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Thread: The RPF Firewood Thread

  1. #1

    The RPF Firewood Thread


    a typical "8 Cord Triaxle Load"; 8'x8'x16'







    I heat my home with wood and I'm sure many of you do as well. Post your suggestions, tips, and tricks for gathering, chopping, storing, and burning firewood. Here are some of my opening thoughts:




    This is a "triaxle of firewood". It represents the "tops" of trees that are too small in diameter, or of too low a quality to make lumber. Manning up, one should be able to dice a triaxle into chuncks 18" x round in two weekends; another 32 hours should yield split firewood. The cost of a triaxle of logs ranges from about $250 in the hillbilly sticks of the midwest, near the point of harvest, to about $1200 in suburbia. In my area its about $600. Loggers like cash. If you want your wood already in rounds expect to pay almost double. If you want it split, dry, and seasoned, expect triple. Its hard to beat the deal on a triaxle load by pulling wood from your own land unless you're well equipped. Commercial firewood is essentially a "waste product" of the logging industry; they make their money on the first 32 feet of the tree going up by selling choice logs at the mill. Whatever amongst the tops or center rot doesn't get sold as firewood sits in the forest and decays.





    This is a chainsaw. Note that the brand name ending HL; thats the mark of a real chainsaw. It should cost you about $500 at a dealer or $200 at a pawn shop; sans a few bar and carb replacements, it will last you the rest of your life; parts dealers are abundant.




    This is a piece of $#@!, you can buy one new at Amazon for $99 or find one in "like new" condition on your neighbor's curb.




    There are three ways to sharpen your saw. With logs that have been dragged out of the woods and have a coating of dirt... it will need to happen twice per tank of 2 cycle. I don't spin my blade unless it is crazy sharp, I turn off my saw when it descends into the log at a pace of less than 1/4" per second under its own pull. Why suffer, huff fumes, wear out your bar, waste fuel, and work yourself dead on a dull chain? A slow rocking action helps a saw descend... but you shouldn't have to push down to get the saw to cut. You want to see flakes of wood, not sawdust coming out of the saw.



    I ain't got time for that.







    waste of $200
















    Dremel plus $9 four pack of
    diamond burrs:


    = get 'er done




    Cordless is nice in the field.





    On fuel... it should take about 2-3 gallons of 2 cycle mix to dice a triaxle of logs. If you're using more than that refer back to sharp chain. After dealing with fuel issues with other brands, I'm religious about my mix and use only:





    with an added 1-2 oz of seafoam per gallon








    Since the addition of ethanol to the national fuel supply... I don't "store" any engine. If I want to keep it, I make sure I start it regularly... with failed results I've given up on fuel stabilizers as a means to save small 2 cycle carbs from seasonal storage. Your results may vary... but carbs are expensive and pulling the cord every 60 days is cheap.


    One last bit on fuel... if you're cutting and the wind shifts and you find yourself breathing hot air... that's exhaust; you want to stop doing that and get yer nose up in the cool air again at your earliest.




    "People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results." - Albert Einstein


    This is a 6lb splitting maul. I destroy a triaxle of logs every year with one of these Note the metal handle guard, finding a maul with a guard like this is difficult... I screw 5"x5" square, bent U shaped, piece of heavy 16g galv sheet metal on to my handle just below my maul head... it ensures your hickory handle lasts 5 years instead of 1. I also like to coat the wood where it passes through the maul head with some kind of petroleum product... used motor oil works well to ensure longevity; lately I like the smell of diesel. If your maul came with a cute leather sheath like the one above... throw it in the weeds.




    Please share your thoughts!



    presence
    Last edited by presence; 09-21-2013 at 03:58 PM.

    'We endorse the idea of voluntarism; self-responsibility: Family, friends, and churches to solve problems, rather than saying that some monolithic government is going to make you take care of yourself and be a better person. It's a preposterous notion: It never worked, it never will. The government can't make you a better person; it can't make you follow good habits.' - Ron Paul 1988

    Awareness is the Root of Liberation Revolution is Action upon Revelation

    'Resistance and Disobedience in Economic Activity is the Most Moral Human Action Possible' - SEK3

    Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.

