Do You Heat With Wood?

[ElkNut1]

Who Heats their home primarily with wood? What kind of wood do you cut or do some have to buy it? We heat with wood & have done so for over 40 years mostly. These days it's lodgepole & tamarack., it takes aprox 5 1/2 cords per year.

ElkNut1

[MichaelD]

About a 2400 foot home with primarily wood heat. Insert stove. 3 chords keep us warm all winter. Tamarac and red fir.

[foxvalley]

We have an outside wood boiler that heats the big house, and the taxidermy studio,together about 5000 sq.ft. It also heats the little cabin,about 650 sq.ft.
When it gets real cold out, like right now,(it's 2 degrees with a wind chill of -28.Welcome to WI.)We have a wood stove in the great room that we fire up.
The boiler burns just about anything you throw at it.We mostly cut standing live timber,mostly thinning out maple,a little birch and oak.
Believe it or not green maple burns the best,next best green birch.My babies,(deer) reep the benefits of all the tree cutting with all the delicious tree tops to munch on. I call the boiler the wood monster,it eats a good size tree every two to three days,I don't even want to think how many cords. I also get to burn the tops of the pines that is left over from my log cabin project,I have to mix the pine with other woods cuz it burns for crap. Seems like I have a chain saw in my hand all the time.LOL.

[Swede]

We have no wood heater in our home now that we have moved back to western Oregon. We have a newer home with a gas fireplace and simulated "logs".
My brother and I cut wood with dad as boys. As an adult I cut wood and used it until I retired. A couple of years ago I found the old axe my brother and I had used to split wood with as kids. You could see where it had gone through the wood into the dirt and the corners of the bit were worn down. I cleaned it up and put a new handle in that old axe. Then I gave it to my oldest daughter as a keep sake. Like theelkhunter, I miss using wood.

[cnelk]

Wood stove and no running water growing up in N Minnesota.
Green birch and jack pine for wood.
Had running water for the cattle out at the barn but it wasnt drinkable [too sandy]
Mom washed diapers in the creek when she could.

Now I just heat with wood out in my shop - where I reload bullets and skin fur in the winter

[ElkNut1]

MichaelD, welcome to the Forum!

Good stuff guys, I didn't realize most have used or still use wood these days, cool. Our home is aprox 2000' with 20' high ceiling so it takes a bit more wood to heat all the empty space. We have a ceiling fan that kicks it down so it's OK. When temps get near -20 to 5deg I really have to crank the ole stove up high. We've noticed wood heat warmth is very hard to beat over conventional furnace heat, wood heat warms the body & bones! (grin) My son heats his home too, I believe he uses around 4 cords or a bit less. We cut wood together, he picked up a wood splitter last year & used it on a cord in a half or so at my place but I split the rest by hand. All past years splitting is done with a maul. It's decent exercise too but the new splitter is fast!

What saws have you guys been using? We have a couple of stihls.

ElkNut1

[cnelk]

Now I have a Husqvarna.

One of the best saws I have had was a Jonsered.
But that was used for true logging purposes. Not firewood cutting

[Swede]

I have had Mcculloch (back when they still made by Bob Mcculloch), Stihl and now a Husqvarna. I also had a PM Canadian and Skil chainsaw. Both of those were 7.5-9 cu. inch tools.

[MichaelD]

Thanks for the welcome Paul!
One of the best saws I have is an older echo 650 evl - simply put a beast that eats wood as fast as you can move the saw to the next cut. Also have a Stihl Farmboss as does my brother and my father has the Stihl two or so sizes larger than the farmboss. We can lay a lot of wood on the ground an in the pickups/trailers when the three of us are all up and running!
My brother uses a splitter but I would rather hand split with an axe. I enjoy the exercise and I have a lot more control over the size and shape of the pieces when I get into the swing of things.
Love getting wood in the spring/summer. Great excuse to get into the woods with the family, enjoy the outdoors, scout, and put up cameras!

