At Home In The Woods

Obed · Jan 20, 2012

No, I haven't yet gone up on the roof. Obed

Obed · Jan 20, 2012

Obed said:
PAGUY,
Packing the bearings is a good idea. I'll tell my wife that you think she should paint the trailer.

Obed

PAGUY, my wife said to ask you what color of paint you want her to use.
Obed

brin · Jan 20, 2012

Obed said:
No, I haven't yet gone up on the roof. Obed

Obed....I have gutter guards but on the back side of our house there was a gap and some pine straw got in...so I was going to go up on the roof to clean that part of the gutters...30 ft. ....yes, 30 ft...I got to thinking about the what if's.....You know...what if I were to fall...then I thought about the bones that would break and the pain if I lived...Then I thought about the time in ICU...the costs, the rehab and time away from work and family and the pain I most certainly would have to live with the rest of my life from such a fall and resulting injury...I tallied it all up and opted to hire a younger fella and for $50 it was done in about 30 minutes....I am fine ...I am just sayin'

PAGUY · Jan 20, 2012

PAGUY, my wife said to ask you what color of paint you want her to use.
Obed
Tell her the black will be okay and if she wants to get fancy white stripping would look real nice. She then could sign it as an authentic Obed's wife original.

Obed · Jan 21, 2012

PAGUY said:
PAGUY, my wife said to ask you what color of paint you want her to use.
Obed
Tell her the black will be okay and if she wants to get fancy white stripping would look real nice. She then could sign it as an authentic Obed's wife original.

My wife suggested bright pink!

PAGUY · Jan 21, 2012

Obed said - My wife suggested bright pink!

Tell her that is okay as long as she makes you a florescent green coveralls to wear when you are riding on the tractor with the trailer attached. They can also be worn when you are using the extension ladder. Safety first you know.

clemsonfor · Jan 21, 2012

Obed said:
clemsonfo,
What is the size of your trailer bed? Also, what lengths are the logs in the trailer? How did you decide on cutting them that length?
Obed

Trailer is a 4x8ft bed. There is a piece of plywood on the floor ontop of the mesh.

As for the sizes they are mostly 4 ft or so pieces, some shorter. I cut in the woods so anything that is smaller diameter up to say 8-10s i will cut in longer lengths to aid carring it to the trailer. I then cut it up in the yard at home. As for the length the log diameter dictates that> Meaning if its 10" oak it may be only 2 fire wood sticks long but if its 3"diameter it may be 4-6ft in length. I usually go 2-3 sticks on larger logs and 4-5 on smaller ones. I will take the saw and put tiny cuts on the wood to mark my pieces then whack it off. DOes that make sense? I dont just randomly wack them off with the saw. I take the saw like i said and make a small cut in the log as if i was gonna make individual sticks but i just dont cut through the log.

clemsonfor · Jan 21, 2012

Obed said:
Last night my wife took moisture meter readings of the wood we have been burning. The hickory and poplar (I guess it's poplar) read 20%. A piece of pine read 30% toward the outside (bark side) of the log and 20% on the side opposite the bark side. The outside of the pine log was very wet when I pulled it off the pile so I'm not surprised that the outside of the piece of firewood had a higher moisture content than the opposite side.

I believe 20% is good seasoned wood. 30% I think could stand to be a little drier. These firewood pieces came from the 20 ft long logs that have been sitting on our log pile for about 2 years. I'm guessing that I cut up, split, and stacked these pieces 2 months ago. Apparently wood can season without being cut up and split.

For MM readings you need to make a fresh split and measure the inside of the piece you just split. The reason for this is that the outside if it gets wet soaks it up and then outside of the splits in the pile have dried out, so they will measure lower than actually inside.

20% is really good for moisture content. 15% is optimal, even 25% is a good reading.

clemsonfor · Jan 21, 2012

tony Cecil said:
Obed

Over the last twenty plus years, we`v just burned wook in a regular fireplace---although a really large one---I`v always just started the fire, and then gotten a nice sized one going, and, once hot enough, just kept it that way..

