So Much Free Fuel - I don't need to cut down living trees to burn, because I keep finding sticks and tree branches already broken off and fallen to the ground. I gather what I find and break it or cut it into smaller lengths to put into my little wood stove. (Location: Arkansas, USA)

submitted by In-the-clouds from (john1126.com)

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[–]GuyWhite 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (14 children)

https://share.icloud.com/photos/010Reyz6J-dZCguOlDz3ytcSg

This is how I pick up sticks. I cut dead trees in the National Forest Service. A few years ago a fire went through the area I cut. Notice the bark on the log is blackened from a fire.

I cut trees down and skid them out to the road with cables and chains and the pickup truck with the mighty little 2.7L engine in 4x4 low. I cut into logs of multiples of 18 inches of length; depends on log diameter and what I can lift. You can see the mark-out paint on the log showing me where to cut. (I try to do the least work in the field so I can collect the maximum amount of wood before I tire.). Load logs onto trailer and haul home.

At my leisure, I cut to 18” lengths and split and stack.

(It’s just a bit more exercise than picking up sticks.)

[–]In-the-clouds[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (13 children)

Beautiful explanation with photo! Is this free wood for you? Or maybe you are paid to do this? I have never heard of anyone doing your kind of work, but it looks like a good deal for you! And getting some exercise is good for your health. Honest work is a great form of exercise.

[–]GuyWhite 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (12 children)

The US Forest Service permit costs nothing. The wood is supposed to be for personal use and not sold.

I have never spent the whole winter in Montana. I spent part of last winter there when it was unusually cold most of the time and -41F one night. I mostly used wood for heating. I estimate I would need 10 cords to get through a whole winter. The Forest Service permit allows me to cut up to 12 cords for a year.

[–]In-the-clouds[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I guess they think you are doing them a free service, by hauling away the dead trees. I wonder if you ever see bugs in the wood. I saw white worms (maggots or termites?) in a couple pieces of fallen tree limbs as I was putting the pieces into the wood stove. I felt kind of sad about burning the bugs, but I wonder if that helps prevent the spread of those bugs to living trees. But I don't know if these bugs even had anything to do with the rotting tree limbs or if they came after the tree limbs already fell to the ground. But by burning the dead trees, it's possible you are helping to protect the other living trees from disease and pests.

[–]In-the-clouds[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (10 children)

Your comment has come to my mind several times, especially the part about it getting down to -41F. What was that experience like? How cold did it get inside? Were you able to produce enough heat to feel warm? Did the water pipes freeze? Can you give any description of what that was like?

[–]GuyWhite 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I heated with wood. The fireplace could not keep up. My propane heater turned on and helped a bit.

I was concerned about the propane losing pressure…the vapor pressure of pure propane is equal to atmospheric pressure at -41F. But you don’t get pure propane. You get a mix with some ethane and butane in it. There must have been enough ethane in it to keep up the pressure.

I only heat to 63F; I’m temperature sensitive due to MS. That temperature feels good and I was able to maintain it.

Water systems in Montana are built to be hardy. My house is in a foundation with a crawl space and an uninsulated floor. The crawl space stays in the upper 30s to just over 40F. Temps are slow to change. So the pipes stay liquid. But I operated a portable electric heater in the crawl space for safety.

My log cabin is well sealed. But there were a few small leaks between a few logs that I was aware of. The air leaking in was so cold that ice formed inside at the leaks.

[–]In-the-clouds[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

It's incredible you could survive that night, which was colder than it is currently in Antarctica. (At the MacMurdo base it is -24F.) And I'm impressed you could keep the temperature up to 63F, even if you needed supplemental heat from propane.

[–]GuyWhite 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

The old timers here remember a -50F night. I hope I’m not here if one of those comes again.

The typical 1’ diameter logs in a log cabin actually provide quite a bit of insulation. I have what the locals call “Montana air conditioning.” In the summer, morning temperatures are typically in the upper 40s to lower 50s. You open up the house, (I use a fan in the window too),and cool to the lower 60’s and then close up. On hot, sunny days in the upper 80s or low 90s, the cabin may get as high as 72 by 8:00 pm. The cool floor is a bonus.

Due to my MS, I have a really small window AC unit stored in my garage. I have only had to use it twice when morning temperatures were in the upper 60s. You would be surprised to see how effective even a small A/C unit is in a climate where the summer dew point is in the low 40s.

[–]In-the-clouds[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I was thinking those thick tree logs would be good insulation, and you confirmed it. My workshop in Arkansas, where I have the small wood stove, has no insulation and a very thin wall of plywood. The heat escapes quickly. I would like to insulate it.

[–]GuyWhite 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Continued…. I got my temperature gun out and measured the inside temperature of the log walls. Down low, near the floor, the logs were only in the 30s.

My other concern was my vehicles. I keep my gasoline truck in Montana. But it was in storage; I had bought it In Louisiana. It had no block heater or snow tires. I was using my diesel truck at the time. Winter diesel (2 winter) waxes and jells at about -10 to -20. Kerosine (#1 diesel) will go down to about -45. I had just filled with #2 when the ominous forecast was issued. I was only able to get about about 1/2 a tank of kero in the afternoon before the deep freeze. So I didn’t even try to start my diesel. Its block heater is useless when the whole fuel system is jelled.

I’ve learned my lesson. I had a block heater installed in my gasoline truck and I bought snow tires and a set of wheels for it. While I’m in Montana, my diesel is in the storage area this year🤠

[–]In-the-clouds[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I would guess the floor was cold. I'm sure you had your feet covered and didn't walk around barefoot. With the temperatures that cold, I would not even want to go for a drive. Where would you go? I hope you have extra food and trust the Lord to provide what you can't get.

[–]GuyWhite 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Yeah, you wear thick socks, slippers or moccasins. Even in the summer. The crawl space doesn’t get above 53 at the end of the summer.

I had an appointment with a governmental agency that morning. At the time to leave my house, 10:30am, it was -35. I didn’t go. It had snowed that night too. There were 4 occupied houses between my cabin and end of the dead end road. At 10:30, there were no tire tracks in the fresh snow. Nobody would go anywhere. My barber told me later that every morning appointment she had canceled on her.

[–]In-the-clouds[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

You've had some interesting experiences. The extreme cold is paralyzing. I'm glad you survived. I have a brother that lived in the Bozeman area and he almost died when going outside his house in blizzard conditions and could no longer see his house or see how to return. He was blinded by white snow everywhere. He finally found the fence, buried in snow, grabbed onto it, and followed it back to his house.

Buffalo, New York has many stories to tell from last winter....

This man didn't make it. (video)

But this man was rescued from the cold snow.

[–]GuyWhite 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Once when explaining that the temperature had gone down to -40, some smart ass asked me “F or C?.” My reply was “Both, the temperature scales cross at that point.” https://share.icloud.com/photos/06cQqnmPYo-bBGVYkNbdbCL8A

[–]In-the-clouds[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I'm not used to seeing the temperature get that low, but I see what you mean, that it is the same on both scales at -40F.

[–]In-the-clouds[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

You can see the free fuel being used to cook popcorn (and hear a message about the future of money) previously posted here.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

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