Storm Damage

southernsis · February 06, 2009, 09:13:02 AM

Still do not have power, it will probably be another week or more. Here is a photo of some of the damage, taken next day after storm ended.

Thanks Mountain Don for the help on the photo.

((The image number was missing.

Anyhow if you look at your post using the modify feature, available to you and not others. I added the correct tag under yours to make it show))

Redoverfarm · February 06, 2009, 09:16:59 AM

Sorry southernsis I am not getting any pictures. I did go to your picture and will try to post it here. I am not high enough on the "need to know" basis to modify your post but here goes.

FIREWOOD, FIREWOOD, FIREWOOD

February 06, 2009, 09:50:41 AM

Thanks Red. Yes lots of firewood. A lot of the trees that went down are pines and not good for firewood. Just heard that we might not have power restored till around March 1. This is getting old fast, but just have to make the best of it.

glenn kangiser · February 06, 2009, 08:41:54 PM

Welcome to offgrid power, Sis. Looks rough.
Hope things improve.

Ernest T. Bass · February 06, 2009, 10:43:38 PM

What's wrong with pine for firewood? (Unless you have more hardwood than you know what to do with

) We burn about 80% aspen. Your typical wood heat purist cringes at that, but it burns hot and is free...

February 06, 2009, 10:45:40 PM

A little more often to clean the flue and is especially good for kindling. Burns a bit fast.

Redoverfarm · February 06, 2009, 10:55:53 PM

Typically you will burn about 1/3 more wood with the softer varities. I use pine as kindlin but after it has started I switch over to the harder woods. You get more bang for your buck and you cut your stoking down to half. Not to mention the buildup of pine. Hardwood is bad enough but pine is worse. I don't think you can get enough softer wood into a stove to make it last 8-10 hrs and still have enough to get it going easily the next morning. But I have to admit that not everybody has the abundance of harder woods so rather than being wasteful burn what you have.

MountainDon · February 06, 2009, 11:11:40 PM

Nothing wrong with pine when it's virtually all ya' got. Ponderosa Pine, Spruce, D Fir are out main trees. Plus some Aspen. I believe many in the east don't realize that the west is mainly SPF. Sure, if we had oaks, birch, etc. I'd like it better, but if it's free and the only other choice is to haul it off... burn it.

glenn kangiser · February 06, 2009, 11:12:42 PM

Softwoods are best for cordwood building also -

February 06, 2009, 11:57:53 PM

Long burning time really isn't a problem for us, since the stove is right out in the open with plenty of people passing by to stoke it. We don't run it at night, either... We'd definitely save our hardwoods for the night if we did.

Homegrown Tomatoes · February 06, 2009, 11:58:48 PM

Quote from: glenn kangiser on February 06, 2009, 11:12:42 PM
Softwoods are best for cordwood building also -

Really? Why is that?

Ernest T. Bass · February 07, 2009, 12:00:11 AM

Dry hardwoods will bust up your mortar and possibly do lots of damage to the wall if they get wet and expand...

glenn kangiser · February 07, 2009, 12:00:48 AM

The dry and shrink and stay that way pretty good. Hardwoods on the other hand will expand with so much pressure that they can break a cordwood wall destroying it. Rob Roy? Can't remember.

glenn kangiser · February 07, 2009, 12:01:35 AM

Andrew beat me to it... He is probably the one who said it....

February 07, 2009, 12:02:16 AM

Yeah, he figured it out the hard way. Can't remember how far his wall rose up after the log ends got wet...

EDIT can't keep up with the posts! I was referring to Rob..

Squirl · February 07, 2009, 08:16:10 AM

Also, softwood has a slightly better R-value.