About three years ago I put a cap on the flu, that was like a `prairie wagon`....when doing so, the flu looked to me to be relatively clean, so I`v never had it cleaned....Your flu might need to breathe a bit more, as it looked to me to be pretty restricted with the little vents etc.....Whatever be careful up there, as it may be a bit harder to work than you think..

I think a regular old rotary walk behind will work fine, just take your time, and don`t expect stuff to work like t v .....I just hand turn mine, and it takes me a week...and each year it is just as hard as the previous year Tony

Open fireplaces dont creosote up like stoves, fireplaces run higher stack temps as almost ALL the heat goes up the chimney. A stove takes the heat outta the stack and puts it in teh home, his FP is somewhat a hybrid between an insert and an open fireplace. Without a cap you get water in teh flue which washes it down but also creates and acidic mix thats not good for brick and clay flue tile joints.

tony Cecil · Jan 21, 2012

Thanks Clemson---That make alot of sense .This fireplace is a monster, and if by chance the chimney caught fire , it is encased in stone, about a foot all around the flues....I did notice about three inches of the flue on the inside was eaten away, and I thought that was from freezing and thawing...There is some sort of spray, and tablets I use to spray in the hot fire and apparently the smoke from it catches the soot on fire...You heard of that? Tony

clemsonfor · Jan 21, 2012

I know there powders and things in boxes and dynamite looking sticks that you can throw in the fire if you have a chimney fire that the smoke will starve the chimney fire from oxygen, extinguising the fire, is this what your talking about?

Id get a chimney cap up on there, also any deterioration of a flue is not good.

I put in a stove insert last year. Got a used Catalyst model for $900. Stove was about 5-6 yrs old and gone through by the stove shop and they gave me a 1 yr warrenty. The same stove minus the 24K gold door i have sells for $2200 in the same store new. I cant beleive we burned wood in an open fireplace for the few years we did before this. The best money i spent ever. I burn less wood to heat the same area. I heat about 2000-2500 sqft of my home with the huge stove i bought, the open fireplace after about 4 hours of chuncking wood to it would heat the fireplace room to about 76F The stove after an hour or two can do the same and with some well placed fans heats the whole home, to hotter than when i used the heatpumps. This has been a mild year but i have not used my heatpumps this year. We did have 2 back to back nights down to the 20s. I have nothing but r19 ceiling insulation, no walls, do have new windows though.

Installed it last feb, saved $100 that month and between $50-75 the subsequent months in 2011 till AC was needed. This fall i have saved about $20, $50, $110 for the last several months i beleive. And like i said this has been a mild year if it was colder those numbers probly would be farther apart. And when i ran the heat about 1500sqft the thermostat was set to the high to mid 50s, the side we lived on the HP was set on 65-67 daytime and 62 at night. My bedroom has not dropped below 62ish and that was on the cold cold nights, and i think it only wsa once as i did not pack the stove right with the best wood. All other nights its been 67-70 at night in my bedroom, which is 50feet at least from the stove room. The stove room which is 450 sqft sometimes can come close to 90F if you dont make sure you have the fans on. I usually try not to let it get about 80F in there or else its way uncomfortable.

tony Cecil · Jan 22, 2012

clemsonfor said:
I know there powders and things in boxes and dynamite looking sticks that you can throw in the fire if you have a chimney fire that the smoke will starve the chimney fire from oxygen, extinguising the fire, is this what your talking about?

Id get a chimney cap up on there, also any deterioration of a flue is not good.

I put in a stove insert last year. Got a used Catalyst model for $900. Stove was about 5-6 yrs old and gone through by the stove shop and they gave me a 1 yr warrenty. The same stove minus the 24K gold door i have sells for $2200 in the same store new. I cant beleive we burned wood in an open fireplace for the few years we did before this. The best money i spent ever. I burn less wood to heat the same area. I heat about 2000-2500 sqft of my home with the huge stove i bought, the open fireplace after about 4 hours of chuncking wood to it would heat the fireplace room to about 76F The stove after an hour or two can do the same and with some well placed fans heats the whole home, to hotter than when i used the heatpumps. This has been a mild year but i have not used my heatpumps this year. We did have 2 back to back nights down to the 20s. I have nothing but r19 ceiling insulation, no walls, do have new windows though.

