Life goes on - Winter 2017

[MikeR]

Very interesting video, Thanks Pierre! This firm has a lot of high quality and interesting video on their YouTube channel. Some overdubbed in English. It appears they are producing an updraft gasifier heating system and have a whole well-thought out wood chip handling system.

Windhager Zentralheizung

Mike

[piergol]

Another Wood crusher (chipper cutter) Easier that it seems! (Russian language)

[kmrland]

Free ice for the southern eskamose.

[taitgarry00]

Not much insulation in that roof, I fear…

Have to watch out for water backing up under the shingles, “ice dam”, we call it. Bad news…

[kmrland]

Thats my old metal roof expando, it leaks a little here and there in between tar coatngs thats about it.And thats the the small part of the trailer that gets a lot of good old wood heat.I insulated roof coulple years ago, and the walls.but that small area of my roof has no insulate at all just metal inside the porch area.The door i put on needs painting it was that way when installed.The overhang i installed keeps the heavy rain out of the back wall. HERE IS ICE DAME ON POLE BARN,

the ice at rear of my old 74 house trailer has a 14" space after my overhang. I built my 28 by 32’ barn in 2004 and its holding up fairly well near the edge due too its a metal roof with 4-12 pitch.

[DanNH]

I was thinking the same thing. Also have to watch out for the ice dam comming down off that roof over the door. Except it looks like the door isn’t used this time of year.

[taitgarry00]

Ok, metal roof is the way to go for any building, that’s not nearly as much of a concern. Metal roofs also tend to melt the snow just with the action of the sun.

But as @DanNH says, the overhanging ice and snow is a safety concern, an “ice rake” attached to the roof to stop slides in front of doors is a must.

[kmrland]

You got too chance it when traveling under my ice iglu.There are no doors next too the truck.

[BillyAlabama]

Kristijan, Not that I really follow the northern sports (or any sports for that matter), but I suppose congrats are in order since your guys beat our guys on the ice yesterday…

[Bobmac]

Yesterday a big Red Fire Engine came down the street, turned into the loop trail parking lot just up the street from us. So I went up to the lot to see what was going on. Apparently someone smelled smoke and called the Douglas County Fire Department hot line. Asking if there were any fire permits for burning in the area. Nope. So out they came to find out where the fire was burning. We are not even under the no open burning ban law that will be started State wide coming up a little later this year. There was just a hint of smoke smell in the air when I talked to the driver. They headed up the road looking for the unregistered fire. It’s a good thing I did not have my truck fired up and reverse blowing out the hopper. Washington State has had a unusual high increase in the amount of wild fire in the last 10 years. Not lightening caused but man caused. SO DOWN COMES THE HAMMER OF THE LAW ON EVERYONE. MORE FREEDOMS TAKEN AWAY. Using my two barrel retort is out of the guestion now. They haven’t stop me from making a fire in my fire pit at night and cooking some food. Well not yet. I have had the sheriff’s department stop by when we were having a fire pit cookout. Offered him food and drink.
A new fire pit retort is in the design stage for this summer.
Bob

[KristijanL]

Thanks Billy, l am not realy in to sports either, l prefer farm gimnastics

[BillyAlabama]

Sounds like a hard plae to live there Bob.

[BillSchiller]

As beautiful as it is in those states in the PNW, there is no way I could live there.

[offgriddave]

Just so you know Bill eastern wa is more like a dessert than western washington, on the coast its a while different ball game.

[MikeR]

Bob, I have been thinking about this. There must be dozens of homes with wood stoves and fireplaces in your neighborhood. Anyone who has lived next door to someone who does not know how to work a stove, or burns misc. garbage in their fireplace, knows how much stinky smoke that makes, and it often trails along at ground level for hundreds of feet. You can’t do anything about those folks. What you can do is try your best to NOT be the person people think of when they smell smoke. “Oh its that Bob guy burning stuff again!” So, work on your charcoal system to make it as productive as possible with very little smoke. People around here wait for a rainy, dark day to burn their “question-ables” or for nightfall. Make your retort / outdoor charcoal system LOOK like a proper incinerator. Put up a carport for your wood-gas vehicles, maybe with a nice ivy-covered trellis on the nosy- neighbor view side. Keep your social camp fire pit neat, clean and safe in case the local fire marshall does come a calling. Keep a fire extinguisher visible.

[offgriddave]

Where im at is 60 miles from anything, peaceful quiet and everybody burns wood for heat.Dont get many visitors out here, including law enforcement, and my best friend is the fire cheif lol, strictly volunteer.

[Bobmac]

I hear what you are saying Mike, very few people heat with wood anymore around here. If you have another source of heat other than wood you are required to use it in the winter time, when we have a inversion in the valley causing stagnant air quality problems. (They say) I personally do not see it, but the governing powers do. We have the lowest price electric power in the nation. So most of the people have just given up on burning wood to heat there homes around here.
The good news is this. Registered open small fires are okay, but you have to follow the laws doing it. Also fire wood is pretty much free around here for the your labor and hauling.
Thousand of thousands of thousands of orchard trees that are pruned every year and they burn the wood yearly at apointed times, every burn is called in and registered and okayed to burn by the fire department’s. Ha, you don’t want them to show up at your house. They will charge you for a service call.
My new retort will look just like my fire ring but will be under ground something like Kristijan’s but on a smaller scale.
Incinerator barrels have been outlawed many years ago in this area. My retort looks like a incinerator barrel, not good.
You just need to work with the laws and around them legally.
Bob

[KristijanL]

This under ground thing realy works well. Not only its easyer to insulate, its allso completely hiden and if burned right, there is literaly not a hint of smoke or smell.

[DanNH]

You should get to know the fire chief well maybe if he understood how your wood gas truck works be would be willing to give you a permit to run it as you are cleaner then the gas burned in the same truck. Might take alot of explaining but seems like it would be worth a try.

[BillyAlabama]

Just so you know Bill eastern wa is more like a dessert than western washington, on the coast its a while different ball game.

One of my favorite experiences was driving south and east from seattle. One side of the mountains looks like the amazon almost, then winding through a pass in the hills and pop out in a desert. the only gree thing there was irrigated orchards. unbelievable difference.

As beautiful as it is in those states in the PNW, there is no way I could live there.

I agree, but it sure is pretty out there.