"The R-value for wood ranges between 1.41 per inch for most softwoods and 0.71 for most hardwoods."

southernsis · February 07, 2009, 09:11:52 AM

Got on line for a few minutes. So the soft wood is better for a cord wood building? My husband wants to use hardwood, oak and cedar. He thinks if he seals the ends there won't be a problem. I don't want to go to the trouble of building and have problems.
We have a lot of oak down also. We burn oak and some hickory for heat. We are going to have enough firewood to last for along time.
It isn't so bad with the generator. It has warmed up, but There are so many power poles down that it will take a long time to get them back up. There are power crews here from a lot of states.
The generator we bought is doing a great job, we run lamps, coffee maker

, heater, and my husbands 50" plasma, home theater and sat receiver. He didn't miss the Super Bowl. That was his biggest worry. We could use the dryer if we had a 220 cord for it. It is a large one. We had to drive 400 miles to get it and stand in line for 3 hours, but we were not going home without it.
Got to get out and crank up the chainsaw

and do more cleanup work. Sometime I think I am getting to old for this.

Ernest T. Bass · February 07, 2009, 09:38:31 AM

Some people in dry climates have used hardwood with large overhangs, ie. wrap-around covered porch, but I wouldn't recommend it. Cedar is ideal. If you seal the ends make sure you use something breathable, as the logs have to be able to wick moister through them in order to last.

Homegrown Tomatoes · February 07, 2009, 10:31:45 AM

Ernest and Glenn,
Thanks. I learn something new all the time from y'all. Cedar is an invasive weed in pastures around here, yet I love cedar wood in looks and smell. Maybe if we clear some of the cedars off the land we're buying we could build a cordwood chicken house or something

.

SouthernSis, it looks like a mess to clean up. Around here they are still trying to clean up from the ice storm LAST year (the place we are buying has a LOT of storm damage from last year's storm.) I don't think the storm we got a few weeks ago did a whole lot of damage other than to bring branches down that were already weak from last year's storm, but it was worse east of here from what I understand. Hope your power is back on before you know it, but glad you got a generator... good to have for future use.

glenn kangiser · February 07, 2009, 11:32:53 AM

Y'all'er welcome, Homey.

I wouldn't chance it with hardwood, myself. Not only do the ends need to be unsealed, the checks in the sides are near impossible to seal. I have seen hardwood change as much as an inch in diameter when drying a 5 or so inch eucalyptus log.

It is an extreme but still, any of that coming back would have enough pressure to break up a wall.

Sis - in an emergency I make my hookups out of solid wire Romex. I strip the ends back enough to make the spade terminal part of the plug folding the ends back long enough to makea flat "U' foe each of the two flats. A voltmeter will tell you which terminals are hot if you don't know. Secure the other ends around the drier plug with a pliers for a tight wrap and tape so it cannot get loose.

Secure everything well and be sure you are safe if you try this. I don't suggest anyone try it if they are not sure of their own safety. It is just what I sometimes do in emergency.

February 07, 2009, 11:35:55 AM

Check the oil often on a generator when new - sometimes they use a bit extra when new.

Ernest T. Bass · February 07, 2009, 01:32:56 PM

Quote from: Homegrown Tomatoes on February 07, 2009, 10:31:45 AM
Cedar is an invasive weed in pastures around here,

Sheesh, I wish we had that problem.

Aspen is our weed tree, and it's pretty hard to keep it from rotting.. Makes nice rustic furniture though.

Homegrown Tomatoes · February 07, 2009, 04:46:08 PM

That's funny. People around here sometimes plant "specimen" trees of aspen because they're so pretty in the fall. However, most farmers and ranchers have to actively fight the cedar. What happens is the eastern red cedars start invading your pastures, and then before you know it, birds roost in them and spread seeds and you get blackberry thickets, stands of sumac, and before you know it little blackjack and postoak trees popping up. Allowed to continue unchecked, you'll have a cross-timbers forest. I always wondered why since the cedar grows so well around here and is here anyway why more people don't make good use of it. We mainly have two predominant species of cedar that are native to the state... ash junipers (Juniperous ashii) and eastern red cedars (Juniperous virginiana). Think a lot of them got started here as wind breaks during the dust bowl.

fishing_guy · February 08, 2009, 05:21:14 PM

Quote from: southernsis on February 07, 2009, 09:11:52 AM

We have a lot of oak down also. We burn oak and some hickory for heat. We are going to have enough firewood to last for along time.

Wish i had some of that hickory for the smoker. Seems a shame to burn it without cooking something with it.

glenn kangiser · February 08, 2009, 08:50:22 PM

We often barbecue steaks in our wood stove in a barbecue basket.