DualFuel

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Dualfuel
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DualFuel

Post by Dualfuel »

I thought perhaps pictures of what keeps me from being on the road would be interesting to the rest of you. I live on what is really an island in Lake Superior. They call it a peninsula but try to get here with out crossing the lift bridge and you'll run into the definition of an island. Things here slightly different then most other places. Winters are long, and summers are cool. Most of the Keweenaw is covered with deciduous hardwood with a mix of taiga. The ground is either gneiss or this sandstone hard pan.
The appeal for me is isolation. I get to do what ever I want and do it unfettered. The limits on me are imposed by nature, not my neighbors.
Right now its spring and as of today the black flies have just come out. Finnish Air Force will be next (mosquitos). No leaves on the trees yet. The time from the snow going off til the advent of the bugs is prime wood cutting season. I make fuel. This is the most readily available form of fuel. I do other fuels but this is the main direction I am heading.
We use wood to cook with, we have a wood fired hot water heater, we have a wood fired biodiesel processor, and we have wood fueled gas producers.
Dualfuel
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Post by Dualfuel »

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Last edited by Dualfuel on Sun May 02, 2010 12:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
Dualfuel
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Post by Dualfuel »

I left the last picture big so that you could scroll around and see some details.
The view is from the seat of the Prentice "G" loader attached to a 1966 Chevy C60 (first year of the 366!).
As you can see its a big mess and we are working on that this weekend.

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Here is what its all about. We burn 30 cords of stove wood in the various stoves and processors over the course of a year....no problem. The wood supply is endless.
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Dualfuel
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Post by Dualfuel »

Who says I'm not a tree hugger?

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This was at Estvant Pines. A virgin stand of white pine near Copper Harbor. Not as impressive as the western trees, but when you think that 400 years ago the whole state and Wisconsin looked like this, you realize things have changed.
Dualfuel
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Post by Dualfuel »

Here are the fellas...
I got drafted to go Iraq. I got pissed off with the world about that because I was the primary care giver to these guys. When I left, they went to the paid care of strangers. When I got back I decided I wasn't going to be seperated from them again. Whether that meant sailing to Canada, or just living life the way we do now. I do what I say. I have been apart from them one day in 5 years. They have a dad. I get really mean even thinking about it to this day.
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stuartcnz
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Post by stuartcnz »

Just tagging this post, so I get emailed update. I'm looking forward to up seeing more on this thread.
splummer
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Post by splummer »

hi, dualfuel, i agree ,you have a good reason not to be on the road, 30 cords is a lot of wood to burn a year , haha to much for me to handle, i have to say , that the west isnt the only place of big trees, we have them up here also,i also agree its nice not to have close neighbors so you can do your thing. i live in the woods and i have no neighbors
just because you ride the bus , it doesnt make you a bus person
the bus stopped and i got on and thats how it all began
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Post by Granny »

Cute kids. That one looks like he needs his dad around, could be full of a little mischief :) , and I mean that in a good way. But then, I just have a fondness to children.
Wow, 30 cords a year. I heat solely with wood, but have never come close to useing that much.
Dualfuel
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Post by Dualfuel »

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Hi again, and thanks for commenting. Its what keeps the story going. This picture is of a real wood eater...this is a wood fired water heater with no dampers. Its either wide open or shut off. Its plumbed in a loop with the upstairs electric water heater for a total capacity of 100 gallons. When its being fired it will use a laundry basket of edgings every hour.
As of this moment, I don't have pictures of all the stoves, but usually during the winter we fire:
The Humble wood boiler
The Monarch Kitchen Range
The Box
The water heater
The Volcano II
ALso being fired at various times are the oil processor AND if it gets really cold or windy, we fire the Perfection oil heater (on biodiesel)

I stoke every 20 minutes through out the winter.
Dualfuel
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Post by Dualfuel »

Sometimes we head south to Buckley for the old engine show. This is one of those times and we usually stop along the north shore of Lake Michigan for a dip. Lake Michigan is always balmy compared to our Lake so we can plough right in. Not a lot of stone either. I vowed the boys would be raised on the beaches. Only now do I ask that they wear shorts. Before I let them run free up and down the remote beaches of our LakeImageImage
Dualfuel
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Post by Dualfuel »

The Man from Amasa is coming to buy my old Power Wagons on Friday...Yay! less stuff!
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Dualfuel
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Post by Dualfuel »

Although I agree about safety around the welding...I really am obsessed with safety around the head saw and buzz rig. Part of that obsession is to get everything piled right, clean, and orderly paths around the machinery. Its a work in progress as I am a slob. Here is my friend Mark loading some cedar for himself. He is making a cordwood construction. I wanted all the extra wood either stacked or gone and he came out and obliged me with both.
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Dualfuel
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Post by Dualfuel »

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This stove has had a continous daily burn for 10years now. Its baffles are warped. Still it heats my dish water every morning. We can with it starting in August. Whew! Thats why all these old houses had summer kitchens, to keep the heat out of the rest of the place.
Dualfuel
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Post by Dualfuel »

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Here is the wood fired oil processor. This baby fires daily too when I am in town. Total capacity is now about 130 gallons at a crack (with allowance for expansion). Since we got the fuel hog 6.9 and the Semi, I have had to ramp up production.
Dualfuel
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Post by Dualfuel »

So today was an exercise in getting something mobile....An old wheelless M37. I found the easiest thing to do was take an old double axle camper and roll the camper part off. Then lift the M37 up and drive the camper frame under the Army truck. Then I lowered the M37 onto the some beams and blocks which were sitting on the frame.
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