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jeffman3

jeffman3

New Member
Nov 20, 2007
320
S.W. Nebraska
We hit the mother load! :ahhh: Elm dropped and piled up loosely and left for three years! This stuff is dry all the way through 18 inch rounds! We cut a truck load in about 1 1/2 hours. Stuff is solid, and took more then one whack to split, but WOW! There is more wood there I could burn in 5 years just in the one pile/pit. :bug: There are three piles/pits of this stuff, and more branches, up to 10 diameter, then I could possibly use! I will be in Elm for as long as I want to burn wood! The saw went to the shop to have the throttle adjusted,(It kept dying after I finished a cut), But I will be cutting, splitting, and stacking as fast as I can when the weather turns warm! The plan is to cut as much as I can, and stack ahead for years to come. How long will split wood hold if stacked off the ground? ;-)
 
Keep the top covered, and it will last a long time.
 
worthless%20thread%20without%20pics.gif
 
ansehnlich1 said:
Man, we outta have some pics of this!!!
Click to expand...

I didn't take the camera with us yesterday :red: ,but I will try to remember next time we go. :) I have noticed that this elm doesn't burn with the same voracity that the last load did. I believe that even after 3-4 years of weather that this my not be as seasoned as I thought. It is dry, but not seasoned.(no spitting, popping, oozing, or noticeable hissing,while burning, and doesn't have the really dark center like some of the the branches do. I'm saving them for next year.) With the last load, I could load up the stove, let it get good and ripping, and damper back the primary air all the way down to run the load out with just the secondaries firing. I need more air to hold the temp up for secondary firing with the splits from the big 16-18" rounds. Next year is going to be GREAT! This year this will have to do. will burning some Rutland Kwick-shots as directed on the little sticks help control the creosote, now that I'm into the not so seasoned stuff?(copper sulfate and trisodium phosphate)
 
jpl1nh said:
loust said:
worthless%20thread%20without%20pics.gif
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Pretty funny! :lol: :lol: :lol:
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LMAO!!!!!! That really is funny! I will try to get some pics next time we are up there, OK.
 
Back to your question. If the wood is stacked off the ground and covered there is no reason it would not keep for 6-7 years minimum. Elm is best seasoned for 2 years as it is full of moisture....even when the bark has fallen off. We burn quite a bit of elm or have in the past. We usually wait until the tree has lost at least 50% of it's bark before cutting. Then we split and stack and most will be okay to burn the next year. If it is cut green, 2 years minimum for seasoning.
 
How long will wood last if it if stacked, but NOT off the ground (e.g. in holz hausen)?

And, more importantly, Loust, where can we get animated smileys holding word signs?
 
Backwoods Savage said:
Elm is best seasoned for 2 years as it is full of moisture....even when the bark has fallen off. We burn quite a bit of elm or have in the past. We usually wait until the tree has lost at least 50% of it's bark before cutting. Then we split and stack and most will be okay to burn the next year.
Click to expand...

I have noticed that it just doesn't have the same voracity that the last load of wood we had. I have to use more primary air to hit and try to maintain secondary burn. There is no bark left. and I plan to season this for next year etc.... but it also all I have right now. Any suggestions? The stove hits and maintains 400* with out to much trouble, but I just don't have the secondary burn like I had with better seasoned wood, some but I can't damp the primary air all the way down, and let it cruz on the secondary alone. Does this sound right to you. I guess I would call this dry but not seasoned. Maybe I should get some more cottonwood and mix it? Your opinion?
 
I'm not a expert on the subject, but if you are burning wood that has high moisture content, it will burn better if you mix in some dry well seasoned wood with it. The more dry & well seasoned wood that is in the mix ,the better the burn. The hotter flame from the dry well seasoned wood helps cook out the moisture faster so that the wet wood becomes dry or at least somewhat dryer( somewhat more dry) & burns better.

A dry fast & hot burning softwood would probably be good to mix in.

The faster you can dry out the wet wood ,the better; so try to max out the stove at the begining of the burn. My stove will run up to 700*f -800*f in 6 to 8 minutes of lighting the fire, if I have dry wood mixed in with the wet wood & you can hear the sizzling & crackling & see the sparks that the wet wood throws off when the water turns to steam.

I leave it maxed or close to, until the steam,sizzling ,crackling & sparks abbate , stop or at least slow down. After all of that stops,you should get a nice burn like dry wood does.

If you have too much wet wood ,its hard to get over 450* from the stove & the low temp /sizzling/crackling/sparking/snapping/indicates too much wet wood or wet wood not yet dried out.

You will get used to it after watching a few burns.
 
eernest4 said:
I'm not a expert on the subject, but if you are burning wood that has high moisture content, it will burn better if you mix in some dry well seasoned wood with it. The more dry & well seasoned wood that is in the mix ,the better the burn. The hotter flame from the dry well seasoned wood helps cook out the moisture faster so that the wet wood becomes dry or at least somewhat dryer( somewhat more dry) & burns better.

A dry fast & hot burning softwood would probably be good to mix in.

The faster you can dry out the wet wood ,the better; so try to max out the stove at the begining of the burn. My stove will run up to 700*f -800*f in 6 to 8 minutes of lighting the fire, if I have dry wood mixed in with the wet wood & you can hear the sizzling & crackling & see the sparks that the wet wood throws off when the water turns to steam.

I leave it maxed or close to, until the steam,sizzling ,crackling & sparks abbate , stop or at least slow down. After all of that stops,you should get a nice burn like dry wood does.

If you have too much wet wood ,its hard to get over 450* from the stove & the low temp /sizzling/crackling/sparking/snapping/indicates too much wet wood or wet wood not yet dried out.

You will get used to it after watching a few burns.
Click to expand...
Sparking/Snaping/& Crackling :coolhmm: I guess all my wood is wet.
 
My neighbour has about 3 cords of Douglas Fir in his woodshed that has been there since they moved in 20 years ago. They only burn when the power is out. The stuff looks fossilized to me. But it does burn--amazing isn`t it!!!!
 
eernest4 said:
My stove will run up to 700*f -800*f in 6 to 8 minutes of lighting the fire, if I have dry wood mixed in with the wet wood & you can hear the sizzling & crackling & see the sparks that the wet wood throws off when the water turns to steam.


If you have too much wet wood ,its hard to get over 450* from the stove & the low temp /sizzling/crackling/sparking/snapping/indicates too much wet wood or wet wood not yet dried out.

You will get used to it after watching a few burns.
Click to expand...

The Tribute takes about 45 min. to an hour to come up to heat from a cold start. That is about right for a soapstone stove. (at least that is what I have read, if that is wrong please somebody speak up)

The Tribute is over-fired at 600*. I have had it pushing 500* but I really don't want to go much higher then that.(don't need to go much higher then that :) ) I don't have the sizzle,crackling, snapping, I do have some very small sparking. I will play with it, adding some cottonwood, and see if I can extend the secondary burn, hopefully resulting in a cleaner, burn.
 
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