Wood burning in Utah

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

Hello! So I am a complete greenhorn and am wondering if I could get some pointers on buying wood in Utah, how much, etc.

Thanks to the awesome folks here, I'm looking at buying an Englander 50-TV17 to use in my 850 sq ft mobile home. http://www.overstockstoves.com/50tvl17--epa-certified-noncatalytic-wood-stove--1250171200.html

I have a beautiful woodshed my father and I built that is 8'x16', so should be plenty big enough for two cords. I have a nice fenceline that faces SW and gets lots of sun during the day. It's very dry here in Salt Lake- very little percipitation except for the winter snow (October-March), and the humidity is rarely above 20%, so I think I should have plenty of time to start working on a wood pile for next year.

This year, due to some family crises (my father was just diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer), instead of doing my original plan and harvesting my own wood last spring, we're just going to buy for this year's season, and then in the spring start harvesting our own.

Anyone here in the area know of any reputable dealers? I've read up on how to tell if a dealer is solid or not, and what kind of wood to look for, etc so I think I'm pretty good there. What is a good price for a full cord in this area? From talking to some wood burning people around here, I'll probably go through 1.5-2.5 cords a season, depending on my stove, the wood species, how well it's seasoned, etc. We have mostly pine, spruce, juniper, aspen, elm and very few oaks and maples around here. I know hardwoods are better than softwoods- what's a good mix to look for?

In the Wasatch National Forest area, you CAN harvest wood for personal use, but I've gotten conflicting information from the different offices and local woodburners. Some say only Rocky Mountain Juniper (is that even worth burning??), some say any deadfall is free game, some say it's only illegal if you get caught =P. Here's the website: http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPwhQoY6IeDdGCqCPOBqwDLG-AAjgb6fh75uan6BdnZaY6OiooA1tkqlQ!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfMjAwMDAwMDBBODBPSEhWTjBNMDAwMDAwMDA!/?ss=110419&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=FSE_003759&navid=160110000000000&pnavid=160000000000000&position=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&ttype=main&pname=Uinta Wasatch-Cache National Forest- Forest Products Permits

Thanks much!

~Rose

 

[wood-fan-atic]

Hoof- im about as far away from Utah as can be here in NY( ive BEEN there,tho). How ever, just a few points- I remember that it was COLD! FOR A LONG TIME! I think with only 1.5-2.5 cords on hand, youre gonna be pretty cold,pretty soon (6 months is a long time to stretch 2.5 cords!). Unless youll only burn occasionally. I burn 24/7, from late Oct.-mid-March and go thru 4.5-5 cords in my non-cat insert (considerably larger than yours). My shed is also 16x8,brotha, and You can stock one HELL of alot more than 2 cords in there! After its seasoned , re-stack TIGHT and high in that baby! :ahhh: One more thing- if youre forced into purchasing your supply this year- spend the $20 on a moisture meter and tell the guy youre buying from that youre gonna split and test the inside of the wood when delivered. This will eliminate 75% of the unscroupulous dealers(some will still try to dupe ,you). Also, insist on HARDWOOD. With only 1.5-2.5 cords on hand, you will want wood that will burn for a while with good coaling ablility. That being said- Welcome brutha, to the wonderful world of woodheat! Theres nothing like it! :lol: Good luck.

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

Yes, it is dastardly cold here. Well, by my standards anyway- I'm from South Texas originally, and I HATE the cold. Especially the snow. As far as I'm concerned snow is the most useless form of precipitation ever. I think 65 degrees is sweater weather. Fortunately my bedroom is big enough I can hide in it with my little space heater while I wait for good wood burning weather!

I can definitely buy more wood than two cords- it's up against the side of my house, and slopes from 8' next to the house, to 6' on the yard side of the house. So 16x6x6 (need at least two feet to walk through it!) is 576 cu ft, which is 4.5 cords. So not too shabby!

Will definitely buy a moisture meter- need one of those anyway before I put new laminate floors in my house, to test the subfloor. GOODBYE SHAG CARPETING!

Stupid conifers with low BTU. Stupid snow. Stupid Utah. I'm thinking of my aunt's property in Arkansas that is just LOUSY with oak and maple trees and feeling mighty jealous right about now!

~Rose

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

I am kicking myself for not starting a wood pile last year. "Oh well, I can just buy some! SURE! THAT'LL WORK. Look, it says seasoned right on the Craigslist ad! HEY LOOK IT'S FREE!" Duh!

