[TheForge] cutting wood

[Jerry Frost]

NOt efficiently nor properly Bruce, no. A pellet stove literally hovers the 
pellets in a terminal velocity air stream and thus achieves a very efficient 
burn. Using chips will introduce a bunch of different size and shape pieces 
into a specialized air stream which won't hover them properly. What happens 
is some of the larger chips end up plugging the air stream while the small 
pieces just go up the flue, on fire.

On the other hand there are a number of chip stoves available, many are 
stokers so all you have to do is load the chip bin outside and let the auger 
feed the stove controlled by the thermostat.

The engineering of the two types of stove are very different but neither is 
beyond a competent fabricator as a home build.

Last year I kept track (sort of) and I spent about $8.00 on fuel to cut, 
buck and split some 8 cords of wood. The splitter cost under $100 in rental. 
Pellets here are hard to come by and more expensive than fuel oil.

Next season I plan on renting a Cat 315 excavator with thumb and pushing em 
over, picking em up, shaking the dirt out of the roots and hauling them back 
and stacking em in the yard to buck and split. Can you say, fast, easy, SAFE 
and economical? An excavator cab is one of the most heavily armored in the 
heavy equipment world, it's pretty easy to let something get away from you 
and have it come back. They are very VERY tough but better yet, they usually 
have complete air systems and good sound systems. I love excavators.

Good thing my retirement job last summer was delivering equipment for a 
local rental outfit eh? Gollygosh I LOVE diesel burning power tools! <VBG>

Frosty the Lucky
-------------------------
If it ain't forged
It ain't real
wrought iron is
The Frostworks



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bruce Freeman" <freemab222 at gmail.com>
To: "Bob Ehrenberger" <eforge at centurytel.net>; "Blacksmithing List Sponsored 
by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 11:50 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] cutting wood


> Can pellet stoves burn (dried) chipped wood?  Municipalities around
> here chip wood (wet) for disposal of prunings, etc., and some make it
> available free as mulch.  Come up with a way to dry the "mulch" and
> you might have cheap fuel.
>
> On Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 10:50 AM, Bob Ehrenberger <eforge at centurytel.net> 
> wrote:
>> Mark,
>>
>> I'm kind of a do it myself sort of guy and have been cutting wood since I
>> was in Jr High, some 45 years now. I have always enjoyed the wood cutting
>> process, it makes a nice change from blacksmithing.
>>
>> The gas to cut wood runs about 1/2 gal for a 2 or 3 week supply. I cut 
>> wood
>> on my own farm so it is just a couple hundred yards from the house, not 
>> much
>> truck gas there. The splitter uses less gas than the chain saw. When
>> growing up we did all the splitting by hand, dad didn't get a splitter 
>> until
>> my brother and I moved away. Actually my brother and I got the splitter 
>> for
>> him, we were concerned that it was too much work for him.
>>
>> Some of the pellet stoves can also burn corn, which would solve some of 
>> the
>> supply problem. Though I don't like the idea of using food for fuel, the
>> ethanol thing has really driven up the cost of corn for annimal feed.
>>