Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving from Ohio Woodburner!
Today I give thanks to my 455 Rancher! Happy Thanksgiving from OWB!
Monday, November 23, 2009
The Dolmar 7900...Holy Cow!
Ok
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I mentioned in an earlier post that I have this slight addiction to chainsaws. An online forum I frequent, Aboristsite.com has a name for this problem and they call it CAD...or Chainsaw Addiction Disorder. I have it bad. I have noticed that my "wants" and "needs" are becoming blurred and that the world is only populated with saws that I need...desperately. Case in point...please direct your eyes to the picture below and notice the giant red beast on my tailgate. This saw is none other than the vaunted Dolmar 7900. Dolmar is a German word which means "Mean SOB" in English. This saw is 80 cc's of attitude and brute cutting force. I have never heard a German scream before... but if I did, it would probably sound like what blasts from the muffler of this monster.
Also, for you chainsaw junkies...notice the Pro HD Filter installation on the Dolmar! Very nice isn't it?
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I mentioned in an earlier post that I have this slight addiction to chainsaws. An online forum I frequent, Aboristsite.com has a name for this problem and they call it CAD...or Chainsaw Addiction Disorder. I have it bad. I have noticed that my "wants" and "needs" are becoming blurred and that the world is only populated with saws that I need...desperately. Case in point...please direct your eyes to the picture below and notice the giant red beast on my tailgate. This saw is none other than the vaunted Dolmar 7900. Dolmar is a German word which means "Mean SOB" in English. This saw is 80 cc's of attitude and brute cutting force. I have never heard a German scream before... but if I did, it would probably sound like what blasts from the muffler of this monster.
The bad news is the Dolmar does not belong to me. I am "testing" it for my local Husqvarna dealer who is being heavily courted by Dolmar to sell their saws. I have long heard great things of Dolmars and until now, to me have been almost like the infamous "Sasquatch." Much talked about...but never seen. Anyhow...I am a frequent visitor to my local Husky dealer and I am certain they refer to me as a "pest." But I do spend money there and send them a lot of business. I must be appreciated however as they let me take this bad boy home for a couple days to test drive. For all the wood I cut I could use something like this saw as it would absolutely stomp a mud hole in my 455 Rancher. But I have to face reality and wonder if I REALLY NEED something like this...well...after thinking about it, I do NEED this saw. I figure I could hang onto the Rancher too. You never know when I will need it for backup service. Can someone lend me $700?
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I took the Dolmar and my trusty Husqvarna 346XP out to a very large downed maple today and quickly dispatched the trunk into very usable rounds. The Dolmar 7900 is a screaming monster. It has gobs of torque and has incredible RPM's. The anti-vibration is excellent. I am not sure if the anti-vibe is equal to the Husqvarna 372 XP but it is darn close. It was a true joy to run. I wish I had more wood to cut. My saw had the 20 inch bar but I think the 20 incher leaves too much on the table for the amount of power the saw has. If you NEED a saw this big I would recommend nothing shorter than a 24 inch bar. After I had the logs loaded in my truck I drove over to my friends house where he and his brother awaited my arrival. They had a 16 inch ash log waiting to try out the Dolmar. They too were equally impressed with its power and speed. Funny...however...the big winner of this chainsaw get together was my Husky 346XP. Both my friends marveled over this little beast. It was almost as fast as the 80cc saw and totally creamed their Stihl 360 and 290 Farmboss. They are both now interested in buying a 346XP and the Dolmar 7900. Here is a picture of my Husqvarna sitting next to the Dolmar on my tailgate. Hey, that's over $1200 dollars in chainsaws in the bed of my truck. This is a nice way to increase the value of my old Ford!
Also, for you chainsaw junkies...notice the Pro HD Filter installation on the Dolmar! Very nice isn't it?
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In my opinion...I can't think of a better 1-2 punch than the Husqvarna 346XP and the Dolmar 7900. The 346XP limbs like a laser beam...you point it at a limb and the limb falls off. Once the limbs are off and the tops cut up, bring out the big gun and let the 7900 buck the trunk. Holy cow! What a day! Too bad I have to give the Dolmar back.
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Smokin
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Another Day...Another Free Load of Wood
Ok
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The Hardy has been burning for 5 full days and so far, so good. I have the house thermostat set at 72 degrees and my morning showers have been noticeably hotter. My Hardy has no trouble heating my house and domestic hot water. The weather in Northeast Ohio is still unseasonably mild, mid 50's during the day...low 40's at night so I have taken advantage of these temperatures to burn up a lot of my small 3 -4 inch rounders in the OWB. When I am cutting up a load of wood I can't get myself to leave all these smaller logs behind so I load them up in the truck along with the larger logs. After 10-20-30 truckloads of wood I notice that I get quite a nice pile of these small logs that I keep in a convenient pile close to the furnace. I like having these smaller rounds as my wife can easily throw them in the furnace and they burn nicely in this type of weather. I will save my big wood for colder weather. Despite how large this pile of small logs is...trust me...it goes fast! You may think you have a lot of wood in that pile but in no time at all, that pile will have disappeared. Sacrificed to the Hardy Gods.
