macattack_ga
ArboristSite Operative
Use thicker splits.
When I noodle knotted pieces I'll cut tombstone thick slices. 6 or 8" slabs, ~12" wide ~16" long. Slide one of those onto a hot bed of coals and it'll be there tomorrow.
Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)
- Thread starter mainewoods
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
Use thicker splits.
When I noodle knotted pieces I'll cut tombstone thick slices. 6 or 8" slabs, ~12" wide ~16" long. Slide one of those onto a hot bed of coals and it'll be there tomorrow.
The stove is brand new guess I didn't think it through when I bought it. I figured a bigger stove would get too hot. It's only a 1300sqft house and it sits in the dining room, it was the only install location that worked.
I try to only use the big splits for night duty they are about that size. I guess I'm just going to have to set an alarm. If I can get up and just throw wood on a good bed of coals I can go back to sleep quickly.
Maybe my wife and I can sleep in shifts LOL
mt.stalker
ArboristSite Guru
My 92 yr old dad splitting dry hard maple so we can lift it into my truck . He is 92 , and a ww2 vet .
nomad_archer
Addicted to ArboristSite
Oppps. My house is about the same size and my stove is in the basement. I would fill it up with big splits let them get going and close the damper. In the future don't worry about getting to hot, you can always open a windowThe stove is brand new guess I didn't think it through when I bought it. I figured a bigger stove would get too hot. It's only a 1300sqft house and it sits in the dining room, it was the only install location that worked.
I try to only use the big splits for night duty they are about that size. I guess I'm just going to have to set an alarm. If I can get up and just throw wood on a good bed of coals I can go back to sleep quickly.
Maybe my wife and I can sleep in shifts LOL
Good for your Dad, that is nice to see. Document any stories he is willing to discuss, that valuable resource is disappearing rapidly. My Dad, Uncle & FIL are all gone now. They were, truly, the greatest generation. Unfortunately, we are squandering what they left us.
Crazywolf, try experimenting with different kinds of wood, some will hold fire a lot longer than others. Also, you can stick on less seasoned piece in there to keep the coals, but be careful you don't build up creosote chocking your stove down too much. Make sure you run it WOT every now & then to keep it clean.
For example, up at my hunting cabin we burn mostly Cherry & Ash. The Cherry never seems to dry like the Ash, so I often put a piece or two in for overnight. Conversely, we always have some split Ash ready to start a new fire. The mountain top stays humid up there, and it is hard to dry most wood.
Crazywolf, try experimenting with different kinds of wood, some will hold fire a lot longer than others. Also, you can stick on less seasoned piece in there to keep the coals, but be careful you don't build up creosote chocking your stove down too much. Make sure you run it WOT every now & then to keep it clean.
For example, up at my hunting cabin we burn mostly Cherry & Ash. The Cherry never seems to dry like the Ash, so I often put a piece or two in for overnight. Conversely, we always have some split Ash ready to start a new fire. The mountain top stays humid up there, and it is hard to dry most wood.
zogger
Tree Freak
Oh that's easy, just get older and eventually you have to get up in the middle of the night for a pit stop anyway. Chunk some more wood in then...
"I'm so jealous of the big wood you seem to get into often. I'm scrabbling to stack enough to season for next year and most of it is sub 12"
It is only fun if you have a splitter, I left that tree last year. That Elm was the biggest tree on the wood lot near me that I'm working, several other dead or dying Ash & Elm in the 10-15" category.
On the other guys property where I have been cutting the Oak, Black Birch & Hard Maple, he has a very large Oak he wants me to take down. I think I may look into getting a 36" bar before I attempt it. It can be dropped clean, but it is not far from the house. I really want to make sure my hing is straight. That tree would yield a ton of wood (really, a lot more), but I think it would be very difficult to drop and cut up with my current longest bar being 28" (which is reall 27" and only about 25.5" after the dogs).
It is only fun if you have a splitter, I left that tree last year. That Elm was the biggest tree on the wood lot near me that I'm working, several other dead or dying Ash & Elm in the 10-15" category.
On the other guys property where I have been cutting the Oak, Black Birch & Hard Maple, he has a very large Oak he wants me to take down. I think I may look into getting a 36" bar before I attempt it. It can be dropped clean, but it is not far from the house. I really want to make sure my hing is straight. That tree would yield a ton of wood (really, a lot more), but I think it would be very difficult to drop and cut up with my current longest bar being 28" (which is reall 27" and only about 25.5" after the dogs).
USMC615
Wood's Tougher Than Woodpecker Lips...
Looks like another day fellas of deer batting .1000, me batting goose egg...can't get this damn rain outta mid-Ga. Of course had I not taken off, you couldn't buy a drop of water.
