Keeping the house warm. In firewood mode full swing.

[Wayne Smith]

If you are in the for the long haul those trees won't last long. Build a relationship with you local wood professionals - they frequently have trees that they have no place for. Usually they will drop them on your driveway for a small price if you ask them.

[Bulldogger]

Not sure I have much to offer, other have given good advice.

Do try for some standing dead trees, they will burn better. I've a good friend who heats with wood exclusively and he burns between 6-8 cords of wood a winter in Maryland near DC. You might be a touch colder in NJ, so closer to 7-9 cords, depending on how much you're heating and how efficiently it is placed and it performs.

Burn the standing dead wood first while the freshly split wood dries out, that will make it burn better than if you light it up now. My friend does this and tries to let "fresher" wood dry for at least 5 months before burning it. Again, he tries to harvest only standing deadwood when he can.

I too enjoy splitting wood, but live in the suburbs and my fireplace can't possibly heat my large rambler home because it's off in the den to the side of the house, so it is strictly for enjoying from time to time. I do enjoy it.

Best of luck and good on ya!

Bulldogger

[ascast]

You like it so much, come to my house. I'll keep you busy. About 5 hours up the road, near Utica. LOL! We put in a Riteway37 in the mid '70's. Burned a hole through the old brick chimney soon after (2-3) years. Replaced it with Stainless Triple wall. That is now showing some corrosion on the welded joints near the top, outside. I can't find a modern made match, so will have to replace all sometime. You will want to put in a SUPPLY AIR run if at all possible. That is, a 3-5inch pipe to the outside for combustion air only. You can use the dryer vent hose, PVC.. whatever is cheapest and easy to work. You will want a dryer vent baffle as well, installed backwards. If you can hook this to the stove air intake great, if not, then put close. This rig will cost about $20 or less. Now ALL THE AIR NEEDED FOR COMBUSTION WILL COME FROM OUTSIDE, not across the floor and your feet, no matter where you are. Much more comfy and will save you fuel. Sorry about the caps, it was not intended. Clean your chimney every month. You will develop a sense of when it needs it over time and adjust accordingly. You do not want a chimney fire, especially in some old brick/stone mess built to handle oil or gas heating. Bldg codes most likely require a separate chimney, go with Stainless steel, craigslist spring and fall.
Buy a good saw, not a homeowner grade, but lower professional grade. i.e. the Puolans have a California carburetor and they last about 1 year.
Insulate and tighten up your house as well as you can.
gotta go good luck

[snowwolfe]

The very first thing I bought for our new house in Tennessee when we moved here was a gas powered log splitter! When your 63 it wont get done unless its easier to do. Second thing purchased was a big Stihl chain saw with a 28 inch bar. That thing will slice through a 24 inch oak log super fast.
One other tip, even though you might have the trees cut down they really don't start to dry out until they are cut into short pieces. But they really need to be split to start drying good.
Seasoned wood means different things to everyone who is selling it. Buy a moisture meter and check it before buy. Look for water content in the low 20% range.

[blackthorn]

Quote "In reality wood cut this year should be burnt next year this gives it time to season and dry. This years wood should have been cut last winter. Oak, Maple, and some fruit woods burn hot and long. Cottonwood when dry and seasoned produces heat but burns fast, willows and box elders are daytime woods. Split in diffrent sizes smaller for during the day and evening, burns hotter but faster. Bigger chunks for night to help hold the fire longer. For this winter buy some seasoned wood to burn and cut split for next years winter."

^^^^ Good advice there! Also, the drier the wood, the less creosote buildup you will get.

[quilbilly]

A wood stove is a wonderful thing. It is the only way to go if you have the opportunity. Eventually you will learn the best woods and the best way to season each for the best burn. I have to plan my woodpiles almost two years in advance in the soggy Northwest since it takes that long to season alder and our property has lots of it. On the other hand, maple takes one year if rounds are split in half and fir just takes one summer if rounds are split in half (three months if in quarters). Sadly I don't have much fir and I use maples for syrup making so have to think hard before cutting.

[Pipefitter]

One more thing, stay away from ethanol gas for that chainsaw. Ethanol burns hotter than gas, and you will burn out the cylinder in the 2 stroke engine. Either buy the premixed gas or find a farm fuel supply that does not contain ethanol.

[bdicki]

I picked up a new Stihl saw that is suppose to be ethanol friendly, we'll see. Burning some water oak yesterday.

