I have a confession......

[ckarotka]

This summer I really worked hard to get ahead for two years. I've almost completed my task and............I'm getting a little tired of splitting now. Seems like every day I've talked about it or split it or stacked some or bucked some and every day I look for some.
Quite frankly I'm just plain ole tired.

My buddy drove by the other day and called my house a compound and named my stacks "The apocalyptic wood stacks" LOL :lol: For Halloween I think I'm gonna put up a sign that reads:

BY ORDER OF THE DODO BIRD, THE END IS NEAR, IF YOUR NOT READY, DOOM ON YOU.......DOOM ON YOU!

Don't get me wrong I still love the whole wood scrounging thing but I'm really ready to just burn it!! I need a freak snow storm to shut down the town so I can regroup and enjoy my hard work. Next spring will be nice to just replace what I've used not what I'm gonna use.

Sorry for the rant,
Charlie

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I never pass on a score. If there's free wood to be had I'm on it two years ahead or not. But I have the luxury of not caring about a huge pile of unsplit rounds sitting in my back yard for months so if I'm tired of splitting & stacking (one time) I just quit for a while.

 

[soupy1957]

If there was one thing I'd say that I heard in common, among "former" (and I realize you are not one of those, yet), wood burning individuals, ..............it's that they simply got "tired" of the work. I understand, I sympathize, and I feel your pain. That's why I decided that if I was going to make wood burning a big part of my life, I would let SOME of the work be done FOR me.

I appreciate soooooo much, you folks who go out and fell the trees, and get them split up and ready for us "end users." You work VERY hard, and deserve every dime you get for your efforts!!

Now, the folks who have a hard time with toting the wood in the house and keeping the fire going...........I DON'T feel sorry for THEM!! If they had really done their homework before they BOUGHT the stove, they would have learned from the rest of us that the labor involved in toting wood and keeping the fire going is part of the agreement, and needs to be embraced. If you can't LOVE it, you won't stay with it.


Such is not YOUR case however. You have been out there doing the more physical prep work. You deserve a break. Let yourself have one!

-Soupy1957

 

[Wood Duck]

Now that you're no longer trying to find wood, you're gonna have wood falling into your lap. The neighbors are going to drop a huge oak almost into your yard and ask if you want the wood. The power company is going to decide it is time to trim all the lines in your area. Watch out, I sense a microburst of wind coming to your local shady, tree-lined streets.

 

[ckarotka]

Thanks Soupy, I'll never stop gathering and burning, it is now a way of life for me (5years), just needed to vent a bit.

Wood Duck, You know your right. Mr. Murphy will be along this week with some wonderful score that I won't be able to turn down.

The funny part is before I made the OP I did my daily CL check

The two years ahead thing was a lot to do in four months with all the normal family work load. Since I don't have my own wood hauler I think I'm more sick over asking for the BIL's truck. To give him much credit he always say's "anytime I don't mind one bit" and he truly means it. He even told me not to buy one because he has three. (Construction business)

Happy burning season Hearth.com,

Charlie

 

[SolarAndWood]

But I have the luxury of not caring about a huge pile of unsplit rounds sitting in my back yard for months so if I'm tired of splitting & stacking (one time) I just quit for a while.

That right there is the key. When it starts to feel like work, I don't do it for a while. Congrats on getting ahead Charlie, it's a lot less work from now on.

 

[Battenkiller]

Now, the folks who have a hard time with toting the wood in the house and keeping the fire going...........I DON'T feel sorry for THEM!! If they had really done their homework before they BOUGHT the stove, they would have learned from the rest of us that the labor involved in toting wood and keeping the fire going is part of the agreement, and needs to be embraced. If you can't LOVE it, you won't stay with it.

Just like a marriage, best judged by those who've been at it 25 years. Comes a time with either where you have to wonder if it's worth it all. Still love my wife after 31 years. Can't say the same about my stove, but I'm still with her. Hate the work, love the heat. It's a marriage of inconvenience.

 

[firefighterjake]

For me I find working on firewood to be a lot more fun and therpeutic than my normal 40-hour work week work . . . or the work that it has taken me to work on slowly renovating our house. I especially enjoy the splitting and stacking . . .

That said . . . a) it makes a difference when you're two years ahead and don't have to work so hard so that you're just replacing what you burned the previous year . . . or cutting a little bit more to get a little more ahead, b) it makes a difference when you have toys . . . I mean tools . . . such as a decent saw, ATV and trailer, trailer to haul the wood and a hydraulic wood splitter (if I had to split my wood by hand I don't honestly know if I would be heating with wood) and c) there is a reason why I purchased an EPA stove -- and it wasn't primarily for the environmental benefits -- the idea of processing less wood and having more heat was a definite perk since sometimes there are times when a guy really just wants to sit back and watch football instead of working on the wood, house or what have you.

Oh yeah . . . almost forgot to mention . . . my friend says the world will end in 2012 . . . due to my woodstacks . . . he has theorized that the stacks will block out the sun and the world will be pushed into another Ice Age . . . the wood stacks will fall over causing a great earthquake and tsunami . . . and the weight of the wood stacks will cause the wood to crush the earth's core resulting in a massive planetary core explosion.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I look at firewood like it's money: to me every cord I cut/haul/split/stack is $250 (or more) I'm not paying for heat. And I never get tired of not giving money to the power company.

 

[ckarotka]

I look at firewood like it's money: to me every cord I cut/haul/split/stack is $250 (or more) I'm not paying for heat. And I never get tired of not giving money to the power company.

I agree with ya BR. This was just a busy year. I gathered more than I ever have, built more racks, lobbied for wood daily and installed my second stove proper this time. I removed a slam install for a hearth mount with a liner. I think I'm done with my set up for a few years. It just seemed that all summer was all about the wood stove and it's needs first and family second, the wife's not made, actually he's grateful and recognizes all the work. I'm mad that I didn't do this sooner piece by piece instead cramming it into 1 summer. I'm just about done now though and that first fire will come with a large adult beverage in hand, then I'll fall asleep in front of the fire

I love it when the kids get out of the bath all wrapped in towels and go sit in front of the stove and absorb the heat.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

For sure. Every time I look at my wood piles I smile, knowing the value of them. With today's interest rates, for sure the wood is better off than the dollars. So the wood piles make me smile for the dollars and for the knowledge that it will keep us warm for many years to come. As for the work, I enjoy it and it is good for both body and soul.