Any Advice on this Addiction. (Stove (30-NC), Splitter (21 ton MTD), Saws (Husqvarnas), and such (Fi

[DexterDay]

I have been in Love with my Pellet stove/Stoves for 3 years now. I hate to use this word (pellets) among you all. Although I have noticed some WoodBurners have Pellet stoves. The price of them is ever rising and when I can cut my own wood, just makes sense to start burning wood. Also have not used LP furnace in years, ands have been lucky enough to not have any power outages. With Wood, no worry about power... Keep telling my Wife about how much cheaper burning wood is gonna be............. Well, with everything I have purchased in the last week alone.. Its gonna take a FEW years to re-coupe the cost.. Anyways......

So it all started when I picked up the Englander 30 a few weeks ago and I have since got a Husqvarna 455 Rancher (had a 435) and a MTD 21 ton Splitter. The Fiskars (X27) is on its way from Amazon. Just got my racks from Northline to stack all the wood I am gonna be splitting. I have pallets out the A$$ from all my pellets over the years. I have a Good friend who I used to purchase my wood from. Normally burned over a cord in our fireplace, per year. He has a 660 acre Farm. Sells wood on the side. I will still probably buy most of my wood this year from him. He has Oak that has "TRUELY" seasoned for several years. The only wood that I am pretty sure I can split and burn this year is Ash.

Because I am a "Newbie" to Wood burning. What other types of wood can I look for, that will possibly "season" before next winter. My stacks are gonna be in Full sun, and we don't have many trees here on the Windy plains of Sullivan Ohio. Not to say this will expedite the drying process, but it couldn't hurt. Also, is the moisture meter a "Must Have" item? Seems like quite a few people use them on here.

I have a 2,180 sq ft Ranch upstairs. The 30 will be in the basement in an area around 900 sq ft. Don't intend on Not burning pellets. But I intend on making the 9 tons I have last longer than the 1.5 yrs it would last without wood. If I can double that number and get 3 years out of them, and pick up yet another ADDICTING HOBBY, I will be plenty happy. Who knows, this wood thing already has me thinking of selling the pellet furnace in the basement..

My Wife is due with my daughter in 4 weeks. (have a 9 yr old son also) I Have to hand it to her for putting up with my obsession. I cant think of another woman that would put up with my behavior. Other than the Women I have met on this Forum. I do catch a little Hell every now and then for spending so much time on this Forum, but with the amount of information out there and the eclectic people. Its a win/win situation.

Anyways, look forward to burning the Big 30 this Fall, and ANY Information that anyone can think of. Would be appreciated.. ANY INFO.....PLEASE. Even if it seems redundant and you think I should know it already, please state what you might have to say. Any advice will be much appreciated. I have always researched EVERYTHING before I dove in. Thought I did my homework, but I am gonna need some help .

 

[Flavo]

If you get on it and get that wood split now, pretty much anything will burn, including a freshly dropped oak. The heat output will be less and the creosote higher. But that is how 95% of wood burners have been doing forever and still are. Along w/ ash being a quick seasoner, I believe that birch is too. If you are going to be scrounging your wood, look for standing dead or even fallen dead that hasn't gotten too punky. I have found that a lot of the dead wood I collect is pretty wet when split but dries enough to burn very quickly.
Don't get me wrong, the dryer the better. But all the wood I burned this year was from a wood processor and I am sure that stuff was split for no more then 6 months and amongst the few varieties in the pile. NO ash and lots of oak.

 

[Flavo]

The moisture meter seems to me to be for the person w/ choices. If you have cords that have been stacked for a year + and want to make sure that choice wood is at its prime btu content. Go ahead and check a fresh split for the reading. In your case though. Where all wood split for next years burn will be from the same time frame. It does not matter much what the meter says because you need to burn it anyway.

Also to facilitate the drying, split smaller pieces and be sure your stack is out in the open. Not up against a wall/fence.

 

[midwestcoast]

I'd add Cherry to the list of faster drying wood. Pretty much anything other than Oak will be alright if split now & treated right as Flavo suggests. Get yer butt out there & get as close as you can to a 2 year supply cut & hauled & get splitting next years before that little one comes along. You have all the toys now, no more excuses, get after it!
The more you get done the more time you'll have with the baby.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

I read the title and said to myself-"Self, do you see a problem?" Self said no, so all I'll add is - you need more saws, and don't turn down Pine when it's offered . And congrats. on the addition!

