Hello from a Newbie!

[woodheat4me]

Hi! pardon my brashness, but I have been lurking for some time in your very informative website at the advise of one of your members, and I just wanted to introduce myself.
I live in atlanta, and was recently introduced to wood heat for the first time in my life.Prior to a couple of months ago, I had never even run a chainsaw, and now I have my own!I recently purchased a Husqvarna 455 Rancher, and I am very pleased with my purchase.I am working as weather permits to bank up a bit of wood for the winter,I got permission to cut some trees from a fellow worker that had a lot of dead trees that were still standing.Although my wife is not real wild about bringing firewood into our home, she has finally relented and I am having our new woodstove installed at the end of the week.I am so excited,thank you all for great reading so far.

 

[HillRat]

Howdy & welcome!

Prior to a couple of months ago, I had never even run a chainsaw, and now I have my own!I recently purchased a Husqvarna 455 Rancher, and I am very pleased with my purchase.

I also own a 455. It was the first(*) saw I bought after borrowing a friend's Poulan POS a few times. Keep your chain sharp (or have a good shop sharpen it for you) and it will do everything you need it to. Do you have ear and eye protection, hardhat, and chainsaw chaps? A basic knowledge of falling technique or an experienced friend to work with?

Although my wife is not real wild about bringing firewood into our home, she has finally relented and I am having our new woodstove installed at the end of the week.

My wife wasn't sure about the wood heat thing when we first bought the stove either but after a few cold nights with the living room at 72F+ she quickly decided that she loved it! There's nothing like the radiant warmth of a wood stove, imo. Now she looks out at the wall of stacked wood across the back of our yard and wonders if we have enough!

Which stove did you buy? Will it be connected to an existing chimney or a new one?

As you already can see from reading this site, wood heat, wood gathering, sawing, splitting, and staying toasty warm by your own efforts are addicting!

Good luck and keep us posted!

(*) I used to say I bought "a" chainsaw, but after hanging around here for a couple of years, I have to say my first chainsaw.

 

[heatsink]

Hello Woodheat4me,
I am new to the site also! It's a great site. Dont't worry about your wife not wanting wood in the house. Mine was the same way until she seen a 200.00
savings on our fuel per month! Now ,she loads the truck, and stacks the wood in our garage!!! Our furnace is in our garage so it is nice having 15 face cord of dry wood right there. Make sure to keep your wood dry. Think of it this way: wood when burning gives off smoke which is a gas. Your hottest heat comes from the gases being reburnt in the top of your firebox. If you burn wet or non-seasoned wood, it produces steam. the steam will cool the gases to a point where they won't burn. I'm not an expert but have been around wood burnig most of my life (45). You can learn a lot about fires on the internet. Most people on this site can give you solid advice also. Be carefull and research the advice before implimenting ( this goes for any advice from anywhere). Have fun and be SAFE!

 

[woodheat4me]

Howdy & welcome!



I also own a 455. It was the first(*) saw I bought after borrowing a friend's Poulan POS a few times. Keep your chain sharp (or have a good shop sharpen it for you) and it will do everything you need it to. Do you have ear and eye protection, hardhat, and chainsaw chaps? A basic knowledge of falling technique or an experienced friend to work with?



My wife wasn't sure about the wood heat thing when we first bought the stove either but after a few cold nights with the living room at 72F+ she quickly decided that she loved it! There's nothing like the radiant warmth of a wood stove, imo. Now she looks out at the wall of stacked wood across the back of our yard and wonders if we have enough!

Which stove did you buy? Will it be connected to an existing chimney or a new one?

As you already can see from reading this site, wood heat, wood gathering, sawing, splitting, and staying toasty warm by your own efforts are addicting!

Good luck and keep us posted!

(*) I used to say I bought "a" chainsaw, but after hanging around here for a couple of years, I have to say my first chainsaw.

I have been fortunate in this aspect, I have a fairly new friend that has taken the time to show me all the ins and outs of this venture.Although he is a 6 hour drive from me, I drive up there every other weekend and work with him, learning all manner of things.He has shown me the proper way of felling, sharpening my chains, etc.I guess as far as personal protection goes, I guess that is something left up to my own devices, my friend is from the old school as they say, and rarely wears much for protection except for eye and ear guards, and then not all the time.I purchased a husky helmet that has both ear and eye protection, as well as leg guards(you call them chaps, right?)and wear them when I cut.

 

[Woodcutteranon]

Welcome aboard WH4M

Let me know what it's like when you buy your second chainsaw. CAD is unavoidable you know.

 

[avalancher]

I have been fortunate in this aspect, I have a fairly new friend that has taken the time to show me all the ins and outs of this venture.Although he is a 6 hour drive from me, I drive up there every other weekend and work with him, learning all manner of things.He has shown me the proper way of felling, sharpening my chains, etc.I guess as far as personal protection goes, I guess that is something left up to my own devices, my friend is from the old school as they say, and rarely wears much for protection except for eye and ear guards, and then not all the time.I purchased a husky helmet that has both ear and eye protection, as well as leg guards(you call them chaps, right?)and wear them when I cut.

About friggin time you showed up here Greg!

Alright you guys, you all need to welcome ole greg here, he has come a long way from the city slicker, a few more months and I am going to introduce him to some flannel.Poor guy has no clue what woods guys even wear these days.
Oh, and greg, please dont being spilling any more beans about my attire when out cutting, these guys are merciless when it comes to riding a guy.Specially Woodbooga, if you havent run across him yet, you will.

