Kenny_McCormic wrote: Wood is nearly free after the initial $2000 investment of an old pickup, some used chain saws and a really beat up log splitter.
Provided you have access to a forest you can log.
Kenny_McCormic wrote: Wood is nearly free after the initial $2000 investment of an old pickup, some used chain saws and a really beat up log splitter.
Provided you have access to a forest you can log.
Ranger50 wrote:Kenny_McCormic wrote: Wood is nearly free after the initial $2000 investment of an old pickup, some used chain saws and a really beat up log splitter.Provided you have access to a forest you can log.
Yeah, just where in the hell can you go cut trees down that you haven't paid for or isn't your friend's/family's land?
Anti-stance wrote: Yeah, just where in the hell can you go cut trees down that you haven't paid for or isn't your friend's/family's land?
Virtually everywhere there is a home owner with a tree that's fallen down that they want to have cleaned up.
foxtrapper wrote:Anti-stance wrote: Yeah, just where in the hell can you go cut trees down that you haven't paid for or isn't your friend's/family's land?Virtually everywhere there is a home owner with a tree that's fallen down that they want to have cleaned up.
The Emerald Ash Borer has provided Michigan with all of the free, seasoned firewood one could want. People with 10-100 dead trees give them away for the asking.
pinchvalve wrote: I've renovated several old homes that burned coal for years. The soot is inside the walls, in the ceilings, in the floors...everywhere!
Quoted for truth. My house was built in 1913 and the furnace used coal until 1948 when it was converted to gas. The amount of coal soot still hidden away in the walls and floors was remarkable (and there are still a few bits of coal in what was the coal bin underneath the side porch.)
When I was young my parent's house had a coal furnace. It was the job of us kids to refill the coal stoker, as well as dig the clinkers out of the furnace and haul them out back. I didn't enjoy it very much.
Kenny_McCormic wrote: Wood is nearly free after the initial $2000 investment of an old pickup, some used chain saws and a really beat up log splitter.
Don't forget you're counting your own labor as free.
stuart in mn wrote:Kenny_McCormic wrote: Wood is nearly free after the initial $2000 investment of an old pickup, some used chain saws and a really beat up log splitter.Don't forget you're counting your own labor as free.
It's good exercise.
My parents built a new house in 1956 and put in a coal burning furnace. The type of coal burned has a LOT to do with how much soot you will find in the "cracks and crevasses" of the heated building...as will the maintenance of the furnace and chimney.
When my folks moved, their "newer" houses (new to them, but older construction) almost always had oil furnaces. Why? At the time the furnace was put in the house, oil was cheap to buy and the dimwits that had the houses before them didn't insulate attics or caulk leaking windows and doors.
NOW, in most parts of the same area my folks live in, people use natural gas or have decided to switch to wood pellets. Of course, living in rural Pa. finding a source for low cost wood isn't all that hard...yet.
I used to use a guy for windshields that ran his shop in his front yard, basically. He was very reasonable. He heated his house and shop with wood only. One year, he bid on a clearing job to haul away downed trees, etc., from some bank owned property. They said his bid was way under everyone else's. He basically got paid to haul off his winter fuel.
I have 10 acres. Lots of trees just die. While I use heat pumps, the wood stove sure makes things comfortable. We didn't need it much last year. I have a cord+ stacked up outside right now and several more trees that need to come down.
Anti-stance wrote:Ranger50 wrote:Yeah, just where in the hell can you go cut trees down that you haven't paid for or isn't your friend's/family's land?Kenny_McCormic wrote: Wood is nearly free after the initial $2000 investment of an old pickup, some used chain saws and a really beat up log splitter.Provided you have access to a forest you can log.
when my parents had a house with a fireplace.. we would wait till spring when the local state forests would get ready for the fire season. They would mark off a couple of acres to get deforested and anybody could go in for a small fee to cut as much as they could haul away.. the only stipulation, it could not be for "commercial" use.. so all the homeowners with fireplaces would be out with their chainsaws
pinchvalve wrote: I've renovated several old homes that burned coal for years. The soot is inside the walls, in the ceilings, in the floors...everywhere!
Soot is a byproduct of burning, right? You may be seeing coal dust. They used to back a truck up to the house and just pour coal into the basement via coal chute. It make a tremendous amount of dust!
My first tons of coal came in canvas - burlap type 40 lb. bags. Just handling it was a PITA because of the very fine baby powder like dust, it's everywhere. This year I requested plastic bags, cleaner.
With coal it's constant heat, not the hot - cold heat cycle of wood. Fire people tell me that's safer for the house.
My only point to the post is if you're considering heating with something, consider coal. After 25 years of handling wood too many times to be warm, I'm really liking the coal.
YMMV.
Dan
914Driver wrote: After 25 years of handling wood too many times
that's what jerry sandusky said
Anti-stance wrote:Ranger50 wrote:Yeah, just where in the hell can you go cut trees down that you haven't paid for or isn't your friend's/family's land?Kenny_McCormic wrote: Wood is nearly free after the initial $2000 investment of an old pickup, some used chain saws and a really beat up log splitter.Provided you have access to a forest you can log.
FYI: American citizens can collect firewood for personal use on Forest Service land at no charge. It has to be a blowdown etc. You can collect pinestraw but there's a limit, that's so the commercial operations don't get it for free.
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