I didn't trust the shrink wrap to hold the stack together over 40! Even with 2 straps over it the bags could have slid and tore the shrink wrap and made a mess. I stacked 1,400 pounds of them then left the rest for the help!

Next month I might grab another 1,000 pounds, have to see how my budget plays out. Rather have to much fuel than not enough!

[Col4570]

I got the Chainsaw going,it was the air Filter Blocked from last years cutting,sharpened the Chain as well,I have a Powered Sharpener that makes the task easy.Cut and split a nice pile yesterday.I use a Maul for splitting and these Eighty year old Shoulders are aching this morning,I suppose it is a good work out and good for the circulation.

[MT Gianni]

Some price comparisons per 100k btu

Natural gas $1.76 (85% efficiency)
Wood $1.74 (60% efficiency)
Electric $3.70 (100% efficiency)
Wood pellets $1.73 (85% efficiency... yes pellet stoves are super efficient and this is likely low, more like 92%)
Corn $1.21 (same as pellet stove efficiency, 90+%. I can hold my hand on the vent pipe it runs so cool)

Wood stove efficiency has improved with newer stoves but I do not know what the figures are at. My furnace is 90% efficient so that number per 100k BTU would be a little lower.

But when it is -20 and I can hold my living room at a toasty 78 and the rest of the house at 74 without the up and down cold and hot spikes of the furnace it is worth the extra work to burn corn and pellets! Pellets burn a little cooler(less dense so the burn pot doesn't hold as much fuel) so I run them fall and spring.
Wow,my employers rates for natural gas are $0.65 per 100,000 btu.

[MaryB]

I didn't have a current gas bill to compare so used an average.

[FISH4BUGS]

We put down 9 cords of year old wood. Stacked on pallets, covered and ready to burn. Bring it on!

[MaryB]

27 outside, pellets burning, I am about ready to change into shorts and a tank top because it is 80 in here! All the work I have done insulating this house has really paid off with how easy it cools and heats.