Checking out a new firewood site this morning/updates on the stove

[Bushmans]

Responded to an add for firewood. You cut you haul type deal.
Sounds like maybe the guy had some logging done and is selling tops. He said it was mostly walnut with some cherry. Wants $10 a cord. I asked him if he meant a full cord? He says you tell me what it's worth. Well it aint worth nothing laying there. Once it's cut split and stacked and seasoned for a year or so then it's worth something. LOL
Meeting him this morning to check it out. I'm hoping he has a nice little wood lot with as bunch of tops and if I'm lucky a bunch of dead ash that I can buy off him as well. I get nervous when my wood pile is down to 2 years.

So far my "new" woodstove had done a great job of heating the entire house. The high temps have been hanging in the 20s and low 30s for some time now so I was able to get a real good feel of how the season will be. That is average temps here in my area. A few cold and warm spells mixed in.

I have been able to pack the stove full with 6 or 7 splits before I leave for work (5am) and when I get home (4:30pm) the house is still high 60s or low 70 depending on the day. With coals left to restart. Total max splits burnt in a day so far is around 15-20 and that's if I'm home all day. Wood heat is amazing. Now 70 degrees just feels a little chilly.

Going to pop the top off the chimney and do a clean out to see how the flue is reacting to my burning habits. I want to see if having that third insulating pipe is doing what I hoped it would by keeping the flue temps warmer when the fuel begins to run out. I try to keep the chimney from smoking as much as possible but I don't need full burn when the house is 70 degrees. I try to choke it down a little to conserve the fuel but therein lies the battle of smoky chimney and
creosote build up.

 

[philoshop]

Nice looking stove. g
Good luck on the wood score.

 

[farmer steve]

stove looks great. as usual all the variable on tops apply,access,size of tops,etc. the price sounds good. around here tops after a logging operation are in the $25-35 range per top. oak, hickory, ash etc. good luck.FS

 

[zogger]

"Choking it down" this is why you need different species and different size splits and full rounds to go into the stove. You can adjust heat output that way without fooling around with dampers and so on, and still burn wide open for a clean burn.

 

[griffonks]

Zogger, I think he dampens the fire to slow the burn while he goes to work, he wants to come home to a warm fire.

 

[Bushmans]

"Choking it down" this is why you need different species and different size splits and full rounds to go into the stove. You can adjust heat output that way without fooling around with dampers and so on, and still burn wide open for a clean burn.

Never considered full rounds. I am burning ash, sugar maple and a little elm right now. I have oak set aside for later in winter. Originally when I had just the fireplace my best BTUs were from small splits burnt real fast. Now that I have the stove I started splitting bigger pieces but I still need to burn up the "fireplace" stock. I have quite a bit left before I can begin burning the larger size which unfortunately isn't ready anyways. It is next years!
Messing around with the magnetic temp gauge vs my digital cooking thermometer. First results appear that the mag thermo is off by about a hundred degrees. Reading 400 right above the flue damper while the probe placed against the single wall reads around 300. Further investigation needed.
Being an old smoke dragon type stove I don't expect the world out of it just trying to optimize what I have. I still smile while it burns.

 

[zogger]

Never considered full rounds. I am burning ash, sugar maple and a little elm right now. I have oak set aside for later in winter. Originally when I had just the fireplace my best BTUs were from small splits burnt real fast. Now that I have the stove I started splitting bigger pieces but I still need to burn up the "fireplace" stock. I have quite a bit left before I can begin burning the larger size which unfortunately isn't ready anyways. It is next years!
Messing around with the magnetic temp gauge vs my digital cooking thermometer. First results appear that the mag thermo is off by about a hundred degrees. Reading 400 right above the flue damper while the probe placed against the single wall reads around 300. Further investigation needed.
Being an old smoke dragon type stove I don't expect the world out of it just trying to optimize what I have. I still smile while it burns.

I think you are doing fine, plus having some intellectual fun with it.

I burn whole rounds because I get a lot, cutting down to small. Some I just leave unsplit and mix them into the stacks, even though they are "splitting" size, even up to around 8 inches diameter. Not all, but some..

 

[farmer steve]

yes i agree with Zogger on the rounds. i use the for overniters with a few splits mixed in. 12- 13 hrs. and i hace a nice bed of coals next morning.

 

[Bushmans]

Just returned from looking at the site. Not much there. He had a couple Walnut cut and a sawmill slab them up. Maybe a cord, cord and a half. Two if I really scrounge hard. Lots of slab wood from the saw mill. Not too interested in that as it is really thin. Might make some good kindling however. I offered the guy $20 a cord. He said Ok. The nice thing is it is all within tossing distance of where I will park truck and trailer so no hauling at all. Better than nothing. His stuff gets cleaned up, I get some firewood and it's about an 18 minute drive from my house. He has another three acres of low land woods I will check out and see if there is any dead ash available but from the looks accessibility is zero. It would have to be frozen and a trail cut through it. Not really worth it in my book. There is one cherry mixed in with the walnut. Walnut seems to be one of those woods people don't really care to burn. Never hear much about it. I did a little research and the BTU output is OK. I can mix it in with other stuff. I don't see much reason to pass it up. I'm not a wood snob. Of course I would be if the good stuff was readily available. I still have a stack of White Elm rounds that need to be split from 2 years ago. That stuff is a bear!

