Thank-You Smokey!

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Well folks...burning season has officially ended for my family and our Hardy H2. Today I let the last of the coals burn down to the grates then I went down into the basement and flipped the main power switch...thus putting the final touches on a successful year with the Hardy. Running your OWB in the spring and fall brings many challenges as you find yourself messing with the fire, trying to keep it from going out. This spring NE Ohio has had some 80 degree days and my Hardy would go over 24 hours without needing to stoke the firebox. If the OWB sets that long without stoking the firebox the coals will peter out forcing you to shove in the newspaper and try to fire it back up.
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So I usually keep my OWB's temperature up until around Easter and then I pick a good day to shut it down. Today seemed like that day. The weather still gets chilly at night but now I will switch over to propane for heat until the temperatures finally raise. I decided to keep my propane tank at my house as a backup plan in case I run out of wood or the Hardy fails on me. The propane company requires me to burn at least $300 worth of gas a year or they will charge me $300 in "tank rent." So...if I want to keep my back up plan in tact I have to pay the "Man" his hush money.
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When I first installed the Hardy H2 in 2006 my daughters named our silver friend,"Smokey," because...Duh...it tends to emit smoke. Anyhow the name has stuck and any reference to the Hardy H2 is simply by its given name. So today we all said a big "Thank-you Smokey" to our trusted friend who keeps our house warm without complaint. Now that Smokey gets to take the summer off, I have to get busy with the wood game, and making sure there is enough wood to get us through next burning season. For me, this is when the fun begins. Thanks Smokey!
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OWB

More Cutting. More Hauling

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I have cut up some more of the locust tree I had blogged about last week. The weather here in northeast Ohio has been real hot. Still I wanted to run my saws and make sure they are in good order going into the cutting season. Cutting season for me is spring thru fall.
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I have finally identified this type of tree...its a honey locust. This type of locust is known to be tough splitting but burns real hot. I love the color of this wood but noticed it loses its yellow hue after it sets for a couple days. It's a pretty big tree, this picture below is of my 455 Rancher with an 18 inch bar. The main trunk of this tree is much bigger than what you see here.



This next picture is of my 346 XP...an awesome saw BTW...and it is resting atop a round I had just "noodled" into two halves. Noodling is when you lay your round log on the ground as if you were going to roll the log. You lay your bar across the log, from its base to its top, and you cut with the grain. This type of cut makes long curly shavings, or noodles. Hence the name. You DO NOT want to set the log on its end...as if you were going to use it as a stool and cut down on the flat end. This doesn't work as effective as noodling does and you will quickly dull your chain. Again, here is my hot rod saw in a staged shot sitting proud by the log it just noodled. Notice the noodles just under the saw.

Finally, here is my small load for the day. It isn't much wood but it was too hot to deal with the big stuff. I will get that this weekend when the weather is supposed to cool off. I love the grain and color of these logs. Almost too pretty to burn.

This tree is on the site of an old farmhouse a local farmer friend had tore down. He bulldozed down a couple trees in the process and offered them up to me. There isn't that much wood but still I am grateful for the score. I love running my saws and can't think of a better way to spend my time, if not with baseball, than loading up my truck and heading to the woods with my saws.

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OWB