Any Gen-X’ers heating with wood?

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Millennials is pretty much what I meant about Facebook - not many in gen z (or whatever they are) old enough to have their own place to heat with wood yet.

Forums may still continue to hold a niche market like radio or newspaper do. Some of the old forums are a shell of what they once were, probably in part because of competing forums, but also due to societal changes such as Facebook, Instagram, and other choices. Time marches on.

I think forums will be around for a while, even in the past 20 years they've withstood the ever changing atmosphere of web activity. Conventional social media is garbage, I gave it up years ago. Best thing I ever did. So much less stress and all I have to hear is how I'm missing out on extended or long distance family photos and stuff...
 
I follow a couple of vintage saw pages on Facebook and they are pretty decent. I tried the general saw pages and the conversation was dominated by the same knuckleheads that already got booted out of here lol.
 
Just turned 45 on Friday. Heated with wood as a kid then a couple other times late . Bought this house 15 years ago and in that fall we were over $1,000 in oil and it hadn't even been a cold fall.....we're getting a wood stove, especially since I got wood for free or cheap. Havent paid one penny for oil heating sinc . Worse case, and only has to do it a few times, I buy a log truck loa . Cut,split, stack. Do in those years it cost me $650-$700 to get for whole season ( I'm in way Western Massachusetts so it gets pretty cold here) I would literally not be able to afford oil for this house to heat it.....will be doing wood for years to come.....now to replace my blown up splitter
 
I grew up in a wood heated house, only way my pop could afford to do it on a single income with 4 kids. That's how/why I learned to hunt, fish, crab and fix broke stuff also. Got away from the wood burning for a few years but when I bought my current house it had a pellet stove and electric baseboard. One winter of a $300 a month pellet habit with a $4-500 monthly electric bill and in went a shiny new Harmon wood stove, bought my first brand new saw ( Echo CS520), and got to it! Burned unseasoned wood for a the first half of the next winter and then had to buy some because I had no idea how much I would use. 13 years later I have a different stove due to the Harmon being an expensive pig to repair, 3 years worth of wood stockpiled, and a $100 a month electric bill. The multiple axes, mauls, wedges, hydraulic splitter and such were acquired along the way. The 8 running saws, chainsaw mill to build my garage and a few other not necessarily necessities is a result of wonderful places like this website! I just reiterated to a neighbor the other day, "there ain't nothing free about free wood", as I was rolling 30" red oak rounds 100 yards so I can winch them across a little creek. The first tree that came off my property is the hardest to get wood I have messed with in a while, go figure.
 
I have spent as much as $900 each on saws but 95 percent of my wood this winter was cut with a free Husqvarna 142, free Poulan 4218, and a $15 Homelite SXL. Sometimes it is more rewarding to get unexpected gains out of a small or old saw than it is to bust out the high dollar toys.
 
I think non-wood burning people are a bit psyched out by the thought of moving X cords each year. When in reality it is pretty easy as long as you have decent access to wood, a stove with reasonable burn times, and more importantly, how your wood burning area is set up. If you have a walk in basement or a dedicated wood door, it sure makes it a lot easier than having to carry wood through the house.
 
Gen X here 1970, burned wood as a kid growing up, then started burning w/ OWB in 2004. I was sick of being cold (thermostat stayed at 62 all winter) and took nearly 10 years to convince my wife that we wouldn't burn the house down. My two girls have spent time helping load and stack firewood over the years youngest still does. Oldest was a bigger pain to make her help than what it was worth except it taught her that hard work really doesn't hurt you. Youngest daughter will work her tail off and at 13 drives our Kubota better than most adults.
Over Thanksgiving was rather interesting watching how nervous my FIL (he's 84) was when I suggested that she drive his JD tractor. He about had a fit b/c "girls" just aren't supposed to do that nor could someone that young be entrusted with his JD. He was a little shocked that she has been handling my Kubota L3600 since she was 10. I have two adult nephews (30 and 27) and they think I'm crazy for burning wood. Don't think I'd let either drive my tractor...just a different upbringing for them.
 
My girlfriends son came home from college for the holiday couple years ago, wanting to earn some extra money. I told him I would pay him if he helped me go get a couple loads of wood on a Saturday. We leave the house at dawn, drive 10 miles and I start cutting up a nice oak tree and tell him to start loading my truck about 45 steps away. Needless to say he did not make out to well after bragging about going to the gym everyday at school and whatnot. I got 2 loads that day, he did not make the second trip. While I was gone he told his mom he had a new respect for how hard I work to heat the house. I have always just enjoyed it and when I end a day of wood I look forward to the next time I get to do it again!
 
I have spent as much as $900 each on saws but 95 percent of my wood this winter was cut with a free Husqvarna 142, free Poulan 4218, and a $15 Homelite SXL. Sometimes it is more rewarding to get unexpected gains out of a small or old saw than it is to bust out the high dollar toys.
Sometimes the satisfaction is getting it done without investing much. Even though you could. Sometimes it's about the reward of getting something g0ing that someone else had discarded as junk. Cutting firewood is more about having a well-sharpened chain than a big ass saw, and keeping the chain out of the dirt.

