Garn on the way

[wardk]

I have just joined,but I think I have read most of the boiler room prior.We are pouring the floor on the garn building this mourning. The forum is full of great info a lot of it is over my head eg, delta t , head pressure, heat load etc.I'll tell you what I have any tips on design would be greatly appreciated. Garn 1500, old house 650 sqft not that well insulated addition 3000 sqft new construction,1800 sqft shop.The house has a wood electric forced air furnace and in floor heat in the basement slab which is pressurized and heated with an electric hot water heater and a coil on the wood furnace. The new addition stays fairly warm with this but the old house needs help from space heaters even though the forced air has been piped into it.I think the wood furnace its undersized at 80,000 btu.The shop is electric baseboard .Our electric bills are huge upto $900mon in mid winter. So I decided to invest in the garn mostly from what I have read on these forums.We live on 30 acres with hunderds of standing dead soft woods fir and pine due to the bug kill here in B.C.My plan so far, water to air exc. in the forced air, water to water ex. attached to the infloor, water to water for dhw, cast iron space heater in the old house and water to air blower in the shop.The shop and house have separate underground lines 60' shop 100' house.Thanks

 

[hobbyheater]

I have just joined,but I think I have read most of the boiler room prior.We are pouring the floor on the garn building this mourning.

Welcome to Hearth. It is great to have another member from BC. What part of the province are you from. The pine beetle kill covers a large area. You have made me envious, the Garn boiler is an excellent choice that you will not regret!

 

[wardk]

We are rural east of Kamloops.

 

[Sawyer]

Welcome, you will enjoy the simplicity of your Garn operation. Take your time and accurately identify your heat losses so you can size your pumps and piping appropriately. Insulate your piping well. In my experience, do not split your pine too small which creates too much surface area. When I did puffing and smoke was a big problem. I now throw everything up to about 14" (dry spruce & white pine) in the boiler without splitting and the burn without a firebrick blocking the inlet is clean.

 

[wardk]

Welcome, you will enjoy the simplicity of your Garn operation. Take your time and accurately identify your heat losses so you can size your pumps and piping appropriately. Insulate your piping well. In my experience, do not split your pine too small which creates too much surface area. When I did puffing and smoke was a big problem. I now throw everything up to about 14" (dry spruce & white pine) in the boiler without splitting and the burn without a firebrick blocking the inlet is clean.

Thanks for the info,14" means a lot less splitting. How long would you season wood that size? Ours is standing or fallen dead.

 

[hobbyheater]

How long would you season wood that size? Ours is standing or fallen dead.

If your wood is standing pine beetle kill, it is likely ready to burn! 16% moisture content is ideal. http://www.ebay.com/itm/MD-814-Digi...344?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d037402d8 A simple moisture meter like this one will get rid of the guess work.

 

[Sawyer]

Thanks for the info,14" means a lot less splitting. How long would you season wood that size? Ours is standing or fallen dead.

Alan has it right. I target the standing dead spruce on our woodlot with similar results. Stacked and top covered only works well for drying. Pine logs loose moisture a lot faster than my hardwoods. I am far enough ahead to not worry about drying times but I still like the convenience of dropping the tree and hauling to the boiler room where it sits for a week or two. Anything that is not dry enough, above 20% gets stacked.

Fallen dead is sometimes quite high in moisture content, probably absorbs more moisture with the horizontal surface.

 

[wardk]

Alan has it right. I target the standing dead spruce on our woodlot with similar results. Stacked and top covered only works well for drying. Pine logs loose moisture a lot faster than my hardwoods. I am far enough ahead to not worry about drying times but I still like the convenience of dropping the tree and hauling to the boiler room where it sits for a week or two. Anything that is not dry enough, above 20% gets stacked.

Fallen dead is sometimes quite high in moisture content, probably absorbs more moisture with the horizontal surface.

I was reading your equipment list,would love to have a grapple. Did you build it,and does it require a separate hydraulic circuit?

 

[Sawyer]

I was reading your equipment list,would love to have a grapple. Did you build it,and does it require a separate hydraulic circuit?

I made my grapple for the John Deere. I had to buy a hydraulic controller for the Deere. They are not expensive. The pins knock out for the bucket and I attach the grapple with the same pins. It is handy for brush, slabwood, logs, cutting firewood, popping rocks out of the ground, and even trenching for wire.

You can get an idea of the construction from the attached photos.

 

[wardk]

That's a nice setup, you certainly picked the appropriate handle Sawyer. I can see a winter project coming on, have the forks already. Picking up gnarly pine branches and getting logs off the ground for cutting is reason enough for me. Thanks for the pics.

 

[Como]

Just wondering what length you are cutting your pine to?

Long story but I have quite a bit cut to 26 inches.

 

[Sawyer]

Just wondering what length you are cutting your pine to?

Long story but I have quite a bit cut to 26 inches.

Dave, I target 24 - 30 inch since I am not splitting the pieces. I am not very careful, I just chop it up and haul to the boiler room so I still have time to go fishing.

When I am cutting my "winter hardwoods" I cut at 24" so I can fit in my 25" max splitter.