Some of my wood processing setup

[fabsroman]

Was out messing around in the wood stacks today. Taking inventory, moving some more wood inside to see me through the rest of this "winter", stacking some of the oak sitting in the driveway, splitting some of the larger stuff, making kindling for next heating season, etc.

So, I decided to take some pics of the "operation" and show you guys what I am working with. Left out the saws, hand tools, and truck and don't have a milk crate for the splitter just yet.

The best part of today was my almost 4 year old son running the lever on the splitter. He was pushing it up and down with both hands and he was actually paying great attention to stopping the ram short of its full down stroke and upstroke. For the 5 minutes that he helped, we were splitting kindling pretty quick. I was actually SHOCKED.

He was also acting as the "load inspector".

As you can see from the last couple of pics, pretty much a straight shot from the back door to the furnace.

Still need to add some gear to the process.

 

[Pallet Pete]

Very nice ! Time with kids is great and he looks very helpful !

Pete

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Nice, very nice. Enjoy you son's company and help. As a married man of almost 60 year old who was never blessed with kids, I can only inagine your joy.

 

[bogydave]

Nice set up.
Nice racks

Making great memories

Weather looks great too

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Nice. Reminds me of a neighbor who borrowed our splitter. He has a set of twins. At the time they were 5 and it did not take them long to learn how to use that lever.

 

[Locust Post]

Nice set up Fabs.

 

[TimJ]

Nice pictures........what kind of furnace are you burning your wood in ?

 

[granpajohn]

Nice pictures........what kind of furnace are you burning your wood in ?

Looks like he has a Yukon Eagle in his signature.
I looked at their website, and it looks really nice. Burns multiple fuels and knows what it is burning and how much. Not cheap though.
(this is my first attempt at a web link...see if it works)

ETA: It worked!

 

[fabsroman]

Looks like he has a Yukon Eagle in his signature.
I looked at their website, and it looks really nice. Burns multiple fuels and knows what it is burning and how much. Not cheap though.
(this is my first attempt at a web link...see if it works)

ETA: It worked!

Yep, that is what I have. This is the first season that we used it and we really like it. Taught my wife how to start fires in it and woke up to a bonfire in the thing a couple of times when she woke up before me. Once I got the draft control correct and we started using good wood, instead of the trash I had begged for when we first got the furnace in 2011, it was really smooth. A load of oak would last 8 hours easy at night and I usually only sleep for 6 hours.

I got it on sale for $5,500 and already had most of the insulated chimney. From what I have seen, Yukon has sales during the summer months when business is slow. You can get them with oil, natural gas, LP gas, or electric backups. The natural gas and LP gas are interchangeable on the same blower with a couple modifications. The same furnace can interchange the oil or gas backup blowers. The furnace in the house when we bought it ran on heating oil, but natural gas was available out at the street so that is the route we went. We got them to run it to the house for $750 to the utility company and $1,500 to a licensed plumber. The utility would not allow me to run the connection to its meter, so that was the reason for the plumber. I have the wood furnace side set to burn until the house is 75 degrees. When the house is 75 degrees, the main damper to the wood fire closes and cuts down the burn rate significantly. If the house hits 67 degrees, the natural gas backup is programmed to come on. We have used hardly any natural gas this year. Only one night when we went to New York for the weekend. We are heating 2,100 sf upstairs and 2,100 sf downstairs. The difference in the utility bill has been HUGE.

After tomorrow, I will more than likely be 3 years ahead with firewood, so things are really looking good right now. If I can get a stand alone garage built this summer, I am going to start shooting for 5 years ahead.

 

[Shane N]

That looks like an awesome unit. Are there similar units that work as a boiler? I love the idea of a single unit that can do gas & wood.

 

[fabsroman]

That looks like an awesome unit. Are there similar units that work as a boiler? I love the idea of a single unit that can do gas & wood.

This particular company does not make anything boiler related that I know of. Most of it revolves around central HVAC, if not all of it. Since we had a central HVAC system and we were also replacing the air conditioning A-coil and condenser, I went with this unit. I was debating between 3 different manufacturers, and then finally decided on this one.

We are hoping to put another 1,600 sf addition on the house and also want to use this furnace to heat that area too. Will probably stick a stove in the basement and in the addition as backup. Now, my wife is all into being warm for very little money.

 

[granpajohn]

Fabs, that money to hook up the gas line will probably pay off at resale time (IMHO)
Even if the price of gas went up, it beats an oil furnace for reliability, maintenance, and tolerating HHO purchase contracts.

I used to work in the district energy field, and most of the bigger central heat and cooling plants were switching to multi-fuel systems. Gas, coal, oil, and even sawdust or chips. That's a long story, but maybe that's why I find that Yukon furnace (and others like it) so attractive.

In my own case, I have the oil furnace plus woodstove insert, but....I'm heating less than half of your square footage.

 

[granpajohn]

And another thing...
After the addition, at 40 btu per square foot, you're looking at 5800*40= 232,000 btu furnace required.
Seems like a lotta furnace there.

P.S. you burn wood, but the system requires electricity to function, yes? Maybe an extra little woodstove would be nice for the addition.
Just my humble ideas.

 

[fabsroman]

And another thing...
After the addition, at 40 btu per square foot, you're looking at 5800*40= 232,000 btu furnace required.
Seems like a lotta furnace there.

P.S. you burn wood, but the system requires electricity to function, yes? Maybe an extra little woodstove would be nice for the addition.
Just my humble ideas.

Yeah, no doubt the natural gas is a good thing. Still cheaper than oil in my opinion if we were to heat with something other than wood. Plus, we prefer the gas stove over the electric one and the gas water heater over the electric one. Already had a ton of plans for this place before our contract on it was accepted. Just had no idea what it would cost to have the gas run from the street to the house. In the end, wasn't too shocked with the cost of getting it done.

The furnace is rated at 180,000 btu, so it will be tough to handle the entire house after the addition. However, you and I are thinking along the same line. In the post above I mentioned putting a wood stove in the addition and the basement.The furnace heats the basement to a decent degree right now, but it is still a decent amount colder than upstairs, as can be expected. Even thinking about putting a wood stove in the stand alone garage if/when that gets built.

Problem with the wood stoves is that I would probably get blowers for them. I know I like the blower on my parents' stove, so leaning that way. Would end up using electricity anyway it seems. Thinking about putting en electricity generating windmill. We are at the top of a huge hill and the wind here is pretty constant and strong. Lots of lightning strikes around here too. Figure I might as well get off the grid as much as possible. Now, if I can just find an oil well beneath my house we will be all good. Gasoline and diesel is the big limiting factor.

 

[tim1]

I cut alot of wood with my two boys and really miss them now. I have had to adjust my cutting to the use of hydraulics and tractors. The very worst day of cutting with my boys was by far better than the best day of cutting not having them! Enjoy time with kids and grandkids. Tim

 

[fabsroman]

I cut alot of wood with my two boys and really miss them now. I have had to adjust my cutting to the use of hydraulics and tractors. The very worst day of cutting with my boys was by far better than the best day of cutting not having them! Enjoy time with kids and grandkids. Tim

I am 41 years old and still do most of my wood processing with my dad. Will bring my son along once he is old enough and will have 3 generations doing it. Once in a while, I do it with my brothers too. So, I completely understand what you are talking about.

 

[Blue2ndaries]

Cool post Fabsroman! I love it when my boys (6 and 4yrs) help w/the splitter, load their little wheelbarrows, and help stack. I can definitely appreciate your post.