First, hats off to all of you who provide so much useful information here. Thanks — it's invaluable for newbs like myself. I've been lurking and learning for weeks here. (With the NHL on strike it frees up for plenty of hearth.com reading time.)
Walking the dog at night, I had been intoxicated and envious for a long time by the the occasional wafted scent of wood fires burning in houses I pass.
I have a fireplace, but it had been declared off-limits for fires by "the boss" while the kids were growing.
But after Sandy's long power outage, the abundance of wood to scavenge and begin seasoning, the boss has been persuaded the fireplace might have a backup or occasional use. I am looking at having an insert installed.
First, however, I'm going to have NCSG chimney pro check it over to see if it needs any additional work since the last cleaning.
In the meantime, I've gotten a jump on the woodpile with some recently purchased tools. Unwieldy logs are definitely a lot harder work than even cutting up 8'x4' sheets of inch-thick Marine ply for contractors during my summer job several decades ago for a timber/hardware merchant.
So again hats off to you: you guys mow some serious wood alright, but your safety tips are truly appreciated.
One thing is still bugging me — how often do you guys find yourselves deadlifting 100-lb plus logs from site to truck and truck to home sawing site? At what log weight do you enlist the help of whomever you can in moving logs
I was curious, this 16" diameter log section (currently serving as my chopping block) seemed a lot heavier than my 71# Labrador Retriever-collie mix. And sure enough the scales say it's half my weight. Wowzer! So ... how do you folks manage lugging these 100#+ logs around from site to truck and truck to yard?
Walking the dog at night, I had been intoxicated and envious for a long time by the the occasional wafted scent of wood fires burning in houses I pass.
I have a fireplace, but it had been declared off-limits for fires by "the boss" while the kids were growing.
But after Sandy's long power outage, the abundance of wood to scavenge and begin seasoning, the boss has been persuaded the fireplace might have a backup or occasional use. I am looking at having an insert installed.
First, however, I'm going to have NCSG chimney pro check it over to see if it needs any additional work since the last cleaning.
In the meantime, I've gotten a jump on the woodpile with some recently purchased tools. Unwieldy logs are definitely a lot harder work than even cutting up 8'x4' sheets of inch-thick Marine ply for contractors during my summer job several decades ago for a timber/hardware merchant.
So again hats off to you: you guys mow some serious wood alright, but your safety tips are truly appreciated.
One thing is still bugging me — how often do you guys find yourselves deadlifting 100-lb plus logs from site to truck and truck to home sawing site? At what log weight do you enlist the help of whomever you can in moving logs
I was curious, this 16" diameter log section (currently serving as my chopping block) seemed a lot heavier than my 71# Labrador Retriever-collie mix. And sure enough the scales say it's half my weight. Wowzer! So ... how do you folks manage lugging these 100#+ logs around from site to truck and truck to yard?