Heating Season: We’re Halfway Through!

Although we’re only a month into “winter”, theoretically we should have burned half our fuel for the heating season. We burn our wood in a kitchen cook stove that also heats our meals, helps seeds sprout, dries outdoor clothing when we come in from skiing and skating and makes maple syrup. The photo below shows that we’ve uncovered one window in the garage that was hidden by stacked firewood. This year we’ve been burning well-seasoned maple and oak so we’ve used less than a quarter of the woodpile so the wood we put away this year we may not start burning until 2017. Less dense wood like poplar and pine burns more quickly and a given amount of heating value takes up more volume, though pound for pound, they are similar.

View of Half Our Wood Pile with a Window Uncovered

Yesterday I removed the mower deck from underneath the tractor and put on chains that reduce the chances of getting stuck in snowy or muddy fields as it pulls a trailer loaded with tree trunks and branches. 

Diesel Tractor Without Mower Deck but With Tire Chains

This year I’m going to try cutting down trees with an ancient cross-cut saw that a friend refurbished and loaned. Chain saws are noisy and burn gasoline/oil and also use quite a bit of heavy oil to lubricate the chain. In a year we typically go through over a gallon of bar oil that ends up in the sawdust. Our garden worms have not complained about having to deal with the oil but they would probably prefer not having to process oil in the wheelbarrows of the tiny pieces of wood that a chainsaw makes that we spread on garden paths. Old-time manual saws don’t need lubrication because no chain runs against a steel bar. The set of the teeth creates a gap in the groove made by the saw as its cutting so lubrication is not needed between the blade and log. Information on how to maintain, repair and sharpen these saws:  http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf77712508/pdf77712508dpi300.pdf

One-Person Cross-cut Saw With Cutting Teeth and Twin Raker Pattern

I also installed new golf cart batteries in one of our electric tractors so that we can use it for plowing snow. I prefer to shovel snow but my wife likes to use one tractor or the other. Although we have an amazing snow blower attachment for our diesel tractor, I don’t like using it because it requires completely removing all the connecting pieces for the mower to install different assemblies for the blower. Having the snow blower attached also negates using the tractor for carting firewood. Finding opportunities for collecting firewood when the soil is frozen and without deep snow is difficult enough without having to wait until there is little chance for more snow.

Electric Tractor With Plow