I cheated again. Couldn't help myself.

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Gasifier

Minister of Fire
Apr 25, 2011
3,211
St. Lawrence River Valley, N.Y.
Some of next years wood. I ordered 10 face cord cut/split/delivered about two weeks ago. Starting to fill the cribs now for next years supply. He delivered the first five cord about four days ago. The second half will come today, hopefully. I have the day off, thankfully, and it is suppose to be 60::F!!!==c;lolDepending on what he has at that time, he delivers a mix of Ash, Maple, Elm, Hickory, Cherry, and a little Red Oak. I told him I am good with any of those. He said some people complain about the Ash not being as good. I said, "Not me!" Bring me the Ash anytime. I am happy with the quality of wood. No mud on it. I would say 98% all nice straight pieces. Only a couple of knarly ones. I am not very good at wood I.D. yet. I know what the Ash, Elm, and Cherry look, feel, and split like. Now I have to figure out what the Oak and Hickory are so I can seperate the Oak out and let it dry for a longer period of time. I will ask him today and then seperate when I move it the next time. (next fall) Some of the splits are too large. I will have to hit them once with the maul. He will be splitting the other half smaller, and any loads after that as well. I couldn't help myself. I had the money and decided it would save me a lot of time, and I can spend that time with the wife and kids. So much to do, so little time to ....
 

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It looks good Gasifier, you're correct about saving time. Is the firewood coming from a guy in the Burg?

zap
 
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It looks good Gasifier, you're correct about saving time. Is the firewood coming from a guy in the Burg?

zap

Thanks zap. The guy lives Lisbon, not to far from the Burg. Has some property in Lisbon and in the Flackville area that he is working. Hey. Did I hear you can cross that new bridge at dead man's curve there? Are they almost done?
 
Thats not cheating thats being smart. Good for you and your family!
Good stuff

Thanks Mike. I realized after the post that picture quality stinks. Took it pretty early, not enough light. Hopefully I will find some time later this month to get out in the woods and cut some Ash.
 
Thanks zap. The guy lives Lisbon, not to far from the Burg. Has some property in Lisbon and in the Flackville area that he is working. Hey. Did I hear you can cross that new bridge at dead man's curve there? Are they almost done?
Yes, the bridge is open, after breakfast at the Fish & Game yesterday we took our first ride over it, very nice.

zap
 
Depends on how things go, but I've been thinking of doing the same thing next year. 2-3 cord should do it.

It is sssooooooo convenient to have it dumped right where you are going to stack it and all you have to do is stack it! I missed him when he came and dropped this first load off but I guess he has a dump truck he uses.
 
Yes, the bridge is open, after breakfast at the Fish & Game yesterday we took our first ride over it, very nice.

zap
That is good. I will be going through there around Thanksgiving time. I think the whole family is going to go up to the mountains on the day before Thanksgiving and take something in up there. That will be a time to take a whole day and do no work and have some fun. Maybe the Wild Center and some walking around one of the lakes. Our littlest one was pretty small the last time we went. It will be good for all of them to see it again.
 
It is sssooooooo convenient to have it dumped right where you are going to stack it and all you have to do is stack it! I missed him when he came and dropped this first load off but I guess he has a dump truck he uses.
Our first and 2nd year here, our guy dropped the c/s/d wood right up near the front porch and It got stacked in the front yard.
Wet wood, of course.>>
 
good deal and you get to spend more family time too. and your supporting the local woodseller. everybody wins.

regarding ash:

i have a few cords of well seasoned ash. its good wood for sure. but i have noticed on really cold nights when i burn ash i can't raise the temp in my house beyond a certain point. i throw in locust, hickory or or oak and the temp shoots right up. so on the coldest nights i won't burn ash, or i'll mix it in. but i'm a bonafide wood snob :cool:
 
I will agree that time with the wife and kids is very important. Hence, the reason I am working from home and taking care of the kids at the same time. With that said, I usually cut, split, and stack wood with my dad and am starting to get the kids involved to a degree (i.e., 5 year old and 3 year old cannot do too much).

I am too cheap to pay for wood. The entire reason for the wood burning furnace was to save as much as possible on heating costs. Checked the electric bill we got 2 days ago and the comparison already shows that we used 20% less electricity compared to last year. The average temps were the same for both periods, 58 degrees. Last year, we were using electric space heaters with the ancient oil furnace as backup. Can't wait to see the savings once it really gets cold. Not to mention that we have been keeping the house at 74 instead of 68.

When it comes to money, I am pretty frugal. Changed the brake lines on my 1998 Ford Taurus a couple weeks ago myself. Got 230,000 miles on it and hoping to get a lot more. With what we put in retirement savings and college savings every year, we could probably buy a very nice new Mercedes every year, but that just isn't me. Looking to buy rental properties and a farm now, so saving is important.

However, have to balance making and saving money with spending time with the family. I really do think spending time with the family is number one on the list. As far as I am concerned, I could die with a million dollars in my savings account and a bad relationship with my wife and kids and my life would NOT have been a success.