    ...the familiar ritual of institutional self-absolution...
    ...for protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment...




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  3. #2
    I'm using gas this year, working too much to do the wood stove except occasionally. I would like to build one of these someday; http://www.richsoil.com/rocket-stove-mass-heater.jsp
    "The Patriarch"

  4. #3
    How do you keep your house heated when you're gone for an extended period of time?

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by brandon View Post
    How do you keep your house heated when you're gone for an extended period of time?
    I could set the thermostat at 59 or something, so my fish does not get too cold , no frozen water.

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by brandon View Post
    How do you keep your house heated when you're gone for an extended period of time?
    If I have to be out of town , I get one of the Grand sons to stay at my place.When they get cold they will build a fire

  7. #6
    Ok so people typically have a back-up heating system other than firewood?

  8. #7
    I still have the same Homelite saw I cut wood with in the 70's..

    I did put a "short" bar on it, 24", since I don't fell any more..

    I've run Mac 70's for money....Those'll put the hurt on ya'!


  9. #8
    Those German saws are nice but I've not heard anything that sounds like an old Mac..




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  11. #9
    My dad used to just go out to the woods with his axe. Sometimes a bow saw too. He did it all with just that. I think he did eventually get a maul though because I remember learning how to split with it to where you could just do it with one swing. I remember calling it something else though. Maybe a axe hammer or something like that. Until then I always got stuck with the old "hold yer arms out" end of it and then carried it for what seemed like a long way up the holler to the wood pile. Ah, the good old days...
    Last edited by Natural Citizen; 09-20-2013 at 08:25 AM.

  12. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by brandon View Post
    Ok so people typically have a back-up heating system other than firewood?
    I always have and the goal is to not use it too much in the coldest months. The avg heat bill for an older home in the midwest , as example, for an entire winter may suprise some. I figure anything I do not have to spend on that is a plus .Can be used for something else, or property taxes beginning of May instead .

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by brandon View Post
    Ok so people typically have a back-up heating system other than firewood?
    In Philly you could burn cash or commies if you run out of wood

  14. #12
    On addressing the log:




    You should be able to two stroke any log that is less than 18" long, has a natural crack like above, isn't a "crotch" and is less than 12" diameter. Chop once on the far side of the log to crack it, then once again on the near side to split it.


    Larger logs, and crotch wood will require peeling off the sapwood first, then splitting the heartwood second.





    When attacking the sapwood, I like to aim so that every stroke should yield a piece of burnable firewood.
    Last edited by presence; 09-20-2013 at 08:36 AM.

    'We endorse the idea of voluntarism; self-responsibility: Family, friends, and churches to solve problems, rather than saying that some monolithic government is going to make you take care of yourself and be a better person. It's a preposterous notion: It never worked, it never will. The government can't make you a better person; it can't make you follow good habits.' - Ron Paul 1988

    Awareness is the Root of Liberation Revolution is Action upon Revelation

    'Resistance and Disobedience in Economic Activity is the Most Moral Human Action Possible' - SEK3

    Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.

    ...the familiar ritual of institutional self-absolution...
    ...for protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment...


  15. #13
    Ever try to split elm?

    That's why the good lord invented hydraulics.

  16. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by brandon View Post
    Ok so people typically have a back-up heating system other than firewood?
    Stop by Sat afternoon Brandon , I have about 25 feet of a four foot diameter log I will be finishing sawing up, loading in the truck, dumping in the driveway . I will let you help

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by brandon View Post
    How do you keep your house heated when you're gone for an extended period of time?


    I have a electronics-free wood boiler and hydronic baseboard that cycles on thermosiphon. When I'm away I have small propane boiler that circulates the same system with a traditional circulator. To heat my home for the year on propane alone would cost about $3300. Wood costs me about $600.
    Last edited by presence; 09-20-2013 at 08:37 AM.

