I have a large hoop style greenhouse and use the one end to dry milled lumber. It does work very well through out the winter months. The greenhouse stays substantially warmer than outdoor ambient Temps with just a little bit of sunlight. In the summer it can easily hit 110°, even with the end doors open.
14-year-old NEEDS advice for reaching out to sell at local hardware stores
- Thread starter user 188535
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
I have a large hoop style greenhouse and use the one end to dry milled lumber. It does work very well through out the winter months. The greenhouse stays substantially warmer than outdoor ambient Temps with just a little bit of sunlight. In the summer it can easily hit 110°, even with the end doors open.
slabMan
ArboristSite Operative
The kid may have moved on to another 'idea', but he seems to be putting the cart ahead of the horse a bit. Building up his inventory of firewood would be the best and cheapest move, especially if he can get the wood as a byproduct [freebie] from a paying gig for tree care, etc. I wouldn't even think about selling the wood to a commercial store without a large supply of ready to go firewood. If the wood needs to be disinfected then mix up some Propylene glycol [rv a/f] and water, heated, and mix in boric acid or borax [20 mule team] in a weed sprayer and hit your firewood with that. PG has fungicidal qualities and boric acid is an insecticide detergent. If the USDA does not think that is good enough, then that is the way it goes. Building a solar kiln or greenhouse is just another step in handling your wood. Each time you have to move the wood, the more expensive things get [IE "time is money"]. Rv antifreeze can be had at Walmart in the springtime for discounted prices. Borax is cheap. Keep it simple---U get the gist! And try and cut your wood to the same length. Those bundles do not hold well when you have odd sized sticks. Over and out!
Many years ago, boric acid was a standard component of eye wash compounds sold over the counter. Some wise guy decided that since boric acid kills cockroaches, it surely must be a toxic liability, so we no longer have the best eye wash available on the market anymore. Yes, Boric acid, Borax, and boron compounds can be poisonous. That being said, spraying firewood with a Borax solution will add some really cool green color to the flames.
*Regarding burning borax in a fire, Chatbot says this:
*Regarding burning borax in a fire, Chatbot says this:
"Borax fumes: When heated, borax can release boron compounds into the air. Inhalation of high concentrations of boron compounds can potentially cause respiratory irritation and other health issues. However, in typical household uses, the small amount of borax added to a wood fire is unlikely to produce harmful levels of boron fumes."
*Propylene glycol costs too much to spray on firewood, anyway.
slabMan
ArboristSite Operative
PG was $2/Gallon last spring at walmart. Borax is what they put in the hand washing dispensary for the PUBLIC schools when I was in elementary school. There are chemicals in literally EVERYTHING. PG is almost in everything from vapes to shampoo. I did say to "mix" the water and PG with Borax, so I was suggesting a dilute concentration of borax/pg with mostly water, not a high concentration of borax, besides maybe your Chatbot will tell you that Boric acid is also a fire retardant [in higher concentrations]. I am merely suggesting what works for me to keep pests away from my wood--Another alternative would be to buy an expensive product called TIMBOR, but that has boric acid in it as well...
$2.00 per gallon to chase a few bugs away from the woodpile is far more than I am interested in spending.
Yeah, I know about the Borax hand cleaner. I've got some in my office, but it is damned hard to find, at least the kind that goes through the hand dispenser.
Yeah, I know about the Borax hand cleaner. I've got some in my office, but it is damned hard to find, at least the kind that goes through the hand dispenser.
woodsplitta
ArboristSite Member
I say keep it small and sell only dry wood for the most your market will bear and buy a cheap lawnmower to mow for the people that will pay good money for good service. You don't need to do volume, just get paid well for your hard work and provide a good product, most decent people will support a hard working kid because they are rare these days. Keep up the good work just forget trying to grow too big too quick as you will regret it when it owns you. Also when you decide a price for your product add another 50 percent to that and that will be about the right price as most youngsters price too low.
Boraxo, or 20 mule team borax? Borax is usually availble in the laundry section of most grocery stores, Boraxo takes a little more digging,
The Zep TKO is skookum as frig for hand cleaner, gets even the nasties diesel grease without mummifying yer hands.
slabMan
ArboristSite Operative
It works well for my wood slabs.
In the laundry detergent isle of Walmart you can find the 'stuff for hand washing' [IE 20 mule team borax] for about 4 bucks a box. It does work really well for hand washing for sure! And flux for braising metals and a bunch of other stuff.
slabMan
ArboristSite Operative
Tko is good stuff. It has sulfonic acid [from coconut oil] as a surfactant that treats the hands good for sure!
slabMan
ArboristSite Operative
user 188535
Chainsaw-wielding middle-schooler
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2023
- Messages
- 1,033
- Reaction score
- 1,120
And the vapes are in my school. I use Timbor but not for firewood.
slabMan
ArboristSite Operative
I don't spray my firewood either. I use it for live edge wood slab protectant and fungicidal properties where I live in the rain forest. I only suggested it as an option to the seemingly major hassle of kiln drying to satisfy your "clipboards" for commercial sales in the land of the clipboards [D.C. area]. If you start small and keep it simple you will know what you may need as you go. All of those nice tools/equipment you mentioned are nice, but they dont give em away [as they say]. Kick some ass!
slabMan
ArboristSite Operative
It is all firewood in the end~~~>
“What is it that dies? A log of wood dies to become a few planks. The planks die to become a chair. The chair dies to become a piece of firewood, and the firewood dies to become ash. You give different names to the different shapes the wood takes, but the basic substance is there always. If we could always remember this, we would never worry about the loss of anything. We never lose anything; we never gain anything. By such discrimination, we put an end to unhappiness. (118-119)” ~ Swami Satchidananda
“What is it that dies? A log of wood dies to become a few planks. The planks die to become a chair. The chair dies to become a piece of firewood, and the firewood dies to become ash. You give different names to the different shapes the wood takes, but the basic substance is there always. If we could always remember this, we would never worry about the loss of anything. We never lose anything; we never gain anything. By such discrimination, we put an end to unhappiness. (118-119)” ~ Swami Satchidananda
user 188535
Chainsaw-wielding middle-schooler
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2023
- Messages
- 1,033
- Reaction score
- 1,120
Mhm. I am getting ready to hopefully drop 700 bucks on a Stihl BR 800 C-E next weekend for my landscaping business because my dad's husky worked when I wasn't paying for the gas. But it is one fuel-thirsty machine, and loud too.
user 188535
Chainsaw-wielding middle-schooler
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2023
- Messages
- 1,033
- Reaction score
- 1,120
So... Why was this discontinued?
slabMan
ArboristSite Operative
I am surprised they still let you run a loud gas [leaf blower] machine outside the DC beltway. No more fossil fuel combustion engines for overpriced EV's, no more gas ranges in homes ['nat gas is too dirty'], no more wood fired pizza restaurants, green this, green that, blah blah! I know out west here they would like California to be the model for the left coast...GOD I hope not! lol
The political forum is down the page...
slabMan
ArboristSite Operative
No thanks brother...I am not a politician!
You rant like one
user 188535
Chainsaw-wielding middle-schooler
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2023
- Messages
- 1,033
- Reaction score
- 1,120
Yep. Some new city councilman wants a ban on the sale of gas-powered OPE by Jan 1 apparently. As we say, Californian refugees are welcome south, as long as they don't bring their horrible policies with them.
But don't take it from me, take it from Patrick Star:
