OWB.. Seasoned green or mixed?

[jrider]

Nobody has asked if this owb is an old smoke dragon style or a newer gasification model. I can only speak for the gasser, because that's what I have and I will tell you it likes seasoned wood 20% and under. I have read where wood that is too dry can lead to issues in it but I haven't seen that yet. How much does mine smoke? Neighbors - we are on 1-2 acre wooded lots - ask me in the fall what I'm waiting for to fire it up when in reality it's already been running for a few weeks.

 

[haveawoody]

blackdogon57,

It happens when you least expect it.
Like rolling a roulette wheel sooner or later the number comes up, burning green wood just makes the wheel much smaller.
An out of control fire in a chimney is a mighty hot thing, migrates to any structure it can at record speed.

Maybe just me but I would never spend the money for a wonderful expensive OWB then make my roulette wheel any smaller than it need be.
All comes down to one less duration trip to the OWB with green wood than with good dried wood but like everything else in life it costs something.
You can get the same or better burn times with larger splits of dry wood so IMO it's a better practise to burn properly.

 

[AIM]

when its really cold like it has been here lately 2-3 degrees in the morning.. I have noticed when I load my owb with 2 year old split elm before bed time that in the morning I have nothing but ashes and the temp on the heater is usually around 100-110.. if I mix some green in with it before bed time I still have some pretty big chunks coals left and the temp is around 150 -160..

I could be wrong here but I think before you worry a lot more about your wood you may want to look at your installation.
You really drop all the way to 100 - 110 overnight? Especially with a load of 2 year old split elm?
What's your high set point? Something just sounds odd about your performance. Overnight is your least amount of "load" on your OWB. If my water is at 160° at bedtime I could put my fire OUT and wake up to 140°.

 

[Bushmans]

with a load of 2 year old split elm?

It is soaked in water to make it burn longer

 

[flotek]

It's really simple .. Burning green wood requires more incoming air .. Dry seasoned wood burns with hardly any requirement of air. .. The more air to he unit calls for to keep up and boil the moisture out before it combusts ..the more goes directly out your flue pipe that air has to go some where . Green wood has way less btu and sends a good portion of that heat up and out into the great outdoors

 

[haveawoody]

flotek,

In a nutshell
Pretty simple mechanics to fire.

 

[cantoo]

I didn't have my owb installed when I was cutting wood so my wood is tops that were cut down 3 years ago, piled in the bush then last year were cut into 20" long rounds, split and piled off of my conveyor, no stacking. Mix of maple, ash, cherry and walnut. I also have been burning some max dia 10" cherry that had blown over in the bush last year. I cut it into 3 to 4' lengths in November and have been throwing 3 or 4 in whenever I want a longer burn time. I have a pacific western and it is way over sized for my current needs so burning crispy dry splits just puts heat out the stack. When we are around home we just throw a few pieces in or use slabs just to keep the fire going. I still have a years supply of small splits but will be cutting bigger stuff from now on. Sure doesn't take long to fill the truck with 40" long pieces. I also have access to construction scraps, 10" long 2x10's, now they put out heat but all it does is raise my water temp far above what I need.

 

[Jedc43]

I inherited a cl 6048 owb about 2 years ago when I bought my house...Before I moved here I was heating my home with a Vermont Castings with a Cat Convert.I was burning about 6 cord of wood to heat a 2100 sq ft home..I would always offset my deliveries for seasoning, this means that I would get a load of wood in the spring and I would cut and split it , stack it and not use it until the following year. I would always let split wood season one full year.
With the outside wood boiler I have a little different philosophy. I am burning 12 cord a season to heat a 3700 sq ft home. This is what I do. I use the same waiting method one full year of seasoning.. I get a couple of truck loads... small diameters will get cut to three feet and not split, If I can pick up 3 ft of wood without a struggle, it is not getting split. The Larger diameters I will cut at 2 ft and split it once.
This is my third burning season and this seams to be working for me. Much less smoke coming out the pipe. The first year I was here , I had no choice but to burn green wood...It sucked....Smokey steamy mess.. I burn mostly oak but I do mix a bit of pine in with my hard wood to stretch it out...Pine is easy to find and it is always free because no one will burn it in the house, but when it is mixed with a lot of hardwood in a big ass firebox, it works great.

 

[kennyl70]

best is dry as others have stated...... But if your in a pinch...... burn what u can burn to stay warm..

