N/S Burn, No Matter How Short

Much agreed

Also easier to split 8" rounds verses 16". Probably dry out much quicker as well.

Maybe time for a deeper stove? Seriously, I love the idea of loading N/S, I too have a shallow stove at 12 inches deep. But loading N/S is so much more convienent, easy, and provides better fires that I am actively shopping for a deeper box so I can load REAL lenghts of wood into it, say 16-20 inches.

Cutting all my wood to 12 inches is kinda a pain...... especially when I have other people helping that don't realize (father in law) that I need stuff bucked to 12 (even after being told). So I end up with my stuff cut to 12, and the stuff he cut ending up at 18..... so I get a mish mash that is a pain. Then on to stacking...... oh brother. Splitting is definately easier, but I have the magic lever now so I don't really care about that any longer.

I truly love my stove, but this is one thing I really dislike...... plus having a larger firebox would make dealing with uglies alot easier too.

Id rather load more often and clean the glass than buck my wood at 8" lengths...

Those short chunks split easy and dry fast. And a little extra time with the saw in your hands never hurt anyone. I can burn anything that fits in my splitter, but I still cut it down to burn N/S.

I traded for some 2yr old oak this yr that turned out to be 20" long. I have been taking a load in my shop and cutting them down on my bandsaw. I just set the fence and run the splits through. I can make them any length I want and they are all the same. I was cutting 14" and splitting the 6 for kindling.
Doug

I wish you guys would quit speaking in code language. Some of us aren't super knowledgeable stove experts (yet)..

What is N/S ? What is "buck" ?

Murphy2000 said:

What is N/S ? What is "buck" ?

Click to expand...

This is N/S loading. Bucking is cutting the log with the saw.

So N/S means "No Space" ?? I thought it meant "No Split"..

I've been loading my stove like that since I first started burning. I call it "packing it up to the gills"

I let it burn wide open for about 20 to 30 minutes to get the bulk of wood hot and charred then close the air valve so its only open maybe 10%.

Thanks for the picture.. that explained it all..

Murphy2000 said:

So N/S means "No Space" ?? I thought it meant "No Split"..

I've been loading my stove like that since I first started burning. I call it "packing it up to the gills"

I let it burn wide open for about 20 to 30 minutes to get the bulk of wood hot and charred then close the air valve so its only open maybe 10%.

Thanks for the picture.. that explained it all..

Click to expand...

N/S typically means North/South . . . meaning the wood is loaded end to end facing the front of the stove vs. East/West where the ends of the splits face the side of the stove.

Some folks feel that loading the wood N/S or E/W gives them different burning chacteristics with their stove (i.e. burning faster or slower) . . . in my own case I have the Oslo with a rectangular shaped firebox so I pretty much only load E/W.

Probably one of my favorite traits of a North/South burn is that I like to rake all the hot coals to the middle of the stove in a N/S line and then stack around it. It creates this tunnel that eats away all of those coals. Then the logs on the side can still get air from the front of the stove. When I load the other direction, I rake the coals forward to light them up. This seems to leave a mound of ash in the front that blocks the rearmost log from burning through until I open up the stove and stir stuff up and sometimes even pry a charred log out of the back. Not a big deal if there isn't much ash buildup, just an interesting factor.