Easy Livin’ 3000
Minister of Fire
Three good hobbies to have. Add investing, fishing and hunting, and you are really in business. Should also mention home brewing and bee-keeping.
Do you ever say this is JUST TOO MUCH WORK!
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I have a 28 ton splitter (TSC) and a Kubota BX 1500 with a loader bucket for lifting and moving the firewood around from my neighbors where it's free. If it weren't for that I would be buying it. I do need it for supplemental heat for a small addition to the house that has three exposed sides so that is the coldest room in the house. Kevin
Ctwoodtick
Minister of Fire
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
Its 72 degrees in my house and feels beautiful.. im sitting in my living room in shorts and a tshirt
fire_man
Minister of Fire
I have a desk job so I look for every possible excuse to be outside. Burning wood for heat is a labor of love 
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blacktail
Minister of Fire
The more I burn, the more I get to cut. I look at it like hunting. Bringing home a deer or a nice load of wood is more satisfying than sitting on my ass.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
I usually say its to much work some where around April, then by the time September hits I'm itching to light a fire. As far as splitting wood, I'm an addict and like the work, so that will never get old to me.
I've heard people say that they enjoy the free heat. That is absurd. You earn every BTU. Add up the cost of the stove and chimney, installation (if), cleaning, wood buying or "finding", time spent cutting, splitting, stacking, Chainsaws, splitters, storage means. Truck, trailer wear and tear. Time tending the stove...etc.All said it is a large undertaking. If you love doing it, then it is a hobby, and one of the few hobbies that can pay for itself. But make no mistake, you pay for some of it and earn all of it. Certainly not the worst thing you could choose to endeavor.
darktower007
Feeling the Heat
I scrounge all my wood. Facebook has been great for free fire wood!
I also started some pallet racks. I was going to build a shed... but I know me. It would have to be 300’ long because I’ll keep splitting and run out of room. Lol so I tarp for now.
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Easy Livin’ 3000
Minister of Fire
I used to feel that way, but I'm getting to the point where sitting on my ass is pretty satisfying. Particularly next to the stove. Guess it's old age.
nola mike
Minister of Fire
Hmm, I have all of the above except bee keeping and hunting. I'll also add engine/car repair as useful.
CeeDee
New Member
Wood is our only heat source, but it doesn't get too cold here. The rain makes it uncomfortable without heat, though, and since we line dry our clothes, we need the stove going when the humidity is high or they stay damp for a few days.
Our wood is from our own land (oak, manzanita and some gray pine) and some free wood from a neighbor now and then. We save branches on down to the size you can make with your thumb and index finger. I've taken an interest in wood carving, and am currently shaving down a thick slab of wood I rescued from the landfill. My antique planer is making a nice pile of fluffy shavings I can use as fire starts.
For my one winter in Alaska, wood was my only heat. The stove was too large for my one-room cabin. I had the hardest time staying comfortable, and a couple of times woke up with frost on my bedding. I had one chimney fire and I managed to catch my stupid outhouse on fire.
Our wood is from our own land (oak, manzanita and some gray pine) and some free wood from a neighbor now and then. We save branches on down to the size you can make with your thumb and index finger. I've taken an interest in wood carving, and am currently shaving down a thick slab of wood I rescued from the landfill. My antique planer is making a nice pile of fluffy shavings I can use as fire starts.
For my one winter in Alaska, wood was my only heat. The stove was too large for my one-room cabin. I had the hardest time staying comfortable, and a couple of times woke up with frost on my bedding. I had one chimney fire and I managed to catch my stupid outhouse on fire.
buc74
Burning Hunk
Allot of work and planning yes, but not to much yet. I turned 60 this year and I'm thank full I can still comfortably process my own wood for both our homes. Being in the woods is a very happy place for me. Not matter if its wood gathering, atving, hunting, or hiking in the woods with my camera. I myself don't burn wood to save money, I burn cuz I the like what the wood heat gives back to me.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
Where in Alaska? Would like to hear more about that adventure.
It's a lot of work but when its zero out and I'm sitting in front of the stove warm to my bones it's worth it.
as a skier, we often say, "ski good or eat wood"
having a hobby that provides nutrition is always helpful, because eating wood is not fun!
I figure if I wasn't splitting and stacking, what else would I be doing? Likely sitting in front of the tv snacking. It keeps me outside and gives me something to talk about with others. I split by hand and am young so its not detrimental to me, however my hands seem to take a lot of beating from it. Other than that, I'm happy with the heat, and so is my wife.
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
Your wife is happy with it, you bet!
We have only been in the modern age for about 200 years. Because in 1818 your ancestors were heating with wood. Or maybe coal but coal heat only went on for a couple hundred years, the blink of an eye.
And when our ancestors were living in Europe, 30,000 years ago, same thing. Ice Age. Living in a cave heating with wood.
And my ancestors the Neanderthals, Europe 60,000 years ago, living in a cave, Ice Age, making that wood fire.
And a cold day back then was 40 below. Fire was the key to survival. Fire meant life.
So for a Neanderthal girl, my great grandma, 60,000 years ago, or for a Modern Human girl back there in the Ice Age, 30,000 years ago, for her to survive she had to find a man who was good at making a fire. And she wanted a baby.
