How's Your Wood Pile Looking?

[benp]

It's coming along.

Neighbor was bringing some logs up to the cutting area this afternoon with the track hoe and while I was watching him I realized that we couldn't have a better woodpile spot.

It is always in direct sun during the day and there is always a breeze going through up there.

I saw this up the road from me. Guy looks like he is getting well ahead.

Actually I think that's the log yard for a treated lumber business that's in the little town directly across the highway.

 

[hupte]

 

[aarolar]

Start of wood pile for this winter plenty of wood to come so far this is mostly pecan that fell in a storm last year. I have a ton of ice storm damaged oak all over my place including one 36" diameter pig. Plus two nice reds from a friend with an excavator who will load them log length for me.

 

[cantoo]

Split some poplar today for my OWB. 24" long because that's all my splitter will split. The ash in the background is 16", not sure what I'm going to do with it all, maybe sell some?

 

[zogger]

Hey, Cantoo (or anyone)

Not sure how ya'all seeing things, but this ebola could very well just blow all out of reasonableness and really much things up. folks wearing protective gear getting it, and so on. If you got some extra, and aren't years ahead...keep it, let it season....

 

[aarolar]

Hey, Cantoo (or anyone)

Not sure how ya'all seeing things, but this ebola could very well just blow all out of reasonableness and really much things up. folks wearing protective gear getting it, and so on. If you got some extra, and aren't years ahead...keep it, let it season....

I'm afraid if they don't get that Ebola under control soon the least of our worries will be firewood...

 

[regulate34]

 

[MechanicMatt]

Ever hear of the black plague? We survived that we'll survive this!

 

[MustangMike]

Reg 34, nice wood pile, but U should get it off the ground or it will absorb moisture from the earth.

What I see being referred to as a rick is what I have always called a "face cord", which is 4X8 of the length you want (usually 16-20"). A cord is 4X8X4.

Hey, does anyone else out there still use the Sotz wood stove kits? You use them to make a stove from a 55 gal drum. Sotz is out of business for a long time now, but their stove kits were really good. When consumer reports tested them they put out more BTUs (and more BTUs per cord of wood burned) than an $600 + stove from a leading manufacturer. The Sotz kit was only $35, U get the barrel and build it with Muffler cement.

It was soon after that article that the Gov put them out of business. My brother spoke with the owner, he was furious about what happened.

I heated my house with one for 25 years, and I still use one at my upstate hunting cabin.

 

[zogger]

Reg 34, nice wood pile, but U should get it off the ground or it will absorb moisture from the earth.

What I see being referred to as a rick is what I have always called a "face cord", which is 4X8 of the length you want (usually 16-20"). A cord is 4X8X4.

Hey, does anyone else out there still use the Sotz wood stove kits? You use them to make a stove from a 55 gal drum. Sotz is out of business for a long time now, but their stove kits were really good. When consumer reports tested them they put out more BTUs (and more BTUs per cord of wood burned) than an $600 + stove from a leading manufacturer. The Sotz kit was only $35, U get the barrel and build it with Muffler cement.

It was soon after that article that the Gov put them out of business. My brother spoke with the owner, he was furious about what happened.

I heated my house with one for 25 years, and I still use one at my upstate hunting cabin.

I think vogelzgang, spelling, still makes the kits. Same guys who make the cheap stoves.

edit: I just looked, googled it up. Two or three different brands, home depot, tractor supply, northern tool, ebay, etc all are showing steel drum stove kits

 

[regulate34]

Reg 34, nice wood pile, but U should get it off the ground or it will absorb moisture from the earth.

.

you talking about the pile of rounds? that's for a friend that needs pick it up.
I the sheds its totally fine to be on the ground. I live in pretty dry country.
grab a chunk off the dirt and make kindling. burns great.

personaly I think guys are pretty picky on AS with their moisture meters and 2 year seasoning.

 

[MustangMike]

Zogger, the Sotz kit was airtight, makes a big difference, was also a very smart & unique design.

Reg 34, you would never get away with that in other areas, you must be very dry.

At my upstate property I burn some Ash that has been stacked for 2 years in the campfire, and it hisses and runs from the end. It is just very moist up there, in the clouds half the time. It is much more difficult to get things to burn, which is why we prefer the Ash. It will be tough if that disappears.

 

[BillNole]

...personaly I think guys are pretty picky on AS with their moisture meters and 2 year seasoning.

