Cut fifth and final load from timber company's loading zone they left for me. Think about 9 cords once c/s/s This was the last load, and about 2/3rds of my pile came from the LZ Then cleaned up after ourselves So thinking Oct 1st we crank her up!
good job Greg! Nothing better than free heat--you didn't have to pay for the cutoffs did you? Only question I have for you is why do you bother splitting the chunks if you have the classic? Looks like we have the same model stove and the only chunks of wood I split are the ones I can't lift! And-what a great place to get wood from. No muddy hole filled road to wear out your truck/trailer on!
First, paying for wood would violate my own scrounging rule, so we don't pay to get any, and sometimes charge a little if the site is labor intensive. In the LZ deal, the site was very close to my home, and was very thankful it was close and so easy to cut. On splitting, we sell about 6-7 cords a year to help keep gear current, and I also like to get my stuff dry. Just works out with my four way wedge that for furnace one trip thru splitter is usually enough, and for sale we will split the quarters one more time. Also find that if I split them down a little what I lose in burn time from not having full logs chunks, I gain back by being able to stack tighter loads with less air space. Plus my wife can also then load if needed. I used to have a Mahoning, and just got this CB, so will first be fired around Oct 1. Will see if i need to increase size. Plus to tell the truth, l like a tight stacked pile of wood to look at through the year also!
Since you're done cleaning up over there, mind swinging up this way? I always like the looks of a nice clean wood lot...
how did you come accross the idea to split and season wood for an OWB? most OWBs burn today what was cut this morning. good on yah!
These giant wood piles must be a PA thing!! Looking good neighbor!! What a nice looking clean setup there!
This is my first season with the unit. I am hoping the lean to will do it, which is 15 cords. The former Mahoning could not go the entire cold winter on 15 cords. But in fariness, I sent everything flammable in the Mahoning. Pine, building scraps, pizza boxes etc.. so hard to tell. Estimates would suppose this new unit to be 30-40% more efficient, so my plan is to burn nothing but seasoned hardwood from the lean to in it and see if I can make it through. I have more, but hope it can be for the following winter.
Gonna try all seasoned this year. My old unit was fan fired, and you could burn green anything in it as long as you had a good coal bed. But have the supply ahead now and so am hoping the seasoned wood will help efficiency. Certainly can't hurt. New unit is natural draft only, so think it may perform better with seasoned, and that is certainly what their paperwork says. Supposed to reduce creosote build up as well.
Also one other challenge is that I am heating approx. 5000 sf with mostly radiant floor heat, plus domestic hot water, so this unit runs!
Many thanks Scotty. I recall Carnegie once being asked how much more money could he possibly want or need. His answer, "Just a little more". My rule has always been when its available, cut it!
Congrats! That is one heck of a pile of wood you have there. You have some kind of landscape cloth underneath that? I think I see some black cherry, black locust, maple, and maybe some oak? You gonna save the primo stuff, and put the rest in the "for sale" pile? People around here think I'm crazy for saying "I Love New York" , until they see my land. But you PA guys are giving me a bit of woods envy.
There are likely 10 or more kinds in the pile. Some poplar which I sell to folks for camp fires and such, I don't usually keep it for the furnace. But there is cherry, several kinds of maple, white/red/pin oak, hickory, ash, locust, walnut, etc.... I used to sort through more than I do now. Now I just cut it, pile it, split it and stack or sell as I come to it in the pile. Just do what I can to limit number of times it is has to be handled. Underneath of the pile is 2A gravel driveway. I try to keep the paved area clear for processing and for parking my trailer. Once I work through the pile I just drag box the gravel level and load er up again. Once the for sale pile is split it does go on pallets off the ground. I have only one main customer who buys six cords every year, so I just split mainly to fill that order. I have some other people that get small camp/romance wood occasionally. And if they help me split and stack for a while I just give it to them. NY is a beautiful state, spent some time hiking in the Adirondacks, used to stay on Tupper Lake quire often. Hoping to do Appalachian Trail NY section in next few years.
