My cost for free heat...

[johnnylabguy]

I can't believe my wife hasn't complained yet about how much I've spent for the "free heat" of firewood yet. I think I saw a thread for poster that said something like it. So far in the year that I've gotten back into burning wood again (always loved it.helped Dad as a kid) this is the list I've compiled...

$900 - Wood add-on furnace(on clearance."What cheap heat!" I thought)
$1000 - TSC woodsplitter
$400 Stihl Farmboss(I cheaped out on the 361!)
$450 16 x 8 wood lean-to added on to shed(had to look nice for the wife!)
$600 Chimney liner and pieces parts
$50 for chimney sweep service to tell me I needed a liner(wifey again!)
$22,000 new 4x4 pickup to replace the 2wd truck (ok, that one was me!)

So let's see...$25,400 so far. Not bad for "free" heat. She's catching on though. When I brought the new truck home last night she said "I suppose your going to need a trailer now so you don't dent the brand new truck" Did I mention that I love that little lady?

 

[husky362]

free is not cheap

dont forget the 12$ for two gal's mix 9$ bar oil plus gas in the truck and splitter

 

[avalancher]

My friend, you still having some buying to do. Yes, you are going to need a trailer, you dont wanna dent that baby up in the woods. And yes, you will. Or maybe you will get by with a few branch scraps.

then you are going to need a few extra loops of chain.

Then a grinder to sharpen those rocked out loops cauze the guy at the local shop is an idiot and takes off half of the tooth every time he sharpens.
then assorted files, angle guides, raker depth gauge.

Your saw will soon be too small, you will eye those big rounds you have to leave behind and think, "If i had a bigger saw, I could take them too"

then after the bigger saw, some bigger bars and of coarse some longer loops. Maybe start buying your chain by the spool.

Then you will discover Baileys and Nothern tools. A log lift will be handy, eh?

Then a winch to haul those logs or big rounds into your trailer. Gotta save the back for splitting and stacking.

Your woodshed will soon be too small, add on more or start buying the blue tarps for the wood piled eyeball high in your yard.

Then your yard will be too small, time to move farther out with more room for wood, and closer to your supply of wood.
You got all the major stuff out of the way, but you have a ways to go!
Free heat sure is good though, isnt it?

 

[abohac]

I can't believe my wife hasn't complained yet about how much I've spent for the "free heat" of firewood yet. I think I saw a thread for poster that said something like it. So far in the year that I've gotten back into burning wood again (always loved it.helped Dad as a kid) this is the list I've compiled...

$900 - Wood add-on furnace(on clearance."What cheap heat!" I thought)
$1000 - TSC woodsplitter
$400 Stihl Farmboss(I cheaped out on the 361!)
$450 16 x 8 wood lean-to added on to shed(had to look nice for the wife!)
$600 Chimney liner and pieces parts
$50 for chimney sweep service to tell me I needed a liner(wifey again!)
$22,000 new 4x4 pickup to replace the 2wd truck (ok, that one was me!)

So let's see...$25,400 so far. Not bad for "free" heat. She's catching on though. When I brought the new truck home last night she said "I suppose your going to need a trailer now so you don't dent the brand new truck" Did I mention that I love that little lady?

Wait 'till the divorce for smoke in the house.

 

[husky362]

really take off the cost of the truck and your doing pretty good cost wise

 

[KMB]

My friend, you still having some buying to do. Yes, you are going to need a trailer, you dont wanna dent that baby up in the woods. And yes, you will. Or maybe you will get by with a few branch scraps.

then you are going to need a few extra loops of chain.

Then a grinder to sharpen those rocked out loops cauze the guy at the local shop is an idiot and takes off half of the tooth every time he sharpens.
then assorted files, angle guides, raker depth gauge.

Your saw will soon be too small, you will eye those big rounds you have to leave behind and think, "If i had a bigger saw, I could take them too"

then after the bigger saw, some bigger bars and of coarse some longer loops. Maybe start buying your chain by the spool.

Then you will discover Baileys and Nothern tools. A log lift will be handy, eh?

Then a winch to haul those logs or big rounds into your trailer. Gotta save the back for splitting and stacking.

Your woodshed will soon be too small, add on more or start buying the blue tarps for the wood piled eyeball high in your yard.

Then your yard will be too small, time to move farther out with more room for wood, and closer to your supply of wood.
You got all the major stuff out of the way, but you have a ways to go!
Free heat sure is good though, isnt it?

...and a Peavy or Cant hook for handling the logs, and might as well add a tractor with a loader...

Kevin

 

[johnnylabguy]

I did forget alot of the unmentionables like the loops of chain, bar oil, gas and tarps! And oh yes, the Bailey's catalog has a prime spot in the "reading section" of my masterbath!