I agree. I have a MM, but found it to be too consistently inconsistent to be bothered. My wood is almost always seasoned for two years, but that's based on my usage of only a couple of cords per year and luck in scoring/scrounging. I've paid for wood in the past, but not for over 5+ years, since I discovered how available it is for free, plus a little work.

BTW, anyone want to buy a slightly used, mint condition MM?

 

[regulate34]

Zogger, the Sotz kit was airtight, makes a big difference, was also a very smart & unique design.

Reg 34, you would never get away with that in other areas, you must be very dry.

At my upstate property I burn some Ash that has been stacked for 2 years in the campfire, and it hisses and runs from the end. It is just very moist up there, in the clouds half the time. It is much more difficult to get things to burn, which is why we prefer the Ash. It will be tough if that disappears.

It's not desert dry here. Just a good shed with lots of air flow. The ground don't get wet in the wood shed either.

 

[zogger]

Zogger, the Sotz kit was airtight, makes a big difference, was also a very smart & unique design.

Reg 34, you would never get away with that in other areas, you must be very dry.

At my upstate property I burn some Ash that has been stacked for 2 years in the campfire, and it hisses and runs from the end. It is just very moist up there, in the clouds half the time. It is much more difficult to get things to burn, which is why we prefer the Ash. It will be tough if that disappears.

Thanks for the info, didn't know the originals were that much better. Just seems weird the original kit design, being better, can't be made, but these others can.

 

[MustangMike]

The Sotz kit was airtight, and stamped steel. The air intake was specifically designed so that the barrel could not get hot enough to burn out. The owner of the Co was an engineer who made them out of a specific type of steel.

After the Consumer Reports article, the Gov came down on them for not doing emissions testing. The owner of the Co argued:

1) No one has demonstrated that they are not compliant, and

2) You can not afford to do that testing for a $35 kit.

The owner lost the argument and was forced out of business. Don't know who the rules apply to, it may depend on the volume of your sales.

They also developed the Monster Maul (which I used for years) and other wood handling equipment (hand tools like log rollers, etc), and an air intake device that would open when the stove was cold and close when it was hot (it was temp adjustable). They also offered a catalytic converter device for your stove pipe. They sent out a monthly newspaper with their products, and owner stories. This was before the internet, it was really cool.

I still have both my kits, and I started using them to heat my house +/- 1980. One I used for my house, the other for the upstate cabin. Only had to replace one barrel for each kit, and that was because I let them rust.

This was truly a good Co making a superior product that the Gov put out of business. I believe that the other wood stove companies, who were all selling $500 - $1,000 wood stoves at the time, that had been beaten in efficiency and total BTU output, had something to do with this.

 

[user 122190]

Ever hear of the black plague? We survived that we'll survive this!

Like in the Black Plague, there were 2 groups of people.
1) The Survivors (the We)
2) The Victims (the They)

In the Black Plague, an estimated 75 to 200 million people were in group They.

 

[MustangMike]

Oh don't worry, Obama will protect you, YOU HAVE HIS WORD ON IT!

 

[user 122190]

Oh don't worry, Obama will protect you, YOU HAVE HIS WORD ON IT!

Those now infected are going to get 1st class medical care. If this becomes an epidemic, people (dead or almost dead) will be loaded onto pallet crates for mass burial.

 

[zogger]

Those now infected are going to get 1st class medical care. If this becomes an epidemic, people (dead or almost dead) will be loaded onto pallet crates for mass burial.

I don't even think it is comparable. this is a virus and the mortality rate is much higher.

This is what is called a serious black swan event. We have two running currently, fukishima and this. I am making dead serious plans to shelter in place, potentially forever.

19 level..whatever, I forget, the top of the line deals they are needed-4, I think, isolation beds in the entire nation, at a current cost of 500 grand to treat one single patient. Any mass outbreak where it isn't contained, that's it, party is over, life changes dramatically forever. Africa is a goner, and the rest of the planet will be unless they institute huge amounts of strictly enforced cordon sanitaires.

I saw a chart last night showing the growth of incidents the last few months, slow curve, then tending towards straight up. Previous outbreaks went away temporarily because of the remote nature of the outbreaks, and they just let little villages go, today, with it in various large cities and mass travel in and out, etc...sheer idiocy. Short term money hungry decisions saying they don't need big strict quarantines, nothing to do with actual real medicine.

That's my opinion, and I HOPE I AM WRONG.