Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Delirium on January 07, 2010, 09:05:59 PM
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Recently, I bought a wood insert and its a heck of a lot cheaper than oil as it will heat most of the house. I still have oil heat/radiators but I'd like to avoid using it as much as I can.
The problem is, I just ran out of wood, probably 1/3 of a cord we had sitting in our backyard. I'm looking to buy firewood but I don't want to get burned, pardon the pun.
What should I look for? I'm guessing seasoned and no pine for starters, anyone have any tips?
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Oak is best....1/2 of a split, closely stacked full size pick-up is mebbe 1/2 cord....if the individual split pieces fell heavier than they ought, it's either wet of green, neither of which you want
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Del make sure when u install woodstove and chimney that u install it right. as for getting wood the easiest way is to buy a 4-wheeler u cud weave in between trees easier and carry a decent load enough wood for 2 or 3 days on the 4-wheeler. i burn wood all the time. look for trees that are dry<no green branches-needles>.
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I have been burning wood for years to heat my house and will never do without it. I burn pretty much any wood that I can get ahold of, though I avoid buying wood (because I'm cheap).
As far as buying wood though. Oak is one of the more prevelant woods out there that people sell and is a great balance between amount of heat that you get and amount of time it takes to burn out. However I have heard (no experience myself) that apple trees work very well if you have any orchards near your place they alot of times will sell the wood from the old trees. Around here it is about half and half (you cut or they cut and split). Locust is also another nice wood to burn if you can find it. The nice thing about locust is that it will last a long time in the stove and will give off a great deal of heat as well. I would actually place locust wood up there as one of the best woods for burning.
Probably the most important things to look for when purchasing firewood is any hardwood will work well and you want it to be seasoned, after that it is more about preference and availability (IMIHO).
The one thing I do reccomend to anyone especially those that burn like I do (just about anything that is free) is to clean your chimney at least every year. Most will reccomend monthly, but my stove doesn't shut down until spring after the first big cold snap.
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love Locust! Ya can cut down a standing dead tree, not have to split it or anything, always 5-7" wide
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Delerium,
I cut wood one year ahead to let it "season". I look in Craigslist for people who have tree's they don't want or have fallen over, usually listed in the "free" area of craigslist. I haul it out with my trailer. Don't use pine or hemlock...it will permanently clog up your chimney.
A chain saw doesn't use much gas either!
I'm in CT as well. I'm currently working 6 Maples on a yuppee's property thet blew over. He only wants to get them out and the destroyed limbs gone...........free. I've been working them since November and have 3 trees left to cut (these are GIANT maples). There's at least 3-4 cords sitting on my front lawn right now that I'll split this spring for burning next winter.
I run the wood stove any time the temp is less than 40 deg. If you want in, PM me, you can have half of what we harvest. I could use the help and I can teach you how to run a saw ( I have two Stihl's and a 27 ton splitter) if you don't already know.
The wood won't be good for this year though, you have to try to get at least one year ahead!
V/R and <S>, LTARjink
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Recently, I bought a wood insert and its a heck of a lot cheaper than oil as it will heat most of the house. I still have oil heat/radiators but I'd like to avoid using it as much as I can.
The problem is, I just ran out of wood, probably 1/3 of a cord we had sitting in our backyard. I'm looking to buy firewood but I don't want to get burned, pardon the pun.
What should I look for? I'm guessing seasoned and no pine for starters, anyone have any tips?
Don't play with matches..... you'll put your eye out.
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A bunch of wood burners around here will find a developer that is clearing trees for foundations and hit them up for the trees. Most of those you get for free just need to cart them off.
If pine is all you can get cheap make sure you burn it hot. That will help keep the creosote down.
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The overall best wood for burning is Douglas Fir that has had a chance to dryout for atleast 6 months. Douglas Fir gives off good heat and burns for quite awhile and gives off low creosote build up in your chimney. If you want alot of heat but with low burn time and a large cresote, go for Cedar. I've used a wood stove for heating my house since I was born. Never used electric or gas heating. I'm not sure what is available in your area, but if you have the chance, old growth Douglas Fir is the best wood you can get for burning. Where I am from, Douglas Fir usualy goes for around 80$ a chord.
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All I know is that oak burns long and hot! About ran me out of the cabin!