 

[DexterDay]

I'd add Cherry to the list of faster drying wood. Pretty much anything other than Oak will be alright if split now & treated right as Flavo suggests. Get yer butt out there & get as close as you can to a 2 year supply cut & hauled & get splitting next years before that little one comes along. You have all the toys now, no more excuses, get after it!
The more you get done the more time you'll have with the baby.

midwestcoast- Your right, No Excuses. I have been doing a lot of searches and reading old threads. Oak needs "At Least" 3 yrs to properly season, more if you could. A lot of the info from those threads came from backwoodsavage. Thanks

I read the title and said to myself-"Self, do you see a problem?" Self said no, so all I'll add is - you need more saws, and don't turn down Pine when it's offered . And congrats. on the addition!

Thanks, the little one will be here before I know it. Don't know if I can handle a girl. (no offense to all the women on here) At least until she turns 13-15. Then she dont want to be Daddy's little girl.....

Back to the subject at hand. I dont see the problem either. She is VERY understanding. But I am going to have to wait at least a few weeks on getting any other "Toys". 10-4 on the Saws and the Pine.. Looking for a good 70cc saw now. 372XP.... Ooooppphhh. I want one..

Thanks to everyone on this Forum. This is a fantastic site, that I wish I could have stumbled on years ago. Everyone on here is nice and willing to give as much help as humanly possible. You don't find people or places like this to often anymore. Anyways... Off to work (On computer at 5 am before going to work.... I don't have a problem???? Do I???? NOPE... LOL)

 

[fireview2788]

DD, since I am new to this I can't really offer anything on the wood stuff.

I can say, as the father of two daughters, don't fret the teenage stuff. My 15 year old has turned more to a daddy's girl than she was when she was younger. Heck, one of the best days of my life was last fall when she and I spent the day deer hunting. It was an awesome day in the woods and one I will never forget. Best wishes to you and your family with the new addition.

FV

 

[firefighterjake]

Random thoughts . . .

I assume you have the proper hearth for the woodstove . . . this is a very important consideration to keep in mind before you light up the stove.

Burning wood this Fall . . . as every week goes by the chances of having a good winter of burning with wood that ignites quickly, doesn't form lots of creosote and produces lots of heat decreases . . . the faster you get your wood cut, split and stacked the better off you will be . . . next best thing is to get the wood split up smaller, loosely stacked and in an area that is subject to lots of wind and sun.

As for species . . . cherry, white ash, white birch and poplar (although poplar is a bit low on the BTU charts for some folks) season relatively quickly. Other alternatives would be to let folks know you're looking for wood -- some friends and family members may have an old stack of wood they cut up to burn in their burn pit and never got around to burning or they burned wood a while back and never cleaned up that wood pile . . . tops of trees that have been cut a while ago might be available . . . standing dead trees might be good to go -- especially the ones with the bark falling off.

If your friend has seasoned oak . . . buy it . . . if it truly has been cut, split and stacked for a year or two . . . as others have said . . . you can burn any wood . . . even oak that has only been cut down and split two days ago . . . but unseasoned wood will be hard to ignite, it will sizzle and spit water and you'll spend a fair amount of time just trying to get some meaningful heat out of the wood . . . not to mention the issue of blacking up the glass and gunking up the chimney with creosote. If at all possible, burn seasoned wood.

Pallets are a newbie burner's best friend. If your wood is marginal because you're just getting the wood now pallets -- often given away -- can be cut or broken up and used as kindling or as a means to "dry" out the semi-seasoned wood in the firebox. It's not the best solution or easy since breaking these things apart can be a pain, but pallets tend to be pretty dry and can help raise the temp in the firebox and drive the moisture out of the semi-seasoned wood. Perhaps the next best thing is to find a source of low cost slabs -- the "waste" wood found at many lumber mills. Slabs often are thin and as such tend to dry out pretty quickly -- you tend to burn them up quicker and have to reload more often.

Moisture meter . . . I would say these are nice to have if you're buying wood and want to check to see if the wood you are buying is as seasoned as the dealer says they will be . . . or if you have stacks which may be questionable (i.e. you are wondering which stack of wood you should burn first -- the stack of cherry you cut in May or the stack of white ash you cut in June) . . . I never bothered with a moisture meter myself . . . instead I went the cheap and easy route . . . I just make sure I am 2-3 years ahead on my wood supply . . . the wood is almost always guaranteed to be good to go in that case.

