1st year Burner a little Short on Wood

[Augie]

So I was aware that this could be an issue... I have about a face cord maybe a little more left that is seasoned well, but I have a bunch of mostly seasoned( 24-28%) Cherry. I am thinking of splitting it smaller and bringing it inside to dry in the next few weeks while I finish up the burning the seasoned stuff I have, anyone have thoughts on the probability that Ill have enough to get through this season doing this?

 

[Jon1270]

How much have you burned so far?

 

[Jon1270]

The reason I asked how much you've already burned is that we're currently about 2/3 of the way through the season in terms of degree-days, so to finish it out you'll need about half as much wood as you've already burned. If that means switching to less-seasoned wood, then you'll need even more.

28% is at the upper end of burnable, but it will burn. Bringing it inside will dry off the outsides and make fires easier to start, but it won't have a huge effect on the interior MC.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Augie, is any of that wood you cut by Flint any good to burn?

 

[Augie]

Thanks, Knowing that I should be ok then, Ill have to push it, and save the better wood for overnights, but I should have enough then.

 

[fabsroman]

Thanks, Knowing that I should be ok then, Ill have to push it, and save the better wood for overnights, but I should have enough then.

Yeah, I would say you need about 1/4 of the amount of wood you have already burned. We are 2/3 of the way through the season, but the first third and last third are nowhere as cold as the middle third. So, I am guessing that I burn 25% of my wood in the first third, 50% in the second third, and 25% in the last third. In the middle third I had the furnace running night and day. Now, I can get away with just burning at night.

Like you, I am probably going to run out of the nicely seasoned wood in the next couple of weeks and will be relying on 24% oak to finish the season off. It will not take much more wood to get through this since the 10 day forecast from today has days in the 60's and the lowest temp being 39 degrees.

 

[Augie]

Augie, is any of that wood you cut by Flint any good to burn?

Some of it was not all of it though, and not enough for me to get through the season....Going into this year I knew this would be an issue as I Bought the stove in November , and only started collecting in October.... I have Natural Gas so it is not as though it will be a huge financial burdon, I just was trying to make it through the season without turning on the furnace !lol


Im burning a couple pieces of the cherry now to see what it burns like. So far it seems to be catching and hasn't cooled the stove off any, but Ill know more in 45min as I just put them in a few min ago....

 

[Augie]

Yahoo, Stove just hit 750 on 1/2 load of this cherry with the air turned down, not totally seasoned but good enough to get me through Im thinking....

 

[Jags]

Yahoo, Stove just hit 750 on 1/2 load of this cherry with the air turned down, not totally seasoned but good enough to get me through Im thinking....

Gotta do what ya gotta do. Just keep an eye on things. Inspect that pipe once in a while to make sure you are not filling it up with gunk.

 

[Augie]

Gotta do what ya gotta do. Just keep an eye on things. Inspect that pipe once in a while to make sure you are not filling it up with gunk.

Have been Cleaning the Chimney out monthly, No glaze at all but I have had my share of black flaky stuff. My wood has all been suspect much of it is pretty dirty as well. Much of what I had gotten off my parents property is somewhat punky too. I have more than enough wood for 2013/14 , and Now Im working on 2014/15 and hope to be at 2015/16 by the end of spring. I have had enough decent wood to know what the difference is and enough to burn overnights during the coldest periods. Looking Forward to all of the Ash, Walnut, Elm, and Maple I have that should be ready for next year and beyond. Im going to rig up a solar kiln and try to get a couple of cords dried this summer as well.

Here is a link to the thread where I posted a article from Cornell that Shows how you can season your wood in just a couple of months...

 

[Jags]

I actually saw that article years ago. Good to know that you are keeping an eye on things.

 

[basod]

Any chance you'd be able to get into the woods and drop some dead standers - conifers preferably
The outer wood can be mixed and should be bit dryer.