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Today I had a small victory as I got two pickup truck loads of free, already-cut firewood. It was elm...but fear not...it didn't need split. Please see my previous posts about my experiences with elm. When you heat your house with wood...and you have your name out in the community that you are always looking for wood, its funny how many people find out and call you offering you up free stuff. Today, a friend of a friend called me...and said he cut up a tree that had broken in half during a wind storm and would be grateful if I would haul it away. I was all excited until he said that it was elm. I told him that I don't like bringing elm onto my land so that I don't infest my own 60 foot elm but he claimed it wasn't diseased and the largest logs were about 14 inches and wouldn't need split. I decided to jump on it...thinking if the wood looked sick I would give it to my other buddy who heats with a Hardy. (Us Hardy guys stick together you know...) In the back of my head I was worried about the wood as he said the Elm had broke in half...and if you know your trees like I do...you know that a healthy elm doesn't just break in half in a wind storm...they are a very tough and hardy tree. Regardless, I showed up at his house and found some very nice looking logs and tops that were neatly cut to firewood length so, I loaded it up and drove away happy...two loads and life is good.
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I think that if you get a call for free wood...even if the load is lame...you should probably jump on it because it could lead to other opportunities if you network properly. I made my own super lame business cards claiming my "woodmonger" status and I hand them out to people I deal with. It's amazing how effective they work. I get a lot of calls...more than you would think. When you heat with wood and you are committed to NEVER paying a dime for your firewood, you need all the help you can get.
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Smokin
*
The Hardy has been burning for 5 full days and so far, so good. I have the house thermostat set at 72 degrees and my morning showers have been noticeably hotter. My Hardy has no trouble heating my house and domestic hot water. The weather in Northeast Ohio is still unseasonably mild, mid 50's during the day...low 40's at night so I have taken advantage of these temperatures to burn up a lot of my small 3 -4 inch rounders in the OWB. When I am cutting up a load of wood I can't get myself to leave all these smaller logs behind so I load them up in the truck along with the larger logs. After 10-20-30 truckloads of wood I notice that I get quite a nice pile of these small logs that I keep in a convenient pile close to the furnace. I like having these smaller rounds as my wife can easily throw them in the furnace and they burn nicely in this type of weather. I will save my big wood for colder weather. Despite how large this pile of small logs is...trust me...it goes fast! You may think you have a lot of wood in that pile but in no time at all, that pile will have disappeared. Sacrificed to the Hardy Gods.
*
Today I had a small victory as I got two pickup truck loads of free, already-cut firewood. It was elm...but fear not...it didn't need split. Please see my previous posts about my experiences with elm. When you heat your house with wood...and you have your name out in the community that you are always looking for wood, its funny how many people find out and call you offering you up free stuff. Today, a friend of a friend called me...and said he cut up a tree that had broken in half during a wind storm and would be grateful if I would haul it away. I was all excited until he said that it was elm. I told him that I don't like bringing elm onto my land so that I don't infest my own 60 foot elm but he claimed it wasn't diseased and the largest logs were about 14 inches and wouldn't need split. I decided to jump on it...thinking if the wood looked sick I would give it to my other buddy who heats with a Hardy. (Us Hardy guys stick together you know...) In the back of my head I was worried about the wood as he said the Elm had broke in half...and if you know your trees like I do...you know that a healthy elm doesn't just break in half in a wind storm...they are a very tough and hardy tree. Regardless, I showed up at his house and found some very nice looking logs and tops that were neatly cut to firewood length so, I loaded it up and drove away happy...two loads and life is good.
*
I think that if you get a call for free wood...even if the load is lame...you should probably jump on it because it could lead to other opportunities if you network properly. I made my own super lame business cards claiming my "woodmonger" status and I hand them out to people I deal with. It's amazing how effective they work. I get a lot of calls...more than you would think. When you heat with wood and you are committed to NEVER paying a dime for your firewood, you need all the help you can get.
*
Smokin
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Let Burning Season Begin!
Ok
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My wife paid me a compliment today. "You smell like smoke," she said. Of course that can only mean one thing. It's burning season!
