We live were the air hurts our faces so that we don't have to deal with creepy crawly's that are better suited to be in sci-fi films lol.
On your firewood storage issue, I had a couple thoughts.
The price you said for a shed, was that a stick built structure? Have you priced a fabric hoop building? I would think that would make a really nice firewood shed and should cost a lot less than that.
For moving firewood, a lot of people are using the IBC totes that you guys likely get chemicals in. You cut out the plastic liner and use the steel cage to hold the firewood, and you can stack them 3 high.
The shed was a stick built three sided shed with 12’ sidewalls and a single man door.
A fabric building is a great idea but it’s need to be more of a conventional building style as the stove is set off to the far side of the concrete pad. Not a bad idea though !!
I already use 30 something IBC totes for firewood and they work amazing but are a tad small for what I’m after. When it’s **** cold and windy a tote lasts two days. I’d like a weeks worth of wood at least in a container so I don’t have to keep 150 totes around lol.
The pallet racking setups I’m thinking of building should hold just north of a cord of wood so having 25-30 of them will more than get me though a winter. Damn stove will gobble a cord a week when it’s cold. Granted that is mostly crappy box elder, cottonwood, pine and poplar so I’m sure some nice ash, oak, or maple would make a HUGE difference.
Almost $1 per stick. Nice for a romantic evening in front of the fireplace.
Do folks not burn corn in your area or has the price hurt economics of that?
What thickness is your flooring on the loft? Looks really good.
You mentioned the sag. Of course steel sags a lot more than wood for the same strength beam. Aren't your primary beams steel?
Corn stoves were all the rage when corn was $1.60/bu but better prices have shut most of them down. I explored the idea of a giant outdoor corn stove but I think I figured it’d eat 10bu/day when it was cold out. I can burn LP cheaper than that so that idea never made it past the calculator.
Loft floor is 3/4” cheapo Menards OSB and thanks for the kind words !!
Primary beams are 1930’s steel I-Beams and will hold up a dealership of 1930’s Model A’s. The end 4’ is cantilevered 2x8’s and I was worried about sag when I set stuff on it. I was rather excited that there was almost none with that huge pile of metal shelving sitting on it. If it all sags a little I’m not too worried. I had an engineer sign off on the documents. I gotta go get a picture of Leo in his train conductor costume with a paper that says “All good!” now.
If you guy want to try something that will help keep you warm and not sweat, get something like this:
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It's Nomex, doesn't make you itch like some of the other synthetic stuff will. You can pull it up over your mouth when you need too and pull it off your face without removing it as well. I've got one and it's been well worth the money to me. They've got about a hundred different styles and ratings available, along with some other materials. I stick with the Nomex due to the itch factor.
I’ve not heard of Nomex before but I will definitely be ordering some. I’ve been a wool fan for a long time but it has definite drawbacks. Like being itchy.
I re-read your post. The head scratcher is the 261 choke, carry on!
Yeah. Haven’t figured it out yet !! More of a “I want it to work so I’ll make it work” deal than anything so we’ll see. I found a pair of toasted 026 cylinders that I’m being sent for nothing to try my hand at porting before I tackle my good OEM one. Rather excited about that as well !! Going to be a little ripper when I get done !!