I'm sure most all of us were in this situation the first burning season

 

[bogydave]

The 28% cherry should be OK.
Much drier than most anything you could buy now.
May cause a little creosote but not much,
just keep cleaning the chimney monthly

Sounds like it's burning just fine & putting out good heat.
Again, just check/clean the chimney more often

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We used to burn cherry at deer camp. We cut it the first day there and burned it right away. For sure had to give it lots of draft but it kept us warm.

 

[Augie]

The Cherry seems to struggle up to temp when burnt on its own, but this morning I started with some dry pine and got the firebox to 450 with a couple of small splits and once up to temp, and the pine starting to burn down I loaded a full load of cherry on top. Took right off. Seems like when the Firebox is already warmed the Cherry is great, but it really struggles on its own. I think I can get by with what I have at this point. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can......So I have a face cord of elm/ash nicely seasoned for longer and overnights, a face cord of so/so cherry, and about a face of random dogwood,oak,pine, sassafras. A cord total to get me through feb/march... I know I will be fine now. Thanks for holding my hand through this scary time for a newb, the realization that you might run out of wood....LOL

 

[Backwoods Savage]

You have found the key to burning less than perfect wood. You need a big coal bed else you have a hard time getting the wood to get started burning.

 

[Jon1270]

You have found the key to burning less than perfect wood. You need a big coal bed else you have a hard time getting the wood to get started burning.

I learned this a couple of weeks ago, when I was having a hard time controlling a fire and wanted to slow it down. I threw in a big split of frozen oak, MC probably around 45% and covered with snow, thinking that would take the wind out of the fire, but with the stove already very hot that idea didn't work at all. The sodden chunk was offgassing and flaming within a minute or two.

 

[Nixon]

You have found the key to burning less than perfect wood. You need a big coal bed else you have a hard time getting the wood to get started burning.

Everything you said here is spot on . However, I noticed the same thing with cherry . It seems to be very hard to start a fire from cold with it . Seems worse than any of the other types of wood i use . Sort of thought it was my imagination , but i've heard several others state similar things about it .

 

[Pallet Pete]

So I was aware that this could be an issue... I have about a face cord maybe a little more left that is seasoned well, but I have a bunch of mostly seasoned( 24-28%) Cherry. I am thinking of splitting it smaller and bringing it inside to dry in the next few weeks while I finish up the burning the seasoned stuff I have, anyone have thoughts on the probability that Ill have enough to get through this season doing this?

Augie how close to burton are you ? I have a friend that has a lot of downed trees ash mostly dry stuff ! I would be glad to have you come out and I can help you fill your vehicles up with wood if needed. They already have some cut up too !

Pete

 

[Pallet Pete]

The Cherry seems to struggle up to temp when burnt on its own, but this morning I started with some dry pine and got the firebox to 450 with a couple of small splits and once up to temp, and the pine starting to burn down I loaded a full load of cherry on top. Took right off. Seems like when the Firebox is already warmed the Cherry is great, but it really struggles on its own. I think I can get by with what I have at this point. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can......So I have a face cord of elm/ash nicely seasoned for longer and overnights, a face cord of so/so cherry, and about a face of random dogwood,oak,pine, sassafras. A cord total to get me through feb/march... I know I will be fine now. Thanks for holding my hand through this scary time for a newb, the realization that you might run out of wood....LOL

The newb thing happens lol don't worry you will be as seasoned as your wood by the end of next winter. ( Assuming you get dry wood ) I would wink but emoticons don't work on the iPad lol !

Pete

 

[Seasoned Oak]

The problem is going to be getting DRY wood. Does anyone know how long it takes to dry those slabs the sawmills cut off logs to make lumber? THey should dry pretty fast and should be almost always available.

 

[Augie]

If I could get a load of that ash I would be set. I can cary about half to three quarters of a cord. I'll spend a day loading and or css for someone to get some of that. There will be a quart of the goodness from the still in it for ya too. So yes Pete if you can get me in ill meet you in Burton. I have a flexible schedule and can take time during the week as well, mornings or whatever. Let me know if it is a go. Thanks

And I'm hoping I have dry wood next year too!!

 

[Pallet Pete]

I will pm you.

Pete

 

[swagler85]

Great to see how these people come together