Installed it last feb, saved $100 that month and between $50-75 the subsequent months in 2011 till AC was needed. This fall i have saved about $20, $50, $110 for the last several months i beleive. And like i said this has been a mild year if it was colder those numbers probly would be farther apart. And when i ran the heat about 1500sqft the thermostat was set to the high to mid 50s, the side we lived on the HP was set on 65-67 daytime and 62 at night. My bedroom has not dropped below 62ish and that was on the cold cold nights, and i think it only wsa once as i did not pack the stove right with the best wood. All other nights its been 67-70 at night in my bedroom, which is 50feet at least from the stove room. The stove room which is 450 sqft sometimes can come close to 90F if you dont make sure you have the fans on. I usually try not to let it get about 80F in there or else its way uncomfortable.

Clemson----The stuff is a spray, or a solid that you either spray up the flu, or burn the solids in the fire, and it combusts the soot as the fire is burning.....The fireplace I am talking about was used to cook in, has chains and a swinging mechanism to keep the kettles in the proper location....You would actually build several small fires for different purposes....

Having something like that gives a reminder of how hard life was back then...I have on occasions cooked a stew, but mostly it is for the look of a great fire, which turns into a pain to keep fed---big four and a half foot logs that get heavier and heavier the more you drink

Tony

Obed · Jan 22, 2012

clemsonfor,
It sounds like that stove of yours is working well for you. You did a good thing buying it used; saved a bunch.
Obed

Obed · Jan 22, 2012

With the ever increasing energy costs, I wonder when or if the number of people heating with wood on the US will significantly grow.

clemsonfor · Jan 23, 2012

Obed said:
With the ever increasing energy costs, I wonder when or if the number of people heating with wood on the US will significantly grow.

It will im sure. I dont think they pushed the biomass heating tax credit as much as the industry should have 2 years ago. Last year i think it was halfed? But in Forestry school they taught us when oil went up in the late 70s i think the amount of people who burn wood went way up.

But honetly today is a different time. Im 29 myself and my generation and the one even younger than me say 22 there is no way there gonna bust @$$ and cut their own wood or split it. Many folks dont live in an area with wood anyway. I live on 3/4acre all my wood is cut from Govt land that i manage as a forester, as any other person can ( i do have acerage, its just so far from my home cutting there is not cost wise). Right now i think you can about buy wood and still be cheaper than fuel oil or propane if you have a smaller inefficient home , but that will change as more "city" or lazy folks start burning wood creating a larger demand for it.

Im pretty lazy myself but i do have over 1 cord of wood that either needs to be split or bucked n split in my yard from the last month or so and about another half cord of wood that needs to be stacked. I figure it will take me close to 2+ cords in a normal winter in my area to heat my home.

Obed · Jan 23, 2012

clemsonfor said:
But in Forestry school they taught us when oil went up in the late 70s i think the amount of people who burn wood went way up.

I remember those times. My dad put a wood stove in our basement. His bedroom was right above the woodstove; my bedroom was toward the other side of the basement. He stayed toasty warm at night; I used LOTS of blankets.

But honetly today is a different time. Im 29 myself and my generation and the one even younger than me say 22 there is no way there gonna bust @$$ and cut their own wood or split it.

Yes, there appears to be some truth in your statement.

Many folks dont live in an area with wood anyway. I live on 3/4acre all my wood is cut from Govt land that i manage as a forester, as any other person can ( i do have acerage, its just so far from my home cutting there is not cost wise).

Now I understand the picture of your trailer with a full load of wood.

Right now i think you can about buy wood and still be cheaper than fuel oil or propane if you have a smaller inefficient home , but that will change as more "city" or lazy folks start burning wood creating a larger demand for it.

It will be interesting to see if firewood becomes more in demand in the US. I have heard that the energy costs have increased the interest in burning wood in Europe.