Final thought . . . welcome to the forum and the addiction . . . if you have questions, ask away . . . we're happy to answer.

 

[smokinj]

Get to the Getten! Stack everything get as much as you can!

 

[HittinSteel]

DD, I forgot to mention in my PM if you want to drive a little east to my hometown and bring a log/round (mine are all split and stacked), you can try out a 372XP. I'd also be willing to shoot the breeze and answer any questions I could about firewood, saws, stoves and even a little about fatherhood lol.

 

[DexterDay]

fireview2788 -- I hope she will be a Daddy's girl her whole life. Me and my 9 yr old son do a lot of hunting. He just bought his first gun this year. He got a Walther P-22. Almost $400 total (he had to get the laser, l). Saved his money for almost 2 years (birthdays, tooth fairy, etc). Was so proud of him for doing that. Most 8-9 yr ol would have spent it on candy and Playstation Games.. Glad to hear your daughter enjoys hunting. Cant think of a better way to spend an early morning. Seeing that 1st Big Buck of the year still gets my heart pounding like I was 9 yrs old and with my Father. So needless to say, my little girl will def have some "Tom Boy" in her..

firefighterjake -- The house is 16 yrs old and the portion of the basement it is going in, is unfinished right now (900 sq) Concrete floors and block walls. This will be the only portion of the basement the stove will heat. The idea is to heat very little of the basement to get the most upstairs. Plan on insulating the walls this summer to retain some heat, so I am not throwing it all through the block.. Still thinking about making a raised hearth. As far as wood. I will be C/S/S as much wood as possible. hopefully 2-3 yrs worth. The pallet comment I made was for stacking the wood on, to get it off the ground. But will note the cutting of leftovers for kindling and quick boost to raise temps or drive out moisture.. I purchased those steel plates to make racks out of 2x4's. Thinking 12ft long by 6 ft tall and gonna reinforce the corners with a gusset system to stabilize. Then gonna run 12 ft across the top, so I can cover (just the top, nothing will hang down the sides) I would like to keep some weather off. This wont help much, But from directly above it will. Going to make 2 of these now. If these 2 work well. I may build more. I have a 40 x30 Cleary Barn that I had built in the back of the property about 5 yrs ago. Has nothing in it. NOTHING. Could fill it to the gills with wood. But its almost 200 yards from the house. Long way to be hauling wood. But still a viable option to building a shack closer to the house. My buddy that sells wood, has True seasoned Oak. Have known him for 16 yrs. Good ol Farm Boy. Has a 3 point splitter he hooks to the back of a rebuilt International 1066, you wanna talk about a Wood Splitting machine.
I have a Amish Saw-Mill right next door. They mainly deal with OAK. There wood piles (2 mills) are huge. One about 25-30 tall and double that in diameter, the other mill has about a 10-15 high stack and 30 ft diameter. If I could reach the center of the big pile, I am sure its seasoned, but would be a lot of work for a product that has a lot of bark on it. They do sell slabs, normally 10 ft lengths. But these can be thin too. Some of the wood can be thick. I may have to make a trip next door and see what they got. Try to take a few pics of the pile too. (Amish are wierd about pics, dont want to offend them. They are my neighbor's)
Thanks for the welcome. Been a member for some time now. Lurked for a much longer time. But just now coming over to the Gear, Wood Shed and Hearth Forums. Till a few weeks ago, I ONLY went to the Pellet Mill Forum. Thanks for ALL the advice. Even if they are Random thoughts to you. They are all Good Thoughts to me.

Smokinjay -- Getting started this weekend on the wood. Working 12's all week. 7am-7pm. Just got home a little bit ago. Left for work at 5:30 this morning (my last post). I drive 57 miles to work. I am a Rolling Mill Operator at Worthington Steel. Long drive. Good job. Would move closer, but I love the Country. They can keep the City, with all the stop-lights, noise, people.... Ugh...

HittinSteel -- May have to take you up on that offer. I would love to run that saw through some wood before buying one. Thanks for the offer and advice.

Having another "cold one" or 3 before hitting the hay and doing it all over again tomorrow. Thanks again everyone. Gotta spend some time with my Lady. Sorry so long, but didnt want to discriminate who I responded to.

 

[BrotherBart]

Funny. I heat with the 30 on the main floor. I have had the 25-PDVC sitting idle in the basement since I bought it three years ago and burned two bags just to see if it worked. This year I bought three tons a few weeks ago and am going to fire it up in the basement next fall to see what makes its way upstairs.