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2014
- Messages
- 3,582
- Reaction score
- 8,238
That is freaking awesome!
try some rounds for overnite CW. i'll pack my shop stove at nite with rounds and turn the draft way down. i ain't getting up in the middle of the nite in jan. to load the stove unless we are in the middle of a zogger vortex.
great pic mt.stalker.
my dad is 88 and he still likes the wedge and sledge too.
KenJax Tree
Terraphobic
Sometime you gotta put yourself first. When one door closes another one opens. Keep your chin up.
Ambull01
Addicted to ArboristSite
I had an insert rated for 1800 sq ft. Firebox was only 1.8 cu. ft. Could only get about a 4 hour burn time. Went through fire starters like mad last winter. Now I have a 3.2 cu. ft. stove in place. Starting a fire when it's less than 30 degrees in your house kinda sucks lol.
That's freaking awesome! I hope I'm swinging a maul at that age.
My firebox is 1.5 cubic feet. Loaded with 2-3 large chunks of oak I get about 6 hours like it says I should. I didn't know anything about wood stoves going in. We use a little bear at our hunting bunk house and you can throw much larger pieces in that thing. I guess I will have to split my rounds less to get longer burn times.
Zeus103363
ArboristSite Operative
My old smoke dragon is a Big Buck model 28000. It looks beautiful, but I tell you, a wheel barrow full of hard wood and that tank will put out some heat and lots of smoke. After the wood coals over it will stop smoking. I usually don't make a full night either, but I don't choke the air off. I burn it kinda on the hotter side. When I get up at 5 there is a good coal bed but unless it's gonna be cold I just let it g out.
Thanks
zogger
Tree Freak
Three foot bar comes in handy for sure some times. Then when you go back to something else, feels like a trim saw.
zogger
Tree Freak
Just measure real well, door size and what could theoretically fit into your stove. Now mix in with your stacks enough of those size pieces to be night logs. I keep out a good selection of gnarly hard to split big chunks for that purpose. Plus...late night pit stops....when it is cold enough, I'll keep it going one way or the other, this time of year, meh, I just relight it if I need to in the morning, house doesn't have to be warm at night. Takes a lot more wood anyway to do that. Fall is real hit or miss here, few days cool enough to burn, then back to sweat city. This will go on until December. It's goofy, I've picked ripe tomatoes on Christmas day here, and once a few years ago we had six inches of snow on Christmas day. Just learn your stove and stack a variety of species and sizes, then you can adjust for what heat and duration you need.
MechanicMatt
Cut Split Stack Burn
Uncle Mike, you need me to play like a squirrel and set some ropes for you?
All you guys with your pops still kicking in there 80's and 90's I'm very jealous. My two grandpa's were the best. They had a work ethic that was UNMATCHED. Im only 34 I work my ass off because all the guys I looked up to growing up did the same. I look at the next generation after me, and oh boy, it don't look so good.
I once told my dad why our country did so well after WWII, he kinda nodded in agreement. It goes like this, all the queers and pansies got killed of by the Nazi's and Japs so only the real men were left to come back and make our country what it is.................
All you guys with your pops still kicking in there 80's and 90's I'm very jealous. My two grandpa's were the best. They had a work ethic that was UNMATCHED. Im only 34 I work my ass off because all the guys I looked up to growing up did the same. I look at the next generation after me, and oh boy, it don't look so good.
I once told my dad why our country did so well after WWII, he kinda nodded in agreement. It goes like this, all the queers and pansies got killed of by the Nazi's and Japs so only the real men were left to come back and make our country what it is.................
I'm spoiled. After having my first wood stove, which was not air tight and had to be fed every few hours, I got sick of it and purchased the Sotz (no longer in business) air tight kit for the 55 gal drum wood stove. You can cut pieces over 2' long, and it will often go for 12 hours.
Heated my house with one for years, and still heat my hunting cabin with one.
Heated my house with one for years, and still heat my hunting cabin with one.
Matt uses a Sotz stove also!
Matt, too many trees in the way to rope it where I would need to in order to do any good, but if you want to climb he has a broken branch about 60' up that I won't go near, and he is ready to pay a tree guy to take it down. It is tall Red Oak.
Next time you visit your Dad, bring the dang drum!
Matt, too many trees in the way to rope it where I would need to in order to do any good, but if you want to climb he has a broken branch about 60' up that I won't go near, and he is ready to pay a tree guy to take it down. It is tall Red Oak.
Next time you visit your Dad, bring the dang drum!
MechanicMatt
Cut Split Stack Burn
He had that twin turbo car of his, I doubt he would have put it in that........ Did he tell you about the race against the CTS-V?
