Usually in October we move enough wood into the barn for the winter's needs. We also have a wood rack on the porch that we keep filled. The stove is just inside the door so it is easy to fill the stove.
A few years ago I decided to experiment once again. Many folks talk about not top covering their wood piles and we have done that before but it has been a long, long time. So, just for kicks I decided one year to not top cover. That wood normally would not be burned until about 3 years from now but we've sold some wood and given some away so it got moved up. So this fall I checked it out. Oh, oh. I decided that most of that should be burned this winter. Still, I left some but did top cover it. The simple truth is that the wood just does not keep as well if not top covered. I'll not be doing that experiment again.
Another experiment this fall. After moving wood to the barn we wanted to fill that wood rack that is on the porch. Being bothered this past year with some body problems, I still do not have the wood from last winter stacked. I did get it split in May but usually do that in March.
Well, most of that wood that is not stacked is white ash. It has been dead for many years. Folks say it can be burned right away. Okay, I got lazy and decided that some of the wood that needed stacking would instead go to the porch and it would actually save me some work....or so I thought.
With our stove, we just do not get black glass. The only exception was during the initial burn-in fires when the stove was new. But lo and behold, the first fire we started with that wood, we got black glass. Hum.... Fire did not burn good either. Tried again. Same result. One more time. Same result.
So, I thought perhaps I'd save some work but it backfired. I then loaded the wood back onto the trailer and took it back to the pile where I got it then got the better wood to fill the rack. No problems since.
Then this fall we also decided to add another 3' to the chimney. A friend came over to put it up for me (they don't like me climbing any more because of vertigo problems). He looked at the chimney and said, "Boy, this thing really needs cleaning!" I was a bit surprised but had no problems getting the brush and poles out. My wife is the one who normally checks the chimney and said it was good to go back in September.
The last time this chimney was cleaned was after the 2008-2009 burning season. That time we got about a cup of soot and fly ash out of it. So I was curious what we'd find this time.
The first thing I noticed was black soot rather than the normal brown we get. Interesting. But how much did we get after 4 years of burning?
Once again, lesson learned. Let the wood have the time to dry properly and top cover it after the first summer of drying. Oh, one more. Don't get lazy. It usually does not pay.
A few years ago I decided to experiment once again. Many folks talk about not top covering their wood piles and we have done that before but it has been a long, long time. So, just for kicks I decided one year to not top cover. That wood normally would not be burned until about 3 years from now but we've sold some wood and given some away so it got moved up. So this fall I checked it out. Oh, oh. I decided that most of that should be burned this winter. Still, I left some but did top cover it. The simple truth is that the wood just does not keep as well if not top covered. I'll not be doing that experiment again.
Another experiment this fall. After moving wood to the barn we wanted to fill that wood rack that is on the porch. Being bothered this past year with some body problems, I still do not have the wood from last winter stacked. I did get it split in May but usually do that in March.
Well, most of that wood that is not stacked is white ash. It has been dead for many years. Folks say it can be burned right away. Okay, I got lazy and decided that some of the wood that needed stacking would instead go to the porch and it would actually save me some work....or so I thought.
With our stove, we just do not get black glass. The only exception was during the initial burn-in fires when the stove was new. But lo and behold, the first fire we started with that wood, we got black glass. Hum.... Fire did not burn good either. Tried again. Same result. One more time. Same result.
So, I thought perhaps I'd save some work but it backfired. I then loaded the wood back onto the trailer and took it back to the pile where I got it then got the better wood to fill the rack. No problems since.
Then this fall we also decided to add another 3' to the chimney. A friend came over to put it up for me (they don't like me climbing any more because of vertigo problems). He looked at the chimney and said, "Boy, this thing really needs cleaning!" I was a bit surprised but had no problems getting the brush and poles out. My wife is the one who normally checks the chimney and said it was good to go back in September.
The last time this chimney was cleaned was after the 2008-2009 burning season. That time we got about a cup of soot and fly ash out of it. So I was curious what we'd find this time.
The first thing I noticed was black soot rather than the normal brown we get. Interesting. But how much did we get after 4 years of burning?
Once again, lesson learned. Let the wood have the time to dry properly and top cover it after the first summer of drying. Oh, one more. Don't get lazy. It usually does not pay.
