City-Boy Firewood Question

[WDaniels]

Man am I envious of you guys. My house, stove, water heater is propane, 2. 64 a gal and I have a 110 gallon tank filled twice a year(no natural gas here). Cannot get maple, cherry wood, oak or another hard wood at all. Only spruce and birch. Don't sell coal in town anymore and have to drive forever to get wood anymore. Would give my right hand for a couple of cords of oak or iron wood.

WD

 

[Skydiver]

WDaniels

When I built my house I started out with a 250 gallon propane tank and as with any sealed propane tank that means 200 gallons or 80%. After running low in Feb. and talking with my supplier he sent out a 330 gallon tank. Still ran low. So the next year at no additional cost(I rent it) I am using a 500 gallon tank. It will hold 400 gallons. Now I wait till the end of thier summer fill program which is August and can beat the winter prices.

Seems like about 2 years ago propane cost around $2. 40 per gallon in the south.

Tim

 

[Loren]

Here's my two cents worth on the subject:

(The formatting didn't work as well as I had hoped, but you get the idea, I'm sure. )



How You Can Save With A Wood Stove

• Stove, pipe, installation $ 658. 00
  
  Chain saw 179. 95
  
  Gas & maintenance for chain saw 44. 60
  
  4-wheel drive pickup, stripped 8379. 04
  
  Maintenance for 4-wheel drive pickup 438. 00
  
  New rear window for pickup (twice) 310. 00
  
  Fine for cutting unmarked tree in state forest 500. 00
  
  Fourteen cases Michelob 126. 00
  
  Fine for littering (beer cans) 50. 00
  
  Towing charge from creek 50. 00
  
  Doctor's fee for removing splinter from eye 45. 00
  
  Safety goggles 12. 95
  
  Emergency room treatment of broken toes (dropped log) 125. 00
  
  Safety shoes 79. 95
  
  New living room carpet 800. 00
  
  Painting living room walls & ceiling 450. 00
  
  Chimney brush & rods 75. 00
  
  Splitting maul & sledge hammer 48. 90
  
  Splitting wedges (2) 24. 00
  
  Replacement safety goggles
  
  (piece of wedge broke first pair) 12. 95
  
  Power log splitter 1495. 00
  
  Fifteen acre woodlot 9000. 00
  
  Replace coffee table (chopped up and burned while drunk) 127. 00
  
  -------------------
  
  Total costs, first year 23,031. 34
  
  Savings in conventional fuel, first year 78. 40
  
  -------------------
  
  Net savings (cost) of first year's woodburning (22,952. 94)
  

 

[Casey Balvert]

Originally posted by Loren

Here's my two cents worth on the subject:

(The formatting didn't work as well as I had hoped, but you get the idea, I'm sure. )



How You Can Save With A Wood Stove

• Stove, pipe, installation $ 658. 00
  
  Chain saw 179. 95
  
  ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .....
  
  Fifteen acre woodlot 9000. 00
  
  Replace coffee table (chopped up and burned while drunk) 127. 00
  
  -------------------
  
  Total costs, first year 23,031. 34
  
  Savings in conventional fuel, first year 78. 40
  
  -------------------
  
  Net savings (cost) of first year's woodburning (22,952. 94)
  

ROFLMYAO Dam, I need a laugh this morning. Probably closer to the truth than most us are willing to admit. Cheers.



Casey

 

[WadePatton]

179 for a saw?

Well, yeah, I did get my brand new saw stolen this Spring. Replaced it with another $300 saw. The cops recovered the first saw. It's ruined.



So now I have $600 in one saw--but it's a real doozie and it stays under lock and key.



Justifying woodcutting for heat is kinda like trying to balance sheet deer hunting or bass fishing for food. It just don't add up, but I enjoy the process.

 

[RBSOB]

"enjoy the process"

wood burning? bass fishing? deer hunting!!!???? You've nailed it Wade! Very few of us left in New England . Bet you don't have a membership to some "GYM" to stay in shape either. Have Fun. Jim G.

 

[Dane]

Lets find out - Come on over to my place and we'll load you up with all the oak you can cut

 

[Jvann]

Love hate relationship

Hope this insn't too far off the original subject but I think cutting and splitting firewood is sort of a love-hate thing. On the one hand while doing the hard work I think "why in the heck am I doing this when I can just pay the utility company". That's the hate part. Then I think of the small utility bill I'll get and the fat CEO sitting in his office thinking everyone's burning his propane. That's the love part. Haul all you can get on it, that Dodge will haul it! LOL

 

[JFitzgerald]

I'm lucky to live a mile from a state hunting area, and after hunting seasons end in the winter, they allow cutting fallen trees for $3 a truck load. It's a shame that pretty much every tree there is red oak. I'll usually go get two heaping truck loads on a Sunday, bring it home, split (with a maul), and my wife usually stacks while I split. The cold weather makes it less of a chore than doing it in the summer.



Even if it cost me more, I'd still do it. I enjoy the outdoors, and a hard day's work. Beats lying around the house getting fat(er). Since I sit in my office all day at work, this is my country boy way of "going to the gym".