 

[outdoorlivin247]

About friggin time you showed up here Greg!

Alright you guys, you all need to welcome ole greg here, he has come a long way from the city slicker, a few more months and I am going to introduce him to some flannel.Poor guy has no clue what woods guys even wear these days.
Oh, and greg, please dont being spilling any more beans about my attire when out cutting, these guys are merciless when it comes to riding a guy.Specially Woodbooga, if you havent run across him yet, you will.

Is this "bagged me a city boy" Greg?...

Welcome....

 

[heatsink]

About friggin time you showed up here Greg!

Alright you guys, you all need to welcome ole greg here, he has come a long way from the city slicker, a few more months and I am going to introduce him to some flannel.Poor guy has no clue what woods guys even wear these days.
Oh, and greg, please dont being spilling any more beans about my attire when out cutting, these guys are merciless when it comes to riding a guy.Specially Woodbooga, if you havent run across him yet, you will.

Avalancher, I like your new woodpile watchman!

 

[England14]

Welcome Greg, we've heard a lot about you. BTW hows the wife? Would love to be there when she first gets her hand on a chain saw. You know it's bound to happed.

 

[woodheat4me]

Welcome Greg, we've heard a lot about you. BTW hows the wife? Would love to be there when she first gets her hand on a chain saw. You know it's bound to happed.

I really doubt she is ever going to want to operate the chainsaw, she is rather intimidated by it.I had a long struggle just trying to convince her that it would save us some money, provide me with some much needed exercise, and a chance to get out of the city once in awhile without killing me in the process.
But, that is okay with me, more time running it myself!
Oh, how did you hear about me when this is the first day that I registered on your website?

 

[HillRat]

Welcome Greg, we've heard a lot about you.

Oooh, THAT Greg. Double welcome to ya!

Glad to hear you've got an experienced woodcutter to work with. You'll do fine!

BTW hows the wife? Would love to be there when she first gets her hand on a chain saw.

How 'bout when she gets her hands on the heating bill? Our first year in this house we used about 2 1/2 tanks of oil. Then I installed the Jotul. The following two winters we used 1/2 tank each! Ka-ching!

Everything's paid for itself by now. Guess I need to start looking for more stuff...

Ed

 

[avalancher]

Oh, how did you hear about me when this is the first day that I registered on your website?

I just mentioned a number of weeks ago that I had met you and introduced you to a chainsaw,for some reason some of these guys have a good memory.Dont worry about it Greg, they arent psychic or anything(did I spell that right?)

 

[CrappieKeith]

Just now cutting wood?
The limbs may be dry on the dead trees but the main trunk should be seasoned for next year.
A moisture meter will tell you if it's good enough to burn.
You gotta do this right so the wife falls inline.
Otherwise it'll be....I told ya!

Welcome and yes we heard about your conversion...welcome!

 

[avalancher]

Just now cutting wood?
The limbs may be dry on the dead trees but the main trunk should be seasoned for next year.
A moisture meter will tell you if it's good enough to burn.
You gotta do this right so the wife falls inline.
Otherwise it'll be....I told ya!

Welcome and yes we heard about your conversion...welcome!

I went down to Atlanta a couple of weeks ago when he told me about the trees that were given to him.6 large white oaks that were dead standing, bone dry and ready to burn.In fact, we burned some that night, we camped out and made a good campfire out of some of the stuff.
Wasnt that some good eating Greg?Nothing better than a huge pork roast,buried in the ground in tin foil and a fire built on top of it for 6 hours.

 

[Laird]

You could do worse than hanging around with Avalancher.

I'd keep a good first aid kit handy tho. Not for you... for him. I'll bet you have the opportunity to save his life someday.

 

[woodheat4me]

You could do worse than hanging around with Avalancher.

I'd keep a good first aid kit handy tho. Not for you... for him. I'll bet you have the opportunity to save his life someday.

You mean because he doesn't wear all his safety equipment? I wondered why he had me wear all of this equipment, but doesn't himself.I assumed it was because I was new to this arena, where he has been doing this for years.

 

[woodbooga]

Is this "bagged me a city boy" Greg?...

Welcome....

We been waiting for him to show up. Some were starting to wonder if he was just one of avalancher's invisible friends.

welcome wood heat. Good crop of folks here. And you're already famous!

You could do worse than hanging around with Avalancher.

I'd keep a good first aid kit handy tho. Not for you... for him. I'll bet you have the opportunity to save his life someday.

:agree2:

But bring two. (Collateral damage)

 

[thombat4]

Welcome Greg...!

If the Avalancher deems you worthy to hang with then you must be alright indeed. Welcome aboard have fun and be safe!!

 

[NC4TN]

Welcome and be careful!

Welcome to the site! My best advice is wear full protective gear (and remember even that's no guarantee you won't get gashed) and by all means don't get in a hurry. If you get too tired, take a break and sit back and admire your handiwork.

Been sawin' now goin' on 37 years (and I've got the hearing loss to prove it; comes from hangin' around a Frick sawmill power unit and chainsaws.

 

[Austin1]

Welcome aboard!
Feed that 455 good fuel and it will last you a long time of coarse if you start hanging out here the wife will have to give up shoe space for all the other saws you will acquire