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Elm burns fast but hot, Oak is 5 star when dry,locust another as mentioned. Maple(maple is more of the soft wood catagory) depending on type,Hickory burns real good last long time( another great firewood ).
Softer woods pine, popular, birch,boxelder burn fast but great fire starters or fall and spring firewood where you don't want a long hot fire.
Burn a good hot fire once a week or so if burning soft woods and clean your chimney once a year, easy with a chimney brush and wieght tied to it.
I burned wood and coal for many years, coal you need a stove that will handle the heat and yeah its dirty and smells bad when burning slow.
Never burn coal in a stove that is not made for it.
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Del, everyone is suggesting what types of wood to burn, seasoned wood, etc. etc. I would like to add a few things about safety.
How good was your chimney? Make sure you clean it after burning for a winter. I used to burn wood until I got sick of splitting and doing all the work with my bad back. Had a few chimney fires too. Don't panic if that happens. Close the damper and listen to it. It'll sound like a freight train is running through the house. If you catch it in time, you can put it out. If you do end up with a fire that you can't put out and end up calling the fire dept, you will have a mess on your hands. They usually dont add water to them any more. They have these chemical bags that they can drop down. I've only seen it used once though. If the FD uses water, that can crack your flume. Big bucks to fix.
I'm sure other people can offer better advice. I haven't burned wood in 8 years. Can only imagine what a cord of seasoned wood is going for now.
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Del, everyone is suggesting what types of wood to burn, seasoned wood, etc. etc. I would like to add a few things about safety.
My chimney is good, I even had it lined all the way from wood insert to the top of the chimney, and the chimney is capped as well.
I run the wood stove any time the temp is less than 40 deg. If you want in, PM me, you can have half of what we harvest. I could use the help and I can teach you how to run a saw ( I have two Stihl's and a 27 ton splitter) if you don't already know.
I appreciate the offer but considering the price of wood is fairly low still, I'd rather purchase it. I do use my father in law's log gas powered log splitter from time to time but I don't think I'm entirely qualified for chainsaw use. LTARjink, do you know of anyone selling wood? I'd like to see the money go to someone that is AH connected, if you know what I mean.
Can only imagine what a cord of seasoned wood is going for now.
A seasoned and split cord is going for between $175 and $225 delivered. Considering I have a small Subaru Baja, I'd have to make a lot of trips and it would probably kill the car (it looks like the old Subaru Brats).
Thanks for all the help, gentleman. Except Shuffler, may he eat yellow snow. :neener:
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Del any of the pines, firs will have more creosote than hardwoods. And will burn faster, giving you less heat.
Alder, Birch, Poplar, are all pretty soft, not a lot of creosote about a tossup with the pines for heat. Good for starting the fire, and easy to split.
Oak, Ash, Elm are all top notch will give you the most heat for the least creosote buildup.
Ideally this summer you cut next winters fuel supply, cut, split, stack and dry it over the hot days of summer.
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I use maple, hickory, walnut and oak. I live in the country so we just cut it out of the ditches along the gravel roads most of the time. I go through about 10 pickup loads a year. I stay away from any of the pines and piss elms. Pine is good for camping trips but can be dangerous to burn in the home.
WTG on the change over to wood :aok
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WTG on the change over to wood :aok
Sadly, Connecticut is/was debating limiting the amount of wood a business can burn to limit the pollutants in the air. You know as soon as that happens, they'll start looking at home owners as well.
I'm not sure it would be cost effective for me to cut the wood myself, I'm very lucky and extra hours at work are for the taking.
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Been my only source of heat for 30 year's . Buy a skil chain saw about a 21 will do fine for you ..The guy's told you Oak and that's right but make sure it's RED OAK ! not POST OAK there is a difference ,,, Post oak will not burn .
Red Oak mixed with a little hickory . Don't use all Hickory or i will burn your insert up .
This is what I do for a living now along with a few other thing's ..I am a BRICK and Stone Mason ...by trade ..
This is one subject I do know ....lol . When you get your saw if you got any question's on it I can answer them too ...