 

[zogger]

A score is a score! I'd grab the slabwood as well, BTUs in the stack are better than snowballs!

 

[stihl023/5]

20 is pretty cheap, grab it before it is gone.

 

[TRTermite]

Going to pop the top off the chimney and do a clean out to see how the flue is reacting to my burning habits. I want to see if having that third insulating pipe is doing what I hoped it would by keeping the flue temps warmer when the fuel begins to run out. I try to keep the chimney from smoking as much as possible but I don't need full burn when the house is 70 degrees. I try to choke it down a little to conserve the fuel but therein lies the battle of smoky chimney and
creosote build up.

I have been burning wood for my main source of heat all my life, and was raised With wood heat. I have built several chimneys (not all with perfect results) one tends to learn from mistakes -your own as well as others.
Something I seldom see any one referring to is how to stoke and bank a fire and the reason behind the practice.
50 + years ago an old timer (Tom) needed help with stoking his stove. I delivered papers and he had a saw sharpening shop. He Had a back problem at the time and taught me a bit of saw savvy in order to keep his customers happy. He could over see my work most of the time.
Back to the FIRE Tom was Adamant that you Build a HOT fire - get a good HOT draw through the chimney (this dries the creosote if there is any and allows it to drop out) and get a nice draft established. You do this each morning to eliminate buildup. Then you stoke the fire/put big chunks of wood as needed. Let the wood get a GOOD start. Then you adjust the damper and air supply to the heat you want. At night you get the fire rumbling then get the stoking fired up, then after a while lean the air supply at the bottom down as needed and then after a bit you shut the top damper down for the night. This Tom referred to as "Banking the fire"
Repeat this procedure daily.
I realize that many stoves now days are without dampers and some are catalytic enhanced and many have forced air draft that are controlled by thermostat. Also there are so many concepts for chimney and flue pipe specifications.
Flue Pipe is commonly installed crip end up, this is counterproductive to draft, and lets creosote that should not be go dripping down the out side of flue pipe due to cooling of the draft/smoke.
Old timers did this for a reason and if we understand why we should feel safer and be more comfortable with wood heat.
Interpolate this with common sense to your application.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

TRTermite. Very interesting and I think very true. To get the chimney to draw it needs to be warmed up, which can take a little time. I tried something last week in our wood stove called a Swiss fire, a fire that burns from the top down. I loaded the empty stove three quarters full with splits and built a fire on top of that. I do not think it was meant to be done in a wood stove or fireplace with a chimney, and will not be doing it again. Maybe a campfire sometime. It burnt long and slow but not very well.

 

[audible fart]

yes i agree with Zogger on the rounds. i use the for overniters with a few splits mixed in. 12- 13 hrs. and i hace a nice bed of coals next morning.

I always end up with oak hearts that are unsplittable with the x27, so i saw them into big chunks & use them for those times i want to keep coals for long periods with the damper wide open.

 

[TRTermite]

YA Know yer gettin OLD when your ALL NITERs mean the size of the wood ....

 

[Fourced]

YA Know yer gettin OLD when your ALL NITERs mean the size of the wood you put in the wood stove ....

Fixed!

I personally like to put my wood in the dishwasher....

 

[blades]

Fixed!

I personally like to put my wood in the dishwasher....

Better be careful on that statement now days.......... just sayen

 

[Gugi47]

Good Morning Everyone.

Cloudy
18°F
Feels Like: 9°
Wind Chill: 9° Ceiling: 2300
Heat Index: 18° Visibility: 10mi
Dew Point: 9° Wind: 6mph
Humidity: 68% Direction: 40°NE
Pressure: 30.62" Gusts: NA

 

[Gugi47]

Good Morning Everyone.

Mostly Cloudy
35°F
Feels Like: 25°
Wind Chill: 25° Ceiling: 5100
Heat Index: 35° Visibility: 10mi
Dew Point: 17° Wind: 17mph
Humidity: 47% Direction: 300°WNW
Pressure: 30.16" Gusts: 24mph

 

[turnkey4099]

TRTermite. Very interesting and I think very true. To get the chimney to draw it needs to be warmed up, which can take a little time. I tried something last week in our wood stove called a Swiss fire, a fire that burns from the top down. I loaded the empty stove three quarters full with splits and built a fire on top of that. I do not think it was meant to be done in a wood stove or fireplace with a chimney, and will not be doing it again. Maybe a campfire sometime. It burnt long and slow but not very well.

My stove has an ash pan under a grate. To start with a cold chimney I put 2 or 3 splits on the grate, a couple sheets of newsprint on top under the chimney then a couple sheets in the ashpan. Start the ashpan ones and then the ones on top, shut the fire box door and feed 4 or so more sheets to the ones burning in the ash pan. Roaring fire in short order.