Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I am always looking for BTU's... sometimes I find lots, sometimes I find not so lots... lol

lots:

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I found this 'not so lots' scrounge walking down the neighborhood beaten path just the other day. oak! couldn't pass up the BTU's... turned out to be just perfect to try out my rechained Craftsman elec chain saw I bot back in the late 70's. real PITA to use due to chain's teeth design. with the new Stihl picco 54 link chain... cut like a dream! now its a good saw. prob cut up to 12" efficiently.

not so lots oak scrounge. just put under arm and walk home...

I usually mix n match my firewood for outdoor use. mostly oak, some pine stix once in a while... just for effect. that stack of oak firewood along with a couple of bigger stix... and I had a fire going in Brutus all day long and into the early evening...

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

but what is a fire?.... I mean what do we do with all this scrounged wood cut and split? no posts or threads on how to eat it. lol... just how to get it and work it and use it. ie, fire. but what good is a fire if u can't light it up? well, while on the subject of scrounges... I happened across this lil scrounge, maybe 4 BTU's lol... and it was all bundled up on side of road. used it as I found it. tied in plastic. oak. with some minor trimming in length, I just popped it into my outdoor fireplace... happy to have the lil kindling package scrounge for that day's fire.



fit in just right the firebox with just some minor trim work...

 

[al-k]

Thanks Kiwi! You have to hand it to the New Zealanders, they've always punched way above their weight, and ballsy too. At least we let you keep Dave Dobbyn.



The Cowfamily celebrated Australia Day by going on a day hike over at Mt Buffalo. For a change, it was only 35°C rather than 40°+, almost needed to layer up! Mt Buffalo is a high granite plateau with a peak of about 1700m but most of it is rolling terrain about 1350m. It is a remarkable place with huge granite outcrops and tall alpine ash forests.

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Who's game to cut this tree down?

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The only downer for the day was when I came within a metre of stepping on a 2m brown snake, just didn't see it on the brown coloured track until it moved. Luckily, he wasn't aggro and sloped off under a boulder, so I didn't die. Still enough to scare 6 months (and 6 inches) growth out of you.

Sure, there was no scrounging, but it was a great day nevertheless.

That's a nice looking family you have, lucky man. The view reminds me of North Carolina Appalachian trail, very nice.

 

[Deleted member 150358]

Looks like a splitting day if anything at all! Sunday so chuck roast and veggies is hitting the roaster.

 

[woodchip rookie]

Not buckets, just one. It's a 3 or 4 gallon with a lid.

It's more than just a feeling as I could not heat this place with the stove well the first couple yrs, no feeling of heat and no temp on the thermostat. I removed a transom from between the room the stove is in(living room) and the family room, the temp was 8 degrees different on either side of the transom about a ft from the ceiling, now it's open to the ceiling and there is no temp difference. It was better, then I put a 6" radon fan going to out garden tub area in the master bdrm suite that draws warm air from the family room, even better heat especially in the master bdrm area but the temps in the hall went down. Then we got a humidifier because we were having problems with the dry air, that's when we saw the change of actual temp. As I was saying earlier we have pretty hard water and the humidifier went bad because of this, then I had a heck of a time heating the place again. I had forgotten about the humidity, but we got another humidifier and I remembered it helped, the next time it died I started using a pot on the wood stove and on the stove when needed.
I know the humidity will make it feel warmer, but I have a very hard time getting the temps up here without the humidity.
Have you tried it?

A friend just installed a Drolet HT2000. He is tickled to death with it. Says 10 hours and still coals and a warm stove. Thing is a monster with crazy secondary burn.
Woodchip, might be what you need.

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The Englander NC30 is rated for the same sq/ft. Four secondary burn tubes. Will run 650F on smoke. I load at 5AM and get home at 5PM. 12hrs. Warm stove and plenty of coals to relight, and I paid HALF as much for my NC30 than what a new HT2000 costs. All that is not the issue. ONE of the issues is stove size. Wood type is another issue. Ash kinda sucks as stove fuel. Lower burn times than the better/denser woods but coals like a hardwood. Worst of both worlds. If I had 8hrs burn time like a hickory/sugar/osage then I could deal with coals. Ash doesnt burn much longer than big chunks of spruce that I had in the fall. I should have saved the spruce for fast reloading and burnt the ash in the shoulder season and just used the hot coals to heat.

 

[woodchip rookie]

Not buckets, just one. It's a 3 or 4 gallon with a lid.

It's more than just a feeling as I could not heat this place with the stove well the first couple yrs, no feeling of heat and no temp on the thermostat. I removed a transom from between the room the stove is in(living room) and the family room, the temp was 8 degrees different on either side of the transom about a ft from the ceiling, now it's open to the ceiling and there is no temp difference. It was better, then I put a 6" radon fan going to out garden tub area in the master bdrm suite that draws warm air from the family room, even better heat especially in the master bdrm area but the temps in the hall went down. Then we got a humidifier because we were having problems with the dry air, that's when we saw the change of actual temp. As I was saying earlier we have pretty hard water and the humidifier went bad because of this, then I had a heck of a time heating the place again. I had forgotten about the humidity, but we got another humidifier and I remembered it helped, the next time it died I started using a pot on the wood stove and on the stove when needed.
I know the humidity will make it feel warmer, but I have a very hard time getting the temps up here without the humidity.
Have you tried it?

