Ponderosa Wood Stove?

[cc-rider]

Could someone please tell me if this looks like a decent wood stove?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I've got a corn stove, but can't afford corn. Thinking of getting rid of that and just putting in a wood stove. I'd prefer one that you can see the flame, but this one seems to be a good deal. I'm close enough that I could get it delivered for under $80.

CC

[Helena]

Looks like a good deal. We have always heated with wood and some chestnut coal during our homesteading days. We do not have a furnance so we do know how to work the wood heat. It reminds me of the PaPa Bear Fisher wood stoves of the 80's. They were a good little stove my only thoughts are if you use it totally full time when you come to needing to emptying the ashes out of it you would almost have to let the fire go out to do this. If you had a stove with an ash pan this wouldn't be a problem. Since you are almost up to $300 on this deal look around at the stoves called Coal Master or Wood Master stoves. You won't see a flame either but they will surely heat up your house. We have had 2 over our 35 years of heating and have been able to buy almost new..used ones for around $100. Actually have one stored in the barn that I got for a bargin price this summer. Or if cost is really a problem and not mattering what the stove looks like...a home made barrel stove is the best thing for warmth that I have ever found. Have one in our basement for the past 30 years..yes..the same one too. But..for less than $300 what do you really have to gamble on with the price. Just be very safe in installing your chimney for safety reasons. Good Luck and keep warm. ( I don't think corn should be a source for fuel but should be for feeding people)

[ChristieAcres]

We have three wood stoves, with one being a small one in my home office (16 X 16). It heats this room very well, but doesn't have a heatilator, so radiant heat spreading. When it gets a good hot fire going, I turn on the ceiling fan on low, and that works very well. The second one, is a large barrel shaped one in DH's shop, with a heatilator, and it works great. The 3rd one, I have posted before, and is DH's own design & he built it (includes heatilator). Since the other two didn't have "windows," I asked him to include one. He has recently modified it to heat our water:



The one DH built is by far the most efficient. I'd definitely agree the barrel type are better and for better heat distribution- get one with a heatilator or have one installed, if you can.

[HermitJohn]

Originally Posted by Helena

( I don't think corn should be a source for fuel but should be for feeding people)

It does go against common sense to burn grain for heat, but palatable quality of modern field corn without lot processing isnt great. Its an industrial commodity, not food. Much of it either goes to producing quick weight gain in confinement feed operations or to make such wonders as high fructose corn syrup. And whether corn or wood, you are actually growing a crop on acreage (or somebody is). So which produces more heating fuel with the least amount of petroleum per year on the same acreage? Modern commercial field corn uses a LOT of petroleum input to grow and harvest it. The cheap looking price is from govt subsidy, not actual cost. Most of the time (except occasionally when speculators go crazy) its sold for less than cost of production, the difference made by govt subsidy.

So say you start with a bare acre of land. Would it be able to produce more yearly heating fuel growing trees or corn. You would get a crop of corn the first year while it would take many years to be able to harvest much wood. But without petroleum inputs, you probably wouldnt get over 40 to 50 bushel off that acre and harvest/processing would not be trivial without mechanization. Plus again it would take considerable time to dry to usable state without modern propane fired grain driers.

You dont need mature forest to get harvestable wood. Due to abnormally cold winter I have been out cutting wood to finish out the winter. Could have cut dead trees, but there is LOT of downed branches from mother of all ice storms last winter all over my 40A and they are dry enough to burn well. figured they really need to go. Looking at them, you wouldnt think there was much wood there, but I've been cutting them up wheelbarrow load by wheelbarrow load down to even one inch diameter sticks. But its a mix, some much larger, but I will throw in the one inch diameter stuff too. Makes fire easy to start. More work cutting it up than cutting up log, but there is no splitting except for the rare very large branches. Burns amazingly well and evenly in my old Sotz stove. I was rather surprised. Yea, split wood probably burn little longer but not by lot in an airtight stove. Really not too much different than in past when I have bought small chunks (log ends) by pickup load from little local sawmill. I liked them too and easy and cheap, but I have so much down and dead wood on my own place seems silly to haul in wood. Plus it does keep me active.

