- Dec 9, 2009
- 1,495
Won't bore you with all the Plan A, glitch, Plan B, glitch details, but the short version is I've got a come-and-go bad knee that acted up a lot last summer, and my old Toy pickup was in similar straits, so best laid plans for getting wood gathered fell through, and I don't have a winter's supply of firewood cut, seasoned, sheltered, stacked, and split. Nor next's.
I also, when I went into this, envisioned this as a supplemental, emergency-back-up thing, not the primary heater that it's become.
Trying to come up with Plan C at this point, and that's why I'm posting, looking for ideas.
I've got about three acres of cottonwood, aspen, some spruce, and some don't-even-think-about-it birch trees, enough of which is standing-/leaning-/laying-deadwood to have heated the house all winter and then some if I'd gotten it pulled in and worked up. Been burning off of some cut-and-stacked piles that were here when I bought the place (I'd guess it's been there 6-8 years based on the condition of the bottom layer and the detritus on top), but they're getting picked over.
Went through the best pile of wood (didn't know at the time that it was this) on my learning curve, which meant I overheated the place a lot before I learned how to keep a steady, uniform heat, etc. Too soon old, too late smart, too much wood wasted.
So far, my estimates of how long my piles would heat the place have been pretty conservative, and I figure the last good-sized pile I'm working off of now will get me through January, if the weather stays on my side and the rest of the wood hidden in the pile is pretty good (a lot of this pile was pretty punky). This last pile I'm working off of is kinda hard to get to the chopping block, due to location, but we're staying ahead of it, some days not by much. However, it rained for three days here about six weeks ago, and some of the wood is pretty damp, so I'm setting that aside for April.
I have a garage where I could dry some of this wood out, and perhaps I will, but I'm trying to minimize the number of times I have to move it.
Winter here usually comes about mid-October, and breaks its back about mid-April. Coldest stretch is usually mid-Dec to mid-March, but we've seen exceptions either way. January's usually the coldest, but this varies, too. I'm thinking we're about half-way through the heating season in another week or two, but if someone has a way of calculating this, I'd be interested in how it's figured.
My options:
*chalk this up to a learning winter and call the fuel oil company (it's running 3.40 a gallon, last I heard);
*buy firewood (spruce or birch, supposedly seasoned, runs about $2-3C a cord);
*buy a chainsaw and try to work up the standing and leaning and (accessible) laying dead wood around here, then drag it to the house and work it up);
*pay someone to come out and cut up the firewood for me. (A little concerned about the liability issues there.)
Anyone know how to run a cost-benefit calculation on these?
Here's my plan for next summer: there's someone in the area who sells logging truckloads of seasoned birch for $1700. Advertises it as 10 full cords, but they have customers who say it's closer to 12. Former owners left a stack of corregated metal roofing (about 16 sheets of new and not-so-brand new) behind the garage. I thought it would make a good roof for a woodshed. I figure if I order birch and start working it up, I could mix the birch and the poplar on my property and I'd be looking at about 3 year's worth of wood without cutting down any living trees here.
I'd really appreciate feedback on how to evaluate my choices and what I may be overlooking in my figuring, and advice about the most prudent means of going forward for this make-do, patchwork winter.
I burn about 830 gallons of fuel in a good year (heating garage and water with this as well), but this year have burned about 150 since the beginning of September. I have about another 150 useable. I figure I've burned about 1-2 cords of wood, but that's only a very rough estimate.
Thanks in advance for your time and ideas.
I also, when I went into this, envisioned this as a supplemental, emergency-back-up thing, not the primary heater that it's become.
Trying to come up with Plan C at this point, and that's why I'm posting, looking for ideas.
I've got about three acres of cottonwood, aspen, some spruce, and some don't-even-think-about-it birch trees, enough of which is standing-/leaning-/laying-deadwood to have heated the house all winter and then some if I'd gotten it pulled in and worked up. Been burning off of some cut-and-stacked piles that were here when I bought the place (I'd guess it's been there 6-8 years based on the condition of the bottom layer and the detritus on top), but they're getting picked over.
Went through the best pile of wood (didn't know at the time that it was this) on my learning curve, which meant I overheated the place a lot before I learned how to keep a steady, uniform heat, etc. Too soon old, too late smart, too much wood wasted.
So far, my estimates of how long my piles would heat the place have been pretty conservative, and I figure the last good-sized pile I'm working off of now will get me through January, if the weather stays on my side and the rest of the wood hidden in the pile is pretty good (a lot of this pile was pretty punky). This last pile I'm working off of is kinda hard to get to the chopping block, due to location, but we're staying ahead of it, some days not by much. However, it rained for three days here about six weeks ago, and some of the wood is pretty damp, so I'm setting that aside for April.
I have a garage where I could dry some of this wood out, and perhaps I will, but I'm trying to minimize the number of times I have to move it.
Winter here usually comes about mid-October, and breaks its back about mid-April. Coldest stretch is usually mid-Dec to mid-March, but we've seen exceptions either way. January's usually the coldest, but this varies, too. I'm thinking we're about half-way through the heating season in another week or two, but if someone has a way of calculating this, I'd be interested in how it's figured.
My options:
*chalk this up to a learning winter and call the fuel oil company (it's running 3.40 a gallon, last I heard);
*buy firewood (spruce or birch, supposedly seasoned, runs about $2-3C a cord);
*buy a chainsaw and try to work up the standing and leaning and (accessible) laying dead wood around here, then drag it to the house and work it up);
*pay someone to come out and cut up the firewood for me. (A little concerned about the liability issues there.)
Anyone know how to run a cost-benefit calculation on these?
Here's my plan for next summer: there's someone in the area who sells logging truckloads of seasoned birch for $1700. Advertises it as 10 full cords, but they have customers who say it's closer to 12. Former owners left a stack of corregated metal roofing (about 16 sheets of new and not-so-brand new) behind the garage. I thought it would make a good roof for a woodshed. I figure if I order birch and start working it up, I could mix the birch and the poplar on my property and I'd be looking at about 3 year's worth of wood without cutting down any living trees here.
I'd really appreciate feedback on how to evaluate my choices and what I may be overlooking in my figuring, and advice about the most prudent means of going forward for this make-do, patchwork winter.
I burn about 830 gallons of fuel in a good year (heating garage and water with this as well), but this year have burned about 150 since the beginning of September. I have about another 150 useable. I figure I've burned about 1-2 cords of wood, but that's only a very rough estimate.
Thanks in advance for your time and ideas.