WhAT do you use for kindling?

no man said:

Is that a 16in bar on that saw? If so how was it cutting that tree? The cherry tree I cut down looks about the same size. Let me tell ya that little saw didn't like it but it did the job.

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Yes, that is a 16 inch bar. I have never wanted a longer bar as this has always done a good job for me. It has cut many 16 inch plus diameter trees down. The saw is an old 028 which has served me well, cutting lots of firewood over the years. I just purchased a new ms027 to replace it and it also has a 16 inch bar. Don't really need more bar to hit something with.

I use pallets, they can get a fire started quickly. Where I work we throw out a large dumpster full of pallets about every 2 weeks so I can get all I want. I usually keep a good supply in the basement.

I use the splitter and cut kindling as thin as I can; usually use Silver Maple, Black Birch, Poplar or Sycamore as they all ignite easily.

Its not the wand its the magician!! Anywho, I burn 24-7 so it is rare that I need more than a smaller split to get the fire going. Usually I stir it up and add a few logs and open the air...5 minutes later its going well.

For fire starters and kindling I use birch bark and whatever small I have on hand. Stuff like twigs, splinters and small nuks from splitting, bark, scrap pine chunks. Nothing painted, no plywood or press board. If you hunks of collecte bark keep getting wet, protect them from the rain. In dry weather, when they are dried out, put them in a garbage can or something you can cover. You can split some of your wood down to 1 to 2" pieces if need be too.

Bark, twigs, scraps from splitting, and undyed cardboard. It's all fine.

Waxed cardbroard vegetable boxes and smaller wood. Works great.

BrotherBart said:

All pine is terribly dangerous to burn. All pine should be disposed of immediately by send it via FedEx Freight prepaid to the Manassas, Virginia FedEx Freight terminal Attn:BroBart. It will be picked up wearing appropriate safety gear and disposed of in a safe, approved manner next winter using the EPA approved Englander 30-NC Pine Disposal Unit.

BrotherBart is a professional. Do not try this at home.

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i take it you are a driver out of manassas?

http://www.amazon.com/Bernzomatic-19425-JT850-Self-Igniting-Outdoor/dp/B00008ZA0F

I have trouble believing I am the only who uses this. It's a propate weed torch....a fairly simple one. takes a screw on propane can. I use the small ones you would use for lanterns, etc. I can get 2 for under 6 bucks at walmart, and since I burn nearly 24/7 when it really gets cold I usually only go thru 2 of these cans a year. If I have coals I pull them to the front, load wood in there, crack the door and let it do it's thing. If the stove is cold, I lad with wood, putting the smaller pieces toward the front, fire up the torch ( it has push button ignition) and get it blazing. takes me about a minute of holding it there, sometimes two. I have even proped it in the door for a minute or so while I sweep up the debris from loading the stove.

I use blown down branches and twigs from my property. In the fall, I gather 'em and break 'em over my knee to length. I make a separate stack in the woodshed just for firestarting wood.

My usual is dead fall from storms ( I'm having alot of tree work done this year, all trimmings dropped and left for MOI :coolsmile: ), plus the smaller branches from the trees coming down.

I also collect scrap lumber from friends and my own projects, and keep a supply of fat wood on hand. When my pines come down, so I can get the truck & trailer around the new barn, I'll have alot of kindling !!

New puppy, so I have a load of newspaper :lol: , and we're good to go !

Blown-down dead stuff around the place after every wind storm, and my latest discovery, sumac! I have no woodlot, but there's a lot of staghorn sumac on my property line on two sides. A kid from the neighboring farm who came by to cut down my broken and now dead apple tree for me told me they use sumac almost exclusively for their sugaring operation because it dries fast and burns very, very hot. So I scrounged a bunch of dead sumac from the edges of my property and tried it in my stove, and whammo, it lights up faster than newspaper.

With my very small stove, I never have enough of a coal bed left in the morning to start up a fire, so I've expended a fair amount of energy in collecting small and medium kindling. When I run out of splitting detritus and twigs, I've gotten good-sized bags of small lumber trimmings at the Aubuchon for not very much money, and they work very well for getting a good hot fire going quickly. But oh, that sumac!

DavidV said:

http://www.amazon.com/Bernzomatic-19425-JT850-Self-Igniting-Outdoor/dp/B00008ZA0F

I have trouble believing I am the only who uses this. It's a propate weed torch....a fairly simple one. takes a screw on propane can. I use the small ones you would use for lanterns, etc. I can get 2 for under 6 bucks at walmart, and since I burn nearly 24/7 when it really gets cold I usually only go thru 2 of these cans a year. If I have coals I pull them to the front, load wood in there, crack the door and let it do it's thing. If the stove is cold, I lad with wood, putting the smaller pieces toward the front, fire up the torch ( it has push button ignition) and get it blazing. takes me about a minute of holding it there, sometimes two. I have even proped it in the door for a minute or so while I sweep up the debris from loading the stove.

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I forgot all about that nice device! I will have to pick one up this weekend.
Mark

no man said:

I've been trying to save the bark from the wood that I have been splitting to use for kindling.
But everytime I leave it out to dry it gets wet and moldy. So I have been burning it or throwing
it away. I have some 2x4 cut offs I have been saving but I don't think that is enough. What do
you all use for kindling?

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Another vote for bark. I've been storing it while stacking, nice n' dry.

Mostly use lumber scraps (untreated of course) from a local mill and building sites. Just split it with a hand axe and keep it in the garage in stacked-up plastic milk crates. Couple hours and I have a winter's supply. Also pick up the braches frrm the yard after a windstorm as this stuff is usually dead and dry.

I have a virtually unlimited supply of pallets. I take the newer looking ones (very easy to disassemble b/c nails aren't rusted yet) and cut them to 16" length. The splinters and odd sizes serve as smaller kindling. Large oak cuts get put at the bottom and the size of the kindling gets smaller as I build the beginnings of a top down fire. I recently scored a pallet that had some cedar in it.

When filling the stove up for the long cold nights, I add three or four 16" to 18" splits and push them almost all the way over to one side of the stove. Then I cut another split into two 8" pieces to stand them upright in the stove to fill up the rest of the stove. This usualy leaves me with a 2"-4" end of a split. I just split that and toss it in a 5 gallon bucket. I burn nearly 24/7, so it isn't often I need to start with kindling, but when i do I use these ends and start a top down fire whicxh really works great!

I've cut and split up a few standing dead softwood trees which has resulted in an abundant supply of kindling for me. I've been throwing in some newspaper, tossing a piece or two of cardboard, three to four pieces of kindling and a couple of slats from some pallets and Wham-Oh -- fast, hot fire in no time. I've also been using some splitter trash to light the fire in place of the kindling from time to time.

splitter detritus

I have lots of pine branches, when theyare dry they make great kindling.
I usually save a pile of them every year, for kindling use, otherwise they go into the shredder.
If I run out the dead bottom branches of pine trees snap right off rather handily. Make good kindling.