Though I have to say, I've never stacked firewood in my life, and even *I* know this isn't how you advertise your "seasoned" wood... http://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/for/1983741905.html

This doesn't look too bad: http://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/for/1965063672.html Nice neat rows, seasoned for two years, free bucket of kindling, $300 for two cords... Not too shabby.

Found a wood cutting place from the fuel price review page here on hearth.com, will have to give them a call. $170/cord.

Hopefully we've had nice warm weather so prices are still good around here. Wish more of them had websites for me to obsessively bookmark. I'd say people should get with the 21st century, but then, I'm buying a wood stove, so... yeah. =P

~Rose

 

[Heem]

That stove is going to warm the heck out of that place. I've got it's smaller cousin, the 13 in a 900 sq foot house, and it easily heats the whole house, with the living room area where the stove is in the mid 80's..

I went to school at the U in SLC. Miss it out there - A very special city, and I'm NOT a city person.

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

The TNC13? That's listed as 1,200-1,800, and the TVL17 is for 800-1,200... or are you talking about a different stove? I'm looking here- http://www.overstockstoves.com/50epacenowos.html

My husband works up at the U! Good people up there, I like it a lot. We go to a lot of the student events (free food! woohoo!) I'm still acclimating to the Utah.

~Rose

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Rose, hopefully you can find some relatively dry wood to burn this winter. For sure keep an eye on that chimney and clean it often. Check it monthly for sure. With marginal wood it is not uncommon for folks to clean the chimney 3-4 times or more per winter. Better to keep clean than suffer the consequences of not checking.

As for the wood shed, that is a great idea. However, if the wood you are able to get is not really dry, stacking it outside might be a better idea. Most folks who stack wood inside a shed will still store it outside for a year before piling it into the shed. It works, but it does mean handling the wood an extra time but the exercise is good for the body and soul.

Good luck.

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

Yeah, the wood shed is just for winter storage- we'll get snow starting sometime in the next month or so, and it'll start to stick around by December and not melt until February at the very earliest. I can definitely get some greener stuff and cross my fingers that it'll dry out enough! I started reading up on wood stoves and of course should have known to start buying green to start to season- with mostly softwoods around here, and with how dry our summer was, it probably would've seasoned up nicely between last March and now! Oh well, now I know for next year!

I'm having ideas about installing a wood door that opens up to the cabinet under my kitchen sink. I don't have hardly anything under there, and it's nice and big, and RIGHT next to my woodshed... It would sure be easier on my back!

~Rose

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Rose, that could be handy if you could block it all off to keep any dust or critters out of where you don't want them/it. How far would that be from the stove?

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

It'd be in the same room as my stove- like seven feet away. I'd rig up some kind of door, but we don't get a lot of critters in my neck of the woods, and it'd be pretty high off the ground, since I live in a trailer- maybe five feet up the side? I might have to worry about a very adventurous stray cat! More worried about snow blowing into it.

~Rose

 

[BrotherBart]

That little cooker is gonna do just fine heating that mobile. Corey a stove engineer that used to post here a lot designed it. And he knows how to make heat. That amount of wood should heat ya just fine. Just don't fall into the first year stove owner trap of thinking that you have to keep it full of flames all of the time. That eats a lot of wood and you end up frustrated because the firebox ends up full of coals with no room for more wood. Load it, burn it down to that coal bed he recommends in the manual, rinse and repeat.

 

[cadia]

I have just found out about 50-TVL17
Does anyone have experience with them?
I will be heating a 600 sq ft area. ( not overly insulated)
It LOOKS like such a great deal ,... is it?

http://www.overstockstoves.com/50tvl17--epa-certified-noncatalytic-wood-stove--1250171200.html

 

[Danno77]

Just read the link to the National forest's website that you posted. You learn something new every day. Maybe a lot of guys around here knew this already, but I didn't:

Slash are the pieces left after cutting firewood.

 

[PapaDave]

Rose, I saw that stove at Home Depot recently. Nice little unit, but not sure how useful the little storage area underneath will be.
Before you reposted, I was going to say your shed should fit around 5 cord. Guess you figured that one out.
Just mho, that you should consider (if financially feasible) buying more (maybe double) wood than you think you need. You can adjust next year, but it would be frustrating to find yourself short on wood in late January.
You've done an awful lot to get yourself to this point, don't back off now.