    'We endorse the idea of voluntarism; self-responsibility: Family, friends, and churches to solve problems, rather than saying that some monolithic government is going to make you take care of yourself and be a better person. It's a preposterous notion: It never worked, it never will. The government can't make you a better person; it can't make you follow good habits.' - Ron Paul 1988

    Awareness is the Root of Liberation Revolution is Action upon Revelation

    'Resistance and Disobedience in Economic Activity is the Most Moral Human Action Possible' - SEK3

    Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.

    ...the familiar ritual of institutional self-absolution...
    ...for protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment...


  18. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by tod evans View Post
    Those German saws are nice but I've not heard anything that sounds like an old Mac..
    I can make exceptions for old Macs and Jonsereds


    'We endorse the idea of voluntarism; self-responsibility: Family, friends, and churches to solve problems, rather than saying that some monolithic government is going to make you take care of yourself and be a better person. It's a preposterous notion: It never worked, it never will. The government can't make you a better person; it can't make you follow good habits.' - Ron Paul 1988

    Awareness is the Root of Liberation Revolution is Action upon Revelation

    'Resistance and Disobedience in Economic Activity is the Most Moral Human Action Possible' - SEK3

    Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.

    ...the familiar ritual of institutional self-absolution...
    ...for protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment...




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  20. #17
    Hard to beat prosaws from Stihl. I work with both Stihl and Huskavarna. I gave up on American saws years ago. Only run square filed chisel chains as nothing beats them especially when working with 4 foot in diameter Doug fir. I have spent my time on the other end of a two man buck saw and cut a lot of firewood with a Canadian fiddle.
    I am heating more with electric now. It is a lot cleaner but doesn't have the comforting roar of the wood stove.
    War; everything in the world wrong, evil and immoral combined into one and multiplied by millions.

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by presence View Post
    I have a electronics-free wood boiler and hydronic baseboard that cycles on thermosiphon. When I'm away I have small propane boiler that circulates the same system with a traditional circulator. To heat my home for the year on propane alone would cost about $3300. Wood costs me about $600.
    Yeah , propane is very high .I do not spend anything on wood, except gas , oil , time.I already have all the equipment .Probably saves me , as much as maybe $200 a month in the dead of winter.

  22. #19
    Maybe Pete will post you guys some pictures of his place.

  23. #20
    I get my firewood delivered. 450 bucks for 2 1/2 cords DRIED, and chopped for my Avalon woodstove. I currently have 8 plus cords total, with this total reflecting what i had 'left over' from last year. I'm ready to rock. Stove has been cleaned top to bottom.

    Should be firing up the stove in early October.

  24. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by presence View Post
    I have a electronics-free wood boiler and hydronic baseboard that cycles on thermosiphon. When I'm away I have small propane boiler that circulates the same system with a traditional circulator. To heat my home for the year on propane alone would cost about $3300. Wood costs me about $600.
    If my other heat source was electric or propane , my savings could be as much as 4 or 500 a month in the worst months, based on where I used to live and the furnace was propane and the house had baseboard electric heat too.I used wood there too , fireplace, wood stove where I am now.

  25. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Origanalist View Post
    I'm using gas this year, working too much to do the wood stove except occasionally. I would like to build one of these someday; http://www.richsoil.com/rocket-stove-mass-heater.jsp

    My uncle just converted his 3 car garage to a rocket mass heater, ditching his Vogelzang barrel situation:


    After his first season on rocket mass he tells me he's heating on 1/4 of the firewood to heat the same space the barrel stove heated, although he does have to chop it smaller; an estwing Fireside Friend 4lb comes in handy:






    Quote Originally Posted by oyarde View Post
    I always have and the goal is to not use it too much in the coldest months.
    I agree with that notion. For a while my only back up were some plug in 1500w electric heaters. Cold times, hot cords.