 

[hdp]

if your burning green wood your wasting your time and effort

 

[danl]

I try to burn as much well dried firewood as possible, sometimes it just isn't possible. I really don't see my Hardy burning to the ground, kind of hard to imagine what it would take for that to happen. I don't stack my wood next to it or anything.

I got way behind on wood cutting this year and am struggling to keep up, don't plan on letting that happen again. I am burning some pretty green ash and oak and trying to ration my seasoned stuff to mix in.

I get the impression some folks here entire life revolves around storing and seasoning wood and they kind of come off as pretty self righteous.

I have a 50 hours a week job, cattle, and was forced to build a new house because of a highway relocation. So it hasn't been easy keeping up the last year.

 

[NSMaple1]

Seasoning wood doesn't take more of your time. It just sits there - you don't have to do anything more with it. It actually saves time because you don't need as much of it as you do green stuff.

 

[blkcloud]

would someone define seasoned wood.. 1/2 yr old? 3 yrs old? split, round.. tree length? thanks!

 

[NSMaple1]

My definition is dried to less than 20% MC internally. Time it takes to get there varies with climate, exposure, and species. It won't get there if it's not split before it starts drying - unless it's like 2" diameter.

Others definitions may vary...

 

[phantomblack]

"I get the impression some folks here entire life revolves around storing and seasoning wood and they kind of come off as pretty self righteous."

As said above, seasoning your wood does not take you more time, burning green wood does however take you more time. To burn seasoned wood you just have to adjust your normal chores to get the firewood made right now or in spring for next year. But sometimes life happens, and you live hand to mouth for a year (ive had to do it, an almost everyone on here has). I believe that many on here just do not understand how folks can live hand to mouth every year, and complain about it. It's all about getting a year ahead, then all of a sudden it is not such a daunting task anymore.

Lets face it, if you want to work harder burn green wood cause your gonna need more of it. To me, it is amazing how well my wood burning stove or my OWB runs when you are burning seasoned wood. As the saying goes "try it, you'll like it".

 

[danl]

Seasoning wood doesn't take more of your time. It just sits there - you don't have to do anything more with it. It actually saves time because you don't need as much of it as you do green stuff.

You are correct, however you have to be able to get ahead. That is my problem

"I get the impression some folks here entire life revolves around storing and seasoning wood and they kind of come off as pretty self righteous."

As said above, seasoning your wood does not take you more time, burning green wood does however take you more time. To burn seasoned wood you just have to adjust your normal chores to get the firewood made right now or in spring for next year. But sometimes life happens, and you live hand to mouth for a year (ive had to do it, an almost everyone on here has). I believe that many on here just do not understand how folks can live hand to mouth every year, and complain about it. It's all about getting a year ahead, then all of a sudden it is not such a daunting task anymore.

Lets face it, if you want to work harder burn green wood cause your gonna need more of it. To me, it is amazing how well my wood burning stove or my OWB runs when you are burning seasoned wood. As the saying goes "try it, you'll like it".

 

[danl]

You will get no argument from me, there is no comparison between seasoned wood and green. That polar vortex really put the hurt on my well seasoned stack.


My problems started about 2 years ago when a new intersection took our house, when they give you a check for for your home and say you have 90 days, it sort of creates havoc. We knew it was coming but wasn't willing to start a new house until we had money in hand. I know the rest of you trust the government but not me
I haven't been able to catch my breath since. The wood will get stockpiled again, I plan on starting this spring. I cut and hauled and split about 2 cord of white ash this weekend, it was standing dead so maybe it won't be too wet..

 

[ihookem]

I think dry wood stops condensation in the stove , dry wood seems it would help the OWB last longer, not sure though. There is nothing good about wet wood in my opinion, especially with my gassifier.

 

[phantomblack]

Standing dead ash is fine firewood, espically anything that is 12' or so above the base of the tree. I find that sometimes that bottom chunk of the trunk is a bit wet. Mix it in with the rest It'll keep your family warm. It is amazing how much wood you can send up the chimney when temps are like this. In my neck of the woods it is supposed to be -22 tonight with a howling wind. The central boiler will be cranking out some btu's tonight.

BTW, i'm with you on the goverment. Does not matter the party either....

 

[danl]

I seemed to come off as defending burning green wood, when I am not.. When I went back to feed the cows last night it occurred to me I never cut green healthy standing trees. I have a 120 acres and keeping the dead ones cut keeps me plenty busy. Where I am behind is splitting and hauling to the house.