As far as cleaning your chimney , I have never cleaned mine . I have had it to burn the suit out a few time's but you don't want to do that unless you know your chimney . I built mine and I know it can take the heat or all the ones I built will take the heat ...When the suit Burns out it will sound like a jet taking off ...sucking air up the chimney ...It will crack the liner's in the chimney from the heat ..but if it's built well it will not hert it ..so I would not worry about cleaning it ..If it catches on fire inside the chimney take a water hose and try and keep the out side where the chimney runs out the top or back of the house cool by wetted it down . No big deal . I had people call me when there's caught on fire inside thinking there house was on fire , lol ...no big deal ...just looks that way . Be out in a few minute's ..
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Today's pellet stoves are much more efficient, cost less to heat a house than a wood stove, and is certainly less messy, or so I've been told.
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Today's pellet stoves are much more efficient, cost less to heat a house than a wood stove, and is certainly less messy, or so I've been told.
Then you have tto buy the pellet's . If I was going to do that I would just burn gas ..
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Alot of folks out here use corn stoves. But they usually have to buy a cornfield too :lol
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Then you have tto buy the pellet's . If I was going to do that I would just burn gas ..
Well, unless you have an unlimited supply of wood growing on your acreage, you'd have to buy wood too.
Incidently, I've either lived in or owned a house that had one of 4 types of heating: Radiant, wood, gas, electric baseboard. Gas was the most cost efficient, and electric the worst.
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This is true . I live back in the wood's you see , woman and kid's and dog and me ..and free wood ..
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Del I just remembered another great source of firewood. Call any local sawmills, alot of them still sell slab wood and it is usually (around here anyway) 1/2 the price of chunk wood. Though this is usually something you do during the summer months so it has plenty of time to dry out you can use it right away if your in a pinch. I have done this many times since my uncle owns the sawmill I usually purchase from, I get priority over others :angel: .
The only drawbacks are you might get larger pieces one time and smaller ones the next, you just need to plan out what you burn when (smaller pieces during the day and bigger ones at night. You also will need to stack it yourself because most of the time the dump it off the back of a truck into a huge pile. The plus side is none of it ever has to be split, you won't need to search for/split off kindling (lots of small pieces already present), and there is usually nice flat sides that you can stack together when putting in the stove (helping to make it burn longer.
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Kinda like burning coal myself.
All the benefits of pellets(extremely long burn time) but a coal stove will run without electricity.(a pellet stove won't)
In the spring and fall when you don't need 24\7 heat, you can burn some wood to take the chill off.
And for the people who say coal is dirty, I say that people are dirty , coal isn't.
I find wood to be very messy and alot more work than coal.
If you look up a fuel cost comparison chart, I think you will also find that coal is the cheapest fuel you can buy. :salute
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Del,
Sry I didnt read any of the comments, but you should just find some way to cut your own. My family will go through almost 3 to 4 cord a winter because, like you, my dad dont like using his oil. The amount of money saved is incredible and my dad bought a brand new chevy with the money he saved just to carry wood back from WV.
There is nothing like cleaniong your chimney with your pops swaping "party" stories :D :salute
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Delerious,
I can't sell you any of my seasoned firewood because I'm trying to limit my oil purchases just like you are; and I only have about 2.5 cords remaining for the rest of the winter.
Sorry.
I do have about 1/2 cord of logs behind the barn. You can have them for free. I won't be rotating them into my next winter's pile. They're not cut or split; but are off the ground on pallets and under a tarp. They've been sitting there for about 2 years so they should burn fine. I'll run the saw, you can run my splitter. If you want me to haul it up to your house in my trailer I'll ask you to pay for the gas. (I'm in New London, CT)
Seperate topic :..........After I'm done harvesting the rest of the maples I mentioned above, I'll let you have a free cord for next winter if you help me split up all six cords ( I'm estimating/eyeballing the 6 maples to equal about 6 cords of product). I could be wrong as I've never had a great eye for tree size vs. product size. Two men working goes much more than twice as fast. The trunk of the largest tree was 40 inches across...the largest tree was about 80 ft high...now it's sitting in a pile of "rounds" on my front lawn.....should split up into lots of wood this spring!
If you're dead set on buying; craigslist has people selling in the "general", "household", or "farm and garden" areas. In this economy many people are earning their living selling firewood in the middle of winter. Just do a search for "firewood". Watch out though. Craigslist is a cespool of scammers. A pickup truck load is probably way less than a cord unless you drive a F-450 monster truck or something. A proper cord should be a 8 Ft long X 4 Ft high X 4 Ft wide rectangle after its split + stacked (= 128 cubic ft ). Randomely throwing a bunch of wood into the back of a standard pick up truck is definitely not going to equal a cord. I'd say you could get a decent seasoned cord (not delivered) for around $200 here in CT. Delivered will be more $; some guys will stack it at your house too if you pay them even more $ still.
