Firewood season

Furby · February 07, 2007, 02:05:46 PM

Dat building a bit off?

Larry · February 07, 2007, 02:10:02 PM

Now I know why folks don't like my walnut firewood. It's all them sparks flying outta the stoves. :D :D :D I got some DanG smart customers...just wish they would get there wood supply before there stove goes cold on em. ;D

beenthere · February 07, 2007, 03:36:35 PM

That wood stove should make for some good pics at nite in the dark, with the sparks flying and the seams glowing. ;D

SwampDonkey · February 07, 2007, 04:07:20 PM

Quote from: Furby on February 07, 2007, 02:05:46 PM
Dat building a bit off?

Furby, you could say that for about all the buildings over there. The new neighbors didn't get much and I don't think they paid a big price for the run down place.

Corley5 · February 07, 2007, 08:59:31 PM

I've burned 8 face cords or so this season maybe 10. Haven't kept track ;) Mostly sugar maple and basswood with a little ironwood, beech and ash mixed in, all green. I didn't put any in the shed this year just process a spreader loader out of the the log pile every couple weeks. I've sold 16 face cords since Friday and have a couple more to do tomorrow. Had to put the Blockbuster inside to thaw out for a couple days. Something froze up in the carb and it was flooding the crankcase with gas. We shut it down when it started pumping the mix out the exhaust. Got it thawed out and changed the oil and filter and it seems fine now. Probably shouldn't run it when it's zero anyway ;) ;D

SwampDonkey · February 07, 2007, 09:37:01 PM

I've burnt about 3 cords since mid October here, all seasoned wood. I still have 6 full ranks of 18-20" wood piled to the ceiling, roughly a cord each. Hardly anything in the pipes when I clean them once a month.

SwampDonkey · February 07, 2007, 09:40:00 PM

Oh by the way, the maple, ash and birch firewood didn't spark snap and crack in the old stove. ;)

If you open the damper on that stove, there would be a melt down of the pipes and all the heat would be out the flu. Throws way more heat with a dampened fire. Of course you don't close it up tight. I leave it slightly open and the front draft plate under the door I close. The fire is not smokey once it gets going.

OneWithWood · February 08, 2007, 01:16:29 PM

The 20 chord of oak and hickory that I thought for sure would see us through this winter is now history. Fortunately I got the oil gun figured out and replumbed to burn biodiesel in the outdoor boiler. It is a good thing because there are only a few sticks left on the ground where the stacks used to be and mama was getting nervous!

_{and I was wondering where I was gonna take up residence if I didn't get that thing going}

SwampDonkey · February 08, 2007, 01:45:37 PM

What are you heating OWW? That amount of wood can heat 3 old farm houses up here. ;)

OneWithWood · February 08, 2007, 02:02:39 PM

House and two greenhouses. The greenhouses suck the heat something fierce during these super cool days. Usually we burn about 20 chord in a heating season but even though this has been a relatively mild winter we have had more heating days than normal. Sure hope spring is just around the corner.

isawlogs · February 08, 2007, 05:33:08 PM

OWW ..
Is this the first season to heat both green houses over winter ??

OneWithWood · February 09, 2007, 09:10:07 AM

No, this is the third or fourth season, but the first with the new larger boiler. With the biodiesel back up burner I was hoping to get through the season burning less wood. Obviously that was a dream :D

Mr Mom · February 09, 2007, 09:41:01 AM

Everything starts with a dream.

Thanks alot Mr Mom

farmerdoug · February 09, 2007, 02:01:05 PM

OWW,

It is fun trying to keep those greenhouses heated when the temp drops and the wind blows, isn't it? A friend of mine spent over 35,000 dollars last year on propane to heat his greenhouses. Every time I see him I smile to myself and think of the cash I am saving with the boiler. 8)

Farmerdoug

SwampDonkey · February 09, 2007, 03:13:29 PM

$35,000 !!!!!

That's way more than the plants are worth in the average small green house operation. Not many garden green houses are run all winter up here, they start in march or so when the sun is warmer. It doesn't take long to grow garden plants for spring under proper light and heat. Now reforestation tree green houses are a different matter and the margin of profit is very small when even growing 1 or 2 million seedlings. I can remember the delivered price of spruce being $150 per thousand for the last 15 years. Most reforestation tree nurseries are run by government or forest licenses for their own use and they may sell pre-orders to marketing boards because of volumes of sales.

farmerdoug · February 09, 2007, 06:33:03 PM

SD, Know what you mean. I know another one that spends 60 grand a year. I would not call these guys big operators either. I will have to get you some pics of the one greenhouse operation. He is planting now.