[MaryB]

You would be surprised! Put a fan on the floor pushing cold air into the den, and more fans at the ends of any hallways to pull cold air from them and push it towards the den. Cold air is a lot easier to move than heated! I use a box fan in my bathroom doorway which is 20 feet from the living room and it keeps it 74 in there when it is zero outside.

Not sure I have much to offer, other have given good advice.

Do try for some standing dead trees, they will burn better. I've a good friend who heats with wood exclusively and he burns between 6-8 cords of wood a winter in Maryland near DC. You might be a touch colder in NJ, so closer to 7-9 cords, depending on how much you're heating and how efficiently it is placed and it performs.

Burn the standing dead wood first while the freshly split wood dries out, that will make it burn better than if you light it up now. My friend does this and tries to let "fresher" wood dry for at least 5 months before burning it. Again, he tries to harvest only standing deadwood when he can.

I too enjoy splitting wood, but live in the suburbs and my fireplace can't possibly heat my large rambler home because it's off in the den to the side of the house, so it is strictly for enjoying from time to time. I do enjoy it.

Best of luck and good on ya!

Bulldogger

[ericp]

I cut and split 7 cords a year working two years in advance to allow the wood to dry. I do my felling after muzzleloader season and 8 foot them where they fall. It is a lot easier for me to move the sections on a sled than to try and get my truck or tractor in there so I prefer working in the winter. Bucking and splitting happens during the down months of summer when I don't have much other work to do.


Eric

[Freightman]

I am 77 and my grand daughter and my future grandson have taken wood gathering away for me. ��

[snowwolfe]

You would be surprised! Put a fan on the floor pushing cold air into the den, and more fans at the ends of any hallways to pull cold air from them and push it towards the den. Cold air is a lot easier to move than heated! I use a box fan in my bathroom doorway which is 20 feet from the living room and it keeps it 74 in there when it is zero outside.

I tried fans, not much luck. Then the guy who installed our stove said to crack a window in the room we wanted to pull warm air to. Worked like a charm. Every house is different I guess.

[GaryN]

We don't have many hardwoods around here so things are a little different. Wood dries out faster. I burn mostly quaking aspen and pine. Even so I only split as needed. That way it doesn't matter if it is wet, it is dry on the inside. Also, most of the winter it is frozen (easier to split). I wouldn't be without a maul. I just have a cheap fiberglass handled one. It is at least ten years old and may never wear out. I also use the combustion air idea. It works good. I heat with wood and coal. Last year, no coal at all. It usually takes about 5 cords a year for my house. 2 ton of coal would also be good. It can get down to 20 below here in the winter. My wife gets cold. In the winter I keep the house 80-84 degrees for her and her aged mother. There are a lot of old wives tales going around about stoves. Like for instance, you need a grate in your stove to burn coal. I burn it on the firebrick. Have been for thirty years. If it was going to hurt something it would have by now. My stove is a blaze king. It feeds air through a little square box on the back. Makes it real easy to control the fire. If I put coals back by the intake and open the damper it will start a fire roaring very fast. It also works that way for coal. I like it so well I bought a spare.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

Learn to hand sharpen you chains on the saw , a vice and a file with guide are all you need to make a chain last much longer and cut well again any time it isn't pulling the chip you like

I have a vice mounted to a 2x12 that sits on my tail gait and works well I also have a vice mounted to my trailer 5-10 minutes with a file will save you 5 minutes of changing chains and 10 dollars a chain for the shop to sharpen them and the shop can only sharpen them maybe 10-12 times so in the end you have a chain that you purchased for 25 dollars , 10 sharpening at 10 dollars each so your 125 dollars in and now you need to buy a 25 dollar chain to start over again

vs

you buy a 25 dollar chain and a 25 dollar set of files with guide and some spare files and you sharpened 30-40 times and can keep sharpening chains for many many years to come with replacement files every 4-5 chains at about 2 dollars a piece

lets just say you get a cord per sharpening , 125 dollars gets you 11 cord you have 11.36 a cord in chain and sharpening costs and they stay constant or 50 dollars gets you 36 cord and you have 1.38 a cord in chain and sharpening costs and they go down lower to just files and chain after the initial purchase.

one more thing bring some singles wood cutting with you , every time you fill the tank on the saw put a dollar in the envelope in your tool bag , when your ready for a new saw the money you need will be right in the tool bag I figure a saw at right about a dollar an hour +fuel , oil , bar and chains probably about 3 dollars an hour with fuel, oil, bar and chains if your hand sharpening

[paul h]

We don't heat exclusively with wood, but it sure is nice to take the chill off. After clearing our lot to build our house we ended up with about 4 cords of wood, here's a small pile from a standing dead birch tree.



