What these forums have done to me....

[Yooper Burning]

I haven't posted here much, but really enjoy reading the posts and searching for information. I never though I could get so obsessive about fire wood processing and burning. I used to just cut it, stack it, and burn in whenever it got to it in the pile. Now, however, I feel that I have a compulsive disorder.

This is me now:
-am posting to the forums at 12:45 am when I really should be sleeping.
-had to buy a new saw, Stihl MS390, even though my little 021 did what I needed just a little slower, because I really felt inferior after reading all the chainsaw discussion here.
-Have 18 cords of fire wood in the yard and in my shed even though I only burn about 4 cords a year. One of the reasons I bought a bigger saw.
-not only bought a wood moisture meter, but check my seasoning wood almost weekly to see how it's doing.
-built a temporary solar kiln that can hold 7 cords of wood at a time and plan to build a more permanent one when I find the right material for free from a neighbor, contractor (two in the family), or at the landfill.
-find myself just fondly staring at all my firewood feeling all manly and stuff because I cut, manually split, and stacked it all myself.
-am always looking for downed trees as I drive through the woods (live in a National Forest) with my collecting permit, saw, and PPE in the truck at all time.
-am more interesed in a downed beech tree next to the road than the pretty female joggers.
-feel really sorry for (or laugh at) my freinds that are just now buying their wood for this winter and find out is contains 40% moisture when I take my handy dandy moisture meter over to test it for them (how many of you carry your moisture meter with you to check you friends' wood for them?)
-Sort by species and size when wood goes from the drying stacks into the shed.
-help others cut their wood just because I find it so fun even though I do have another 8 cords waiting to be bucked up and split sitting in my own yard.
-actually spent more of my 'free' time cutting and splitting wood than fishing this summer. Now that's just plain sick!
-am trying to figure out how to put another stove in my house since only half is effectively heated by the current stove.
-roll around in the saw chip pile wearing only my kevlar chaps.....just kidding, I haven't really gone off the deep end....yet!

 

[Robbie]

Wow, and I thought I was the only one.............

You should be proud of yourself too !


Robbie

 

[begreen]

Sounds like there's a local WWA chapter forming here (wood whackers anonymous). :lol:

 

[MoeB]

I agree, a 12-step program may be in order. I read the posts in this forum at least daily, sometimes several times a day. I'm a woman with two Harman Accentras, one three years old and one brand new, just installed a few weeks ago, and one husband. I do the cleaning of the stoves. My husband is great about keeping them full of pellets all winter long.

One of the great things about this forum, besides the priceless, free information and assistance we receive from others, is the tremendous humor and wit expressed by the posters. Sometimes it's like a comedy show here. Thanks to all who share their knowledge and sense of humor, and thanks to those who post the questions I haven't thought to ask.

Moe

 

[babalu87]

-am more interesed in a downed beech tree next to the road than the pretty female joggers

You lost me after than one

 

[Highbeam]

"-find myself just fondly staring at all my firewood feeling all manly and stuff because I cut, manually split, and stacked it all myself."

That is a passtime I share with you. It only takes a few minutes near the end of the day to nurse an adult beverage while walking along the stack admiring the formation of radial cracks, make sure the cover is properly in place, and even (this is a special one) feel the retained heat of the stack after the ambient air has cooled off in the dusk hours.

The WWA

 

[Dunadan]

find myself just fondly staring at all my firewood feeling all manly and stuff because I cut, manually split, and stacked it all myself.

LOL

I do this myself, though right now I'm only stacking the wood that was delivered to me. I did this all the time last year when my wood was in my garage. My wife would call down and ask what I was doing, and of course I couldn't tell her I was admiring my wood.

I thought it was maybe just a first time wood burner thing, but I've started doing it again with the wood I've stacked outside.

I've even done it a few times late at night when it's pitch dark out. If I angle my porch security light just right, I can make out the wood pretty good if I walk up close to it

I also am constantly admiring other people's wood when I drive places, and checking out their chimney caps to see what type they are using.

 

[hearthtools]

I agree, a 12-step program may be in order.

Moe

isn't there 12 steps to burning a wood stove? LOL

 

[karl]

Sounds like there's a local WWA chapter forming here (wood whackers anonymous). :lol:

I would come up with a different name for it than that.

 

[Gibbonboy]

I will heartily recommend to you "Digging in and Pigging Out" by Roger Welsch. The book is about food, but the truths about men and "provisioning" apply to wood/fire too. The basic premise is that "I can get one pound of cheese for $3.00, or a whole 40-pound wheel of it for $30.00", and men will usually get the wheel if they can. Nothing can replace the "warm fuzzy" feeling of looking out the window into a snowstorm and seeing your huge pile of covered, well-seasoned firewood, knowing that you could stop cutting wood for four years and still be as warm as you can stand all winter.

The old Soviet addage: "If some is good, then too much is just enough".

