Hobby or dreaded task.

[loadthestove]

I'm new here and have spent the last few evenings looking over nearly ever thread on this site and maybe I'm wrong but the feeling I get from a lot of the folks here is they actually enjoy cutiing,hauling and splitting their wood.
Face the facts.I'll use myself as an example.I have a perfectly good stihl 029 super ,but really want me a new husky 359,dont need it just want it.
I use a Cub Cadet Big Country to haul my wood out.purchased a new splitter a few years back and plan on building a better one this winter.I'm in the process of building a new OWB simply because I want to change a few things that aren't on the first one I Built.
For the amount of money I have spent in my Wood Burning I will be years getting my investment back.My family and I enjoy our fifth wheel camper and I love my Harley .The misses has more than once suggested that the wood burner and other -Necessary Items- is simply a winter time hobby.
I quess my question is Do you folks enjoy you time getting in firewood or dread it worse than a trip to the dentist.

 

[Ductape]

If i didn't enjoy it.......... i'd just turn up the thermostat on the oil furnace. It does give me a great excuse to buy more firewood making equipment. I look forward to the day i slide a processor past my wife ! :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[howellhandmade]

I love it. Why else would I come here and read about it?

Jack

 

[jerryw66]

when I was a kid, we always burned wood. When I got out on my own, I had a wood burning furnace as my only source of heat for several years. At that stage in my life (early 20's) It was a huge chore to keep the house warm all the time. I was gone a lot and it got pretty cold in there at times. Finally the old chimney kind of gave up and I quit burning wood for the next 15 years. I really started to miss it, a couple of years ago and finally got a new chimney installed last year and found an old federal stove, which I really hated. This yr I moved up to an Oslo 500 and me and the kids and wife really are enjoying it. I also love the time in the woods cutting and hauling and splitting. My wife doesn't but my kids love it too.

 

[slowp]

It is kind of a chore, but I like the heat and need the exercise. I'd rather be out kayaking.

 

[olyman]

well, i started years ago--when the house was using so damn much fuel oil it about broke me--the next winter, i already had the riteway,i new oly, and then i built the splitter right away--saved enough the first year of burning--it paid for the stove and saw, and i dint have that much in the splitter. i only stopped burning wood for about three years--when nat was dirt cheap, which it aint no mo---!!!!! with what i have for equipment--it aint really a chore, i enjoy cutting, and i like the better heat of wood--and i detest supporting the azzz gas co's, and their executives--:taped:

 

[iCreek]

We always had a fire place growing up, not primary heat, but we always had wood chores. My recent interest was more of a 'savings' as propane went through the roof about three years ago, and I was spending $1500 - $2000 for winter heat.

I do enjoy burning wood in my outdoor wood stove. It was a perfect fit as my wife's family all heat with outdoor woodstoves, and we have lots of acres to harvest wood on, cleaning up fence rows, cutting dead trees, etc. So the chainsaw thing is kind of a hobby (CAD) or addiction, and I really enjoy the fall / winter exercise more than anything. I kind of get a chuckle when I see or hear of people filling their propane tanks, the independency makes me feel good also.

 

[StihltheOne]

For me, I think that it satisfies some of the "hunt and gather" feelings. I like to know that I am basicly self sufficient. My wife does like the 80 degree room in the winter, I get to see my therapist regularly, Dr Wood that is. I really like the feeling of saw chips hitting my legs, the feel of a super sharp chain slicing through the log, and each log is to me like putting money in the bank. Kind of a sense of "I can take care of our basic needs thing".

 

[mowoodchopper]

I love it ! It is the thing I enjoy the most in life besides my family. I love to be outside in the cold, I love the workout you get , I love cutting with family. The only thing that is as relaxing to me is hunting deer! Oh ! And I love when its 10degrees out side and I come in in the evening and its 78-79 in the house with the door open for fresh air, it doesnt get any better than that IMO!

 

[Billy_Bob]

For me, I think that it satisfies some of the "hunt and gather" feelings...

I think that about sums it up for me as well. It is a chore, but a chore I enjoy. I feel all warm and cozy when I am all stocked up with wood for the winter.

