It figures

[Bret4207]

So here I sit on day 2 of my vacation, in the heart of deer season, with almost none of my firewood cut, looking out the window at a 30 mph wind, hail and rain. Jeeze I'm gonna be cold and wet........

[Mk42gunner]

Don't worry Bret,

You will warm up nicely while cutting and splitting your winter's wood, then you will be warm and wet.

We had a wood stove when I was a kid; there is no better way to warm up than standing in front of a wood stove.

The first winter I lived in this house, I used 1100 gallons of propane. I didn't want the work of a wood stove; allthough a hydraulic splitter takes a lot of the work out of it, also because I don't have the timber to sustain it. Mainly because I don't trust the chimney in this house.

I ended up getting a corn burning stove. I carry two buckets of corn in a day and clean the stove with a shop vac onc a week. Last winter I used about 170 bushels of corn.

Robert

[Boz330]

Yeh, but now the price of corn has almost doubled. You can't win for loosing. Still cheaper than 1100 gal of LP though.

Bob

[Junior1942]

My wood heater is humming as I write this. I'm about to wrap a big ol' sweet tater in foil and let it roast in the coals. I buy my wood. It's $65 for a fleetside pickup load delivered. It'll take between 4 and 5 loads to last all winter here in north Louisiana.

[kodiak1]

Junior I wouldn't think it would get cold enough down there to need heat maybe air conditioning!!!!!
Last night we were down to 10 above winter is coming sooner or later.
Ken.

[Bret4207]

Thanks Jr. I feel SO much better!

What I have to fill is an area 4 foot wide, about 5 foot high and 80 FEET long. That gives me a little better than 10 cords, not wimpy face cords- manly man FULL cords, of fire wood. That won't quite last us, but it'll get us most of the way there. I have lots of dead red oak and elm, all standing 2-7 years and about as dry as it'll get outside of a kiln. Just a matter of getting it down to the house. Thank goodness for log splitters, good chainsaws and kids that like helping.

Currently the Ford tractor, which I spent most of yesterday fixing, is high center on a stump I couldn't see in the brush. In the AM I'll pull it off and get back at it. I'd prefer to use the horses, but they're out of shape and I don't have the time.

[BD]

Bret,

It sounds to me like you need to tighten that place up. We burned 10 cord a year in our "old" house on the southern end of Moosehead Lake. That place was 150 years old with six bedrooms, a dining room, living room, "sitting" room and an attached 30 x 30 shop. It had the original windows with aluminum storm windows over. I sold that and built a 3 bedroom passsive solar place 3 miles south of the lake in 1986. We can heat the "new" house and the adjacent 30 x 40 detached shop on about 3 cords a year if we're home to pull the insulated drapes at night.

Right now I'd trade the SC traffic for the ME wood splitting in a heart beat. I really miss being able to walk out the door to hunt.
BD

[Boz330]

ELM, it's a good thing you have a wood splitter. Red Oak ain't to bad by hand but Elm is another story.
For years I heated with wood and really liked the heat compared to the old gas room furnace. When I built the new house I set it up to put one of those real nice Vermont Casting stoves in. Well SWIMBO said we aren't heating with wood in the new house. When I asked why not, it is cheap heat. She said that it is to dirty. I said it's not all that dirty, to which she replied, It's not all that dirty because "YOU DON"T HAVE TO CLEAN IT UP". Besides that we are doing well enough to buy gas. End of argument. Have a chimney just no wood stove. 20 years later I have to admit I don't miss cutting and splitting wood. More time for shooting and hunting.

Bob

[home in oz]

Have three cords up by the house, two more in back. Good thing too, deer seasons comes the end of the month! Dont miss splittin', oft as not saw up the big chunks.....