As mentioned, you should let wood season at least a year before burning it, or you'll end up building up creosote in your chimney which can lead to a chimney fire.

A good chain saw will more than pay for itself. If you're cutting decent sized trees, I'd say a 50-60cc professional saw is worth the cost as they cut much faster than homeowner class saws. While I've touched up a chain with a file in the field I've gone to carrying several spare loops and use a grinder at home to get a nice professional quality sharpened chain. It all comes down to saving time.

For protection I use and recommend ear, eye, chaps, steel toed boots and gloves. A hardhat isn't a bad idea.

[MaryB]

A hard hat is a must! I had a dead branch come out of a tree we were dropping. Nobody saw it until it moved then it was to late because it was headed for my skull! Bounced off the hard hat, gave me a sore neck but it beat a trip to the hospital with a flap of skin hanging off my head! Or a cracked skull!

[Iowa Fox]

Wife and I hauled up 9 loads of hickory I cut up last year from the timber the last couple of days. We had a medium supply left at the house from last year. Should be set I hope. Each year see's us a little more pooped out working in the timber, its so darn hilly.

[paul h]

Nothing like a roaring fire as the mercury drops

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Future wood gathering:
Here is one little tip no one mentioned yet, if you live in or near a town/city, many times the city has a compost site. They usually haul all the storm downed trees and sickly boulevard trees there...Free firewood for the cutting...and the best part is, you don't have to deal with Brush or the mess, just leave after you cut the wood you want and the city comes in with a payload to clean up.

[Hawgsquatch]

My family has owned a prosperous Husqvarna dealership for fifty years here in the PNW. Here is some chainsaw insight.


1. There is no replacement for displacement. You can get more work done faster with a larger saw creating more horsepower. For a 24" bar, 65 cc's is adequate 70 better.

2. I recommend getting a saw that you can almost reach the ground with while standing flat footed. for me at 6'2' that means I use a 28" bar. I never cut 56" trees, but I don't bend over while holding thirteen pounds out away from my body either.

3. Chainsaw chains will stay sharp indefinitely as long as they do not cut dirt. Imagine dirt as microscopic rocks. I have seen saw chains used to trim mill ends that wore completely out by stretching between the links before they ever required sharpening. They cut literally hundreds of cords of wood and NO dirt. One revolution of your chain in dirt(about 1/10th of a second) and you need a sharpen.

4. When cutting brush, limbs and small wood or hard dry wood, using a short bar (under 24") use a full compliment chain. Tooth, space, tooth. When cutting soft woods, alders, conifers or using along bar (over 32") use a skip or semi skip chain. tooth, space, space, tooth. On a longer bar and bigger wood. The spaces allow the chain to clear itself and you only file half as many teeth.

5. Oregon and Husqvarna branded chain use a softer base metal and are easier to hand file, while Stihl and Carlson chains use a harder more durable base metal that requires a grinder.

6. Avoid cutting with the top of the bar and avoid cutting things smaller than your thumb and the chain will throw less frequently.

If you are pushing the saw it is dull . A sharp saw will pull itself into and through the work. When it stops pulling, start sharpening.

7. Use the chain-brake, wear chaps, ears, eyes,. No such thing as a small chainsaw/shotgun accident.

8. Choose a quality European branded saw that has the following features. Chrome impregnated (not plated) cylinder. Forged Crankshaft and connecting rods. Dual ringed piston, Bearing supported Crankshaft. Aluminum or magnesium oil-tank, crank case. Not a plastic shell inside a magnesium case.

9. Use the highest octane quality fuel you can get, and use the factory mix at the factory recommended ratio and treat any fuel you don't use immediately. Don't store a saw dry, run an amount of treated fuel into it and it will be fine for three months. Running a saw empty leaves a film of fuel exposed to air that will varnish and gum immediately and cause the problem you were trying to avoid.

Some people might ask if I am a Husqvarna dealer, why don't I just recommend a Husky saw? I think all European saws are good products. So are Echo and Tanaka products. Find a good dealer who supports and services what they sell. That is the most important factor.