I also know of a big operator in Carelton, MI. He supplies Home Depot and Lowes. He uses natural gas and buys it from the commodities market directly. They have real big bill too.

Farmerdoug

Bibbyman · February 09, 2007, 08:17:11 PM

Quote from: farmerdoug on February 09, 2007, 02:01:05 PM
OWW,

It is fun trying to keep those greenhouses heated when the temp drops and the wind blows, isn't it? A friend of mine spent over 35,000 dollars last year on propane to heat his greenhouses. Every time I see him I smile to myself and think of the cash I am saving with the boiler. 8)

Farmerdoug

There is only one plant I know that could turn enough cash to support that kind of heating bill.

SwampDonkey · February 09, 2007, 08:23:36 PM

:D :D :D

farmerdoug · February 09, 2007, 10:04:04 PM

His gross sales are well over 100 grand but you have to figure in labor and other costs. :

I will stay small and have fun with my sawmill side business, I think. ;D

Farmerdoug

Furby · February 09, 2007, 11:23:46 PM

I was at work for a few hours today and my boss was pointing out what greenhouses were full and what ones were being filled and so on.
These are N. gas heated.
I'm not sure how many they have as I've never counted, but will guess between 30 and 40.
Their gross is way over a 100k a year though! ;)
Belive it or not, but they are actually selling weeds too. ;D

SwampDonkey · February 10, 2007, 07:24:41 AM

That's by no means a small operator Furb. ;D We don't have natural gas service here, they cut us off from the rest of the country. We do have some recent natural gas service along the south coast from Sable, but the bulk is sent across the line. They've even been wrangling with Maine over an LNG in the Passamaquoddy Bay. Natural gas is not as cheap as it was, and wood looks a lot better right now. ;) Apparently, Irving brings it in from Spain even when it's on his door step. Probably a tactic to kill the market and eventually take it over once the owners pull out.

woody1 · February 10, 2007, 05:09:25 PM

I have a Hardy outside boiler.. takes a pickup load a week. I burn mostly oak and maple, but if it has bark on it..in it goes. I love ole smokey.

farmerdoug · February 10, 2007, 06:03:12 PM

Furby, What outfit are you working for?

Farmerdoug

SwampDonkey · February 10, 2007, 07:59:32 PM

Stuff like broccoli and coliflour and even tomatoes don't really get that much of a start ahead of the sown seed that they put direct in the field. They grow 100's of acres (I think McCain's and maybe Cavendish) of it up around Caribou, Maine and it's all machine sown in the field. I've had volunteer tomatoes come up in the garden and produce fruit. Cucumbers that you transplant mostly die, they can't take the shock. Way far ahead sowing the seed in the ground.

On the subject of selling weeds, they just put alternative dressy names to wild shrubs and trees here and sell them. But it is convenient for people and not everyone has land to go dig the stuff . Although, I've see some outfits go along the road and dig wild stuff up in the early spring. They bring some variety of magnolia up here and sell, that has no chance of survival in this climate. They sell wild high bush cranberry up here and call them snowball, which are both viburnum, but the flower arrangement is different. I planted a hydrangea for mother about 25 years ago and it's never grown a bit, just a stick. Must have the tightest growth rings of any shrub alive. :D
There is one commercial green house operation, similar to what Furby describes, but also with many field crops in the summer. Most all their green house stock is sent state side. This outfit is from NH, I can remember the old 'beater' trucks they drove here back 15 years or so with the license plates. ACOA built the place and bought the land. They are basically a commune, but not really to themselves, they have certain times you can go and buy stuff. They sell a lot of mulch in summer months.

http://www.qc.ec.gc.ca/dpe/Publication/Mat_Res_eng_v5_secur.pdf

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OneWithWood · February 12, 2007, 10:14:00 AM

FD, staying small certainly has its advantages. Linnea's gross sales do not have to be enormous to make a go of it. Of course her hired hand (moi) works for less than peas :D

The pressure is off for now because I got the biodiesel burner figured out and the boiler is running 100% on biodiesel 8)

We also picked up a loader mechanism that will allow Linnea to load short logs (40"). This will give us longer burn times and I won't need to split rounds small enough for her to hand throw 8) 8)