I think of all those downed branches the cities here in NW Arkansas payed beaucoup bucks to have cleared away last winter after ice storm and how many poorer people those could have kept warm this winter. Course nobody would have made big profit so of course such would never be considered. And I suppose few people would want to do the work necessary even for free fuel. And few have appropriate stoves and chimneys to burn them. So it goes.

[ChristieAcres]

HermitJohn- There was a change in local Burning Laws. Slag piles can no longer be burned. I expect a lot of that will be offered to locals to get it cleaned up. We are collecting what branches we haven't cut up, just off downed trees on our property. They burn great as kindling, some are big enough for firewood. Here you will find firewood piles by the side of the road for FREE. I have twice seen a nice big pile, of split dry firewood, with a sign, "FREE" on it, too. I won't hesitate to stop my car and load it up (you can get quite a bit of wood in a PT). Once we clean up our downed trees here, we should have enough for next year, but DH wants a surplus. We can go clean up our neighbor's properties, if we want. There are some who don't do anything their forested acreage. When the trees fall across their driveways, we go get them. Here, when trees are logged to clear them from the lines, locals are allowed to take away the wood

[lamoncha lover]

I am trying to decide betwen a gas fireplace and a wood stove in our new place.
We have about 25 acres of woods..plenty of wood. But as we are not getting any younger and my husband seems to be loosing ambitiion daily. I am considering long term..as how hard would it be to use wood heat in our 60's and 70's? I love the idea of free heat..hate the idea of ashes and dirt.
Lorichristie thats one great set up you have!

[ChristieAcres]

lamoncha lover I am trying to decide betwen a gas fireplace and a wood stove in our new place.
We have about 25 acres of woods..plenty of wood. But as we are not getting any younger and my husband seems to be loosing ambitiion daily. I am considering long term..as how hard would it be to use wood heat in our 60's and 70's? I love the idea of free heat..hate the idea of ashes and dirt.
Lorichristie thats one great set up you have!

Thanks, sure happy with the setup & glad we are saving so much money! Your decision? I'd say that is a tough call, but even I was a single woman, I'd probably opt for the wood stove. We spent WAY TOO MUCH on propane heating our place, until DH built our wood stove. If I had to make that decision myself, it would depend on factors such as "when I get older, will I still be able to either buy or get the help to get my wood split..." The dirt/mess isn't a concern to me, as sweeping is no big deal. We stack the firewood on the firewood rack DH built, to the right of the wood stove, next to a sliding glass door. That keeps the mess pretty minimal. Since DH is now 53, still in good physical condition, and we have that great industrial log splitter, there is no concern about how we can get our wood split (his three sons help make short work of putting up the wood). Without DH being motivated, I'd still be able to get all the wood we need split. Circumstances will help you decide that one. I have a sister who splits all the wood for their place as her husband isn't interested in doing it. She is 5'5", petite, in her 40s, uses a log splitter, just got a chainsaw for Christmas, and the rest of her splitting tools. Tell your DH about "Larry, the 'ol Logger," who lives up the road. He is a wiry 84 year old who heats his home & his water with a wood stove using a thermal siphon system. He splits all his own wood, using a log splitter, still uses an ax, still carries firewood, and still uses a chainsaw. That man helped my DH log our property two years ago. His take on life? You either do, or you lose the ability, and you CAN'T. I have never seen so much firewood in my life. He tells me that he likes to have at least 3 years worth at all times, just in case, he doesn't feel up to splitting wood someday. Then, he will have some buffer time to decide what to do. Larry won't have to worry while we are around, as WE will help that great guy, if he ever needs it! Here, you have to buy green firewood to get the price of $160/for an actual cord of pre-split Alder. I know it is less in other parts of the Country.

[Old Vet]

If you are wondering what it will be like when you get 60 you haven't retired. Once you do you need something to do for exercise so getting wood is great exercise and will keep his mind sharp. You can only fish so many days before it gets too cooled to fish unless he ice fishes. Running or walking is good exercise but you can only run or walk so many days per year unless you belong to a club. All of this cost money and cutting wood and splitting it will save you money. Plan to get a good Chain saw and a good hydrolic splitter before you retire. Even if you buy wood you will spend less than if you had to buy propane. My wife grandmother has a wood stove and feed's it every day and is 91. The kids bring wood over and sometimes bring it in but she tends to the stove.

[lamoncha lover]

ok..so i want a wood stove like lorichristie:>)