Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Lee192233]

Had a little surf and turf tonight. Venison backstrap from our property and walleye from Lake Erie. Yum!

 

[MMG]

.233? Self load? Still prob cheaper at around $1.60 a round vs an Easton arrow, and 5 years of car magazines..

Nope, just some bulk 55g PMC .233 SP so I can use for hunting. These rounds come around $0.49 if I recall. I feel better about shooting steel targets with it also. The stuff is rated at 3200 FPS so it's coming in pretty hot and holds out pretty flat.
I save my brass so maybe one day I will do some reloading.
The first tanneright was placed a but low so I got a longer stick and did it a second time.
I'm thinking maybe I should cut out a pocket about chest high, stick the tanneright in the pocket, then try. These Ash trees are getting scarry around here.

 

[djg james]

When I put the fireplace in in the 80s, the rack was one of those cheap ones. Burned through in a couple of years. Dad welded me one out of 1-1/4" rebar I had. It was heavy but it lasted for many years. It finally burned through so I'm making a new one. Didn't have enough of the large rebar so I switched to 2"x2" x1/4" angle iron.

The uprights are 3/4" rebar and the middle two are 8" long. Same height as my previous one. May shorten a little. I may weld some large nuts on the bottom side of the angle iron to act as feet. The vertical pipe on the left will be for a removeable "cooking hook" so I can use my new cast iron Dutch oven in the winter. At the points where the rebar deck meets the angle iron, the angle iron will be notched a little to make welding easier.

This is just dry fitted. Do you see anything I should be concerned about? Criticism welcomed.

 

[MechanicMatt]

Florida is too south for me

I am thinking, NC-Tennessee-Kentucky area.

Maybe Arkansas and Missouri too

 

[sundance]

My morning….

Not sure if I’ve told you fellas, I’m over this snow

Couple more years and my little one will be outta college (6 years) and it’s time to move south!!!View attachment 1226728

If you want to go, why wait? They have jobs down there as well.

 

[Ryan A]

@MechanicMatt

Start researching what states will tax your investments and pension if you have one when leaving PA.

I was talking to a good friend this weekend about the tax hit he’ll take to his FireFighters pension when he moves from PA and retires to Delaware…..

 

[JimR]

Florida is too south for me

I am thinking, NC-Tennessee-Kentucky area.

Maybe Arkansas and Missouri too

Taxes will be a lot cheaper than NY.

 

[singinwoodwackr]

When I put the fireplace in in the 80s, the rack was one of those cheap ones. Burned through in a couple of years. Dad welded me one out of 1-1/4" rebar I had. It was heavy but it lasted for many years. It finally burned through so I'm making a new one. Didn't have enough of the large rebar so I switched to 2"x2" x1/4" angle iron.

The uprights are 3/4" rebar and the middle two are 8" long. Same height as my previous one. May shorten a little. I may weld some large nuts on the bottom side of the angle iron to act as feet. The vertical pipe on the left will be for a removeable "cooking hook" so I can use my new cast iron Dutch oven in the winter. At the points where the rebar deck meets the angle iron, the angle iron will be notched a little to make welding easier.

This is just dry fitted. Do you see anything I should be concerned about? Criticism welcomed.

View attachment 1226786

Might be tough to shovel ash out of there.

 

[MechanicMatt]

If you want to go, why wait? They have jobs down there as well.

Family, the job I have now….

The pay is too much to walk away from. Easily paying for my kids college

But yeah, I scour Zillow Dailey daydreaming

 

[H-Ranch]

This is just dry fitted. Do you see anything I should be concerned about? Criticism welcomed.

I always felt that large spacing on the bottom allowed too many coals to fall through and into the ashes so they don't burn completely. More/tighter spacing or even an expanded metal screen on top may improve that. A thin screen would need to be replaced more often for sure. And feet tall enough to get the ash shovel under it as mentioned. If it's similar to what you had and you liked it, then go for it.

 

[MustangMike]

Taxes will be a lot cheaper than NY.

Don't be too sure, especially if you are retired. NYS does not tax any government pensions (I'm retired NYS), in addition excludes $20,000 of other pension income if you are older than 59 1/2 and does not tax Social Security.

Al lot of "lower tax States" do, and sometimes it depends on age, etc.

 

[djg james]

I always felt that large spacing on the bottom allowed too many coals to fall through and into the ashes so they don't burn completely. More/tighter spacing or even an expanded metal screen on top may improve that. A thin screen would need to be replaced more often for sure. And feet tall enough to get the ash shovel under it as mentioned. If it's similar to what you had and you liked it, then go for it.

Good points you and @singinwoodwackr bring up. On my old one, I would lift it up with the poker to get the shovel underneath. So I think I will put feet on it so the angle is up off the bottom. I've rarely have the problem of incomplete burning; usually depends on the piece of wood. Plus, I have tried expanded metal, and little of the ash shifted through to the bottom. So, I'll keep the spacing the same. The old uprights in the back have long burned off. I see now that tall ones will prevent me from lifting the grate up in the front. They'll be shortened.

 

[mountainguyed67]

Made the first cuts today. This is white fir. 31" on one end, and 35.5" on the other end. I had to cut spots into the log to get the log dogs out of the way of the carriage. It's supposed to be able to handle a 36" log. It's so high up that I have to use a ladder to start and stop the engine. I'm new to this, and still figuring things out as I go.