So with the hell of a year I've had (in a nutshell, the last time you folks heard from me was last winter when my dad had cancer, my house tried to kill me by exploding pipes and rotting subfloor, I had one snafu after another trying to install my stove, and then I got pregnant...) Well, I lost the baby in February, then my dad passed away in March, I got pregnant again in April but suffered another miscarriage in June, and my stove ended up getting used for maybe 60 fires. On the plus side, it got me over the learning curve, I still have nearly all of my wood that I bought, the stove is wonderful, and some days the only reason I got out of bed was to start a fire cause I was cold. Sorry for the sob story, just wanted to explain where I've been and why I'm so behind on this whole shebang.
I have nearly 4 cords of wood still, and it's had a lovely extra year of seasoning in my nice woodshed, and it should be enough to get me through this year, with maybe the occasional electric heater/furnace backup.
I've made exactly zero process on figuring out how to scavenge wood. Still have no axe or maul or splitter, I have a real nice Stihl I can borrow anytime I want but it's a heavy mofo and I'd like to get one better suited to my size and strength, so I can leave the heavy work to my better half and I can do the smaller brush-sized bits.
So, my questions are:
1) What all does one need to successfully scavenge their own wood? I don't have the set up to do logging in the woods- no reliable truck, not enough heavy gear, not enough guys to help, and I'm not strong enough to do it by myself. But, if I get on the ball and scour Craigslist and bum off neighbors with downed trees, I think I could swing it, at least help augment my stash.
2) What kind of stash would you build up before you felt comfortable scrapping your backup sources of heat? I would really love to stop using the furnace- it's on its last legs and it's expensive to run for the amount of heat it puts out, plus the gas exchange pipes are starting to rust so it's really not safe, and I'm not replacing it. I have ideas of ripping it out and turning the closet it's in into a pantry.
3) What is the most price-effective way of doing this? I got 4.5 cords of reasonably seasoned wood from a dealer last fall for $600. It wasn't GREAT-great, but it had been C/S/S for a year (could have stood another, I can definitely tell a difference between the logs now that they've seasoned another year), and it lit pretty easy and put out pretty decent heat with little problems. I'm tempted to just do this again, and then boom, I've got a nice cushion for next year, giving me time to more slowly accumulate the gear I need and scavenge for wood.
~Rose
I have nearly 4 cords of wood still, and it's had a lovely extra year of seasoning in my nice woodshed, and it should be enough to get me through this year, with maybe the occasional electric heater/furnace backup.
I've made exactly zero process on figuring out how to scavenge wood. Still have no axe or maul or splitter, I have a real nice Stihl I can borrow anytime I want but it's a heavy mofo and I'd like to get one better suited to my size and strength, so I can leave the heavy work to my better half and I can do the smaller brush-sized bits.
So, my questions are:
1) What all does one need to successfully scavenge their own wood? I don't have the set up to do logging in the woods- no reliable truck, not enough heavy gear, not enough guys to help, and I'm not strong enough to do it by myself. But, if I get on the ball and scour Craigslist and bum off neighbors with downed trees, I think I could swing it, at least help augment my stash.
2) What kind of stash would you build up before you felt comfortable scrapping your backup sources of heat? I would really love to stop using the furnace- it's on its last legs and it's expensive to run for the amount of heat it puts out, plus the gas exchange pipes are starting to rust so it's really not safe, and I'm not replacing it. I have ideas of ripping it out and turning the closet it's in into a pantry.
3) What is the most price-effective way of doing this? I got 4.5 cords of reasonably seasoned wood from a dealer last fall for $600. It wasn't GREAT-great, but it had been C/S/S for a year (could have stood another, I can definitely tell a difference between the logs now that they've seasoned another year), and it lit pretty easy and put out pretty decent heat with little problems. I'm tempted to just do this again, and then boom, I've got a nice cushion for next year, giving me time to more slowly accumulate the gear I need and scavenge for wood.
~Rose