Wife says yall created a monster!!

[Birdman1]

It all started after my install
I started to get this feeling that all I could think about was I GOTTA FIND MORE WOOD
so I became a craigslist junkie and started doing side work with a friend as a ground guy
when he got tree jobs.
Then it happened. I realized that my 025 was killing me trying to buck 30+ inch rounds
so I bought an ms660, that satisfied the monkey on my back for a bit till I got too sore
from trying to hump big rounds into the back of the truck and having to leave some too heavy ones
curbside while scroungin, so i bought a trailer 6x12 tandem and added 24 inch sides to the 12 on it
and all was right with the world, UNTIL my brother called to let me know his friend was selling two
saws for 500 bucks an older stihl 009L for $100 and an ms361 used about 8 times for $400
how could I pass that up??
then it happened again, after a few decent loads on the trailer I discovered that my poor little 1500
Ram was having a real bad time pulling that big heavy trailer so now an 03 f350 6.0 crew short box
took its place in the driveway.
she wants to send me to a firewood rehab (I will only go if they have a wood burner)
posted some picks of the pile I got so far
have two cherries a maple and an oak hopefully coming in this week
Cheers

 

[joshlaugh]

That is a really good price for the 361. I wanted one but the wife surprised me with a 310 not realizing what I REALLY needed. Although how can I complain about her buying me another saw? Have fun, once the CAD starts and wood scrounging begins, you look at life in an entirely new way.

 

[rdust]

Nice piles! They say the 361 can cure cancer.

What is the GVRW of the trailer? Green wood weighs a bunch(4k+ per cord for most hardwood) and I'd imagine you're well over the limit with it fullyloaded to the rail.

 

[smokinj]

"she wants to send me to a firewood rehab" Give me the 660 and all your problems will be over!

 

[Wet1]

Ha ha, that story sounds all to familiar! :cheese:

 

[Jags]

Maybe its just me, but I don't find anything wrong with your actions. Hmmpf.

 

[BrotherBart]

Ask her which she would rather you do. Chase old trees in a truck or young women in a Corvette? :coolsmirk:

 

[smokinj]

Ask her which she would rather you do. Chase old trees in a truck or young women in a Corvette? :coolsmirk:

thats a win win right there!

 

[mayhem]

My wife doesn't get it either. She's complaining that I spend all of my time doing firewood gathering and there isn't any time for mowing the lawn, working on finish projects around the house, playing with our daughter or whatever else happens to be the project du-jour. I pointed out that our oil bill this year was about $500, down from over $2000 a couple years ago and that she is always telling me how nice it feels in the living room in the winter, where before it used to be easily to coldest room in the house.

I also pointed out that in reality I'm spending less than an hour a week on average cutting, hauling and splitting wood...some weeks I do none, some weeks I spend an hour or two...it all works out.

 

[TKeller]

To the original poster. Because in my case the idea is to save money, I have maintained one "good" saw, split with mauls and wedges, hauled in a "88 s-10 truck and used a old stove until this last year. I have the satisfaction of saving some real money on heat every year. Looking back, buying a splitter 15 years ago when I started burning with wood might have been a wise investment. Other than that I have kept it simple to save the most money. Tony

 

[newstove]

Hahahaha... I know exactly how you feel.

My wife constantly says I have "OWD" - Obsessive Wood Disorder.

;-)

 

[Todd]

Just tell her you are doing it all for her. Just think how buff you will be after all that lumberjacking.

 

[Highbeam]

Perfectly normal. I haul firewood in a 2000 F350 (same as yours but a bigger engine) with a carhauler or in the bed of the truck. I made 5 trips this weekend to haul chunks of fir and cedar. I weighed one load and the truck was at 11,300# way over the 9900# rating. Can't do that with a 1500. Oh and I built sideboards for the F350 that make it much safer to haul the wood though you don't need the sideboards to get a cord of wood on that truck.

I have now bumped into the ridiculous category of wood piles with over 20 cords in the back yard.

You need a bigger trailer now.

 

[wldm09]

We need to make sure that our wives never find out how maniacal we really are. Seriously, if they knew what it means to us to go out and find wood and fell trees and scrounge and all... we'd all be in big trouble!

Friend called me this weekend to fell an old box elder. It had a cool red streak through it. I hear it will burn like maple. Pulled about 3/4 cord home in 3 hours. hehehe

 

[Birdman1]

Nice piles! They say the 361 can cure cancer.

What is the GVRW of the trailer? Green wood weighs a bunch(4k+ per cord for most hardwood) and I'd imagine you're well over the limit with it fullyloaded to the rail.

GVW is 5000# but I never had it full to the top with trying to center
the load over the axles and you gotta leave room in the back too cause
it stinks to have a butt load of wood layin up on the ramp gate,you end up
tryin to beat the pins out with a hammer to get the gate open prob.still pushin it though
I put the high sides on for runnin loads of branches from
the not as many as I would like tree jobs I been moolighting on
but need tools if you want the job
thanks for the info did not know what a green cord weighed

 

[Birdman1]

Ask her which she would rather you do. Chase old trees in a truck or young women in a Corvette? :coolsmirk:

Dude too funny
She is kinda young, I'm Still chasin her and she has an 87 C4
She liked that one

 

[Birdman1]

Maybe its just me, but I don't find anything wrong with your actions. Hmmpf.

I knew I came to the right place :coolgrin:

 

[Birdman1]

My wife doesn't get it either. She's complaining that I spend all of my time doing firewood gathering and there isn't any time for mowing the lawn, working on finish projects around the house, playing with our daughter or whatever else happens to be the project du-jour. I pointed out that our oil bill this year was about $500, down from over $2000 a couple years ago and that she is always telling me how nice it feels in the living room in the winter, where before it used to be easily to coldest room in the house.

