Money matters

I've just been summing up how much I've spent so far on my little project and I'm a bit shocked!!! Especially seeing that this was supposed to be "free heat"! This is the breakdown:

Things bought so far: bow saw - £7, splitter axe - £5, wood used for shacks - £30, fire back and lintel - £80, drain rods with sweep brush head - £25, grate and fire bricks - £15, ash pan - £2, brush and shovel for ash clean up - £3, fire guard - £24.

It's heading to £200 quid!!! yahhh - I hope this fire is good when it's finally installed.

Thought of the day

I've been reading a forum/discussion board about log burners/burning wood today and some old fellow on there summed it up nicely...

"I couldn't be more happy" he said. "I love all the 'faffing' that goes with it, i.e. scrounging wood, chopping, cleaning, etc. I find it really satisfying."

I couldn't have put it better myself :-)

How much is enough?

I've only gone and done it! All the wood I'd collected has now been sawn and chopped. I've been playing log tetris all afternoon and now both of my wood stores have been filled completely (with a little left over). The tall one is about 3foot by 7foot, the short fat one is about 5foot by about 8foot. They can now get a sun tan over the summer and dry out as much as possible. I think this ends my wood collecting phase.

==> Update 15/03/09: I just can't stop collecting wood!! I've started a new pile behind my garage now - but this has to be the last lot I collect because I've run out of room after that. I reckon this new pile will be my winter 2010/2011 supply - so it will be 2 years old when I burn it - perfectly seasoned. The stuff in the pictures above will be just 1 year old when burnt but should still be OK. Also I've had a bit of a disaster with the thin wood shelf/shack thing above - the shelves have started to sag! The thickness of the wood I used in the construction isn't sufficient for the weight of the logs - I reckoned on packing each section so that it supported the weight of logs above it - but as the logs season/dry/shrink then they become no longer packed tight and the shelf above suffers. I'm going to unpack and repack next weekend which should sort it.

Skulduggery not so pleasant

New developments at my local wood source. The council have been back with the chainsaw and cut back the massive stump of a tree and kindly left some huge chunks of wood. This seems to have sent out a message to the wood collecting community and every man and his dog (they always seems to have dogs) are there collecting bits.

I myself popped along and grabbed as much as I could carry, had a brief chat with numerous others who were helping themselves from the pile. Actually overdid it on one load and as I bent over to put on my backpack a big log popped out the top, banged me on the head and rolled off - and what was worse was that a dog walker saw me do it and rushed over to check if I was alright. "Yes" I said. "Head fine, coolness in tatters" I thought.

And from what I've heard /seen there's been some skulduggery going on - not only pure muscle and backpacks (i.e. me) have been involved - yesterday I saw a man with a wheelbarrow (sullen fellow) and I've heard that someone came down with a horse. A horse!!! Now that is CHEATING!!

Chim Chim Cheree

Chim chiminey
Chim chiminey

Chim chim cher-ee!

A sweep is as lucky
As lucky can be

Oh yes, more new equipment - this time a set of drain rods with a sweep brush attachment (basically what Mr Van Dyke is carrying). I'll be dancing on the rooftops in no time at all!!!

But seriously, for safety's sake, I need to sweep the chimney before I light my first log fire and then sweep it at least once a year or more depending on how much I use it. Don't know how much professional sweeps cost but it's bound to save me money after a few sweeps.

Opportunity missed

There was a tree in a park near my work place that had been blown down recently. It was lying there ready to be sawn up and carted away. I thought I'd get around to it at some point in the future, but no - when I walked past today the council have kindly chipped it for me. D'oh. Never mind there will be other trees, won't there?

It's a question which I'm not too sure about -all the wood I have harvested has come from a particular patch and I'm wondering where I will find other stuff when this lot is used up. I've a good feeling that I'll be able to manage, but what if I can't and I end up having to buy wood?

With my ethos being that I'd be getting free heat - buying wood goes against the grain (if you'll excuse the pun).

The mother-of-all wood shacks

Another month another wood-shack-cum-shelf structure thing.

I've created a bigger version and started to fill it up with logs. I'm trying to make these logs bigger with a view in mind that I can use the smaller stuff to start the fire and get the room hot and then I can sling on a big log to burn slowly and more coolly and thus just keep the temperature nice for a whole evening.

I'm unsure how many wood/logs I'll need for a late autumn/winter/early spring season. I don't want to be rationing them and I don't want to run out in the middle of a cold snap. Therefore I'm going with the theory that too much is better than too little - it's not like wood goes off or anything is it?

Once this latest wood-shack is filled up, I'll be making the mother-of-all-wood-shacks and filling that as well.