Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

My wife makes fun of me for being such a scrounge, I'll stop at a persons house if I see they have a tree down and ask them if they want the wood and I'm constantly looking on Craigslist for free wood.

Oz, what kind of tree is madrone? I've never even heard of it here in Massachusetts.

 

The name " madrone " is what's it's called in the States , up here we call it Arbutus

It only lives right along the coast

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbutus_menziesii

 

I've only been on the west coast once, I think I remember seeing that but never knew the name. Is it a hard wood? How long does it take to season? Around here my best wood is locust but it takes a long time to get properly seasoned. It's mainly that and maple for me, but out here on the east coast a lot of people turn their noses up at pine so it's usually easier for me to find it.

 

It's a weird tree , yes hardwood , but it's a leafed evergreen , even in the middle of winter up here it has leaves

Where I am it takes at least 2 years to properly season it , 3 is better if there are rounds .

It twists like a mother when it grows and when it dries so you either have to split it right away when it is green , or wait till it is totally dry .

It burns like coal and gives off more BTU's per cord than any other firewood

http://thelograck.com/firewood_rating_chart.html

 

No it's some kind of oak. I've spent a lot of time on the interwebz trying to figure out the species and the best I can figure is Shumard oak.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_shumardii
It's grain is gorgeous and its extremely heavy when cut green. This particular tree was diseased and dying and had a lot of spongy areas in it. There were some larvae in areas and some white powdery mildew or fungus in spots as well. They always grow along creeks, streams and washes and father in law calls them water oaks. Several on our land are dying and over the last 10 years it seems as if the rate is increasing.
This tree was about 36" in diameter at trunk and I split it all by hand, but I had to slab around the outside first. Fun times. Made 2 loads. About 3 rick.

 

Picked up a load of smaller fir and alder logs destined for a burn pile at work

Cut them to 5' - 6' for easier transport

 

First year heating with wood. Moved out of the folk's to a place with a standalone cast fireplace (not sure what to call it). In the colder weather I am only able to use it as supplemental heat. It is not airtight so it is running wide open all the time. I know I'm sending a lot of heat right out of the chimney but I have plenty of trees on the farm to use. On the upside I don't worry much about a flue fire! I plan on getting a new stove this summer. Started out with about a cord and a half and thought that would do me for most of the winter and I went trough it it under a month. Then my 86' pickup was murdered and I had to use my grandpas dodge for a few months before I bit the bullet and bought a '13 tacoma. Attached is my truck a few days after I got it with a load of oak.

This winter I mainly cut up a cord or so at a time of dead wood. Mostly red oak and elm. Next year I will have a bunch of shittier wood that came from fence rows and is seasoning now. Mostly mulberry and wild cherry but some locust, hedge, and maple.

I enjoy the hell of of heating with wood.

 

Splitting some wood for the shed.

 

Just helped my boss out at his house a couple weekends ago. Took down 3 huge maples, trunks at the base were probably 22 inches in diameter. I know one of the trees had been tapped about 7 or 8 times about 30 years ago. We are guesti-mating about 6 or 7 cords of wood. Pieces in the pictures need to be split at least one more time to fit in a wood stove.





We use a wood stove at my house for heat. We had a problem the first couple years with the upstairs not getting heat, but we solved that with a piece of PVC allowing cold air down the stairs and warm air to rise. Before you could literally feel the wall of cold air about 4 steps from the top.

 

Finally got a pic of the stove at my cabin:



And getting some wood on Saturday:

 

I made a curbside stop and decided to save the Department of Public Works a little effort. I figured Oz would approve...

 

If you get a modern epa rated stove you'll be amazed how much less wood you use. Also locust is damn near the best wood you can burn, wicked dense and will burn nearly as long as seasoned oak.

 

Madrone is the best firewood there is

 

Damn , it's almost woodstove time of year again

 

Hmmmm, we need a hedge (osage orange) VS madrone showdown

 

Shipping might cost a bit , lol

 

Yes and hornbeam too. From what I read it is suppose to put out more heat/mass than hedge. My tree book says it is suppose to grow in my area but unfortunately I have never run across any.

My new stove was delivered the other day. Now I just need to finish up the floor remodel in the stove room so I can install the stove.

 

Meh, it's only a 3500 miles trip. I hear y'all got some decent bike trails up your way.

Edit: 3500 kilometers

 

Lit the first fire of the season the other day. Haven't needed to since, but it was below freezing outside for the first time of the season.
We've got two woodstove options; an old Elmira wood cookstove in the upstairs addition (complete with hot water reservoir!) that I restored over the summer, and a Hearthstone Mansfield in the cellar that I restored last fall that is our primary heat source once it gets good and cold out (can't even light it before it's at below freezing 24/7, or else it'll roast you out of the house)

Don't have a pic of the cookstove here, but here's the cellar monster.

 

Brought my wood forward from my storage area woodshed up to the one by the house today

Mixed alder , fir , madrone