Fired up in Maine

Yeah sometimes I question whether or not I made the right choice of avoiding cold at all costs ....

I should be avoiding MA at all costs!

SMITTY wrote:Yeah sometimes I question whether or not I made the right choice of avoiding cold at all costs ....

I should be avoiding MA at all costs!

Double edged sword I guess.

I should be avoiding NJ at all costs

Just talked to my friend that got a place mid-coast near Belfast. They have a woodstove and are looking for firewood. I have busted his chops about converting to coal but no interest so far. He said firewood up there is more expensive than it is here in NJ. Less hardwood available I guess. He got a price of $190 a full cord for maple and ash, but the guy told him it's only been seasoning for 2 months. Landscaper. Other cordwood prices around $225.
If it burns and doesn't hiss and put out steam, I guess it's seasoned enough.
I don't trust woodsellers any more than used car salesmen

Dann757 wrote:I should be avoiding NJ at all costs

Just talked to my friend that got a place mid-coast near Belfast. They have a woodstove and are looking for firewood. I have busted his chops about converting to coal but no interest so far. He said firewood up there is more expensive than it is here in NJ. Less hardwood available I guess. He got a price of $190 a full cord for maple and ash, but the guy told him it's only been seasoning for 2 months. Landscaper. Other cordwood prices around $225.
If it burns and doesn't hiss and put out steam, I guess it's seasoned enough.
I don't trust woodsellers any more than used car salesmen

People wait til the last minute to get firewood. Happens all the time.........usually to the same people every year and then they wonder why there's no more seasoned wood to be had. The price for seasoned firewood at the top of the state is around $200 a cord. Cheaper if you buy tree length and then cut a split it yourself........about $110. That's what my brother does. He heats year round with wood............costs him around $800 per year. Coal is soooooooo much easier.............but more expensive than wood.

sterling40man wrote:Coal is soooooooo much easier.............but more expensive than wood.

Sometimes, sometimes not. And, if you pay yourself $5 an hour to cut, split, stack, load it makes things even closer. Certainly wood can be cheaper, but I got 400 pound of free coal this year....let's see a tree beat that!

Also Dann's friend is correct in that good hardwood is difficult to get on the coast. We only had scrubby birch and maple depending on location. All the nice stuff is inland and must be trucked. My brother also burns wood year round. And we own a skidder and woodland, but it is still not free by any stretch of the imagination. If it was I never would have tried coal. And there wouldn't be a tree left standing for miles around a town, just like in the old days.

Kevin

We burned a lot of hackmatack (tamarack) (eastern larch) and spruce and fir in the warmer weather. Most think it is no good but wood is wood and will do the job depending on outside temp and needed length of burn time. He still has a large storage tank system.

on for another season, where did the time go....

Dann757 wrote:... $190 a full cord for maple and ash, but the guy told him it's only been seasoning for 2 months ... I don't trust woodsellers any more than used car salesmen

I always chuckle when somebody says they are selling "seasoned" firewood. That can mean anything from "stacked up for a year", to "I cut it yesterday".

That is true Rberg, I have never ever seen anyone have wood on hand for over a year before selling it. I have seen people "wilt" the wood to dry it, stack it up uncovered, stack it up covered, cover it in piles with blue tarps, stack it under open buildings, and leave it long length just because they had more then they could sell and call it seasoned next year. In a climate like Maine, there is no way to assure dryness with any certainty unless it is indoors and climate controlled. A week of fog on the coast undoes much drying. Burn it hot, check your chimney often.

Kevin

and the games begin :

FREEZE WATCH
in effect until Saturday, Oct 13, 10:00am.

...FREEZE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING...

* TEMPERATURES...LOWS FROM 25 TO 32.

* TIMING...TEMPERATURES MAY FALL BELOW FREEZING AS EARLY AS 10 PM FRIDAY AND MAY NOT RISE ABOVE FREEZING AGAIN UNTIL 10 AM SATURDAY.

* IMPACTS...VULNERABLE OUTDOOR PLANTS MAY BE KILLED IF NOT PROTECTED. THOSE WITH PLANTS OR ACTIVITIES THAT COULD BE NEGATIVELY IMPACTED BY FREEZING TEMPERATURES WILL NEED TO TAKE ACTION TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT OF THE COLD TEMPERATURES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A FREEZE WATCH MEANS SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES ARE POSSIBLE. THESE CONDITIONS COULD KILL CROPS AND OTHER SENSITIVE VEGETATION.

About 2" of snow on the ground this morning in these parts.

The first cold night of the fall season is on for tonight. Had to winterize the cottage before the frost hits, ( above ground water pipes out on the Island). This also gave me a chance to take the Boston Whaler for the last ride of the season. The boat ride was not too bad...45*F for about twenty minutes each way.
I have the Estate Heatrola burning nut @ 300*F and this will be a good test for the big stove.....I do not have any insulation in the house yet.... Sill working on that part....

Eddie

A couple seasons back firewood around here was going for close to $300 a cord!! No idea what it's at now but I'd imagine not too much less than that.

Everything in this state is expensive. It's a wonder they haven't found a way to tax the air we breath ...... oh wait .... emissions regulations already do that, indirectly.

I'm still going on particle board! Gotta load every hour on the hour, but at least it's warm in here. Still too warm during the day to fire the coal up.