Obed

Obed · Jan 23, 2012

We were out of town for a long weekend.When I got back this evening, I put a 2" ball on my riding mower. Then I hooked the log splitter to it with intention of pulling the log splitter to my hickory stack up the hill beside the house. Unfortunately, the mower wouldn't start. I recently spent a fortune getting the mower tuned-up and the carborator cleaned out. I was a little miffed when the mower wouldn't start, mostly because I'm still in shock over how much the tune-up cost. The mower would crank but would never attempt to fire. Now we are going to have to take the mower back to the repair guy.

So I hooked the log splitter up the tractor and pulled it up the hill. I filled up a pallet full of hickory and ashe and put it in the garage just as darkness fell.

The days are getting longer. It's still tough for me to get any work done outside after work before dark but I'm optimistic that that time isn't far away.

clemsonfor · Jan 23, 2012

Obed said:
We were out of town for a long weekend.When I got back this evening, I put a 2" ball on my riding mower. Then I hooked the log splitter to it with intention of pulling the log splitter to my hickory stack up the hill beside the house. Unfortunately, the mower wouldn't start. I recently spent a fortune getting the mower tuned-up and the carborator cleaned out. I was a little miffed when the mower wouldn't start, mostly because I'm still in shock over how much the tune-up cost. The mower would crank but would never attempt to fire. Now we are going to have to take the mower back to the repair guy.

So I hooked the log splitter up the tractor and pulled it up the hill. I filled up a pallet full of hickory and ashe and put it in the garage just as darkness fell.

The days are getting longer. It's still tough for me to get any work done outside after work before dark but I'm optimistic that that time isn't far away.

Welcome to the world of ethonol. Im hoping you use 100% real gas in your equiptment as well as stabilizer if you cant find real gas. Dont want to get the ethonol debate started here though there are tons of pages in many threads in the fuel section on that. But my guess is that you have some of those gas crystals that form as they dry or that you have a stuck float or something?

Im pretty good with basic stuff like small engines as this goes, to bad im not closer id come and try to get it running, which i probly can.

Here is a quick sugestion, take a heavier screw driver and tap it pretty hard on the carb bowl with the handle. This is a trick to get the needle valve unstuck behind the float to let fuel flow into the bowl. What happens is there is fuel in the bowl when you cut it off and the needle is seated, as the fuel evaporates out of it the needle can get stuck in the gum/varnish thats in the needle seat. Whapping it with the handle or anything really can break it free sometimes, thats all thats needed sometimes. Have had it happen on some of my things. Another trick is if there is no fuel in the bowl is to pull the fuel line off and blow into it to unstick the needle.

Here is another quick trouble shooting tip so you can figure the problem, spray some carb cleaner into the air filter or in the carb throat, if you fire off and die you know you have a problem getting fuel. Dont know what but know its a fuel problem. Could be plugged filter trash or colapsed fuel line (from ethonol) bad fuel pump, sucking air somewhere or a carb problem. If you dont fire you have an ignition problem. Could be bad plug (not likely) bad wire, bad coil.

Just a few tips. When you dont have much money like me and you have older stuff you cant be afraid to tear into something. If you wanna try to get it we can walk you through it on this site im sure. Sorry im not closer, i seriously would come by after work and try and get you going. Maybe you can tow your splitter to my house and help split wood in return! Hey but we no where close though.

dstig1 · Jan 23, 2012

Is the gas valve on?

Oh wait - you work in computers...so I should ask the cardinal 3 questions:
1. Is it plugged in?
2. Is it turned on?
3. Did you try rebooting?

:laughing:

CurlyDave · Jan 24, 2012

Obed said:
...I put a 2" ball on my riding mower. Then I hooked the log splitter to it with intention of pulling the log splitter to my hickory stack up the hill beside the house. Unfortunately, the mower wouldn't start. I recently spent a fortune getting the mower tuned-up and the carborator cleaned out. I was a little miffed when the mower wouldn't start, mostly because I'm still in shock over how much the tune-up cost...

Welcome to the club.

I (and 2 people I know) have a 100% failure rate on getting small engines tuned up.

No matter who I pay and how much, I have never had one work properly after a tune up. And of course it didn't work right before the tune up either.