2020/21 VC Owners thread

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Congrats on your new stove. As a newbie myself, I can’t say enough good things about the advice that I have gotten here. Heed Woodsplitter’s advice and get your wood supply now. In my case, many of the problems that I was having were due to wood that was not seasoned properly.

Coincidentally, as I was reading your post my wife and I were trying to figure out how much we saved this last Winter by heating exclusively with wood. We have electric base board heaters in our upstate NY “Summer” house and we have been living up here full time for the last 12 months. Kind of hard to figure out and electric is obviously different than oil, but being VERY CONSERVATIVE and accounting for the cost of wood, I can safely say that we saved at least $2,000 this past Winter. A bit of my own advise: seal up leaky/drafty windows and doors. This made a tremendous difference for us; especially on the days when temps were in the single digits and lower. Enjoy your new stove!
 
I'd buy a bunch of wood already split and use some of that, and get that wood now. The log lenth will not be ready for the fall unless you make a solar kiln.. for information on it look in my signature. If you purchase split wood its not fully seasoned so if you get it now check it with your moisture meter and if its not terribly high it may be ready for fall
 
You guys have been so helpful, thought I would ask for your opinions on a different but related subject. Chainsaws.

So, I would like to start cutting and splitting my own firewood this year. I have thirty acres up here in upstate NY with a lot of ash and maple trees. There’s a lot on the ground and don’t know how much of that is usable and I would fell only medium size trees.....for now. I want to start education myself on all this. I’ve been using a little 16” Poulan (POS) for the last two years for light property maintenance. I want something beefier, but not too much more. I am a professional musician and need to be careful that my hands don’t get overly stressed, so weight is an issue. The 15lb Poulan was easy to handle weight wise for extended periods and I can handle a little more easily. The Poulan seems to transfer a lot of vibration to the handles and I understand that some are better than others in that regard. Any thoughts/recommendations on any of the above would be very appreciated. Yes, I have chaps and my wife will make sure I wear them :)

Best to all.
 
It all depends on your budget. Stihl ms262 will be like music to your ears.
 
You guys have been so helpful, thought I would ask for your opinions on a different but related subject. Chainsaws.

So, I would like to start cutting and splitting my own firewood this year. I have thirty acres up here in upstate NY with a lot of ash and maple trees. There’s a lot on the ground and don’t know how much of that is usable and I would fell only medium size trees.....for now. I want to start education myself on all this. I’ve been using a little 16” Poulan (POS) for the last two years for light property maintenance. I want something beefier, but not too much more. I am a professional musician and need to be careful that my hands don’t get overly stressed, so weight is an issue. The 15lb Poulan was easy to handle weight wise for extended periods and I can handle a little more easily. The Poulan seems to transfer a lot of vibration to the handles and I understand that some are better than others in that regard. Any thoughts/recommendations on any of the above would be very appreciated. Yes, I have chaps and my wife will make sure I wear them :)

Best to all.

Husqvarna 550xp It's a 50cc saw.. at 10lbs and will cut anything. comes with an 18 and you can put a 20in on it. It's a pro saw with all of the benefits... easy to work on and less vibration.. its a 600 dollar saw.. well worth the money...
 
Thanks a lot for the recommendations, I will check them out. Any rules of thumb Re trees/limbs already on the ground? I think I can recognize rotted wood or wood that is too old. Besides that, anything I should look look for so as not to waste time and energy with bad wood? Or, should I just not bother at all with limbs on the ground?

Best.
 
Yea 100% I have a truckload of log length firewood ordered. I’ll probably also buy a cord or two of split season wood. It all depends.
Buy the split seasoned wood now and get it stacked under top cover, because there is a 90% chance it is not fully seasoned.
 
Buy the split seasoned wood now and get it stacked under top cover, because there is a 90% chance it is not fully seasoned.
Actually ordered 2 cords last week. They won't deliver until closer to fall. I am going to pick up a moisture meter so I can spot check a few logs after they are dropped off.
 
Actually ordered 2 cords last week. They won't deliver until closer to fall. I am going to pick up a moisture meter so I can spot check a few logs after they are dropped off.

Just a heads up.. if you wait till fall that will be to late and you'll be stuck with wet wood....DONT wait it's a big mistake..
 
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Thanks a lot for the recommendations, I will check them out. Any rules of thumb Re trees/limbs already on the ground? I think I can recognize rotted wood or wood that is too old. Besides that, anything I should look look for so as not to waste time and energy with bad wood? Or, should I just not bother at all with limbs on the ground?