[foxvalley]

I run all stihls 046 with 30" bar, 260 with a 16" and a little 170 with 14" bar.
We have hydronic heat in the floors,and it's -7 with -28 windchill,right now, and I'm sitting here,bare feet on the concrete floor, warming my tootsies. We also have high ceilings,and hydronic heat is warmer at floor level than at the ceiling.Nothing beats the combined heat of hydronic and the old wood stove " cranked on high" when it gets this cold.

[foxvalley]

Wood stove and no running water growing up in N Minnesota.
Green birch and jack pine for wood.
Had running water for the cattle out at the barn but it wasnt drinkable [too sandy]
Mom washed diapers in the creek when she could.

Now I just heat with wood out in my shop - where I reload bullets and skin fur in the winter

cnelk,I used to deer hunt in your old neck of the woods, smokey bear state forest,just southwest of international falls, off of st. rd "1" How close were you?

[cnelk]

Wood stove and no running water growing up in N Minnesota.
Green birch and jack pine for wood.
Had running water for the cattle out at the barn but it wasnt drinkable [too sandy]
Mom washed diapers in the creek when she could.

Now I just heat with wood out in my shop - where I reload bullets and skin fur in the winter

cnelk,I used to deer hunt in your old neck of the woods, smokey bear state forest,just southwest of international falls, off of st. rd "1" How close were you?

Prob about 80 miles to the NW.... on the south side of Lake of the Woods..

[pointysticks]

i wish.

i love all things about wood fires. i love the chainsaws, i love the Axes.

you guys go and knock down trees for free? when i was in idaho, i saw alot of families out hunting for wood. neat to see. living where i live, a house fire is something else..it is less about home heat, and more about home decoration.

[ElkNut1]

Just checked my saws & one is a Husky 61 it's the farm model but is a pretty good back up saw with a 24" bar. My main one is a newer Stihl 362 28" bar, got it from my son, he bought a new Stihl the next size bigger, can't recall the #. They are great saws for us! We generally cut 10 cords a year. All my wood is split with a 6lb maul, to tough for an ax. Of course that wood splitter will be getting more action this year! (grin)

ElkNut1

[>>>---WW---->]

I used to heat with wood for close to 25 years. We burned aspen. It used to be fun cutting fire wood. Now it is a PITA. Seemed like we spent all summer getting ready for the coming winter. So when we built our new home 10 years ago, we switched to pellets. We used to burn about 4 tons a winter. Then we made the front pourch into a sun room and the last couple of years we have gotten by with a little over 2 tons.

[foxvalley]

i wish.

i love all things about wood fires. i love the chainsaws, i love the Axes.

you guys go and knock down trees for free? when i was in idaho, i saw alot of families out hunting for wood. neat to see. living where i live, a house fire is something else..it is less about home heat, and more about home decoration.

Pointy, Your more than welcome to come out here and cut down as many trees as you want. The last time I checked I need 46 more white pine for the cabin project,and, lets see, about 30 more trees for firewood. ( I won't even charge you)

[easeup]

well guys, I am probably the southern most elknut here so it is understood it doesnt get that cold here.
but we heat with wood and I could care less about the cost of it or how in efficient the process is.

I can heat all winter on 2 cords of oak. burns clean and doesnt pop out on the floor. I bought a splitter about 5 years ago and do all the wood for Dad , brother and my son. It is hard to keep up with that many fireplaces. the wood is all free because of the oak wilt plight here. The trees are dying faster than I can cut and split up. it really is good exercise too.

for the younger men here is something I wish I had done earlier in life.....wear ear muffs while sawing!!!!

maybe I could have heard a few more elk in my days huh?

[ElkNut1]

Good point, we too always use ear protection!

ElkNut1

[foxvalley]

Easeup,very good point about the hearing protection,I have been very lax in this department,and now wear a hearing aid because of it. Hard to hear elk bugle if you can't hear.

