2023/24 VC owners thread general discussion

[Woodsplitter67]

Im starting a thread for general discussion for our VC stoves.

Any specific topic that will require its own thread for technical questions like, stove maintenance, rebuild, ect will be asked to have its own thread

I completely understand why the old thread got locked down. The Mods want it to be easier for people to fined specific information or instructions. So lest keep this in mind

This is just a fun thread general discussion of how the stove is running, pictures if the nice fire view, cooking a meal ect and positivity..

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

Goal this year, not have to move my wood pile three times again. I think we're set up for success. Wood goes big pile>deck>inside. I fit about 2-3 days of wood inside and 2-3 weeks on the deck.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Goal this year, not have to move my wood pile three times again. I think we're set up for success. Wood goes big pile>deck>inside. I fit about 2-3 days of wood inside and 2-3 weeks on the deck.

View attachment 315433 View attachment 315434 View attachment 315435

Being up north your a little ahead of me.. You have your wood already by the back door. I won't do that untill the beginning of October.. right now Im starting the rebuild of my stove.. Im hoping to have it together in a couple weeks.. I have a thread going on it and will start updating

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

Yeah but it's still too warm to burn here. Made that mistake last year too and ended up with 86 degree house. I figured best just do it all at once while it's nice and warm out.

I've been flowing the rebuild and actually surprised it didn't look as complex as I thought.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

what stove do you have

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

It's an Encore 2040 Cat-C. Last year was the first year and it was great. Little learning early but only cause I was new to wood burning. Used 4.5 cords of wood, 2,500 Sq ft house (I think that's high for the mild winter we had but contributed to user error early on). Went from oil delivery every 5 weeks down to .5 tanks the entire winter. That was about a $3k savings year one. We expect the same year 2 which basically pays off the stove. We also lost power for a total of 7 days last winter which happened to be the only cold days we had and the stove saved my ass. Would have been staring at big problems in 10 degree temps with no heat.

Year 3 will be entirely fueled by wood from my property. Lot of work to heat with wood but I enjoy it. Its a much more satisfying heat

 

[Woodsplitter67]

@weee123
@Dmarch

Were hijacking that other thread

weee123 its funny how close we are.. My office is in sicklerville

Dmarch my hometown is in my signature
woolwich.. I like it.. lots of farms

 

[Dmarch]

@weee123
@Dmarch

Were hijacking that other thread

weee123 its funny how close we are.. My office is in sicklerville

Dmarch my hometown is in my signature
woolwich.. I like it.. lots of farms

That's awesome! I will keep you posted this weekend on how I make out with the VC model plate

 

[weee123]

@weee123
@Dmarch

Were hijacking that other thread

weee123 its funny how close we are.. My office is in sicklerville

Dmarch my hometown is in my signature
woolwich.. I like it.. lots of farms

Small world, woolwich is a nice area. Shame about all the farms turning to mega warehouses near there.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Small world, woolwich is a nice area. Shame about all the farms turning to mega warehouses near there.

That is mostly along Rt 322 which is not near me and has no impact. My area got natural gas about 4 years ago, so its still well and septic in my area. There is a development of single family homes going up in the next couple years. My way of living isn't going to be impacted, we have no water or sewer. Most in my neighborhood have good sized land My neighbor has 11 acres the property next to him has 40, the neighbor across the street has 10 his neighbor has 25 acres. I know all the farmers that have property around my house and they are generational farmers handing down the land to the next generation.

I like this area.. its quiet, nobody bothers you and lots of wildlife

 

[weee123]

That is mostly along Rt 322 which is not near me and has no impact. My area got natural gas about 4 years ago, so its still well and septic in my area. There is a development of single family homes going up in the next couple years. My way of living isn't going to be impacted, we have no water or sewer. Most in my neighborhood have good sized land My neighbor has 11 acres the property next to him has 40, the neighbor across the street has 10 his neighbor has 25 acres. I know all the farmers that have property around my house and they are generational farmers handing down the land to the next generation.

I like this area.. its quiet, nobody bothers you and lots of wildlife

That sounds like a beautiful area. Near me the township keeps bragging about how they are keeping our taxes the same each year, but to do so they are allowing entire forests to be clearcut and overpriced poorly built housing developments to be put in. I’d rather my taxes go up instead.

Unfortunately with how low my interest rate is on my house it’s almost like a golden shackle of sorts. Thankfully on my road everyone has at least an acre+, there’s a generational family farm on my road, and no where to develop further. But everywhere around it is currently being developed and once those are completed the traffic on my road is going to increase significantly. Yay progress

 

[Woodsplitter67]

so today with this nice windy/rainy day and building my stove I decided what better way to spend the day but with my stove and BBQ.. Im making a couple burnt ends on the offset.. they will be done like noon ish and have a nice rest

I just did the cube and the BBQ sauce.. started at 5am today. the smoker is moved to the covered part of the patio..

