Work Done In 2026

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
I snowblowed a doubled wide path from my from porch all the way to the backyard to my wood pile for this reason. Also did the area where I trim my splits to length
Yeah, no snow blower here. All old-fashioned shoveling.
Or maybe I should just stamp it down to create a path though I don't know whether that would work for a heavy wheelbarrow wheel pushing into compacted snow...
 
Maybe. This is the third time since 2018 that I run into this issue.
If I buy a blower we'll not get more than 4" for a decade...
 
Maybe. This is the third time since 2018 that I run into this issue.
If I buy a blower we'll not get more than 4" for a decade...
I bought a new snowblower about 3-4 years ago to replace a hand me down I got that was from the 80s.. I had used it only a few times prior to this season. I think one year it didn’t even Make it out of the shed. Getting a workout so far, works great. Ariens 24” deluxe
 
Not work. But still.

We still have a (now compacted from 20" ) about 14" of snow on the ground.
And I wanted to get some "good" (long enough, squarish) splits of red oak from my shed.
Wheelbarrow covered and frozen to the ground and not usable in the deep snow.

So I took my kids sled and loaded it up with the splits.
It almost tipped over when one side slid into one of my foot steps. (Interesting experience having to stamp thru the harder too layer into a softer under layer of powder.)
Got it to the home. The neighbors who arrived home shaking their heads 😁

But not really a workable situation.
I guess if I have to get serious wood I'll have to shovel a wheelbarrow path.
Yup i shoveled the wheelbarrow path early in the storm so i'd have an easier time with it after it was over. Also tilted up the wheelbarrow so it would not freeze into the snow pack.
At this point i'd stomp a path to break it up then shovel at least a tire track. Using a flat shovel (vs snow shovel or regular shovel) works best in this stuff.
 
  • Like
Reactions: stoveliker
Had to dig the tractor a path to get to the driveway so I could plow my neighbors driveway out a few days ago. Other than that have just been hiding inside. Hard to get out to do anything after work when I work in the cold all day.
 
Maybe. This is the third time since 2018 that I run into this issue.
If I buy a blower we'll not get more than 4" for a decade...
@begreen must of bought a snowblower this year 😜
 
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

That's got to be AI. But they do get their snow blowers up on the roofs, just not that steep.
 
  • Like
Reactions: stoveliker
LOL. I finally bought a snow shovel about 20 yrs ago. It has cobwebs all over it.
That's got to be AI. But they do get their snow blowers up on the roofs, just not that steep.
Wow this AI is amazing...I must agree that is way too much of a slope.
 
  • Like
Reactions: stoveliker
I bought a new snowblower about 3-4 years ago to replace a hand me down I got that was from the 80s.. I had used it only a few times prior to this season. I think one year it didn’t even Make it out of the shed. Getting a workout so far, works great. Ariens 24” deluxe
I had one of those. Good machine. I had to sell it when we moved, but ended up with another Ariens
 

Attachments

  • [Hearth.com] Work Done In 2026
    IMG_1670.webp
    340.2 KB · Views: 31
We cut down the last 4 beetle killed pines at my friend this afternoon. As Wilson Forest Lands (YouTube) says: we made them fall down and go boom.

Just in time for the higher winds tomorrow. But they had been standing too long, as what I was afraid of happened: all hinges broke rather than pulled out.
So it was good to leave them thick and carefully thin them until we could pull and/or wedge them over.

Poor pic but it's a mess with all the broken branches. Some tops had already been blown out.
 

Attachments

  • [Hearth.com] Work Done In 2026
    IMG_20260131_154149376_HDR.webp
    761.4 KB · Views: 26
Been busy last couple of days…
Been on the roof clearing the snow to prevent ice dams and remove roof overloading. Also chopped the ice out of all the gutters, which were packed SOLID with 4”+ of ice. Ice dams were already starting to set up above the living room (cathedral ceiling) so glad I did that. These two things took about 8 hours cumulative
I have heat cables on one third of my gutters and it makes a huge difference. Unfortunately, the roof is EDPM rubber roofing so I can't do the overhang to keep it melted, but just keeping the gutter clear is a blessing. I already bought another set of cables for the second gutter. I need to order the covers to replace the old ones, then I will be 2/3rds done. Huge difference!
 
We started working on cleaning up the garden beds. Harvested some Brussel sprouts and broccoli before pulling the plants.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: GG Woody
Well, today I shoveled a path from the wood shed to the nearest pavement. About 125 ft length through about a foot of snow (it compacted and or sublimated a lot). Top 3" was a hard layer but below it was powder. Push the shovel under, lift up to break the top layer and scoop the powder and chunks to the sides.
Then a few wheelbarrows of wood.
There's only 1/5th of what I had for this year left.