I also pointed out that in reality I'm spending less than an hour a week on average cutting, hauling and splitting wood...some weeks I do none, some weeks I spend an hour or two...it all works out.

Tell me about it my lawn(weeds with some actual grass in it) is gettin like over a foot tall
They where real happy though when they had shorts on in the house a couple months ago.

 

[Birdman1]

To the original poster. Because in my case the idea is to save money, I have maintained one "good" saw, split with mauls and wedges, hauled in a "88 s-10 truck and used a old stove until this last year. I have the satisfaction of saving some real money on heat every year. Looking back, buying a splitter 15 years ago when I started burning with wood might have been a wise investment. Other than that I have kept it simple to save the most
money. Tony

Greetings Tony

In my case the idea is to save(real money) also.

My one (good) saw a stihl 025, I bought when I bought my house in 1996
and it still serves me well to this day because I have maintained it.
After trying to buck up a 36 in. tree with a little 025 (this has become a common situation)the pain in my back was all the motivation I
needed to get a big saw. 1hr. vs 10 min. (Time =money) with less pain, as I moonlight with a climber for (real money) to get wood for free to
save(real money).

I also have split by hand(nothing like you have done) but the years I have spent laying blocks and pouring concrete when I was
younger have aged my knees and lower back well beyond my 42yrs. And the two bulging discs in my neck send
me to bed every night with numb hands.
Be glad that you have the physical ability to do what you do.

The Ram pickup that I still have(dealer would not take it) has not had a good inspection sticker on it in over two yrs.
All the time it has spent in the woods and on the beach chasin food to save(real) money has left it in the condition
that I will not allow my wife or children in it. If not for needing something bigger to make (real) money with, I would still be driving it to work every day.
The new to me used truck is an 03 with 130,00 miles on the ticker. Considering the price of a new truck I saved some real big (real) money.

I planned on getting a stove when I moved in and it has taken me 13 yrs. to get one. I have paid the gas man all that time because I
did not have the luxury of having a stove even an old one.

Like you I also have the satisfaction of saving (real) money every year.

By the end of this summer(my first season) I should have close to eight+ cords of (FREE WOOD)split and stacked.
At $200 a cord +/- summer and winter prices= $1600
Not payin the gas man $204 a month x 12= $2448
As far as I see it that's $4048 of (real) money a year paying back my investment.
Also I have not considered the factors of my house being around 75+ degrees compared to the 68 before the stove.
And the 15 bucks an hr. I get paid as a part time ground guy on tree jobs I do to get free wood.
Also the 30 bucks a hoop I can sell roadside to the summer crowd for their fire pits.
In the 15 yrs. that you have been doing this ,when my time comes, I can say that I have been doing this
for 15 yrs.and I saved over $60,000. Not to shabby.

"Looking back"

"Looking back, buying a splitter 15 years ago when I started burning with wood might have been a wise investment. "

I have no choice but to look forward because I have just began.

And by looking forward I will not have to look back and say a splitter WOULD have been a wise investment.
I may not catch up to you in (real) money saved but I hopefully one day will be able to bend over to pick
up my future grand children.That future not even I can put a price on.
That is why I will have the log lifter for my splitter by the end of next month.

Cheers
Brian

 

[smokinj]

throw a chipper in on that order!

 

[Birdman1]

throw a chipper in on that order!

Oh dude I wish
I have taken like 5 trailer loads of branches to the local dump in the past few weeks.
What a waste coulda mulched like every thing i need with it all. :down:

 

[Birdman1]

Perfectly normal. I haul firewood in a 2000 F350 (same as yours but a bigger engine) with a carhauler or in the bed of the truck. I made 5 trips this weekend to haul chunks of fir and cedar. I weighed one load and the truck was at 11,300# way over the 9900# rating. Can't do that with a 1500. Oh and I built sideboards for the F350 that make it much safer to haul the wood though you don't need the sideboards to get a cord of wood on that truck.

I have now bumped into the ridiculous category of wood piles with over 20 cords in the back yard.

You need a bigger trailer now.

Dude that's awesome !!
hopefully in a year or three I might have that much wood stacked.
Bro, if I told her I needed a bigger trailer I think She'd be using my
You Know Whats for a tabacco pouch :cheese:

 

[smokinj]

throw a chipper in on that order!

Oh dude I wish
I have taken like 5 trailer loads of branches to the local dump in the past few weeks.
What a waste coulda mulched like every thing i need with it all. :down:

I have been using a friends its a must have with in the next month for me. ( 5 loads would mulch down to a half load)

 

[wldm09]

throw a chipper in on that order!

Oh dude I wish
I have taken like 5 trailer loads of branches to the local dump in the past few weeks.
What a waste coulda mulched like every thing i need with it all. :down:

I have been using a friends its a must have with in the next month for me. ( 5 loads would mulch down to a half load)

What kind are you borrowing from your friend? I am wondering if I should rent one...

 

[smokinj]

throw a chipper in on that order!

Oh dude I wish
I have taken like 5 trailer loads of branches to the local dump in the past few weeks.
What a waste coulda mulched like every thing i need with it all. :down:

I have been using a friends its a must have with in the next month for me. ( 5 loads would mulch down to a half load)

What kind are you borrowing from your friend? I am wondering if I should rent one...

its a old mtd with dull blades and still does ok home depot got one with 305 cc for 650.00 i thinks its 15 hp most hose power i can find at that price