BTW Loren, I broke the rear window out of my last truck when loading firewood too.

 

[RBSOB]

Way to go JFitz! Same situation here in New England. Free, high quality firewood is available everywhere if you're willing to do a day of work. I enjoy it too, but then I've also been known to waste my share of time pursuing deer in these woods BTW the wife is happy to keep the stove going all winter long, but I have not "convinced" her to help with splitting and stacking yet Have Fun, Jim G.

 

[JFitzgerald]

Jim, being near all this hunting area, I'm in deer heaven. They're like rabbits around here. I'm just not a dedicated hunter, even though several in my family are. You see, I have this Jeep and dirt bike problem.



My wife enjoys getting out there, although not as much as me. She is a big help though. She is trying to talk me into a power splitter. She says "you're not going to be able to do this forever you know. " It's like they say about dirt bikes. "You don't quit riding because you get old - you get old because you quit riding". I'm only 37, so I figure I can afford to be stubborn for quite a while longer. :-laf

 

[mcoleman]

I wouldn't give up my wood heat for propane heat even if it was free. It's a totally different kind of heat that is wonderful on an ice cold day when you have been out hunting or riding the atv all day. Cutting, hauling, stacking, and splitting your own wood is something I grew up doing and wouldn't dare give up the experience earned while doing it. Nor the feeling of satisfaction when you are finished cutting for the year and your looking at your large stack of wood out by the barn. It's almost as good as taking a big buck or a large gobbler. Which I am kind of an outdoors type person and I am currently working on adding onto and converting my home into a log home so the wood heat is a natural for me. If you don't have wood available to cut a pellet stove is a good alternative and several of my neighbors heat with pellet stoves. It saves them considerably over propane and you still have that warm wood style heat in your home.

 

[THerman]

WDaniels



When I was there, Northland Wood sold slabwood real cheap.



I know what you mean about the Oak.



I have lots of it here, but would have loved to be able to burn it up there!! The whole time I was growing up in AK, I never really considered that people actually BURNED oak!





Oh, and my truck also drove noticably better with the back full of oak.



Fun Thread guys!



Tod

 

[Todd T]

I'm with Fitz and the other REAL MEN, (ooh, did i type that out loud) my wood comes from a pallet company they have the ends of logs in a pile the size of two football fields about 10 foot high. it takes me 2 hours to load the trailer by myself hand picking only the right length logs that all i have to do is plit and stack them at home. I pay $20 for a trailer load. ($40 year) the left over wood each year they pay to haul off and drop down abandoned mine vent shafts



my power bill drops into the $60's while off the A/C. my wood is in the basement so there is no mess to clean off the carpet and the unit is sealed so no smoke damage or smell unless i "crave" a little and leave the door open while loading it. speaking of leaving the door open that's what i do to heat my garage too leave the basement door open and the pups and cars are nice and cozy for no more money



there is no better feeling than working outside all day in the cold and coming in the a warm old farm house with a little bit of burned Oak smell in the air. heck i even enjoy smelling it outside while piddling around in the yard.



heres some visual effects...

 

[THerman]

Oh, just remembered this link.



This chainsaw would cut down on the time required... .

as well as increasing the fun factor exponentially!!





http://www.zianet.com/brettj/saw.asf



I'm wondering what the guys would look like that could run the CTD version of this!!!

:--) Tod

 

[JFitzgerald]

Originally posted by Todd T

there is no better feeling than working outside all day in the cold and coming in a warm old farm house with a little bit of burned Oak smell in the air. heck i even enjoy smelling it outside while piddling around in the yard.

Amen Todd. There's just a good feeling with wood heat that you don't get from gas or electric heat. I also have a big wood stove in my pole barn. Another advantage is when the co-op power goes out, we stay warm and cozy. There's also a generator in the barn if we want the lights back on... .

 

[Okie-Go]

Not long ago there was a thread about our favorite aroma or smell. After reading this I have to add the smell from a fireplace burning. I smell them in East Texas where I hunt at quite often. Haven't used mine down on the coast yet.

 

[RamThatStroker]

My family burns appoximately 8-10 cords total of oak, aspen, and pine every year. We use the truck in my signature to haul all of it. My father made custom 4' tall wood racks that sit on top of bed which enables us to haul approximately 1. 5-1. 75 cords of wood at a time. Although, typically we won't haul more than a cord of oak because of its weight. When I was a teenager I worked for my cousin who had a firewood business which resulted me in cutting and splitting all of my family's firewood for the season. Now, since I'm in college and away from home I thought I'd get away from doing the firewood thing but like my dad says there's always weekends and summer vacation to get it done .



Joe

 

[JFitzgerald]

We cut some firewood this weekend, and it reminded me of this thread. I put some pics from yesterday in my reader's rigs album. Muscles are a little sore today, but it's a good kind of sore.



Here's the link.

 

[Boomer II]

Fitz, I know your twin brother, has a rig like yours camper and all. He's a Jeepin buddy of mine out of Utah. You need to make Jeep Safari next month.