Wait. You just put a bucket of hot coals in your house? I was under the assumption hot coals still gave off toxic gasses. (CO/CO2)

and no I have not tried a humidifier. I dont *THINK* I have very dry air in the house but I dont have a hygrometer so I dont actually know.

 

[Logger nate]

Some of that stuff has great BTUs .
I burn for 98% of our heat here so when it's this cold(15 or lower for an extended time) I have to keep the stove pretty hot, I can go a long time and still have coals if I need to. I've got a PE alderlea T5 which is for 1200-2000 sqft and we have 1850 sqft so it has to work for it a good month out of the yr, the rest of the time it's pretty laid back. If the place was a bit better insulated it wouldn't be a problem and it will be as I continue to make upgrades here. I am on a waiting list at our library to get the thermal imaging camera and hope to make a nice plan of what projects to do next to net the most gains without having to be torn out too soon to do other upgrades.
Which model PE do you have and what size firebox.

This is the stove we havehttps://www.pacificenergy.net/products/wood/traditional-stoves/vista/
Our house is about 1500 sqf. We also have electric forced air system but only time it comes on is if we are gone for more than a day, wish our electric bill was as low as woodchips, also the only time the fire ever goes out. The air intake for the electric furnace is right beside the wood stove so we can turn on fan only to move heat around the house but hardly ever use it. That thermal imaging camera sounds interesting, our house has some cold areas that need work but it’s pretty easy to feel where they are, lol. I better go put some more pine or spruce on the fire.

 

[JustJeff]

Drolet HT2000. Loaded with ash and cherry last night at 9:30. This pic is from 8 am no wood added, nothing touched. Stovetop temp 330. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

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[Logger nate]

Drolet HT2000. Loaded with ash and cherry last night at 9:30. This pic is from 8 am no wood added, nothing touched. Stovetop temp 330. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

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Very nice! That’s great burn time. I like your echo fan too, they are a little spendy but seem to work well and don’t cost anything to run. I really like our stove but wish it was a little bigger Sure do like the glass door.

 

[James Miller]

Gave some of the cherry from Friday to a coworker for his smoker. Put the rest on the @farmer steve emergency backup holiday wood rack . Dogs found a taste for apple. Some of the cherry has this fungus it comes off when the bark falls off. Will it effect the way it seasons?

 

[woodchip rookie]

Probably not but I believe cherry has arsenic/cyanide in the bark and pits.(seeds) Dont let animals chew on cherry twigs/sticks.

 

[bigfellascott]

I'll trade you Aussies for some of that heat; we are predicted to be well below zero over night for the next ten days.

Done! I won't even charge for Delivery!.

 

[Deleted member 150358]

Down to 9 rounds and 4 or so more with creamy centers. Time to peel some spuds!

 

[bigfellascott]

After 40 years in a factory with a forge shop, heat treating and no windows I despise heat, if it’s cold I can add more wood. For outside I can add more clothes, I handle cold much better than heat.

Same here, much prefer the cold!

 

[chipper1]

Wait. You just put a bucket of hot coals in your house? I was under the assumption hot coals still gave off toxic gasses. (CO/CO2)

and no I have not tried a humidifier. I dont *THINK* I have very dry air in the house but I dont have a hygrometer so I dont actually know.

I do.
That can happen, but it's like many other things you have to take your situation into account. I've had my sensor go off in the house with an old truck running in the front yard, never from the coals, but I don't remove coals that have not burned down well. I think if it was a smaller enclosed area there could be problems, or a very large quantity of coals. Back in the day folks use a bed warmer with coals in it, but then again many of those folks smoked a lot too so...

No meter needed, if you have a little moisture around the windows you have enough most likely. If there is no moisture on the windows then I will put a pot on the cooking stove as well as the one that's always on the wood burner.

 

[chipper1]

Very nice! That’s great burn time. I like your echo fan too, they are a little spendy but seem to work well and don’t cost anything to run. I really like our stove but wish it was a little bigger View attachment 699900Sure do like the glass door.

Looks good.
That's the equivalent to the t4. Pacific energy has three firebox sizes from what I remember, small is the 4, med is the 5(which I have), then the big boy the 6. All their stoves have the same firebox with whatever decorative stuff they add to them.
I like mine, but I've never ran any others.

Drolet HT2000. Loaded with ash and cherry last night at 9:30. This pic is from 8 am no wood added, nothing touched. Stovetop temp 330. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

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That's sweet Jeff. I think it would be hard to beat those times. It's funny how many of the stoves show similar efficencys but real world it much different.
I've been looking at a wood furnace that's made in northern Wisconsin, it looks like it's very low maintenance and the cost is "reasonable".
If I remember and no one post the name of them I'll post a like later.

 

[dancan]

Well , what a long honeydo list this weekend
But ,,, had all the check marks done by 1 this afternoon so ,,,

When I got to the pit I found Jerry already there and got 1 load landed

We got that load blocked and thrown in the pile and headed off for another load .

I cut some dead top and blown down maple while Jerry cut a maple that had a busted top from a windstorm .

As we were heading out I spotted ,,,
WoOT !!!

Got that dead standing spruce loaded and off to the pit it was

The pile grows

 

[James Miller]

Wonder what trouble I can get in with this.

 

[Deleted member 150358]

View attachment 699967 Wonder what trouble I can get in with this.

Probably a lot less than bringing home a lathe!