I did get to experience the raised eye-brow over the smoke a few times. But overall she puts up with it because its nice to be WARM again in the winter and not wearing layers of clothing while writing $400 checks to the oilman.

 

[avalancher]

I did get to experience the raised eye-brow over the smoke a few times. But overall she puts up with it because its nice to be WARM again in the winter and not wearing layers of clothing while writing $400 checks to the oilman.

That in itself is worth a lot. Nothing worse than being cold and broke! My wife also puts up with it, after the first winter of having wood heat and an electric bill for less than a hundred bucks(our house is all electric) she doesnt say much except she fusses about bark pieces strung across the kitchen floor on the way to the wood stove.
That, and she hates my socks that are full of woodchips. I forget sometimes to take them off outside, and then I get a raised eyebrow.

 

[A. Stanton]

Know exactly what you mean, Johnny.

 

[turnkey4099]

Major items not mentioned:

The Stihl beany
Stihl chaps
Stihl gloves
Stihl emergency first aid pack.
Stihl wedges
Stihl suspenders
Stihl cell phone.

O.K. so Stihl doesn't make some of the that but they should - got to have a coordinated outfit to impress the gals.

Harry K

 

[Lignum]

A skid steer is next on my list...

 

[wdchuck]

Should have kept the 2wd truck, and put the money into a dump trailer and skidsteer. You would have spent less, and could still get something for the wife.

 

[saw mutt]

I once tried to calculate how much a pound of fresh caught Lake Michigan salmon cost...best not to know sometimes.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Don't feel too bad. My Godson dropped $16 grand on a boat, fishing gear, winter storage rent, and $25 grand on new SUV to pull the boat because he needed more power. Thus far, he has caught about 50 fish that were keepers. That's a little over $800 per fish. :monkey:

 

[woodbooga]

We're pretty close to paycheck to paycheck and the woodheat is part of the economic strategy that's allowing us to save a little each month. While I'm temprementally prone to CAD, the finances don't allow it. That said I'll be setting aside a little cash, hopefully, and will be asking for xmas gift certs to the local Stihl dealership around the corner so that one day I can treat myself to my first new saw in ages. Got a stable of them, but they're in various stages of operation and bear the sum total of a lot of other folks' cutting habits

 

[Rookie1]

I dont think I spent alot. I borrow splitters from friends and relatives. I have wooded lot to harvest trees from.I stack outside so no shed. I do have a trailer but I traded labor for it,so not really sure what it cost me.$200 sierra from tradin times ,alot for stainless liner.Asked HVAC man nicely and he made hood to fit stove so I could hook to furnace. Most of all I enjoy it all around, more or less,from harvesting wood to burning. Oh I aleady had 021 for maintaining yard, but CAD is killing me now!!!!

 

[Jkebxjunke]

I thought I was the only one that kept Baileys and Northern tool in the 'prime reading spot" LOL
I guess I am kinda lucky ... I can justify some of my wood handling tools for use on the farm like the s160 bobcat... 6x10 dump trailer, grapple for bobcat....
oh well its only $$$ and you cant take it with you... and besides I needed the deductions... rather spend it on myself than hand it to the gov.

 

[danrclem]

You weren't doing bad until you got to the truck. The other costs could be recovered from money saved by using wood heat in short order. The truck is gonna take awhile. Oh well, you needed a new truck anyway.

 

[KMB]

A skid steer is next on my list...

Not next on my 'realistic' list...but on my 'dream' list...one of these: http://www.swingerloaders.com/

A friend of mine has one (with a grapple) for his tree business...awesome machine for tree work.

Kevin

 

[aandabooks]

Since I started heating with wood 4 years ago:

$700 add-on wood furnace
$780 5x10 Utility Trailer (only truck then was a 4x2 Explorer) more on that later
$180 Sears Craftsman 42cc saw
$5600 Suzuki Eiger 4x4- Had a Polaris 2-wheel drive sport version. Wasn't woods capable or of hauling the gear.
$400 Stihl MS310-I also cheaped out on the MS361.

And now for the stuff that really gets expensive:

$27000-2007 Chevy Silverado Extended Cab 4x4-Because I couldn't get in with the Explorer when the fields weren't frozen.
$64000-17 acres of mixed timber and tillable. I rent the tillable and will one day build on the property. Hopefully in the next 5 years.

This list doesn't include all of the saw related stuff or add on items like the winch for the 4-wheeler. (I need that anyway to lift the plow)

All of this for the free heat and reduced heating bill in the winter.

Did I mention I am on natural gas and am only really saving between $600-$1000 per year. And yet I want to have CAD so bad I can taste it. Unfortunately my wife has pulled the purse strings closed tight and I think I saw a padlock on there when last I looked.