Hi guys im back again thanks for the replies. At the moment im away working for a few weeks but ill get the missus to take some shots and ill try to get them uploaded. For anyone who is interested ill post some shots of the house set up. In Tasmania the price of land at least doubles when running by access to power from the roadside. For example a same size 2 acre block next to the road in my semi- rural area would run about $100K but 100 metres from the road runs about $40K. To put the poles in costs about $20K and a lot of hassles. To go solar when building my place ran about $16K. Most people dont factor in this saving when building with solar, the whole system is free as well as the saving in the future. For me it was an easy decision. This is full off-grid but has limitations. I run instant hot water which doesn't have a holding tank and heats the water up on demand (very efficient) as well as cooking on gas. I bought a big deep freeze which runs off lpg gas as well which wasn't cheap ($3K). The solar power has a battery bank which runs the lights, tv, computers, washing machine and small stuff. I have only 6 panels and that's all I need (batteries are the most important in a system). I also have an external socket to plug the genny in if the batteries run low. In the dead of winter on the worst possible day it would cost $3 in petrol (2 litres). In summer I plug in my electric freezer and disconnect the gas freezer due to plenty of free electric power. Wood is reliable in Tassie for heat and not too expensive when you have a small place that's well insulated. Ill try to get some pics up later today.
We have a lot of Hardwoods. Peppermint, Stringy Bark, Sassafras, Celery Top and a few others. We have a big forest industry that been in decline for the last decade but looks set to ramp up again. The average wood hooker here uses Husqvarna, Stihl etc as preference for chainsaws as well as the usual block busters and hand tools. Standard work truck is Toyota Hilux. This is your standard guy working for himself felling and processing his own loads. The more professional bigger guys use 10 tonne dumpers selling processed wood, rounds or full logs. Buying a 30 tonne semi-load of huge logs people do which saves them the hassle of sourcing wood which they then process and add value and sell on.
To be honest i want to keep it in a condition as close to normal as possible so i can use it later for other purposes.
So many questions... Wood hooker? I assume that what you called us wood cutters. Never heard of any of those trees except sassafras, unless you peppermint herbs get huge. Blockbuster? Is that a pneumatic splitter?
Block busters are like large mauls. We use the term "wood hookers" for wood sellers who sell by the side of the road . Here's a photo of typical bush in Tasmania in the highlands i took a while back to give you an idea of the type of trees. These are just as you get in to national park and obviously are protected areas. But these are the sort of native trees around these parts.
Ive read the first 20 pages of the forum before i signed up. From what i gather the 3 year thing is about being 3 years ahead and burning wood that is less than 15% and being able to sustain this indefinitely by replenishing?
You hit it pretty close. I have a situation this year that many have mentioned and it goes right with the 3 year plan. What if some year you can't put up wood. That's me. But, we still have plenty. I think we are around 5 or so years ahead and we even had enough to give to a neighbor who hurt his back and could not cut over the winter. That is a nice feeling to be able to help and still have plenty. Wood burns fantastic too.
Not yet. There's a bloke i know in Tassie who is still burning his grandfathers wood and he died 25 years ago.
That makes it even more amazing. I used to ride bike a lot and there was an old fellow who I always waved to. He had no electric or running water, cut his wood with a buck saw. He also had a real old car but I don't remember what it was now but he would cover it every night and remove the covering in the morning. Sadly, he finally got too far gone to care for himself but I'll always remember him.
Had a guy like that too and he couldn't read or write and used to hand over money at the local shop and rely on the goodwill of the shopkeeper to give him the right change for years. Got his pension changed into electronic format with a plastic debit card and used to leave his pin number at the shop. He died in his chair at home in front of the fire with his mentally disabled adult daughter. His daughter told the cops that her father smelt bad so they went over to check it out. He was dead for a week and nobody knew because he rarely went to town.
