Vermont woodstoves
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thanks and i think you hit the nail on the head, I did close the dampner too soon before it got up to operating temps. Oh well i'm still learning. never had a cat stove before. Again thanks.
Mix the Oak
I always mix oak with species that burn easier, such as maple, cottonwood, basswood, or good old elm. Oak loves the company.
Ash, in my opinion, is still the best firewood that exists, closely followed by red elm.
Also, be sure that the oak is dead dry and resting on a red hot bed of coals. Oak logs are a bear to burn in a cat stove that isn't hot before you drop them on, especially oak that may have some moisture content.
I always mix oak with species that burn easier, such as maple, cottonwood, basswood, or good old elm. Oak loves the company.
Ash, in my opinion, is still the best firewood that exists, closely followed by red elm.
The oaks about two years old and i didn't have a lot of coals there. I let it go too long before i put wood in it but it's not that cold yet and didn't want to make it hot in the house. I have some sweetgum but that's about the only other wood i have.
Marc
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Try splitting it down a little when you're burning in warm weather. It obviously takes a bigger, hotter bed of coals to get bigger wood to burn, and burn cleanly... so in warm weather, I keep small splits and sticks handy, maintain a smaller coal bed, and still burn cleanly and completely by using smaller stuff, just on the edge of the temperature where you cat is being effective.
Caveat: I don't have a cat stove, I have one of those handsome looking Heritage stoves... but I've burned lots of wood in my father's catalytic VC Encore as well.
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tibikedad
ArboristSite Member
Dutchwest Stove
Hi,
I have a Dutchwest (large size) stove, and used it for about 6 years at 4-5 chords / year. It was a great stove, and didn't give me any trouble. I moved it after 3 years, destroying the combuster in the move, but it was easy to replace it (unfortunately, it was $100). It ran fine after that.
Now I also have a Tarm Excel dual fuel boiler in my basement, so I don't run the wood stove much any more, but I still fire it up occasionally on cold nights when my wife and I are watching TV. The Tarm boiler heats my entire house, consuming about 10 chords of wood. However, I don't get to enjoy watching the flames in the wood stove, which is the only downside of the boiler.
I had the same problem as a previous post with the handle. I dropped it and broke the ceramic. However, I made a wood handle on my lathe out of hard wood, and it has worked great. It has some teeth marks from my dog, but that just gives it character. I do wish it was larger, and someday I'll take the screw and wood off, get a longer screw, and make a bigger one. That is on my "to do" list, which is really long, so I'm not holding my breath for that to happen!
I also bought the blower attachment. It makes a huge difference in the heat output. I would really recommend blowers for all wood stoves. Mine is free standing, about 7 inches from the wall, and even then, when the blower is on, there is so much more heat than without it. It is noisy, though. I keep the speed on low when I watch TV, and put it on high when I leave the room. I need to get a timer for the blower so that it turns off after 5 or 6 hours (during the night time), because eventually the fire burns out during the night and I just blow cold air though the stove, chewing up electricity for nothing.
Have fun with your new stove. I'm sure you will like it.
Hi,
I have a Dutchwest (large size) stove, and used it for about 6 years at 4-5 chords / year. It was a great stove, and didn't give me any trouble. I moved it after 3 years, destroying the combuster in the move, but it was easy to replace it (unfortunately, it was $100). It ran fine after that.
Now I also have a Tarm Excel dual fuel boiler in my basement, so I don't run the wood stove much any more, but I still fire it up occasionally on cold nights when my wife and I are watching TV. The Tarm boiler heats my entire house, consuming about 10 chords of wood. However, I don't get to enjoy watching the flames in the wood stove, which is the only downside of the boiler.
I had the same problem as a previous post with the handle. I dropped it and broke the ceramic. However, I made a wood handle on my lathe out of hard wood, and it has worked great. It has some teeth marks from my dog, but that just gives it character. I do wish it was larger, and someday I'll take the screw and wood off, get a longer screw, and make a bigger one. That is on my "to do" list, which is really long, so I'm not holding my breath for that to happen!
I also bought the blower attachment. It makes a huge difference in the heat output. I would really recommend blowers for all wood stoves. Mine is free standing, about 7 inches from the wall, and even then, when the blower is on, there is so much more heat than without it. It is noisy, though. I keep the speed on low when I watch TV, and put it on high when I leave the room. I need to get a timer for the blower so that it turns off after 5 or 6 hours (during the night time), because eventually the fire burns out during the night and I just blow cold air though the stove, chewing up electricity for nothing.