 

[Jmorg]

This storm coming through Virginia has me wanting to fire up the Dauntless…if only it was about 10 degrees cooler!

 

[weee123]

Looks delicious!

 

[Woodsplitter67]

just finished up the cook.. and the meat is now resting.. Ill take a pic of the finished product..

Just finished up the rebuild to the stove.. I still nee to put the tools away and vacuum.. looks brand new

 

[NewGuy132]

Ahhh this is what I was looking for. When they closed out the other thread I understood, but the vast majority of the thread was general BSing.
I think this weekend I'll get my wood all situated for the season. I have 1/4 of a rack on my covered porch from last winter still that I somehow managed to put off filling up all summer. I did move some leftover wood from last year to the stacks for this year. I am on a 2 year rotation so I need that space to fill in the wood that I have been slowly(shoulder injury last winter still hurts) working on. I'll probably run the sooteater through the chimney before the start of the season. I had an appt with a sweep, but had to put it off due to being out of town 2 times. He said that he'd call me in August to schedule a sweep and he never did. Other than that I think I'm good for the year. Oh and I need to find another cat still.

 

[arnermd]

First fire of the season.... wife was chilly, now she is roasting.... time to open windows. Hard to believe it was 90+ 2 weeks ago.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Im envious.. look like a couple more weeks for me.. I certainly enjoying this cooler weather.. I woke up Thursday morning and my house was 62 degrees.. feels soooo good

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

Going to be a few more weeks here I think. Still too warm. 80 this week

 

[arnermd]

Warm here too this week.... stove will not be needed for a while. Just had to get that first one in....

 

[U235]

Does this mean @arnermd data is not welcome in the 23-24 VC owner thread? If he’ll keep posting data, I’ll keep looking.

 

[arnermd]

This is just a fun thread general discussion of how the stove is running, pictures if the nice fire view, cooking a meal ect and positivity..

U235! Welcome back

• I would conclude my data falls under "how the stove is running" category....
• Depending on the cat temps I might fail the "positivity" test from time to time....

While we wait for cooler weather.....

Here is a project I started last fall and finished this summer, 92 Suzuki GS500. It was in pieces all over my shop after my son decided he did not want to play Orange County Choppers any more.... After 2 years of looking at it I was gonna throw the whole thing in the back of his truck but then I got into it. Complete engine teardown, new bearings and valves, everything refurbished, new tires/brakes, paint and clearcoat. (By the end I was lying down some decent coats of paint) . Runs great and goes like hell, but I am unlicensed, uninsured and unregistered.... so I do not go far. Time to sell it before I get hurt....


And not to be left out of the smoker scene..... here is a rack of ribs hot off my charcoal smoker.... yes they were good. I love smoking big chunks of meat all day.... but my bloodwork says I should lay off.

 

[weee123]

Making me hungry for some ribs!

 

[Woodsplitter67]

U235! Welcome back

• I would conclude my data falls under "how the stove is running" category....
• Depending on the cat temps I might fail the "positivity" test from time to time....

While we wait for cooler weather.....

Here is a project I started last fall and finished this summer, 92 Suzuki GS500. It was in pieces all over my shop after my son decided he did not want to play Orange County Choppers any more.... After 2 years of looking at it I was gonna throw the whole thing in the back of his truck but then I got into it. Complete engine teardown, new bearings and valves, everything refurbished, new tires/brakes, paint and clearcoat. (By the end I was lying down some decent coats of paint) . Runs great and goes like hell, but I am unlicensed, uninsured and unregistered.... so I do not go far. Time to sell it before I get hurt....
View attachment 316189

And not to be left out of the smoker scene..... here is a rack of ribs hot off my charcoal smoker.... yes they were good. I love smoking big chunks of meat all day.... but my bloodwork says I should lay off.

View attachment 316190

The data is more then welcome in the general discussion.. as we will discuss in length of how our stoves run..

the ribs look good.. I may have to smoke a couple racks in a few weeks.. nice to see you guys back in action

 

[begreen]

Does this mean @arnermd data is not welcome in the 23-24 VC owner thread? If he’ll keep posting data, I’ll keep looking.

The data is more then welcome in the general discussion.. as we will discuss in length of how our stoves run..

Ribs yes, data no.

"This is just a fun thread general discussion of how the stove is running, pictures if the nice fire view, cooking a meal ect and positivity."

Think of it this way. The data information is valuable to folks in the future that may not currently own a VC stove. It's much more discoverable if posted in an independent thread, titled so that it is easily found in a search. Otherwise, a newbie may never know it exists. It shouldn't be in a general thread.

Please keep this generic thread to general chat about the stove or what's cooking on it, etc. If there is information that would be helpful to someone considering a purchase or troubleshooting a problem, put it in it's own thread. In the case of arnermd's data, having its own thread also has the advantage of a year by year comparison.