Completed Install & First Burn

[Kankujoe]

I just finished installing my new Englander 30 stove w/ DuraPlus chimney & DVL stove pipe. Don’t have any firewood put up or seasoned yet but did my first burn using downed branches & twigs up to 3” in diameter. Everything was pretty bone dry. I live in the woods (60+ acres) so I will never run out of fuel. Did two short burns for a few hours each. Watched the paint “cure” and watched the chimney to see how the smoke drafted. All seemed to go well. I think?

A friend is going over my chainsaws to get them working, I should have them back this week. Will be borrowing another friends splitter. I hope to start cutting wood this weekend. At first I’ll cut long-standing dead trees and fallen branches. I think this will get me through this season.

I have a few questions though:

1) is there any problem using standing trees (oak & hickory) that have been dead for a few years (would they be seasoned enough)?
2) how about using trees that have fallen a few years back?
3) I’d like to get thermometers for my stove box & for my stove pipe…. everything I’ve seen is for single wall stove pipe but I have double walled stove pipe, & I’m not sure what kind of thermometer to use for the stove box (I assume there are special ones for the stove box & for double wall stove pipe)? Not sure where or what to get.

I’ve learned quite a bit reading on this forum… hope to learn more & do things right…

Any comments or advice would be much appreciated.

KJ

 

[shawneyboy]

I just finished installing my new Englander 30 stove w/ DuraPlus chimney & DVL stove pipe. Don’t have any firewood put up or seasoned yet but did my first burn using downed branches & twigs up to 3” in diameter. Everything was pretty bone dry. I live in the woods (60+ acres) so I will never run out of fuel. Did two short burns for a few hours each. Watched the paint “cure” and watched the chimney to see how the smoke drafted. All seemed to go well. I think?

A friend is going over my chainsaws to get them working, I should have them back this week. Will be borrowing another friends splitter. I hope to start cutting wood this weekend. At first I’ll cut long-standing dead trees and fallen branches. I think this will get me through this season.

I have a few questions though:

1) is there any problem using standing trees (oak & hickory) that have been dead for a few years (would they be seasoned enough)? Thats a loaded question, depending on the species and the length of time of the standing deadwood, they may or may not be seasoned enough. You want at or below 20% mc (moisture content). I personally have dropped some standing dead oak, at least 3 or 4 years dead, and had a higher mc.
2) how about using trees that have fallen a few years back? If they are on the forest floor, they probably have some rot. Can you burn them, again, yes and no. If it isn't all wet and rotted yes, as long as the mc is low enough.

3) I’d like to get thermometers for my stove box & for my stove pipe…. everything I’ve seen is for single wall stove pipe but I have double walled stove pipe, & I’m not sure what kind of thermometer to use for the stove box (I assume there are special ones for the stove box & for double wall stove pipe)? Not sure where or what to get. For double wall you want a probe thermo. I’ve learned quite a bit reading on this forum… hope to learn more & do things right…

Any comments or advice would be much appreciated.

KJ

Welcome aboard, please keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times.

 

[Pagey]

Welcome to the forums! I don't want to rain on your parade, but I do want you to understand the reality of what you are up against. Chances are, standing dead hardwood is going to have far more moisture content than these new stoves prefer. There are always exceptions to the rule, but I've seen more "wet" standing dead wood than "dry" standing dead wood. Oak and hickory are notoriously stubborn for holding moisture. A couple of months ago dad handed me a red oak limb that was about 3" across its face. It had been in the dry in a shed/lean to at his mother's for no telling how long. It was so "dry" that beetles had eaten under the bark, and saw dust slid out when you turned the round up on end. He said, "Take that home and check it with your moisture meter."

I split it down the middle, and in the dead center of the fresh split it STILL read as high as 19%. And this was a small limb that had been in dry for god knows how long. Now, that is NOT to say that every standing dead tree you cut will be sopping wet - some won't.

Look for beetle-kill pine if you have any in your area. I've found them that are at 20% moisture content.