    Quote Originally Posted by klamath View Post
    I have spent my time on the other end of a two man buck saw and cut a lot of firewood with a Canadian fiddle.

    []

    I am heating more with electric now. It is a lot cleaner but doesn't have the comforting roar of the wood stove.
    I have a two man, hardest steel of anything I've ever owned.


    Check out a pellet stove... clean like electric... but (relatively) cheap and roaring like a wood fire. Lots of deals on craigslist. Homedepot carries pellets for $200/ton
    Last edited by presence; 09-20-2013 at 11:01 AM.

    'We endorse the idea of voluntarism; self-responsibility: Family, friends, and churches to solve problems, rather than saying that some monolithic government is going to make you take care of yourself and be a better person. It's a preposterous notion: It never worked, it never will. The government can't make you a better person; it can't make you follow good habits.' - Ron Paul 1988

    Awareness is the Root of Liberation Revolution is Action upon Revelation

    'Resistance and Disobedience in Economic Activity is the Most Moral Human Action Possible' - SEK3

    Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.

    ...the familiar ritual of institutional self-absolution...
    ...for protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment...


  26. #23
    I'd just like to ask any AZ people here to stop burning $#@!ing mesquite. It irritates my allergies. :P
    Quote Originally Posted by Torchbearer
    what works can never be discussed online. there is only one language the government understands, and until the people start speaking it by the magazine full... things will remain the same.
    Hear/buy my music here "government is the enemy of liberty"-RP Support me on Patreon here Ephesians 6:12

  27. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by heavenlyboy34 View Post
    I'd just like to ask any AZ people here to stop burning $#@!ing mesquite. It irritates my allergies. :P
    It also burns a really good tri-tip.
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
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  29. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by brandon View Post
    How do you keep your house heated when you're gone for an extended period of time?
    This works well for 8 plus hours.
    Rocket mass heaters. Plus it burns small crap.
    "Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it."
    James Madison

    "It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." - Samuel Adams



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  30. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by heavenlyboy34 View Post
    I'd just like to ask any AZ people here to stop burning $#@!ing mesquite. It irritates my allergies. :P
    Tell em to use a rocket mass heater....
    "Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it."
    James Madison

    "It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." - Samuel Adams



    Μολὼν λάβε
    Dum Spiro, Pugno
    Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito

  31. #27
    You guys must have some big uninsulated places.

    I can make it a whole Maine winter on one 275 tank of K1 which is like $1100.

    I might buy a small used woodstove for the living room, I have about a 1/2 acre of trees I'd like to clear eventually so I can get a view of the small stream that runs in spring from the window, might as well burn them for heat.

  32. #28
    My parents saved a lot of money by switching from oil to pellets. The pellet stove is nice because it's cleaner than wood stoves. You can dump pellets in and it'll burn all day then shut off once the room reaches a certain temp. The pellets are made from wax and sawdust gathered from furniture factories and logging mills, so it doesn't let anything go to waste.
    Last edited by I<3Liberty; 09-21-2013 at 12:21 PM.

  33. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by I<3Liberty View Post
    My parents saved a lot of money by switching from oil to pellets. The pellet stove is nice because it's cleaner than wood stoves. You can dump pellets in and it'll burn all day then shut off once the room reaches a certain temp. The pellets are made from wax and sawdust gathered from furniture factories and logging mills, so it doesn't let anything go to waste.
    I pay a substantial trash bill to have my sawdust hauled to the landfill, there are countless small shops and mills out here in the sticks who do the same..

    Pelletizing machines are ridiculously expensive...

    If more folks would start burning them the demand for sawdust would go up and maybe I could save a little money...

  34. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by I<3Liberty View Post
    My parents saved a lot of money by switching from oil to pellets. The pellet stove is nice because it's cleaner than wood stoves. You can dump pellets in and it'll burn all day then shut off once the room reaches a certain temp. The pellets are made from wax and sawdust gathered from furniture factories and logging mills, so it doesn't let anything go to waste.
    Except they don't work if you lose power.
    "The Patriarch"

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