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Yes, that's right. I fired up the Hardy H2 this weekend signifying the start of a long awaited part of our year. Now I can put my summer's labor into action. All that wood in and around the wood shed is poised...ready to have its turn to provide heat to the house and family. Northeast Ohio has had unbelievable weather of late. We have been in the mid 60's (f) during the days and the high 40's at night. I don't ever remember the date being this close to Thanksgiving and being able to sit outside for a birthday party...as we did on Saturday. Wow...I guess this is what people do in Memphis in November. The past three years I have averaged my first firing at Halloween but this year I almost made it to Thanksgiving. I was in shorts and a T-shirt when I lit the fire this weekend. The water temperature read 50 degrees when I struck the first match and it was up to operating temperature in about 1 hour...that's 170 degrees. So after I finished up outside I came in to tell my wife the good news. It turns out I didn't need to as she could tell by the distinctive odor of woodsmoke on me that free heat awaits!
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The Hardy is designed to kick on the firebox blower when the water temp drops below 150 degrees. During this initial firing, I unplugged the blower and simply left the ash bin door open and let the natural draft feed the fire. Once the water temp got up to 150 degrees I plugged the blower in and let it do its thing. I wanted to be sure the Hardy was working properly after sitting dormant all summer. Once the temp got to 170 degrees, the blower shut off, the flap closed and all was well. Next, I went into the house and opened the valves that run the domestic water out to the Hardy. I keep the valves closed in the summer. Once I opened the valves, the feed to my domestic hot water heat was routed thru the heat exchanger inside the Hardy and then back into my domestic hot water tank. Voila, free hot water. You gotta love it. Last, I went upstairs and turned off the thermostat for my forced air (propane) furnace and turned on the Hardy's thermostat. I dialed up the heat until I heard the Hardy relay kick on and listened as my blower from the forced air furnace begin to run. I walked over to the closest furnace register and felt the hot air roaring out of it. Let their be heat! After being shut down and dormant since March, the Hardy awoke from its slumber and took off without missing a beat.
*
I fed the firebox with small rounds to help build up a nice ash level for this warm weather. I like to run with more ash in the ash bin when the weather is warm as this helps stoke the flames when the Hardy needs more heat. So all I did this weekend was heat my house for free, and entertain compliments from my wife.
*
Smokin
*
My wife paid me a compliment today. "You smell like smoke," she said. Of course that can only mean one thing. It's burning season!
*
Yes, that's right. I fired up the Hardy H2 this weekend signifying the start of a long awaited part of our year. Now I can put my summer's labor into action. All that wood in and around the wood shed is poised...ready to have its turn to provide heat to the house and family. Northeast Ohio has had unbelievable weather of late. We have been in the mid 60's (f) during the days and the high 40's at night. I don't ever remember the date being this close to Thanksgiving and being able to sit outside for a birthday party...as we did on Saturday. Wow...I guess this is what people do in Memphis in November. The past three years I have averaged my first firing at Halloween but this year I almost made it to Thanksgiving. I was in shorts and a T-shirt when I lit the fire this weekend. The water temperature read 50 degrees when I struck the first match and it was up to operating temperature in about 1 hour...that's 170 degrees. So after I finished up outside I came in to tell my wife the good news. It turns out I didn't need to as she could tell by the distinctive odor of woodsmoke on me that free heat awaits!
*
The Hardy is designed to kick on the firebox blower when the water temp drops below 150 degrees. During this initial firing, I unplugged the blower and simply left the ash bin door open and let the natural draft feed the fire. Once the water temp got up to 150 degrees I plugged the blower in and let it do its thing. I wanted to be sure the Hardy was working properly after sitting dormant all summer. Once the temp got to 170 degrees, the blower shut off, the flap closed and all was well. Next, I went into the house and opened the valves that run the domestic water out to the Hardy. I keep the valves closed in the summer. Once I opened the valves, the feed to my domestic hot water heat was routed thru the heat exchanger inside the Hardy and then back into my domestic hot water tank. Voila, free hot water. You gotta love it. Last, I went upstairs and turned off the thermostat for my forced air (propane) furnace and turned on the Hardy's thermostat. I dialed up the heat until I heard the Hardy relay kick on and listened as my blower from the forced air furnace begin to run. I walked over to the closest furnace register and felt the hot air roaring out of it. Let their be heat! After being shut down and dormant since March, the Hardy awoke from its slumber and took off without missing a beat.
*
I fed the firebox with small rounds to help build up a nice ash level for this warm weather. I like to run with more ash in the ash bin when the weather is warm as this helps stoke the flames when the Hardy needs more heat. So all I did this weekend was heat my house for free, and entertain compliments from my wife.
*
Smokin
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