And finally, as a new burner with no seasoned fuel supply, please be sure to inspect your chimney for creosote often. If you start now and hit it hard, you can have a decent supply on head and ready for next year since you have access to so many acres.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Kankujoe.

Congratulations on the new stove. I'll bet you are a happy guy! There are several fellows on this forum who have Englanders and like them a lot.

Good luck on the wood. As stated above, cutting wood now for burning now is very tricky. Most folks tend to think you can cut dead standing wood and it will be fine. Well, some you can and some you can't. One example is on our place we have a lot of elm. Because of the Dutch elm disease they don't get very big before they are dead. After a couple years the bark will even start to fall off. We wait until all or almost all of the bark has fallen before we cut them.

As you know, elm has a nasty reputation (which it deserves) for hard splitting. But we've found that if we wait until the bark has fallen it splits rather nice, or at least most of it does. You would think that with these trees being dead for several years the wood should be ready to burn. Some of it is but usually not all. We've found if we burn from about the lowest branch on up that wood is very dry and ready to burn now. But the butt of the log still needs a year in the stack because it is still heavy with moisture.

Some trees tend to give up their moisture fast and others slow. Oak is about the slowest but when dry it makes one of the very best fire woods available. Around these parts, we never try to burn oak before it has been split and stacked for 3 years minimum. On the other hand, I can cut a soft maple in the winter and burn it the following fall.

So in the end, without seeing your oak and hickory, I would guess it would be a tough burn for this year.


You will very soon learn that it is always best to be 2-3 years ahead with your wood pile. Hopefully you can burn some this year and you might try what some others have done, which is to get some pallets. Most of them have very dry wood. Do not try to burn only pallets lest you have an overheated stove! But mix the dry pallet wood with some of that oak and hickory and it might work for you. Also, when you cut the trees, try to separate the tops from the butts of the trees. That will be the dries wood so burn that this year and save the rest for next year or the year after.

One more thing about oak is that it will tend to get a little punky around the outside edges. Don't worry about that as the rest of the wood is fine and even that punk will burn up in the stove. If it is all punk, then don't cut any more as you won't want that crap.

Also, do yourself a favor and visit The Wood Shed part of this forum for lots of information about fire wood.

Good luck to you.

 

[firefighterjake]

I just finished installing my new Englander 30 stove w/ DuraPlus chimney & DVL stove pipe. Don’t have any firewood put up or seasoned yet but did my first burn using downed branches & twigs up to 3” in diameter. Everything was pretty bone dry. I live in the woods (60+ acres) so I will never run out of fuel. Did two short burns for a few hours each. Watched the paint “cure” and watched the chimney to see how the smoke drafted. All seemed to go well. I think?

A friend is going over my chainsaws to get them working, I should have them back this week. Will be borrowing another friends splitter. I hope to start cutting wood this weekend. At first I’ll cut long-standing dead trees and fallen branches. I think this will get me through this season.

I have a few questions though:

1) is there any problem using standing trees (oak & hickory) that have been dead for a few years (would they be seasoned enough)? Depends . . . the first year I cut dead elm in late Spring for use in the Fall . . . what I found was that oftentimes the elm that was dead-dead without bark was OK -- marginal -- it would burn OK . . . especially smaller wood in the branches vs. near the base of the tree. Elm that was dead, but still had its bark on it did not burn as well . . . I think you'll find that oftentimes the wood species, how long the wood has been dead and the locale really influence on how soon you can burn wood . . . even standing dead wood. Personally, not to be a Debbie Downer, but I wouldn't be overly optimstic about the wood for this year . . . even if the wood burns OK and even if you manage to get it going by using pallets, extra kindling, etc. I think you'll find that any wood you cut and split now and burn next year will be a night and day difference in how the wood ignites, how hot it burns and how well it burns.

Good advice: Cut now and hope for the best -- use pallets to help you burn the wood. Better advice: Make sure you check and clean the chimney if you use this wood. Best advice: Cut now, split now, stack now . . . and burn the wood next year for best results.

2) how about using trees that have fallen a few years back? Again, it depends . . . depends on species, how long it has been dead, how much of the tree is lying on the ground, local conditions, etc. Around here trees that fall on to the ground and are lying directly on the ground rot away pretty quickly . . . other areas that have good draining soil may not have this problem.