Let me know if interested; I'm in town until at least May 2012 (active duty Navy)
V/R and <S> , LTARjink
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ah we use mesquite wood here in AZ. I dont think you have that where you are though. So I would go with Oak.
Mostly mesquite stumps they burn long time.
For some reason i dont think my post will be as helpful as i first thought srry.
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Today's pellet stoves are much more efficient, cost less to heat a house than a wood stove, and is certainly less messy, or so I've been told.
:rofl :rofl :rofl
Well, unless you have an unlimited supply of wood growing on your acreage, you'd have to buy wood too.
Incidently, I've either lived in or owned a house that had one of 4 types of heating: Radiant, wood, gas, electric baseboard. Gas was the most cost efficient, and electric the worst.
Now I just pity you for living nowhere near any forests or trees. Not saying one should just go out into the woods and cut down some firewood illegaly, but there is plenty of wood out there in the woods already cut down and essentialy there for the taking. Also as others have posted here, when ya live in/near the woods, need some firewood, and have the right tools on hand, people often are more than thrilled for you to come over to their land, use your tools to cleanup some trees that have fallen over and then help yourself to the spoils.
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OK all you heating theorist's:
Now hear this.........the real purpose of home heating systems is for personnel comfort.
Can we agree on this?
I can easily afford to pay the oil truck man as much money as he wants to charge me.....but I choose not to do so.
The reason has nothing to do with me being green.
The reason has nothing to do with the inefficiency's of my three other heating systems in my house.
The real reason why I prefer to toss parts of flaming tree's into a metal box is very simple.
After that stove gets "rollin", it's very apparant to me that the entire family gathers towards the room;
the family game boards come out;
the horse toejam TV shows dissappear; and my children laugh much more readily.
The look on my wifes face says it all.
I'll run a big chain saw all year long to keep "this ball rollin".
If you don't know what I'm talking about; I wish you the best of luck in finding it.
V/R and <S>, LTARjink
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That is exactly it, my wife is much happier with the stove going than without. Heck, she is the one insisting I go buy some wood right away.
I'd much rather give $200 to some guy in my local area for wood than give $650 to the oil man to send overseas.
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Del I just remembered another great source of firewood. Call any local sawmills, alot of them still sell slab wood and it is usually (around here anyway) 1/2 the price of chunk wood. Though this is usually something you do during the summer months so it has plenty of time to dry out you can use it right away if your in a pinch. I have done this many times since my uncle owns the sawmill I usually purchase from, I get priority over others :angel: .
The only drawbacks are you might get larger pieces one time and smaller ones the next, you just need to plan out what you burn when (smaller pieces during the day and bigger ones at night. You also will need to stack it yourself because most of the time the dump it off the back of a truck into a huge pile. The plus side is none of it ever has to be split, you won't need to search for/split off kindling (lots of small pieces already present), and there is usually nice flat sides that you can stack together when putting in the stove (helping to make it burn longer.
don't forget cull logs from any logging company or anyone logging
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don't forget cull logs from any logging company or anyone logging
i didn't think of that. mostly because there are several paper mills close to here that take most of that up.
either way if he is looking for wood that he won't have to work, slab wood is a great source. cheap price and way less work that cutting it yourself.
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logging company's will not let you go in and cut the top's because I was told if I got hert there insurance would not cover me . Now that's just what they told me ..
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logging company's will not let you go in and cut the top's because I was told if I got hert there insurance would not cover me . Now that's just what they told me ..
I'm not sure if you are just trying to let del know that you already tried that or reponding to something already mentioned here, but I didn't see anywhere mentioned to ask logging companies for permission to cut up tops. However many times if you see them cutting on someone's private property, you can go ask the property owner and many times they will let you cut the tops (less for them to clean up). I did this once before and the guy charged me $10 a truck load. I heated my house for $150 for the whole year, I was really desperate that year since I ran out of places to cut.
BTW in case anyone doesn't know slab wood is the outside pieces that sawmills cut off when they saw logs into lumber and cull logs are logs that are too small and/or crooked to be cut into lumber.