Have fun with your new stove. I'm sure you will like it.
Good info Marc, i will use small pieces. been throwin a decent size one on and it takes a while to catch up. BTW: Nice looking stove ya got there.
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the salesman talked me out of the blower, So i bought a fan that stands on a pedastal. It seems to work well, a little too well it got hot last night.lol Mine will burn all night and still have plenty of coals left in the morning, Now it's not cold yet so it may burn faster when i have to open the air more.
If the square cover cannot be found anywhere, take the dimensions into a welding shop and ask them to help you make the square cover on the top using 5/16" steel plate. The thermometer on top is a luxury item.
The cat you can replace by making a block-off plate with the same stock if you have a drill press. Take a look at what I made. Here is the old coal-burning insert supplied by Dutchwest:
I then rebuilt the flue color and made this for it with scrap angle iron and common bolts:
Then I replaced the worn out coal-burning insert with this gem that I made with 1/4" steel plate:
It works beautifully. Total cost about $15.
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Still trying to learn the cat stove, Had a few fires in it and a couple of days it was backpuffing pretty bad, I could open the dampner and the air control and it would stop but then the stove would get too hot. I did learn you have to get the new wood fired up good and heated before shutting the dampner off. I know some days i've always had trouble with backpuffing. Something about the barometer too low.
Wait until you get a high pressure center in town. Best indication is a north wind that freezes your butt and doubles the draft in your stove.
Also, I keep the bottom air valve half cranked open at least half way or more most of the time and control the rest of the air intake with the valve on the loading door. You'll eventually get the hang of it.
I'm gettin better, It's really not cold enough for a hot fire and keeping it low is what's giving me troubles. i don't have an air control on the loading door. There is one on the combuster, But the book says it don't have anything to do with the fire. The problem is keeping the combuster temps up while burning a low fire. It gets really hot in the house with combuster temps at normal.Wait until you get a high pressure center in town. Best indication is a north wind that freezes your butt and doubles the draft in your stove.
Also, I keep the bottom air valve half cranked open at least half way or more most of the time and control the rest of the air intake with the valve on the loading door. You'll eventually get the hang of it.
I have heard from some other Dutchwest owners that they leave that combustor air control at about 1/4 to 1/2 and leave it there, then you control the heat output with the primary air control. It will take you some trial and error and the warmer weather can be tuff on fires at times. Do you have a stove thermometer? Great tool to know when to close the bypass damper to engage the cat.
Yes i have one on the door, I've tried the combuster air several ways and been trying to do what the book says. I really can't tell it does anything to tell you the truth. The book says 1 and half to two full turns for a hot fire. We've been running it on about one turn .
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SS, just found this thread and since we have the same stove, I'm shopping for a new red saw like yours.:blob4:I've had one of these for at least 15 yrs. and after I learned to use it I really like it. Last year I replaced the original catalyst and repaired the cracked fireback. I've replaced the door gaskets a couple of times and the gasket under the top when I replaced the cat. It burns a lot less wood than my old non-cat stove and puts out almost no smoke. As far as the handle for the doors and damper, after you use it for a while, you can fire it without turning on the lights, and you asked about cleaning the glass, when you get into the burn season and have a hotter fire, the glass stays pretty clean. Here's a pic of mine before we started the winter fire last year.
SS, just found this thread and since we have the same stove, I'm shopping for a new red saw like yours.:blob4:I've had one of these for at least 15 yrs. and after I learned to use it I really like it. Last year I replaced the original catalyst and repaired the cracked fireback. I've replaced the door gaskets a couple of times and the gasket under the top when I replaced the cat. It burns a lot less wood than my old non-cat stove and puts out almost no smoke. As far as the handle for the doors and damper, after you use it for a while, you can fire it without turning on the lights, and you asked about cleaning the glass, when you get into the burn season and have a hotter fire, the glass stays pretty clean. Here's a pic of mine before we started the winter fire last year.
That looks great the way you have it set up. i'm gettin used to mine. Good to hear about the longivity of the cat. At first i hated the handles but slowly geeting used to them at least i haven't burned my hand anymore.lol Be careful when you purchase one of those red saws, they are very powerful.:monkey: Once again you have a beautiful stove and room, Thanks for the pic. Wish my room looked that good.
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