3) I’d like to get thermometers for my stove box & for my stove pipe…. everything I’ve seen is for single wall stove pipe but I have double walled stove pipe, & I’m not sure what kind of thermometer to use for the stove box (I assume there are special ones for the stove box & for double wall stove pipe)? Not sure where or what to get. Easy answer this time . . . simply use the thermometer for the flue pipe on your stove . . . just ignore the "Burning too hot", "Burning OK" and "Burning Too Hot" warnings. As for double wall pipe . . . buy a probe style thermometer . . . very easy to install . . . oftentimes you will not find this type at the local hardware store.
I’ve learned quite a bit reading on this forum… hope to learn more & do things right…

Any comments or advice would be much appreciated.

KJ

 

[Kankujoe]

Thanks for the replies.... I appreciate all the advice. I'll keep reading...

I believe I have quite a few downed & standing trees that have lost their bark and are (seem) pretty dry. Some have seen their share of woodpeckers. I also have quite a few trees that have been washed out in a few of my streams and have dammed up in piles. Some of it looks pretty much like drift wood but without the sea salt. I've read not to burn driftwood because of salt content... but fresh water rain run off shouldn't have any salt content and the wood has not been standing in water but washed out during heavy rain storms.

About the "probe" type stove pipe thermometers... Who sells them? I've been to several home centers and hearth/fireplace stores but they don't have them either... Where can I get one?

 

[Pagey]

Thanks for the replies.... I appreciate all the advice. I'll keep reading...

I believe I have quite a few downed & standing trees that have lost their bark and are (seem) pretty dry. Some have seen their share of woodpeckers. I also have quite a few trees that have been washed out in a few of my streams and have dammed up in piles. Some of it looks pretty much like drift wood but without the sea salt. I've read not to burn driftwood because of salt content... but fresh water rain run off shouldn't have any salt content and the wood has not been standing in water but washed out during heavy rain storms.

About the "probe" type stove pipe thermometers... Who sells them? I've been to several home centers and hearth/fireplace stores but they don't have them either... Where can I get one?

Condar sells a popular probe thermometer, and you can search Google or Amazon for their products. I'd pick up a cheap, $20 2-pin moisture meter while I was at it. It would eliminate any guesswork on your standing dead moisture content.

 

[Kankujoe]

Condar sells a popular probe thermometer, and you can search Google or Amazon for their products. I'd pick up a cheap, $20 2-pin moisture meter while I was at it. It would eliminate any guesswork on your standing dead moisture content.

Thanks for the advice... I'll buy both...

I want to start off on the right foot...

 

[Pagey]

Keep in mind that a moisture meter is not the end all/be all of checking your fuel supply. But in a new burner's first year with an EPA stove, it will basically eliminate any guesswork. Once you get far enough ahead on your fuel supply, you'll use it less and less. But, in the early stages, it can be a very valuable tool. Keep in mind that when you use it, you'll want to take a piece of wood/split and split it AGAIN, then check the center of the fresh split. Taking a reading from the outside or end piece of a split will yield almost useless information. You want to get a reading from the middle of a freshly exposed surface area to get an idea of just how seasoned a particular split is.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks for the replies.... I appreciate all the advice. I'll keep reading...

I believe I have quite a few downed & standing trees that have lost their bark and are (seem) pretty dry. Some have seen their share of woodpeckers. I also have quite a few trees that have been washed out in a few of my streams and have dammed up in piles. Some of it looks pretty much like drift wood but without the sea salt. I've read not to burn driftwood because of salt content... but fresh water rain run off shouldn't have any salt content and the wood has not been standing in water but washed out during heavy rain storms.

About the "probe" type stove pipe thermometers... Who sells them? I've been to several home centers and hearth/fireplace stores but they don't have them either... Where can I get one?

I bought my probe style thermometer from www.northlinexpress.com . . . I hate to sound like I'm always pushing this company . . . but every time I've bought stuff from them I have been happy with the quality, price and speed of service.