 

[unclemoustache]

Kind of both. I love cutting, hauling, splitting, stacking, and saving tons of money. What I really hate is carrying it from the stack outside to the stack inside. For some reason that part is 'pulling teeth' but the rest of it is a blast, especially sitting in front of it warming my toes. Speaking of which, it's time for another log.

 

[mowoodchopper]

Kind of both. I love cutting, hauling, splitting, stacking, and saving tons of money. What I really hate is carrying it from the stack outside to the stack inside. For some reason that part is 'pulling teeth' but the rest of it is a blast, especially sitting in front of it warming my toes. Speaking of which, it's time for another log.

Me too the only part I hate is filling the wood box, thats why I have kids!

 

[cjcocn]

I grew up with wood as our only source of heat and was the primary firewood getter for our family.

It was good for me as a boy (and then a young man) to have that responsibility.

Today I burn wood because I want to. The baseboard heaters haven't been turned on for about 4 years or so.

I love driving to it, cutting it, hauling it, bucking it, splitting it, stacking it, moving it to the garage, then moving it to the basement, making kindling, etc.

The smell and feel of wood heat is something that I enjoy and, if I ever quit burning wood, would certainly be something that I would miss.

I imagine that I might be saving some money over electric heat, but my main reason for burning wood is because I enjoy all aspects of it.

 

[mowoodchopper]

I grew up with wood as our only source of heat and was the primary firewood getter for our family.

It was good for me as a boy (and then a young man) to have that responsibility.

Today I burn wood because I want to. The baseboard heaters haven't been turned on for about 4 years or so.

I love driving to it, cutting it, hauling it, bucking it, splitting it, stacking it, moving it to the garage, then moving it to the basement, making kindling, etc.

The smell and feel of wood heat is something that I enjoy and, if I ever quit burning wood, would certainly be something that I would miss.

I imagine that I might be saving some money over electric heat, but my main reason for burning wood is because I enjoy all aspects of it.

Me too! And I agree its good for kids to know how to work! My son is a big help at cutting wood working on cars,house etc. And at least I will know I did one thing right, same as my dad, I will have taught him to take care of his self and not rely on people for things my dad taught me and me him how to do!

 

[Nosmo]

Really Like It

I enjoy cutting , splitting , stacking wood and burning wood in my stove. I enjoy the free heat in what I call my TV room where my stove is located. I keep a 12" fan blowing the warm air into the front portion of the house which really helps using much less natural gas.

About 6-years ago I closed in my front porch which has a concrete floor. I keep over a rick of wood stacked just outside the front door. No more running out to the woodshed in cold wet weather.

Nosmo

 

[Rookie1]

It's a labor of love!

That says it for me.

 

[hearnoevil]

My good friend said it best..

He took his young fellow in the woods with him one day the boy looked up at him and said
"Dad why do you like it in the woods so much"
He looked at the boy and said "listen"
the boy looked around and said "what I don't hear anything?"
The father said..

"that's right... out here I don't hear you, your brother and epically your mothers mouth keeping on to me."

 

[sly13]

I enjoy it as well. I like my family knowing that our hard work keeps us warm. I try not to make it to big a chore for them, because I hated it as a kid. Stickin it to the gas man helps too.

 

[logbutcher]

As the Laphroaig slogan says:

LOVE

there is no in between

HATE

Harvesting all your own heat, getting the WoodPiles (lurking and snorting stacks), the cozy warmth of the wood stoves leading to untold romantic bliss, leaving the $$$$ in your pocket, the pride of self-sufficiency, the aesthetic of being out there in any weather in quiet in your woodland.

OK so you sweat at -5 F, you get snow down cracks from a spruce drop , you just miss the big widow maker or pole snap or chain break. The saws or vehicles break. You stomp thru ice into a pool. You do a face pant into snow/ice/muck. So ?
Most H. Sapiens will never have those experiences. Never. Now live.opcorn:

 

[woodbooga]

Glad to learn that I'm not the only person inside of this forum who enjoys cutting, splitting, and burning.

The only thing we need to make this site perfect is a forum devoted just to chainsaws. How do we make that happen.

BTW, do you pronounce it Still or Steel? My German neighbor pronounces it 'schteel' making things more complicated.