Best.

I'd take stuff on the ground as long as it's not punky.. if your not sure I'd cut into the wood to see if it's bad. I take.stuff that's filled and on the ground all the time.
 
Actually ordered 2 cords last week. They won't deliver until closer to fall. I am going to pick up a moisture meter so I can spot check a few logs after they are dropped off.
Call around and find someone who will deliver wood now. If you wait you will regret it
 
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Newbie to the forum here. Wanted to chime in on chainsaws. I have an Echo cs590 timberwolf with a 20 inch bar. Very powerful and easy to use, nice price as well for the size.
We are in the process of putting in our hearth for our Encore. 2040 catalytic. I worked at a woodstove store back in the last century selling Quadrafires and Blaze King among others. The BKs were mostly catalytic so am pretty familiar but every stove is different so appreciate the information folks have posted on the forum. Hopefully will have some pics posted at some point of the install.
 
Welcome to the site
 
it feels good to be back in the house with the stove going. I have been burning scrap lumber for the past few days so I still have about 1.5 cord of elm and boxelder that will most likely wait until next season! That also means that I am on wood gathering hiatus for another year or two (we still have about 10 cord CSS).

We moved a staircase and put some insulation in a previously uninsulated room, so we don't get as much heat transfer to the upstairs, which is ok by me. It hasn't been cold enough to really get the stove cranking, just smaller fires at night to take the chill off. I am hoping with the added insulation, we can get a bit more heat downstairs.

My wife was not happy about the pile of scrap wood piled in front of the house, so thanks to the handy ikea bags, they are easy to bring inside!
 
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it feels good to be back in the house with the stove going. I have been burning scrap lumber for the past few days so I still have about 1.5 cord of elm and boxelder that will most likely wait until next season! That also means that I am on wood gathering hiatus for another year or two (we still have about 10 cord CSS).

We moved a staircase and put some insulation in a previously uninsulated room, so we don't get as much heat transfer to the upstairs, which is ok by me. It hasn't been cold enough to really get the stove cranking, just smaller fires at night to take the chill off. I am hoping with the added insulation, we can get a bit more heat downstairs.

My wife was not happy about the pile of scrap wood piled in front of the house, so thanks to the handy ikea bags, they are easy to bring inside!

I had a small fire last night and again this morning.. I really enjoy sitting there relaxing by the stove.. its going to be a long 5 month waiting to burn again..I may have a small fire here and there still..
 
Hi folks. Just jumping in to introduce myself. I am the proud owner of a new VC Dauntless, a nice sized stove for us here in western Oregon, which has mild winters in general. We were able to make a half dozen fires in March & April before the weather got too warm, but it sure was nice to sit by the stove and relax after a long day. My wife loves the style & finish of the Dauntless, which was a big selling point for her. I'm sorting out my wood supply ... thankfully I'm hooked up with a firewood club here in town that co-owns a bunch of tools and equipment and organizes splitting runs to keep everyone well stocked.

I appreciate all the insight and knowledge on this forum!
 
Welcome to the forum. Dry wood is the most important part of the wood burning process
 
Encore before and after pics of the stove installation.
 

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Nicely done. Have you had any fires in it yet?
 
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Curing the paint as we type.
You may not have much need for it soon, but I would really like to know how the stove works out for you. When you get a chance can you post a review in a separate thread?

PS: The Dauntless engineering was done by our own Corie!
 
Hi folks. Just jumping in to introduce myself. I am the proud owner of a new VC Dauntless, a nice sized stove for us here in western Oregon, which has mild winters in general. We were able to make a half dozen fires in March & April before the weather got too warm, but it sure was nice to sit by the stove and relax after a long day. My wife loves the style & finish of the Dauntless, which was a big selling point for her. I'm sorting out my wood supply ... thankfully I'm hooked up with a firewood club here in town that co-owns a bunch of tools and equipment and organizes splitting runs to keep everyone well stocked.

I appreciate all the insight and knowledge on this forum!
How has it been burning for you?
 
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Glad to hear i'm not the only person to buy the Dauntless this year. how do you like it so far ? For me its been pretty good. I Def did not have the best seasoned wood that i should have, I have been working on it all winter though for next year. it throws a lot of heat when burning well. Sometimes the down draft system is a little bit of a pain to get going good.
 
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