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I cut wood for a living a few year's ago and was trying to find a place to cut some wood . That's how I know .
I have a sawmill by my house and they use all there pieces to make press board . No free wood there ..just saying ..mite be different where you guy's are at ..
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Great place is construction sites where they have to clear tons of land...they usually just push the trees over and pile em up....but these sorts of things have to be done in spring/early summer, that they might be ready for winter. Any tree that has been laying sideways for any amount of time is worthless, even after splitting, for months. We burn 5-6 cords each winter (depends on whether wife is working or not, as she reFUSES to wear stuff like socks or sweaters--- :furious), and my annual hunt starts in May. I suppose it would cost a couple grand to just BUY all this wood...I'm weighing pros and cons....
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Just try not to throw anything big in the fire (cardboard etc) My chimney and part of my house caught fire last year on CHRISTMAS EVE because of it.
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logging company's will not let you go in and cut the top's because I was told if I got hert there insurance would not cover me . Now that's just what they told me ..
I just got back from an abandoned site with a truckload, going back out for another--it's at that stage in between logging, and burning the individual piles of stuff that isn't suitable for the sawmill or commercial firewood. Just paid $523 to fill propane tanks..REALLY don't wanna do THAT again before the fall :eek:
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Hey WTG on the wood... It never hurts to ask ...Yeah , A lot of people are trying to get away from that gas . Why I will cutting some extra wood this week . It will pay for my Track-IR5 ..plus
BTW: On the Oak . The reason I like Red Oak over White Oak is , it's easier to bust and when it's froze it will bust in one good swing .You will not do that with any other Oak .Plus the Red Oak sell good , looks good busted ..
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Now I just pity you for living nowhere near any forests or trees. Not saying one should just go out into the woods and cut down some firewood illegaly, but there is plenty of wood out there in the woods already cut down and essentialy there for the taking. Also as others have posted here, when ya live in/near the woods, need some firewood, and have the right tools on hand, people often are more than thrilled for you to come over to their land, use your tools to cleanup some trees that have fallen over and then help yourself to the spoils.
Why do you think I live nowhere near forests or trees?
http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL767/2726312/21802801/378949772.jpg
http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL767/2726312/21802801/378949773.jpg
I have an Elk preserve federally protected in my backyard. :)
Around here, wood is at a premium. You can harvest the slash piles on forest roads just 15 minutes from here, but you're competing with hundreds of others as well. I did it for 2 years as a method to heat a double wide I used to live in when I was 20 years old. It was very time consuming.
People who clear their acreage in these parts get HUGE sums of money for the existing trees on their property. A typical cord of wood costs $175 for good seasoned wood. You can get unseasoned crappy wood (poplar) for as little as $125/cord
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Why do you think I live nowhere near forests or trees?
http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL767/2726312/21802801/378949772.jpg
http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL767/2726312/21802801/378949773.jpg
I have an Elk preserve federally protected in my backyard. :)
Around here, wood is at a premium. You can harvest the slash piles on forest roads just 15 minutes from here, but you're competing with hundreds of others as well. I did it for 2 years as a method to heat a double wide I used to live in when I was 20 years old. It was very time consuming.
People who clear their acreage in these parts get HUGE sums of money for the existing trees on their property. A typical cord of wood costs $175 for good seasoned wood. You can get unseasoned crappy wood (poplar) for as little as $125/cord
Those Sitka Spruces have been photoshopped!!! Next you'll tell us you live near a Lake in Washington!!!!! :devil
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Those Sitka Spruces have been photoshopped!!! Next you'll tell us you live near a Lake in Washington!!!!! :devil
Who me? :D
http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL767/2726312/22567437/381028581.jpg
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Got some great deals down here on firewood one winter. This guy was selling slab and cull wood from his sawmill for $25 a truck/small trailer load; I borrowed the company truck (Chevrolet full size with a long bed) and our 8 foot company trailer. I paid the guy $50 a day for 1 week and ended up with enough wood for 2 years down here. Heck when we sold our house I sold the remaining wood to the new buyer for $500 and he was happy. I probably left 4 cords there when we moved.
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Who me? :D
http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL767/2726312/22567437/381028581.jpg
:t
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Thanks for all the help, gentleman. Except Shuffler, may he eat yellow snow. :neener:
:confused:
:rofl