The REAL RE Around Here.

[TomW]

At the risk of bragging. Amy and I have managed to fill this wood shed since last spring when it was down to two lame rows of not very good sticks.

The shed is 30 feet by 16 feet and is built on a slope so height of the stack varies but 6 feet is the average stack height, I think. I call it 30 cords full.

We paid the guy who logs our timber to drag out 30 or so cull logs to a more or less level area in an upper field that is bordered on 3 sides by timber with easy access. The logs were all hardwoods. Elm, Hickory, Walnut, Oak and Hackberry.

This is much better than roaming the woods on my ATV with a trailer looking for logging leftovers to cut. Much easier to get to and more energy into breaking down the wood rather than figuring out how to get to it.

This is how I used to go out to get a load of firewood:

Anyway, we heat with wood exclusively and since wood is carbon neutral I want my carbon credits!

Not exactly sure what 30 cords of mixed hardwood equals in fossil heating fuels but it is a few BTU I am sure.

We use an 8 horse, 26 ton splitter, An 017 Stihl Chainsaw and a 280MS Stihl chainsaw to work up the sizable logs into stove wood. We built an access path to the wood shed that allow pickup access as well as ATV access. It used to be an off camber slope with grass so it was hairy getting to it with loads if wet or slippery it is a level gravel path now.

Don't get the idea wood heat is "free". It takes an infrastructure of sorts to do it. Saws transport, splitter, stove, chimney and hard work.

Wouldn't have it any other way.

Just wanted to brag, Err share.

Tom

[veewee77]

I do hope that you air up that tire with your solar-powered air compressor before going to get wood with that apparatus!

Windmills look great in that photo too!

DS

[TomW]

Doug;

Which tire?

I used to have lots of tire issues from thorns in the timber but the ATV and trailer tires both run at low pressure flotation type They form to the terrain better for more traction and less bounce. They can look low just from how they sit on the uneven ground.

The splitter is just common boat trailer type tires for hiway use.

And when the tire slime fails I can air them up on a compressor run off the inverter same as the drill press and bandsaw.

I started getting that silly upgrading error message again very frustrating.

Tom.

[jimovonz]

Looks like some work there Tom... I reckon that if you did an equivalent amount of work  during winter then you would be warm enough aready! I'm a big Stihl fan, in the log yard where I used to work the there were five 066's that used to run a continuous 10hr shift and last 1.5-2 years. My 066 gets nothing like that sort of work out so I expect it to last much, much longer!

Wood might be carbon neutral but if ya burn it with out replacing it then thats still releasing carbon... Here in NZ we get carbon credits for planting trees, not burning them. We have a block with 50 hectares of plantation pine. If we want to harvest this block without re-planting then we are looking at around $NZ750,000 in carbon tax. Something we didn't count on when we purchased the block to develop into lifestyle blocks before the emission trading scheme legislation was brought in...

[SparWeb]

Gratuitous posting of windmill pictures on a thread concerned only with biofuel.  Off-topic and self-aggrandizing.  You really should read the posting rules from time to time, Tom.

HAWHAW

Sorry -  Reflex reaction to braggarts.  

Nice picture of your "free fuel supplies" there.  Have a cozy winter!

[TomW]

Jim;

The carbon credit comment was a joke. We have about 160 hectares [we use acres] in timber but it gets logged regularly in a sustainable manner. Only credit we see is a tree farm tax break for having over X numbers per unit and no livestock on the land.

It produces more cash than farming the same area would with essentially no input beyond logging activity and we only take the fully mature trees that opens the canopy. It is amazing how fast it fills any sunlit gaps with fresh growth. Lots of wildlife benefits, too. On that basis we sequester a fair bit of carbon because trees for lumber etc are not burned. Tricky stuff, mate.

Tom

[ghurd]

"Elm"?

I haven't seen a live one around here in a long time.

It is my understanding the Dutch had a covert plot to kill them all.

G-

[TomW]

G;

Nah, plenty of elms here yet. They just grow 30 to 40 feet tall and die. We have both red and white as well as what locals call "grey" and could be a hybrid of the 2.

When I was a kid they lined the boulevards in most cities here, Big majestic trees but the Dutch Elm desease got them all in the late 60's or early '70s. Not sure if the ones we have are from long dormant seed or if they get mature enough to seed before they die? Large live Elms are rare. Big, dead widowmakers are still around in the big timbers. Very dangerous to cut down so most wait til they fall on their own to render into firewood.

Tom

[gotwind2]

A nice wood stack there Tom.

Maybe add a 'No Smoking sign' by the side - I know what you old hippies are like ;-)

Ben.

