Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[dancan]

right, the wood demand has just jumped. I got the hearth laid yesterday, stove lifted in, connected up and draw tested today. We are ready for a burn tomorrow to cure the paint
View attachment 614212

Must be some odd smudge on the camera phone lens...I had to go check but the wall is not actually filthy! Would have been peeved it was, I only painted it recently! Actually....no the skirting boards are clean too....ooo err...must have been some weird shadowing thing. Trust me, the house really isn't filthy!

This is stove #2 and has been totally refurbished by me. Its a Franco Belge Belfort, that's another little 5Kw stove from a French maker. Oldish design but reputation for being built like the proverbial brick ****house. Good job really as this one was in a state when I got it but thankfully the castings were all fine. Got on Ebay for ...errr about £75 iirc, a year ago now. It had been run on coal and very VERY hard, I'm guessing they'ed used bituminous coal and over cooked the stove on a regular basis. Baffle was destroyed, top plate heat shield destroyed, grate destroyed, refractory bricks ....yep...destroyed, paint work turned white, door catch worn out and rope seals...what rope seals! So I bought a new grate and baffle, had to fabricate a new stainless steel top heat shield as I couldn't get a replacement, had the top plate casting off to re-rope and seal, made new bricks from vermiculite board, machined up a new door catch and fitted new rope seals, made my own ash pan handle and riddling grate wiggling tool (original had been lost), wire brushed the old paint off, cleaned with meths and with cellulose thinners, then resprayed with several coats of stovebright paint. Its good as new now and including my fuel when i collected it I've just under £200 into it, which isn't bad, they are £650 new and I could sell it for a small profit in this condition. I also know this stove very well, its the same model my parents have had for 20 years this winter.

Good job I've got about 25m3 of wood in (I burnt about 6.5m3 last winter)

Nice looking little stove Neil !

 

[James Miller]

I doubt the 660 will keep up, it's stock.
I was talking a gtg over in PA up on a hill at Steve's place .

A GTG at Steve's could be any time the grounds frozen. He cuts a lot.

 

[tnichols]

Im pretty fond of my 441

Love mine.

 

[svk]

Bunch of folks get together, run saws, BS, get to know each other, . . .

Philbert

Most importantly eat great food.

And a few folks show up just so they can go back and talk smack about each other on other sites

 

[woodchip rookie]

Does anybody do GTG's in central Ohio?

 

[svk]

I thought they did one in OH this spring?

 

[Logger nate]

Speaking of get together, hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! Enjoy time with family and friends and safe travels!

 

[svk]

Well 5 saws left the house over the past week and looks like a few more may as well. Four went to new homes and the last one will be back although somewhat healthier than how it left.

 

[Cowboy254]

Cowgirl went down to the noodle festival that I made of the manna gum yesterday. Came back with a lazy 7 garbage bags full.



She dug one bag of noodles into the orchard this morning, the rest will keep her going for a while.

 

[Conquistador3]

Cowgirl went down to the noodle festival that I made of the manna gum yesterday. Came back with a lazy 7 garbage bags full.

View attachment 614279

She dug one bag of noodles into the orchard this morning, the rest will keep her going for a while.

That goes a long way towards explaining why I am not married.

 

[siouxindian]

please. why is that . why you are not married?

 

[Jeffkrib]

Niel just be careful with the top baffle, when I bought my fire place the owner of the fire place shop told me stainless steel is pretty much useless for this application as it will bend like a banana. Apparently good quality cast iron is the best stuff for this job. Some of the other guys on here may know better than me.
I guess just keep an eye on it.

 

[turnkey4099]

Have you tuned it up??? New fuel filter, air filter and plug is where to start. Then, rebuild or replace the carb and some rubber parts (impulse line & boot).

As long as compression is still good, no reason to ditch a good saw for little problems!

Not Matt, sorry, don't have any recommendations.

I had it to 3 different dealers. Main problem is it being extremely hard to pull. Only way I can start it is on a solid surface with my shoe holding it down. If I can manage to pull it 3-4 times in the morning it is a one pull starter the rest of the day and I don't need to hold it down. I had it out last Sunday. Couldn't pull it. Ground was too soft and my boot only gets a bit of the toe in the handle loop.

That 361 is one sweet running/cutting sumabaitch....when started.

Of course age can't possibly have anything to do with it (82)

 

[Cowboy254]

Niel just be careful with the top baffle, when I bought my fire place the owner of the fire place shop told me stainless steel is pretty much useless for this application as it will bend like a banana. Apparently good quality cast iron is the best stuff for this job. Some of the other guys on here may know better than me.
I guess just keep an eye on it.

Hey Jeff,
I thought it was the other way around. The baffle in my heater originally was cast iron and it was bending before the end of the first winter. It has what I believe is a mild steel replacement which has survived its first winter without any bending. Like you though, I don't claim to be an expert.

 

[KiwiBro]

no decomp on the 361?

 

[farmer steve]

Second 1/3 cord of scrounged oak I had delivered for $90. Last 1/3 cord is getting picked up this Sunday for another $90. It all helps for Christmas funds for the kids!

you must be part Canadian. haulin wood in a minivan!!!!

 

[farmer steve]

Thanks! Had some issue getting selling green. Everyone here in the burbs wants " ready to burn now"....learning the market. Have another cord, cord and half of seasoned maple rounds to pick up for free after I'm done with the oak.

C/L is your friend. you can find some good wood sometimes but have to know what your getting into.

 

[siouxindian]

turnkey. 82 old its not the saw?god love you so do i but 82. it is proly . maybe . just think a bought it.could it be because the saw is to young?

 

[LondonNeil]

Niel just be careful with the top baffle, when I bought my fire place the owner of the fire place shop told me stainless steel is pretty much useless for this application as it will bend like a banana. Apparently good quality cast iron is the best stuff for this job. Some of the other guys on here may know better than me.
I guess just keep an eye on it.

Yes my understanding is that most stainless, although it won't burn/rust away like mild steel, loses its structural strength at a lower temp then mild so can bend and warp more easily.

The baffle is mild, I bought the replacement baffle cheaply. The heat shield is something this stove has that many don't, sits above the baffle and immediately below the top plate of the stove (cast iron). It's just a thin piece of sheet, flat except for a few bends at the edges. Not sure but I guess it's too protect the top plate from an over fire. It was completely missing when I got the stove and since it was taking months to get a replacement I went from the exploded diagram, and a phone photo taken off mum and dad's (with the baffle lifted out the shield can be seen inside the stove) and made it. I went for stainless so it won't burn away but have to hope that a little warping doesn't cause trouble. Worst that could happen is I have to redo it I think. Fingers crossed not though, I don't want to have to shift that stove let alone dismantle it, it's small but still heavy, 75kg.

 

[nighthunter]

Age is just a number when you do something you love