Kevin, Nice collection. And give your dad a break. He is probably more interested in the hunt than in the making them good again. LOL.
Kills me, just before getting involved in a wood stove and firewood hoarding, I, I, I,....errr um,,,,, I...., yes, ok, I threw away a running McCulloch saw (there, I said it!!), because it was missing a part I could not find (the chain tightening gizmo).
Wow Kevin in Ohio, great story and details! You're clearly a talented and hardworking guy. Amazing what you can achieve without some of the distractions of modern life. Can you clarify a point? It appears you cut all Summer to burn that Winter in the furnace, is that right? Is that because it's all standing dead and therefore low MC or does the heat from the stove accelerate the drying process? Can you expand on this or explain further (if you have the time)? Thanks for sharing this, I really enjoyed reading this thread from start to finish and found it incredibly informative. All the best, James
Your dads homey collection is much like my dads, give or take a few models. Love that 4-20 bow saw! And a friend of my dad's gave him that exact wright blade saw a few months back. I've never seen another one
We normally only cut in the Winter, usually December or January. Cooler temps make for nicer working except for snow and such. I generally try to avoid snow cutting as it slows you down and riskier as far as safety factor goes. Cutting in the Spring and Summer has only happened the past few years for me. That is because all the ash is right here at my place and I can walk out my back door and work for an hour when I have the time. Makes it nice other than the heat aspect, a jug of water every trip out! I don't split the standing dead here so for me it is plenty dry by the time it gets burnt. If I can lift it, I burn it. Normally we split to smaller size because Dad and Mom need it smaller to handling reasons and stove opening is smaller but since It's here and I'm putting it in the boiler house(one less handling) I don't unless it's a huge round. Most of the stuff has been standing dead for at least 3 years now. Not much heat comes off the stove as it's totally insulated except the door so I doubt it helps to dry anything. Out of the rain and such does though.
Yes, Dad would do that and one day the saw bounced out and smashed onto the road; had to spend some money repairing the case. Dad got smarter after that incident on just sticking the saw in the wood load
What was the total cost for building the wood boiler? Just interested in what kind of payback is expected.
Just under 10 grand and at that time it would take 4 1/2 years to pay for itself. Those heat costs were based on JUST heating the house. I'm also heating the 36' x 50' garage and domestic hot water so I'd say probably it was 3 years or less. I'm on my 12th year so you can do the cost savings it has accumulated. I put the savings into making/buying things to make the whole process of gathering easier. Self Feeding the habit if you will.
So the costs are from 12 years ago; I expect your system would almost be prohibitive at today's prices. However, three years return is good on such an investment. I figure that I can pay for my wood stove installation this year if we have a rough winter. At the moment, December has been rather warm but last year it was not so good. If we have a mild winter then the stove investment will not be paid for this year but I expect it will next year.
Hi Kevin, Thanks for the reply, what's the plan when you get through the standing dead ash on your property? Will you be cutting and stacking 2-3 years ahead if you have to fell live trees? I imagine that in rounds that big if the tree was alive when it was dropped it must take several years to dry even when stored indoors.. Another question, I'm curious as to how big the fire box in the furnace is and how long those big rounds will burn for? Also if you split the rounds a little smaller would the fire burn hotter (more air around the fuel) or does it make no difference as the calorific value of the wood per unit weight is the same? James
Here Jim, maybe this will clarify a couple of things :stacke: There's how much wood on The FHC ? Over 1,000 cord ? ? | Page 12 | Firewood Hoarders Club
HDRock covered the first part Door is 23" x 31" and firebox is 56" x 48" x 36" , It all depends on the size of the rounds, temp outside and what wood is being burnt. 3 rounds normally will last at least 24 hours. I don't pack it full. In the coldest of temps it's maybe 2/3 full one rick twice a day. Normal temps is same, just once a day. OWB use more but for the conveinance it's okay by me. This is a non catalytic stove too. Central Boiler 5648 stainless version
thought I needed to add this to this thread as it is part of my heritage. We moved a cabin back into the woods and Dad restored it. Here is a link to a thread of the whole project. Our family cabin in the woods You can see from of the materials for this project came from the teardown on the first page of this thread.
Thanks for sharing this; I hate it when old buildings are left to decay and it is nice to see someone taking the effort to save one.
What an undertaking that project turned out to be. I am sure you Dad knew what he was getting into when he started. Had he not be able to envision what it would look like when done, he would have taken a match to it. You all get an A for your determination to bring that building back from it long being dead and decayed. I hope you all get to enjoy it. Do you know any history about the building?