Don
 
Don, I agree with you to a point. When I started I had a junk saw and no idea what I was doing or needed. As I learned, mostly the hard way, I spent money that has made it alot easier and way less time consuming. Some stuff has been frivolous but for the most part just making hard work more enjoyable.
 
Don, I agree with you to a point. When I started I had a junk saw and no idea what I was doing or needed. As I learned, mostly the hard way, I spent money that has made it alot easier and way less time consuming. Some stuff has been frivolous but for the most part just making hard work more enjoyable.

Anymore when my group of woodcutting fools gets together for a weekend of cutting, we have enough equipment that we get a lot of wood done in a short period of time. Most of us only burn 3-5 cord a year so when you can pull 10-12 cord out of the timber one day, and split and deliver it the next day, it doesn't take too many days to saturate everyone's needs. Last year I didn't cut any wood. I hauled some home to the woodshed from piles at my dad's for this year, but I was making firewood much faster than I could burn it.
This year it is back to the grindstone though as I need to restock some piles. It's a good excuse to spend some quality time with the kids out in the woods.
 
'73 born here. Born in London, gas central heating all the way until.... Oooo let's fit one of those little wood stoves! So nice and cosy! So I looked into it, hmmm, they cost a whack.... Hmm, wood delivered does too, more than gas, nearly double. Hmm they are nice though.... Maybe I could scrounge the wood? More research...I took the plunge and decided to go hard on wood to save money if I could get the wood. Here I am with 2 saws and lots of axes, 2 stoves and 7 or 8 cords of wood CSS. This is year 4 with the stoves. I burnt 2-2.5 cord last year but that was mild, I think it may be a little more this year. I also supply mum who burnt a little under a cord last year, just topping up the gas heating. I reckon I'll have paid for all the equipment after next winter. I'm a bit mad really, so much work when mains gas is so cheap.... But I enjoy it and it's good not burning fossil fuels. Oh and the house is a lot warmer!
 
I have spent as much as $900 each on saws but 95 percent of my wood this winter was cut with a free Husqvarna 142, free Poulan 4218, and a $15 Homelite SXL. Sometimes it is more rewarding to get unexpected gains out of a small or old saw than it is to bust out the high dollar toys.

An alarming amount of wood can be cut with very inexpensive saws.

Just don't tell the wives of all the members here. :)
 
I will buy anything at the best price. I was born in 1960. Not sure what generation that is ? What I was told get learning skills up to earn more money . What I learned after hearing this advice . There are bunch hoboes begging for change . Has nothing to do with people on the street . There are other interest you should keep your eye on . Heated with wood for almost 40 years . I think they want me to say buy American so some money making or salesperson our buyer . This person back has meaning . At the end I have a plan . Getting close to 60 years old an still in good shape . I don't want to waste what I have left on some nice house . I'm ready to live
 
Based one the date range I looked up I guess I'm an Xer, 1971. I grew up in a house heated with a fireplace which was replaced with a wood stove, so I was familiar with it when I got my own place with a wood stove. Grew up sorta hating it as a kid because as the oldest son I was the one that always had to go with my dad to cut the firewood and then on my own split and stack it when we got back. We burned probably 8-10 cords a year then. After I moved out my dad switched to a pellet stove.

I moved into the city for 20 years as a young adult and had gas heating, didn't even own a chainsaw . I bought our current house in 2012 and we have been heating primarily with wood and I've got several saws and probably too many axes and a nice log splitter. We only go through 3-4 cords a year even though I now live in a much colder and snowier area than where I grew up, It's probably due to having a much better insulated house. I much prefer heating with wood here since we lose power whenever we get a heavy snow storm and I don't want to pay to fill up the propane tank 10 times a season. The propane boiler is just there as a back up and for when we leave for a few days.
 
1965 model. Burned wood as a kid, but just for ambiance mostly. 16 years ago we moved to the country and bought a stove, Country Flame. Never intended to "heat" the house, but rather supplement. Does a very good job. Too old to get up at 2 and reload though. We are all electric heat, so this pays back fast. My problem is a source, I can never find a steady consistent source. I get lucky most every year, but not always. 3 cords/year is about all I need. I may have just found a good source with a bunch of standing dead Mesquite that we can push over with a tractor. Probably 10 cords there.

My kids(girls), now in college, always want a fire when they come home during cold weather, and they have no problem helping(when they are home). My youngest, the gear head, loves running the splitter or anything with an engine. She's rebuilt a 397 Ford('65 F250), and is working on a 355 Chevy('94 inboard ski boat). She hasn't asked to run my saw though....yet.
 
We did not burn wood when I was a kid, we had enough work on the farm to do as it was. I have burned wood in an owb for the least 19 years and in an indoor wood furnace for about 4yrs before that. Currently I have enough wood for this year in the shed plus 2 years worth of logs in the yard as well. I have never been this far ahead, it is a pretty good feeling. Our farmhouse is getting to be very well insulated and fairly draft free so if this owb rusts out it won't be quite as painful to switch to propane. So far so good though.
 
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