New to it all....

[Outlander0311]

Hey guys,
originally from PA and now living in Northern VT after getting out of the USMC. Stumbled upon a decent acreage of property with hopefully softwood,poplar, maple, beech, birch, elm, and ash making up the 90 acres...... I read up as much as i could before replacing our 1973 VC Intrepid and we did decide a brand new VC Encore with the catalyst...... good and bad we are pretty happy with it... the wife loves the look and im happy with the efficiency upgrade to this stove. This forum helped me with the stove type, thermometer for the catalyst, and kept me going to hopefully stay atleast 1.5 years ahead with the wood. I would love any advice anyone can give me with future burning, cutting, and prepping for future years.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Very nice- welcome to the group. You said it, staying ahead on your wood is huge. 1.5 yrs ahead is very good. If you really haul for a while and get 2-3 years ahead, you’ll definitely take the pressure off of running out of dry wood and also take full advantage of any very dense hardwood like oak/hickory you have. Other hardwood should be good and dry after a year to 1.5 yrs. softwood 6-12 months. I prefer top covering the wood. Covering the top only allowing the sides to freely get circulation is the way to go. If you have a good amount of property, you should have the room to have the firewood in an ideal sunny, open area. Thus, the wood may dry out a bit quicker. A long single row of firewood in an open area would dry out as quick as possible and would be an ideal setup. Up where you are, do you have many hardwood.? BTW, don’t believe the myth about softwood- they are completely safe to burn indoors.

 

[Gearhead660]

Think about how you will getting the wood to the stove, and set it up the most efficient way possible. Many folks like to separate the softwoods from the hardwoods. Everyone's set up is different. Find what will work best for you. Let everyone know what your layout is, and the recommendations will follow. Welcome!