[Lefty]

We burned red elm and black walnut in southen Minnesota in the shop.
My wife grew up heating their house with lodgepole and aspen
I sold my stoves in our current house
If I had easy wood nearby I would lke to suppliment mostly I like hearing and feeling a nice fire,.. but burning wood as the sole heat in my home,.. It sucks for me,.. sold the "wood" trailer last summer,... having rotator cuff surgury Monday
Maybe after retirement a place in the woods and Ill burn wood again

[Miller1]

i have a outdoor woodburner that heats my house and my water, i have been doing it for 7 years and it is a huge money saver, i use a husqvarna 359 with a 20" bar for most stuff but when i have to tackle the big stuff a use my Jonsered 2186 with a 28" bar. moastly oak, cherry, hard maple.

[Haulin'Quarters]

I heat with wood from Oct.- Apr. here in N. Idaho. Mainly burn Red Fir, Tamarack, and White Fir. 390 Stihl with a 28" bar, after running this saw for 3 years I think I want a bigger saw. The house is approximately 2500 sq. feet. I burn through about 5 1/2 cords, depending on how the wife burns when I'm at work.

[pointysticks]

Do you guys collect fallen trees or do you have to knock down fresh trees? Seemed like all the tree hunters I met were looking at standing trees.

[foxvalley]

Do you guys collect fallen trees or do you have to knock down fresh trees? Seemed like all the tree hunters I met were looking at standing trees.

Pointy, I like to collect fallen trees first,otherwise they just end up rotting on the ground,any standing dead trees next,and then selective cut out trees that are undesirable,or like today, a large maple wolf tree.A wolf tree is a large tree that hogs all the light,and overshadows the other trees next to it,and doesn't let anything grow underneath it.
I was saving this tree for you to cut down,but I didn't here back from you.

I went for a walk last night, and I heard the oaks whispering to each other about the maples taking all the light,so I "rushed" back to grab my saw, the time was "2112". Today the oaks won.

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[pointysticks]

Fox. Loved the Rush reference. Haha.

[foxvalley]

Fox. Loved the Rush reference. Haha.

I thought you would,my friend.

[>>>---WW---->]

Do you guys collect fallen trees or do you have to knock down fresh trees? Seemed like all the tree hunters I met were looking at standing trees.

When I was cutting firewood, I mainly cut aspen. We always preferred the standing dead. Nine times out of ten, the ones that were already on the ground were rotten in the middle. But every once in awhile we could find a good solid one that was already down. I always sunk the saw in them first just to test them. If I found a good one it saved the time of dropping a standing one.

[eriks.]

We heat 2100 sq ft with a mix of oak, ash, osage orange. We get enough blow downs and sick trees not to have to cut live ones. You have to be careful with the osage because it burns so hot so I use small pieces and mix in other species. Last winter here in Missouri it was barely cold enough to go through a couple cords.

I am a building contractor and between all of the equipment/tools I've operated, I am very hard of hearing. Please heed the earlier advice to use hearing protection regardless of what loud activity you are doing. My head rings 24/7. What a drag!

[Chukarhunter]

I had a wood stove for years, but the older I got the more attractive a pellet stove became. About two years ago I made the switch. When I was burning wood, I used mainly oak and maple, about 3 cords/year (I'm in Northern Nevada). My house is about 1700 sq ft., and my one stove heated the house so much I kept half my windows open!! Now, I go through about one 40 lb bag of pellets a day. Much easier, but it doesn't heat like the wood stove did, and nowhere near the ambiance of watching the flames!!

[Heartwood]

We also have been heating with wood for around 30 + years. Started with hardwoods in the east growing up and in forestry school. Moved to Idaho and now burn Douglas Fir and Pondarosa Pine, mostly cull logs and slabs off my sawmill. We tend to burn 4 full cords per year in an 1800 sf. log house.
We do now have a hydro splitter and run both huskies and stihls (both great saws). This time of year I start to get tired of feeding "The Beast" and dream of spring and turkey hunting. I agree the heat from a wood stove is nice compared to forced air systems for sure. My shop, when finished, will have hydronic heat in the slab and a wood boiler. At the rate I'm going, should have it done by the time I retire to woodworking in the shop.
Not to long now till warmer days of spring, until then stay warm all.