There are worse things to be fanatical about than keeping you and your family warm!

 

[Rich M]

Good post. I just got a tri axle of oak even though I've got 10 cord of maple ready. My wife (and everybody else) thinks I'm nuts. When I don't have any wood to process I miss it.

 

[webbie]

Think about it - we have also disproved the theory that all wood burners are cavemen......why we have ladies, teachers, cops, soldiers, doctors, engineers and just about everyone else - LOTS of computer programmers, and even Mo Heat (can't classify him).

One thing for sure - you have to learn to "get a joke" in the written (intended) sense here.

 

[WarmGuy]

-take endless photos of my woodpiles
-am glad when one if my woodpiles gets knocked over, because then I get to stack it again.

 

[myzamboni]

-take endless photos of my woodpiles
-am glad when one if my woodpiles gets knocked over, because then I get to stack it again.

Someone definitely needs help :ahhh:

 

[jpl1nh]

-take endless photos of my woodpiles
-am glad when one if my woodpiles gets knocked over, because then I get to stack it again.

Okay you lost ME on that one. I love, finding, cutting, splitting and burning, but stacking??? PITA. My friend Jim came over the other day to check out my new wood shed. He just burst out laughing looking at my stacking. Couldn't believe how tight straight and neat it was. My Friend Mike stopped by and commented "Wow, your wood's stacked so nice, I'd never want to burn it. I'm good at it but its still a PITA!! probably cause I just can't do it half assed.

 

[Larry H]

Yooper - you've summed it up the best I've read. Sort of an intangible quality to the whole process that leaves you feeling complete.

 

[North of 60]

CANT ARGUE WITH ANY THING HERE. AWSOME POST YOOPER :coolsmile:

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Living where you do, you should get your wood cut now. You'll soon spend most of your time shoveling snow! Yes, I used to be a yooper too and we have another former yooper who still has a place near Munising. btw, do not expect this winter to be like last year! Get ready.

 

[DiscoInferno]

Living where you do, you should get your wood cut now. You'll soon spend most of your time shoveling snow! Yes, I used to be a yooper too and we have another former yooper who still has a place near Munising. btw, do not expect this winter to be like last year! Get ready.

Somebody call my name? I sure hope winter hits up there before the end of december! (And judging by the current run of 90's, I hope winter ever gets here.)

I too walk the stacks (i.e. circle the house) at least once on the weekends, rapping a knuckle on the ends to see how it's drying. And even though I have my 8 cords (2 years supply) up and no more convenient places to stack, I'm fighting myself to not answer the local craigslist ads. I have a neighbor that plans to take down a medium-sized locust, but they're taking too long to hire someone! It's been a month since I split wood, and I'm suffering withdrawal. The saw is lonely in the shed as well.

You know, given that we have lots of wood-obsessed geek-types on here, I'm surprised nobody has set up a woodpile cam yet...

 

[hatetocutwood]

Sorry guys, my name says it all, I cut because I have to But my grandpa always said that firewood keeps you warm twice, once when you cut it and again when you burn it!
Have a great day!

 

[begreen]

Gramps was prone to understatement methinks. It heats you at least 5 times. First to cut it , then to split it, to stack it, to move it, and finally to burn it.

 

[Yooper Burning]

Living where you do, you should get your wood cut now. You’ll soon spend most of your time shoveling snow! Yes, I used to be a yooper too and we have another former yooper who still has a place near Munising. btw, do not expect this winter to be like last year! Get ready. [/qoute]

Yeah, last winter was a fluke here. Didn't really get to the standard 4' snow pack. I'm sure this winter will make up for it. But don't worry. I have 6 cord dry and ready to go, well, it does need to be moved into the shed, but that's an October job for me. I'm still splittin' and stackin' for '08-'09, '09-'10 and beyond. Just a note, we get a lot of lake effect snow blowing off of Lake Superior, but it usually doesn't get bitter cold for long spells due the lake also mediating the air temperature. Not like Minnesota that gets blasted with that cold, dry air.

And DiscoInferno, a woodstack cam, funny! But think about it, a cool time lapse video of a wood pile drying and settling. You could just watch the cracks form! Someone should call the History channel. If they can do Ice Road Truckers they just might be interested in the concept. What to call it......Firewood Warriors.....Wood Splitting Wackos......The Few, The Proud, The Self Reliant Wood Burners....

OK, I'm losing it here.

EDIT: I also obvioulsy haven't figured out how to properly use the quote function.....

 

[moralleper]

Pellet heads are no different. I go into my shop at least once a day to look at the stacks of 50lb bags. not quite as much work collecting,splitting, stacking, restacking in some cases, but I still have to move from pallet to trailer then from trailer to shop. Pretty sure my wife thinks I'm nuts, I am on this forum multiple times a day and when there is a funny post I try to tell her about it but she just does not get it. thanks for a great forum.

TK