 

[DexterDay]

That's a pretty good stove you got there BB, pellet stove that is. I just traded a old Timberline for a 5 year old 25-PDV for my Father. And I have a 15 25-PDV in my shop. I would love to put the 30 upstairs. But the stove will be directly under the Babies room. And its the coldest room in the house. If I put it upstairs, It would be nuclear with the pellet stove and fireplace going. Hate to HIDE that beast downstairs. But its for the baby. That's how I talked the wife into buying it. And our Pellet Furnace. Its still not ducted in. Having the company that installed our Trane furnace 4 yrs ago, do it this summer. If I don't sell it. Recouping $2,000 would buy me a nice old 4x4 ATV. I have a sport Quad (400EX) and just sold my KX250F dirtbike. Either a 4x4 or a older tractor like a Ford 8N or 9N

 

[DexterDay]

These are from my phone. So they are prob gonna post Sideways or upside down. Some pics of the gear. And the Barn in the back to possibly store wood in.

EDIT: Barn is in the pic with the splitter. Look in the background.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Nice toys! Pics. taken when new, right.....right? *shakes head side-to-side* really need to see some wear on those bars, and a few chunks scattered around that splitter. I mean c'mon, they look waxed- buffed and waxed. :red:sigh* In all seriousness, have you picked up some new chain for the 455? I just sold mine, but it'd pull RSC on a 20" bar without a problem. The safety chain it comes with is OK, but save it for when you don't care about what you're cutting (dirty wood, roots, railroad ties,etc.) I used the Stihl RSC (yellow) chain on mine- huge difference. The guy I sold it to loves the saw, with that chain. And no, no problems with the saw, just sold it to make way for the new 6401. You, my friend, are on your way. ;-)

 

[DexterDay]

Nice toys! Pics. taken when new, right.....right? *shakes head side-to-side* really need to see some wear on those bars, and a few chunks scattered around that splitter. I mean c'mon, they look waxed- buffed and waxed. :red:sigh* In all seriousness, have you picked up some new chain for the 455? I just sold mine, but it'd pull RSC on a 20" bar without a problem. The safety chain it comes with is OK, but save it for when you don't care about what you're cutting (dirty wood, roots, railroad ties,etc.) I used the Stihl RSC (yellow) chain on mine- huge difference. The guy I sold it to loves the saw, with that chain. And no, no problems with the saw, just sold it to make way for the new 6401. You, my friend, are on your way. ;-)

Yes they are nice and shiny, I knew I would catch something for that. I got the splitter for a helluva deal. Also the $85 assembly fee was waved, along with other items (first service kit for engine (air filter, spark plug), tube of grease). I want to "Break-in" the splitter good and slow. Ran it for a total of 2 to 3 hrs. Another hour of running and cycling the pump tomorrow and I will change the oil over to Royal Purple (Run it in everything I own, ATV, pressure washer, Tucks, Cars, Mower, etc) It cost a little more, but its well worth it. More pics of Them "Dirty" and "Broke-In" to follow. Thanks for the info on the chain. It has a 20" on it now. If my mind serves me correct, RSC stands for Running Skip Chain? Correct? Its the little things like that, that a "Pellet Burner" wont know anything about. Thanks again.

 

[Freeheat]

Congrats on the new addition in process. I have a daughter age of 11 acts like 18 and loads of attitude, she is a pain some days but wouldn't trade her in. I'm a little north of you in Elyria. Are you driving to Columbus for work??

 

[DexterDay]

Cleveland. Worthington bought out what used to be Gibralter Strip Steel. Have been here 10 years. Just getting ready to walk out there now. I operate a 56" Reversing Mill.
My Cousin lives in Elyria. Bought my Quadrafire from Capells in Elyria.

 

[HittinSteel]

RSC is a style of Stihl full chisel chain (Oregon, Carlton also make it). Basically non safety chain that cuts a lot better than safety chain that generally comes with the homeowner grade saws.

 

[firefighterjake]

These are from my phone. So they are prob gonna post Sideways or upside down. Some pics of the gear. And the Barn in the back to possibly store wood in.

EDIT: Barn is in the pic with the splitter. Look in the background.

The saws look fine . . . but I think they assembled your splitter wrong . . . it looks like installed it sideways . . . you'll have a hard time splitting this way.

 

[PapaDave]

Yep Jake, looks like they'll fall right off the beam. Pretty inefficient.