[Volvo farmer]

Nice wood Tom ;-)

I'm jealous of your hardwoods, but wouldn't trade my 300+ sunny days/year for them. We burn a lot of Pinion pine and juniper (red cedar) here because it's what we got. I got 1.5 cords that will get me through the winter but we use a little propane and also have one heck of a lot of glass on the South side of the house. It is a nice fall ritual to cut and split the stuff though. Good post, I like it!

[JoeWXYZ]

Tom,

We burned hardwood a few years back. All we have around here now is pine, the wood of choice. You see the pine beetle has killed just about all of the pine. Real dry on the stick. We now have a billion cords of carbon credit stuff. Enough wood forever? Although there was a forest fire ten miles from here. Nice pile of wood,like money in the bank. Joseph

[frackers]

Never did figure that one out - same as if you plant Remu or Kauri (or your grandfather did) you can't then cut them down.

I'll just stick to my 300 coppiced bluegums...

[bj]

   Brag away Tom.  That much work earns you the right.  Cozy in the cold months makes it worth it though.

  bj

[scottsAI]

Tom, thanks for sharing!

BTW: (30 x 16 x 6) / ( 4 x 4 x = 22.5 full cords of wood.

Use ALL that wood in one winter?

Michigan homes uses 36 million BTU of gas per year.

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/states/residential.cfm/state=MI#sources

Hard woods produce 19 to 27 Million BTW / cord.

http://chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm

Based on above 1.5 cords should do it, amount dependent on efficiency of stove.

How large is your home that you need 22 cords of wood?

Last week I acquired 1.3 cords of wood from two maple trees. Cut 16 inch logs.

Splitting with axe and hand Maul has been fun on the smaller stuff. Had trouble splitting 10 inch logs, Maul bounced off!! Decided if our forefathers could do it then SO could I. Second day now splitting 12 inch log into 10 pieces! Starting off slowly, split 1/5 face cord today (30 minutes), will take a while to get it split.

My wood is for backup heating. Natural gas main heating.

Have fun,

Scott.

[TomW]

Scott;

Well, that shed nowhere nearly as full as it is now carried us thru 3 years when I had my heart attack and didn't cut anything for that time. Not nearly as tightly packed nor as high with less desirable woods not split.

House is small but I have a shop / office, too that I heat with wood. I suspect this fill will go out 5 or 6 hard winters being tightly stacked with split body wood.

House is very small with 600 square feet or something on 2 floors. Lots of good southern glass Fairly well insulated, etc for a converted chicken coop with an addition. We use a Sandia 850 wood stove in the house. Winters vary wildly here but you feel lots better with more than you need.

Lots of locals ran short last winter due to an unusually long heating season although the winter itself was somewhat mild. We got weather early so poor access to work up firewood prevented folks from getting it in from the timber.

I never had such a pile of premo firewood. Had many big piles but not from body wood like this.

Thanks for the links and info.

Tom

[scottsAI]

Tom,

Searched on: Sandia 850 wood stove

Found nothing?

Wondering what it was.

Mine is double barrel wood stove, with some tweaks. No idea the efficiency.

Have fun,

Scott.

[TomW]

Scott;

This thing is probably 40 plus years old. I got it in exchange for a $50 debt a guy owed me about 30 years ago. The firebrick is pretty busted up in it but otherwise it is 100%. Not much can survive my ownership over that time frame. Usually anything worth much was snagged by the ex wives.

Plus, I lied. It is a Scandia 810 not a Sandia 850. I mess up numbers a lot and now I can't seem to recall names reliably, either.

Here is a rather poor photo of it in bad light this morning:

One big upgrade to any wood burning setuip I suggest is to replace the sheet steel pipe many use between stove and insulsated or masonry chimney is to upgrade to stainless steel stovepipe.

The black steel pipe lasted 2 or 3 years. We put that SS pipe on about 10 years ago and other than some blue discoloration there is absolutely no deterioration. Even though it cost 4X what the steel pipe does it is very good to know it will not oxidize away or collapse in a chimney thermal "event"

Tom

[willib]

Thats a real nice stove Tom.

Years ago we had a stove we made out of a stainless beer keg ,it had sand on the bottom ,an airtight door and a baffle which brought the exhaust towards the front before exiting out the back.

We used it every winter for over ten years.

We even had the gas company come over to find out WHY we weren't using enough gas lol

Thats a nice pile O wood too

.

[taylorp035]

My neighbors burn 30 chords a year, but that is about 4000 ft^2 and about 8 people.

[ghurd]

Yikes!

Seems like they should close the doors and windows!

They must have some kind of Serious issue with something.

G-