wildinvirginia

Awesome - that looks like fun! Saw a wood stove advertised in our local paper for $100!

Thanks for the advice - looked up Wikihow - gotta lotta lifting to do lol

First to identify what kind of tree it is apparently .....

Egg and Cress

In some cases, that's absolutely true!!!

tamms_1965

Hubs wants a Stihl to replace his Craftsman which he bought for suburban use. Now that we live "out" and has an insert he has to upgrade.

tamms_1965

[QUOTE=Egg and Cress;9590296] I know the feeling...it's worse since we moved further "out." It seems that the women understand him a little better than the men folk.

tamms_1965

Our farmer friend is going to bring his splitter down as soon as harvesting is done. They're great machines.

Bob

Pallets make great base The in-laws have two stacks, one is fresh split, the other is the previous years seasoned split which is in the garage and then they move a small amount onto the porch when needed.

Though he gets the off cuts from the woods, being a woodsman, he slashes, strips and loads the cut trees and keeps the end off cuts which can be huge, so rents a gas powered splitter every year to take care of it.

I wouldn't call it fun, but it is a good work out. He's a mate who owns a dump truck, so his mate sometimes just loads the stumps and takes it around to his and the grandmothers place for the cost of a load himself.

Not bad, free wood supply though as it's pretty expensive, decent stuff at least

tamms_1965

We asked our farmer friend if he knew where to buy a true cord of seasoned wood and he said, "You're not gonna buy any wood. I've got plenty if you wanna cut it up yourself. We don't bother with it."

Bob

but is it good burning wood?

Dense hardwoods give off more heat and burn for longer, so less trips stocking up on wood piles...and anything that smells good, like cedar/pine is crap to burn and tends to make more of a mess in the stove/chimney.

Definitely get the chimney checked over at the end of the season and again at the beginning of the season if you don't have your own set of brushes

tamms_1965

We (I should say "I") am experienced when it comes to all of the above. I grew up with it...it's the only heat source we had for awhile. However, I will not be cleaning the chimney in the spring; I'll leave that to my chimney guy that installed the insert.

When we first moved in last winter, we had the chimneys inspected and it was the inspector that suggested the insert since we had top-of-the-line ss liners for two of the 6 fireplaces (we had no idea when we bought the place, I talked to the previous owner since then and he said, "Yes, I had them put in but never got around to getting inserts put in ). We converted three to gas with plans to do the other two in the next couple of years. Luckily, it is good wood for burning, but we do have some shit wood out back that we use for bonfires.

We got a Vermont Castings insert that's 75% efficient so we get a tax refund this year (and it supposedly can heat up to 2000 sf). We had a couple of cold nights last spring right after it was installed so we were able to break it in. Not that I'm looking forward to cold weather, but I have to say I am looking forward to my fires I'm a closet pyro.

wildinvirginia

You guys are like an oracle lol. I might have to start editing your comments and advice into a how o guide for city girls gone country. You could get rich off this stuff lol

I m trying to identify my tree so i can come ask you if it's worth the work it;s going to take to pile it - so far sassafras and Spanish pine have been suggested.

I am very lucky in that altho the property is old, the landlord is actually paying a real person (not his usual bodge it guy) to come line the chimney and buy a wood burner that is safer for use around baby. Pyro lady, help me muchly because I am as terrified of fire as I am of axe murderers

Bob

It's amusing, as FIL is a really laid back guy, never takes things much seriously, but getting the chimney checked and getting some one to do the electrics are the only two things he seriously goes for.

He used to be the town fire chief and has had to deal with so many house fires and deaths on those two issues, probably more than chip fat type fires that are the norm for Brits, but then most have deep fat friers that are safer out there I guess.

tamms_1965

Our house burned to the ground when I was in 2nd grade (2 weeks before Christmas) and even as a young adult I would wake up thinking the house was on fire.

another bloody yank

When we first got our woodstove, I found this site was a great resource: http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/

tamms_1965

I love that site I agree...very good info on there.