Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[MustangMike]

Poplar will burn just fine, but fast. But it is not good to cook with poplar (over an open flame).

 

[MechanicMatt]

I think it's a bit of that, but much deeper for her. Our place was always intended to be a starter house. Neither of us figured we'd be here this long. Several factors played a role in us being here so long, we had a lot of hospital bills from having our daughter, insurance didn't cover most of the bills. Then covid killed our savings. Since I worked for the township I wasn't eligible for the gravy money, and our hours got cut by 2/3. She went on some sort of work share thing, which cut her hours, but also made her ineligible for the gravy money. Basically killed our savings. Then the housing market exploded. We're better off financially now, but still recovering.
I think for her, building the shop was the realization that were not moving anytime soon. So naturally she wants to remodel the house now that the shop is mostly done. I can't say I 100% blame her, there's a lot of things neither of us liked about the house, but we just never did anything thinking, oh it will just be a few more years till we start looking at other houses.
The biggest problem, is she want to do everything all at once and it's her way, or no way. That just can't happen.

My “Starter house” was a 1100ft ranch

I loved that house except it only had one bathroom and it was getting impossible with two daughters closing in on teenage years

It did have a wood floor kitchen….

If I didn’t get the promotion at work, I’d probably still be in that house

Used to burn some serious stuff wood back then, had two helpers that loved to help me…..

Then they grew up

 

[MechanicMatt]

Went down to the town garage they have a pile of sand and rock salt (very little) mix free for residents to take . View attachment 1243693View attachment 1243694
Driveway is two inches of solid ice

Wanna come do my ice rink, I mean driveway

 

[MechanicMatt]

Burned a ton of poplar

Cuts easy, splits easier, burns fast and hot!

Not much for coals and longevity

But HOT!!

 

[mountainguyed67]

The longest life that I ever got out of an automotive battery was 9 years.

The batteries in my loader are dated 2015, they spent the first 2 winters in Montana. The other day when I went up to our place at 5,200’ elevation, it cranked strong and started pretty quick. These are large rectangular batteries.

 

[mountainguyed67]

Since we've been having a discussion about batteries/vehicle starting, here's the air starter for a EMD 710-16-G3C prime mover in a SD70ACe.

Interesting.

This is what I know as a prime mover.

 

[mountainguyed67]

The something else is probably that your generator doesn't have enough "surge amps" to start the saw.

SR

I did some research on this. Look at #4, I’m gonna start there.

 

[Stihl_Fanatic]

Thanks everyone for the replies.
I was thinking about getting rid of it for free if I couldn't use it, but since you all say it's okay, I'll go ahead and burn with it.

 

[Stihl_Fanatic]

If you're talking tulip poplar I have no experience but I'm sure it's fine. If it's aspen you're talking about I've burned plenty. It's a great shoulder season wood and I use it to get the fire going.

Just make sure it's properly seasoned and both will be fine.

It is aspen poplar. I verified it with my tree identification book.

 

[Gardiner Schneider]

What’s a Hockey?

 

[Gardiner Schneider]

This may not be a "Hockey", but hope some will enjoy it....

 

[Gardiner Schneider]

My wife is a sucker for the original features of our 1880 something house so I got lucky on the floors and I just have to sand and refinish. Most of them are quarter sawn heart pine.

Where I don't get lucky is when I have to strip 15 layers of paint off of something.....

View attachment 1243344
View attachment 1243346
View attachment 1243347

 

[Gardiner Schneider]

My wife is a sucker for the original features of our 1880 something house so I got lucky on the floors and I just have to sand and refinish. Most of them are quarter sawn heart pine.

Where I don't get lucky is when I have to strip 15 layers of paint off of something.....

View attachment 1243344
View attachment 1243346
View attachment 1243347

That is one beautiful floor, and the boards are really tight to each other, after a lot of years. The old wood had few knots and that is harder to find now, and costs a lot more.

 

[svk]

2 more days of subzero overnight temps then we have a week of warm weather with highs up to 40 degrees. Bring it on!

 

[mountainguyed67]

It has been too warm here for this time of year.

 

[chipper1]

It has been too warm here for this time of year.

View attachment 1243754

Looks pretty rough for sure , hope you make it through OK.

 

[JimR]

I think it's a bit of that, but much deeper for her. Our place was always intended to be a starter house. Neither of us figured we'd be here this long. Several factors played a role in us being here so long, we had a lot of hospital bills from having our daughter, insurance didn't cover most of the bills. Then covid killed our savings. Since I worked for the township I wasn't eligible for the gravy money, and our hours got cut by 2/3. She went on some sort of work share thing, which cut her hours, but also made her ineligible for the gravy money. Basically killed our savings. Then the housing market exploded. We're better off financially now, but still recovering.
I think for her, building the shop was the realization that were not moving anytime soon. So naturally she wants to remodel the house now that the shop is mostly done. I can't say I 100% blame her, there's a lot of things neither of us liked about the house, but we just never did anything thinking, oh it will just be a few more years till we start looking at other houses.
The biggest problem, is she want to do everything all at once and it's her way, or no way. That just can't happen.

Life is forever getting wrenches thrown at you to mess up your life. I would start with the kitchen to keep her happy. Prices today have gotten totally out of hand. A good friend of mine priced a simple small bathroom remodel. One guy wanted $15K. Another guy was $7200 for the exact same job.

 

[dboyd351]

What I like are the restaurants where you go to the counter to order your food, they page you to come pick it up and when you give them your credit card they ask if you want a 24, 26 or 28% tip.
Used to be 10-20% when they served and waited on you and a 0% tip if you got crappy service.

 

[Sampson]

Thanks everyone for the replies.
I was thinking about getting rid of it for free if I couldn't use it, but since you all say it's okay, I'll go ahead and burn with it.

I come across it often. It's not a very strong tree as far as deciduous trees go, blow-downs are often available to scrounge after a strong wind comes through around here. Like Matt and Lee have said, it splits very easy and burns hot (but quick), great for getting your fire started or for while you're around to tend the fire. If I'm going to step away for a while, I put a couple splits of something heartier in the stove. It's a good idea to make sure it stays dry and well ventilated when seasoning, otherwise it will go punky pretty quick.

 

[sean donato]

As some of you may know I cut some poplar wood a couple of weeks ago. I have no experience with poplar whatsoever, so I must ask you more experienced folks a stupid question.
Can I burn poplar in my wood furnace? Or will it create creosote, not burn well, etc.?

Burns hot and fast, like what you need to get a little heat in the house on a 45* night and not worry about the fire staying lit.

My “Starter house” was a 1100ft ranch

I loved that house except it only had one bathroom and it was getting impossible with two daughters closing in on teenage years

It did have a wood floor kitchen….

If I didn’t get the promotion at work, I’d probably still be in that house

Used to burn some serious stuff wood back then, had two helpers that loved to help me…..

Then they grew up View attachment 1243722View attachment 1243723View attachment 1243724View attachment 1243725

Ours is 1200 sq ft modular rancher, built into the side of a hill with a semi finished walk out basement. I don't mind it being small tbh. It's less to keep up with, but after having the kids, it's certainly feels cramped at times. We do have 3 bathrooms though. The people that put it up had the forsite to plum in a bathroom in the basement, which has been great for mornings when we all need to get ready at the same time.
If I had a few acres of land with it, I don't think I'd ever consider leaving. We're in a nice area, back a long private lane. Everyone pretty much keeps to themselves.
About the only thing that would force me to move is if my a-hole neighbors wife decides to sell out the 14 acres of woods behind my house and some developer buys it. I'm out at that point.