So after reading, lurking and sending a few comments. I'm going to throw this out here. I want a hoard of wood. 3 to 4 years worth. question i have. How many cords is enough for one year. I know it depends on weather and how you burn. looking for averages here. Rookie of all Rookies here. loving every minute though. My thoughts: forest service issues 10 cord max permits for the season. It just ended. Might have to see if that is only good one per household? Local small lumber mill will deliver in the spring semi load of long lengths. They say it would be around 16 cord. I know what a cord is but no idea on what a full semi in lengths would be. way to much math for me. Keep it simple for this guy. That would be around 26 cords to start. Lots of work but will be so worth it. Is that enough? All of this would happen in the spring no access because of snow. Wife said i needed a hobby. Showed her right. Now she thinks I'm having a mid life crisis.. Any and all comments would be welcome. Thanks Kenny Greatest thing with having a wood burning warm house. Wife's feet aren't cold. May need to rethink that one.
I say if you figure 5 cord per winter and process 26 cord this spring you'll be set for 5 years, that's a perfect place to be, probably more than the average hoardaholic on here. I have 21 or 22 cord here and burn about 5 cord/year, and I'm a full time burner, built home in '07 and have used less than a half tank of fuel oil thus far (oil fire hot air heat).
Avalon Arbor 2 story 1900 sf main 1000 sf upstairs stove located on main floor. Finished house this spring. 30 minutes from Wasatch forest 7000 ft elevation. Have plans for second stove for upstairs when time and money allows.
Would like to. No we do have NG forced air. Line Stopped at our home or it would have been electric or propane?
New house = good insulation? Plan on at least 5 cord/season because when you're a beginner, you usually go through a bit more than normal. If you can get 26 cords c/s/s in the spring, well, you go man. Do you still work outside the home? Getting firewood out of the woods is a whole different ballgame than cutting logs in your driveway. Just sayin'. It's all doable. Now, get to work and if we don't see pics, it might not have happened. What stove are you running?
Good on you for a plan to get ahead! But, I'd probably not plan on a 26 cord year - that's a whole lot of work - why not shoot for a big year - perhaps 15 cord - about 3 years of wood, and then shoot for 10 cord on year two - then you'd be close to a four year ahead schedule - replace what you burn after that. Of course, if you want to c/s/s 26 cord - go for it - but that's a whole lot of work for that average guy with work/family, etc. Good luck and post pics of the progress! Cheers!
A semi load is either a big pile of 8' bolts loaded across it or indeterminate length logs loaded along it. Getting log length delivered is a quick way to get a lot of wood. A bunch of us get it that way. It is a matter of its cost vs. what it would cost you to get it and bring it home. Factor in your time, equipment, in your case permits and also the intangibles like you start with limbed wood horizontal in your yard without the dangers of felling trees and a log load can quickly become attractive. 16 cords would probably be three years worth for you. Good way to start. Then you can go the forest service permits, just replacing whys you burnt if you have the itch yo cut your own. I also think that you are in probably in a place where the climate is capable of drying the available wood (evergreen/pine/etc) a lot faster than most of us oak burners can. You might only need one year on hand to assure dry wood. Any extra becomes a buffer.
You have be assimilated. You have learned that resistance is futile! Welcome to the land of woodenheads! You're crazy and will fit in nicely!!
yes still putting in 50+ hours in a week. this would be spring summer and fall project for the year. figured the logs in the driveway for spring. maybe able to cut in the woods starting in June. I'll post picture as it happens. running Avalon/Lopi arbor. R-22-23 blown in insulation in the walls R-48 in the ceiling.
lodge pole pine/ figured about 60 dollars a cord = 900.00 franklins. forest service permit 10 cord = 7.50 a cord not including labor,gas,new saw. (but honey i need a new saw)
Speaking from experience, 26 cords is a TREMENDOUS amount of work. And...if you get too much, you run into the issue of your wood rotting if it has to stay out in the weather. If you get 15-20 cords, you will be sitting about 3 years ahead, which is great. Now if you have an open air storage facility, go for all 26! But it will be a lot of hours....I am personally just trying to cut about 20% more than I need each year, knowing I will eventually be far enough out in 2-3 years. I have been burning wood for 13 years, but just in the last couple years learned I need my wood to season more than 18 months.
You may be fine doing 2 years if you're burning pine. I'm not familiar with lodgepole and how it dries. As Thundar said, leaving the wood (pine) outside too long may cause problems if left uncovered. If you cover the stacks, only cover the top....don't drape the tarp down the sides. That will trap moisture. There are ways to do a makeshift kiln dryer with your stacks, but that can be down the road if needed. Also, as Thundar said, and I alluded to earlier, trying to get that much done in a few months w/o help is a big undertaking. Took me over 2 years to get a 20 cord load done, but I wasn't pushing too hard. I may order another load in the next year or two as well.
This has helped so much. In my eagerness to be three years ahead might push myself to hard. Most of the pine is beetle killed dead standing. Lots of pictures here of all your stacks. So might cut back to just the semi load and buy a 1 cord permit if want to take family to woods for a day outing. This is the Best and only forum that i belong to Great People (Guys and Gals).
If you can get the dead stuff out of the woods first, it might be burnable by next fall if you stick to the plan of cutting in the spring. I'd just concern myself with the first 2 years next year, then work on it from there. Heck, you might find that with that dead stuff, you can c/s/s in the spring every year, then burn that winter. I think I'm repeating myself. Keep us updated. Just in case you hadn't noticed in your readings, we really like pics.
Welcome to your new addiction, Waddle!! And let me also say from a first hand "been there, dun that" perspective that getting ahead was a lot of work but we'll worth the effort. I met a lot of guys here several years back, I had already been burning wood for heat for several years and, although I had the basics down and such, I had never considered getting 3 years ahead until heeding the advice of many here. My experiences burning wood over the last decade consisted of going out and finding standing deads of any species in the fall and winter and burning them as I brought them in from the woods......I was vigilantly cleaning my flue for safety sake, and didn't really see the full potential of hearing with wood until I got ahead. Then I started doing tree removals as a side gig and got serious. Fast forward to today, I'm almost 5 years ahead. I go through anywhere from 6-8 full cord per winter to heat our 2800sq.ft. house exclusively with wood, using two modern EPA secondary burn stoves... I'm sitting on a mix of mostly red and white oak, as well as cherry, sugar maple, locust, ash, walnut, and even some soft maple...... At this moment I've got close to 40 full cord split, most of it is stacked, waiting on use in my stove....needless to say I'm a full blown wood hoarder and a lot of it is the fault of guys/gals here on this forum..and I love them for that!!
I would say your off to a great hoarding start already! I was questioning your optimism about 20 plus cords, but I see now, your a motivated hoarder for sure!