The only way her baby would survive was if her man built a fire. Kept the family warm.
Plus a good fire in the cave kept out the saber tooth tigers, at night.
The men who could not make a fire, they all died out. The woman who hooked up to a man who could not build a fire, she died and so did her baby.
So it is literally in the DNA of women to want a man who can build a wood fire.
And this went on for over a hundred thousand years. Five generations per century, for many hundreds of generations Fire meant Life.
If there are any swingin' batchelors on here, try it out, bring a gal over on the first date and let her watch you build a wood fire.
Flipping the switch on the gas logs, No Dice. Not the same.
The woman who watches a man build a wood fire will want to be friendly with that man, it is in their DNA.
We have only been in the modern age for about 200 years. Because in 1818 your ancestors were heating with wood. Or maybe coal but coal heat only went on for a couple hundred years, the blink of an eye.
And when our ancestors were living in Europe, 30,000 years ago, same thing. Ice Age. Living in a cave heating with wood.
And my ancestors the Neanderthals, Europe 60,000 years ago, living in a cave, Ice Age, making that wood fire.
And a cold day back then was 40 below. Fire was the key to survival. Fire meant life.
So for a Neanderthal girl, my great grandma, 60,000 years ago, or for a Modern Human girl back there in the Ice Age, 30,000 years ago, for her to survive she had to find a man who was good at making a fire. And she wanted a baby.
The only way her baby would survive was if her man built a fire. Kept the family warm.
Plus a good fire in the cave kept out the saber tooth tigers, at night.
The men who could not make a fire, they all died out. The woman who hooked up to a man who could not build a fire, she died and so did her baby.
So it is literally in the DNA of women to want a man who can build a wood fire.
And this went on for over a hundred thousand years. Five generations per century, for many hundreds of generations Fire meant Life.
If there are any swingin' batchelors on here, try it out, bring a gal over on the first date and let her watch you build a wood fire.
Flipping the switch on the gas logs, No Dice. Not the same.
The woman who watches a man build a wood fire will want to be friendly with that man, it is in their DNA.
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I don't mind running my boiler in mid winter but hated shoulder seasons as I would most of time overheat the house charging up storage. The minisplit with "free" power from net metered solar took care of shoulder seasons and barring a real cold snap covers my backup.
I cut wood for the exercise. My wood lot is about 10 minutes away and usually only work wood for an hour or two at a session, usually in the late fall winter or spring when I am looking for excuses to get out and be active instead of being a couch potato. I am trying to thin out the woods so every tree I take out is a slight improvement to the surrounding trees I leave standing. I realize its going to be 30 or 40 years before the results really show up but I like hanging out in the woods in the meantime. Beats sitting in front of the tube!
I cut wood for the exercise. My wood lot is about 10 minutes away and usually only work wood for an hour or two at a session, usually in the late fall winter or spring when I am looking for excuses to get out and be active instead of being a couch potato. I am trying to thin out the woods so every tree I take out is a slight improvement to the surrounding trees I leave standing. I realize its going to be 30 or 40 years before the results really show up but I like hanging out in the woods in the meantime. Beats sitting in front of the tube!
Last winter all we had was the woodstove, this fall I installed a ductless minisplit. Didn't think I'd say this, but with an 18 month old it is really nice to not have to deal with her playing around the hot stove, or eating dried up mushrooms that fell off logs... they sure do change things.
Also bought a wood splitter this fall because I just don't have time to be out there screwing up my already sore joints. Just not enough time now.
Also bought a wood splitter this fall because I just don't have time to be out there screwing up my already sore joints. Just not enough time now.
Huckleberry
Member
We do burn to save money.
If it was just me, I'd probably bag wood heat,
but I've got plenty of help until the kids are grown.
In fact I have the easiest jobs.
Run the saw and drive the truck.
I don't have to move it very much.
Cleaning the chimney takes us about two hours a year, if that.
The family likes the dry heat during cool wet winters as opposed to central heat which is always an option. (The thought of steaming water on the stove top is hard for us to imagine - we fight winter humidity.)
I have to admit, for me it's a lot like hunting, fishing, or other foraging activities: a fun way to burn off physical energy, I think more about it than actually doing it, and although it often feels free, it's probably not much - if any - of a cost savings in my situation, especially factoring in time.
(We do also get the house much warmer if using wood rather than central heat, but that's probably part of the "feel free" component and the momentum of a good fire.)
I have to admit, for me it's a lot like hunting, fishing, or other foraging activities: a fun way to burn off physical energy, I think more about it than actually doing it, and although it often feels free, it's probably not much - if any - of a cost savings in my situation, especially factoring in time.
(We do also get the house much warmer if using wood rather than central heat, but that's probably part of the "feel free" component and the momentum of a good fire.)
For me in the beginning it was about survival...my wife and I could not afford to buy propane or fuel oil those many years ago...wood heat was our only alternative and we have been burning every since...I enjoy the cutting and splitting and maintaining the stove and chimney here is nothing...BUT my life is coming full circle and I find myself trying to survive old age now....lol...propane will be playing a larger roll here in the years to come.
darktower007
Feeling the Heat
Fortunately I’m a country boy, I’d have all those tools and equipment even if I didn’t burn the wood. Got to do something with all these downed trees! May as well heat my house!
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