And I shoveled about two wheelbarrows full of ice and slush. This morning at 8 or so the water main in the road exactly before our home broke. Initial water plus sand is on my driveway. The crew can't find it. Digging their second big hole now. (There goes our newly paved road ..)
So there is intermittent flow of water and sand. If I let it solidify it's slippery as hell (even tho there's sand mixed in) right where the kids walk to the bus and where we turn from the driveway into the road.
So I've been shoveling ice a few times.
Later more, I presume.
 
I've been putting some wood in the last two days, the deer are eating every tree sticking up out of the snow.
 

Attachments

  • [Hearth.com] Work Done In 2026
    IMG_2218.webp
    194.1 KB · Views: 10
  • [Hearth.com] Work Done In 2026
    IMG_2219.webp
    148.4 KB · Views: 11
  • [Hearth.com] Work Done In 2026
    IMG_2220.webp
    211.1 KB · Views: 8
  • [Hearth.com] Work Done In 2026
    IMG_2221.webp
    192.1 KB · Views: 14
We had our stove installed by the local stove shop. They did a great job. It meets all the clearance measurements. It meets the clearance by a half to an inch.
The chimney sweep guy says something to my wife every time he cleans the chimney about it meets the set back but is close. He suggests putting something up on the wall.
To make the wife feel better about the walls getting to hot( not). I put up some diamond plate this weekend.
Had the stove pretty hot last night and the diamond plate never got warm to the touch.
[Hearth.com] Work Done In 2026
 
Your sweep is no help. Modern jacketed stoves are often more convective than radiant. Our walls are so much cooler with the Alderlea than they were with the F400, inspite of that stove having excess clearances.
 
Reloaded the porch racks plus some extra. Had to blow the snow off the tarps of the 2 stacks I needed to access. The BR800X worked perfectly. Racks weren’t totally empty but both sides were about 1/3 full of the metal parts only. Still
Had some stuff on the floor from when I moved extra in before so put that on the racks, filled them up and put a little extra on the floor. I’d say at least 6-7 wheel barrow loads. Floor was empty of cut offs so added another wheel barrow full 😂. Also snow blowed the deck, had 2-3 feet of snow on it from cleaning off the roof last week combined with what the storm dropped. I have patio furniture stored on the far left under a tarp which is why I didn’t do that section.

As a side note, I have no idea what the f*%# I was thinking splitting some of this stuff pulling out of the stacks. Lots of tooth picks for splits compared to what I do now. This was some of the first wood I split up when I got the stove, so now I cut them a different length to load NS and split them larger for longer burns. Lesson learned.
 

Attachments

  • [Hearth.com] Work Done In 2026
    IMG_6914.webp
    358.5 KB · Views: 5
  • [Hearth.com] Work Done In 2026
    IMG_6915.webp
    450.1 KB · Views: 5
  • [Hearth.com] Work Done In 2026
    IMG_6916.webp
    443 KB · Views: 8
  • [Hearth.com] Work Done In 2026
    IMG_6918.webp
    560.1 KB · Views: 10
Last edited:
Reloaded the porch racks plus some extra. Had to blow the snow off the tarps of the 2 stacks I needed to access. The BR800X worked perfectly. Racks weren’t totally empty but both sides were about 1/3 full of the metal parts only. Still
Had some stuff on the floor from when I moved extra in before so put that on the racks, filled them up and put a little extra on the floor. I’d say at least 6-7 wheel barrow loads. Floor was empty of cut offs so added another wheel barrow full 😂. Also snow blowed the deck, had 2-3 feet of snow on it from cleaning off the roof last week combined with what the storm dropped. I have patio furniture stored on the far left under a tarp which is why I didn’t do that section.

As a side note, I have no idea what the f*%# I was thinking splitting some of this stuff pulling out of the stacks. Lots of tooth picks for splits compared to what I do now. This was some of the first wood I split up when I got the stove, so now I cut them a different length to load NS and split them larger for longer burns. Lesson learned.
I find those skinny sticks sometimes too. Some years you are short on supply and panic about not having enough seasoned wood so i split a bunch smaller. Then the year you burn those, you don't need them, and want fatter splits, so that year i split larger. Seems like i've cycled thru that back and forth a bunch of times.

I really just want fat splits with just enough skinny ones to do top down starts. But top down starts are rare this year so almost no need for the thin mints.

Well i guess it's just "The circle Game".
 
We had - 14.8 this morning, the furnace kicked on. The first fire was ash and ironwood, tonight it's beech and ironwood.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NickW and MRD1985