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(Continued from Part 2.)

When the 2024/2025 woodstove season started, I had roughly seven cords of stacked, seasoned wood in the shipping container. We use about two cords of wood each winter. My goal is to always have at least two years of firewood on hand. To me, three years is an insurance policy. If I am unable to gather firewood one summer, I do not need to worry. I will simply gather more the following summer. I also store everything I need to gather, cut, carry, and split wood to prep it for storage. Our log splitter, chainsaws, axes, hatchets, crosscut saws, chains, kindling splitters, and kindling storage racks are all housed in the shipping container. This spring, after I tidy up the end I was pulling from, I am going to install a heavy-duty metal rack to store the tools on. I will also use the rack to store all of our canning supplies and outdoor cooking gear.

Wood Varieties to Burn

I have met people who obsess over which wood to burn because of the BTUs (British Thermal Unit – A measure of heat) certain woods have. I know people who will go out of there way and only harvest/burn lodgepole pine when there are other varieties in the same area that will burn hotter and longer, like fir and oak. I know others who will not burn other varieties because of the amount of ash or smell it creates. To each their own. Find a variety of wood that is readily available in your area, that you prefer, and use it. I burn almost any variety of wood I can get my hands on, but my favorite is fir. I love fir for many reasons. It is abundant near my home. It splits straight, so stacking is easy and neat. It makes great kindling that ignites fast. Most of all, I love burning fir, because even though it is considered a “soft wood”, it heats my home very well. |

Seasoned hardwood burns longer and hotter, but fir suits us just fine. I clean my chimney once a month and I rarely have much creosote buildup. (Creosote is a byproduct of burning wood. If creosote is allowed to build up too long, it can ignite and create a flu fire. Flu fires are extremely dangerous and can damage your chimney, stove/flue pipe. If you have a flu fire, have your stove and piping checked out by a professional.)

Another type of wood that I like to burn is Red Iron Bark Eucalyptus. When we bought our home, there was a large Eucalyptus grove at the very back of the property the previous owner planted. I am no fan of Eucalyptus. In fact, I have a great disdain for it. Eucalyptus trees are extremely messy. Each month of the year, a Eucalyptus tree drops something to the ground, be it leaves, bark, branches, seed pods, flowers, etc. On our property, if there is an ornamental, non-native tree that does not produce food, it gets cut down.Continue reading“Fuels for Cooking, Warmth and Comfort – Part 3, by Lodge Pole”

(Continued from Part 1.)

Tools for Cutting Wood at Home

Wheelbarrow or manure cart- I use these to haul wood and cutting equipment. Occasionally, someone will offer me free firewood they cut some time previously. Sometimes, if it is seasoned and not split, the wood can be heavy. In these circumstances, I will use a furniture dolly, but I try to never cut and/or haul anything that large/heavy.

Hunting/Boy’s Axe – I prefer using a two-pound “boy’s axe” because it is extremely light, and easily maneuverable. This is strictly used for delimbing.
Splitting maul – I use these not only for splitting wood, but also for driving wedges. An eight, or ten-pound splitting maul seems to work best for me and the wood I split. The weight of your splitting maul is strictly personal preference.
Gas-powered wood splitter – These are a time saver and are very helpful in processing a lot of wood quickly. Ensure all your limbs and appendages are clear of the blade, rams, and wedges. Until last year, I split most firewood by hand. I love a beefy eight-pound maul with a synthetic handle. I prefer wooden handles, but I have had far too many of them break after very little use. The synthetic handled mauls can withstand far more abuse and for a much longer time. Eventually, they all break, but it takes a lot longer with a synthetic handle. In early 2024, I finally broke down and bought a log splitter. I love it. Under the right conditions, I can split a cord of wood in about an hour.
Chainsaw and associated tools/fluids – I currently use a Stihl 271 Farm Boss. It’s a great chainsaw and has never failed me. When this one needs to be replaced, I may look at other brands.
Sledgehammer – Either handheld or full-size. On too many occasions, I have had a stubborn piece of firewood get stuck on the wood splitter wedge. A few hits from a sledgehammer usually take care of the stuck piece quickly. Be careful though. I swung and hit a stuck piece of wood once, when the wooden handle broke, launching the hammerhead and a sharp piece of handle flying into my friend’s chest. Fortunately, he wasn’t hurt too badly.
I also use full-sized sledgehammers for driving steel wedges into hard, stringy or stubborn wood. Sometimes, a splitting maul just won’t do the trick, or isn’t balanced enough to turn around and use the flat, hammer side. Again, the weight and size are a matter of personal preference.Continue reading“Fuels for Cooking, Warmth and Comfort – Part 2, by Lodge Pole”

Before buying our home, we rented it. The first winter living there, I had forgotten to call and get a propane fill-up. When I checked the tank level, it showed 1%. I called the propane company, explained that I needed a fill-up, and was told they could not service me for another week or more. The only exception was if I agreed to be placed “on route”, which meant they would fill my tank when they were in our area, every two weeks. We needed propane to stay warm since our only heat was an HVAC system, so I agreed to be “on route”. If you are a “will-call” customer, the propane company will not fill your tank unless it is below thirty percent. Being “on route” means the propane truck will top off your tank regardless of the tanks propane level. Our tank was filled the following day after a credit check and agreeing to be placed on route. As I said, these “top-offs” were every two weeks and began to get expensive. It was about two to three hundred dollars each time we were refilled. As soon as we didn’t need to run the heater, I called the propane company and changed our service to will call.

One day during a fill-up, the propane delivery driver told me the cost was .47 cents a gallon more than my neighbors because my tank was smaller than 200 gallons. He told me not to say a word about it, but since I no longer use that company, I believe it is acceptable to warn you that you might currently be taken advantage of. At the time, our house only had a 150-gallon tank. My wife and I planned to put a 500-gallon tank in, but the costs skyrocketed right before we bought our house. A 500-gallon tank ran about $500 a few years prior. Over the past few years, I have seen them reaching as much as $3,500 in some neighboring counties. We shopped around for almost three years until we finally found one.Continue reading“Fuels for Cooking, Warmth and Comfort – Part 1, by Lodge Pole”