Kudos to you for spending time with your wife and kids. I know some guys that hunt, fish, cut wood, etc., just to get away from the wife and kids.
 
Thanks Mike. I realized after the post that picture quality stinks. Took it pretty early, not enough light.

Its kind of sexy with the lights dim.
 
I cheat now and then too, have to make sure the racks are always full and for $135/cord Ill let someone else do the hard work. I bought two cords of maple/ash and cherry in June to use for next years shoulder season, also have a cord and a half of pine/hemlock mix for shoulder season wood.
 
No problem cheating that way especially when you get to spend more time with the family.
 
I will agree that time with the wife and kids is very important. Hence, the reason I am working from home and taking care of the kids at the same time. With that said, I usually cut, split, and stack wood with my dad and am starting to get the kids involved to a degree (i.e., 5 year old and 3 year old cannot do too much).

I am too cheap to pay for wood. The entire reason for the wood burning furnace was to save as much as possible on heating costs. Checked the electric bill we got 2 days ago and the comparison already shows that we used 20% less electricity compared to last year. The average temps were the same for both periods, 58 degrees. Last year, we were using electric space heaters with the ancient oil furnace as backup. Can't wait to see the savings once it really gets cold. Not to mention that we have been keeping the house at 74 instead of 68.

When it comes to money, I am pretty frugal. Changed the brake lines on my 1998 Ford Taurus a couple weeks ago myself. Got 230,000 miles on it and hoping to get a lot more. With what we put in retirement savings and college savings every year, we could probably buy a very nice new Mercedes every year, but that just isn't me. Looking to buy rental properties and a farm now, so saving is important.

However, have to balance making and saving money with spending time with the family. I really do think spending time with the family is number one on the list. As far as I am concerned, I could die with a million dollars in my savings account and a bad relationship with my wife and kids and my life would NOT have been a success.

Kudos to you for spending time with your wife and kids. I know some guys that hunt, fish, cut wood, etc., just to get away from the wife and kids.

fabsroman. Frugal is good. I am trying to get more frugal in the right ways. I use to burn anywhere from 1200-1500 gallons of oil a year. In todays dollars, that would be about $4500-$5625 a year in oil alone. I went to heating with wood about 8 years ago. The wood stove heated about 60-70% of the house and saved me a bundle. But it only heated that much of the house, not the garage, and not the domestic hot water(DHW) Then, last year I made the major investment of buying and installing my gassification wood boiler and buffer tank system. Now I heat my entire house, garage to 45::F, and my DHW for all showers, dishes, laundry, etc. I buy some of my wood and cut some of my wood. But many times if I can find the wood cheap enough I will buy it. So, if I spend $600-$800 a year in wood, and cut the rest, it does not bother me at all. In the last 13 months I have been through about 40-50 gallons of oil. That is because we occasionally go away for a weekend or I take a week or two off from burning in the summer and let the oil boiler heat the DHW. So if I would have went through 1200 gallons in the last 13 months that would have cost me $4500. Subtract $800 from that and you come up with a $3700 savings for the first year. Not to bad. Glad to hear you are saving money in every way you can in order to save for retirement and college. I am doing fairly well in the retirment savings but need to start putting more away for the kids college or business plans. That is a good way of looking at your life as far as being successfull. I have to go play cards with the kids right now. I think it is going to be, Kings in the corners and maybe some skat or 31. Good luck with your wood burning savings. I find heating with wood to be rewarding in many ways, saving money and many others as well. Physically and mentally.
 
Now the cribs are full. Again, still a little too dark for a good pic.

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Good job brother. Lots of btu's. feels good right?!
Hey I have a question. Those look like big splits. They look way bigger than mine.
How well do they work in the WG? I hope I didn't screw myself by splitting mine down to a small size.
Mine are about 2x4 3x5 and some a little bigger.
I wonder if I burn through mine faster than I would if they were as big as yours.
 
Hey Mike. Those size splits you are making are good for any gasser. That will help you keep a good bed of coals and remain with good Gassification. I don't think you will go through the wood faster. It will result in a hotter burn because of less loss of gassification. Some of the splits in the crib are too large. The Wood Gun will burn them. But I will bust them up once again with the maul. The first load he brought, many of them were too big. So I told him about that and he fixed it on the second load. Almost all were smaller. You can see the size difference if you look at the cribs carefully. The first load was dumped right in the middle of the two cribs. So I stacked that load on the two ends in the middle. Then the second load I had him drop at the far left and the far right. As I bring them in under the porch next fall I will bust them again with the maul and they will go to the back so they will end up getting burned toward the end of 2013-14. Keep that Wood Gun and chimney nice and clean and happy burning my friend.
 
Glad to see your on board and listening to me Mike.
 
Glad to see your on board and listening to me Mike.
Thanks, I'm glad to be back and even more glad to be listening to you! Nice avatar, Spanky!
 
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