What to do w/ wood chips?

[kmmuellr]

I cut my wood to about 17 1/2 inches to make it fit in my stove. What I buy is 16-20 inches long, and I have to cut approx 3/4 of what I buy. Since I live in suburbia, and my wife (not to mention neighbors) would be pissed if I left a pile of chips on my lawn, I cut over a tarp. Now I've got a garbage bag full of wood chips. Is there anyway that I can burn them w/o smothering the fire? Any good uses?

Thanks!
Kevin

 

[Jamess67]

sounds like good kindling.

 

[Jim Post]

Get paper bags next time you get groceries, then put the chips in bag til 1/2 full. Roll the bag down to close it and you will have a nice sized fire starting roll. That's what I do anyway.

 

[Creek-Chub]

Plant a little vegettable garden. Even just tomatoes would look nice, and use those chips as mulch.

 

[Danno77]

why chips, just throw the chunks into the stove. or cut the 17-20" pieces in half and burn them in shoulder seasons. or if you have a shallow stove they may be good N-S loading size when cut like that. it's firewood, ya might as well burn it since you paid for it. Besides, any decent firewood seller should bring you the length you ask. Mine always asked me what I wanted him to bring.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

What to do w/ wood chips?

It depends. Normally I just rake them out and let nature take it's course. But sometimes I feel the need to be a complete jack_ss so I get a good hot fire going in my firebowl and scoop all my tailings in. It really smokes out the neighbors. It's great.

 

[kmmuellr]

why chips, just throw the chunks into the stove. or cut the 17-20" pieces in half and burn them in shoulder seasons. or if you have a shallow stove they may be good N-S loading size when cut like that. it's firewood, ya might as well burn it since you paid for it. Besides, any decent firewood seller should bring you the length you ask. Mine always asked me what I wanted him to bring.

Just to be clear, I do burn the chunks. I'm talking about the chips from the chain saw.

The 17 1/2 will allow for NS or EW loading.

I'm sure they could be added to my garden, but I don't want to over-do it and unbalance my soil. I like the paper bag idea to burn them. They won't smother the fire that way (ie, once the bag burns)?

K

 

[Danno77]

Just to be clear, I do burn the chunks. I'm talking about the chips from the chain saw.

K

ohhhhh, i see. how much do you get from cutting that little amount of wood? shouldn't be much. I was gonna say that's what i call sawdust, but in reality, mine are "chips" as well. if i'm getting dust somethings wrong with the chain. I thought you were sending the wood through a chipper or something.

I shovel mine into a pile with other yard waste and burn it. I wouldn't spread it around my yard because I got some walnut in there and that stuff isn't the right ph or something for yards and gardens.

I do like the paperbag idea, i might try that too.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Chunks are firewood. Slices are kindling. Chips are mulch or composted.

 

[Rich L]

On the firestarter's package it says of the ingredients cedar sawdust/chips and wax.I think I'll try to make my own fire starters with my sawdust.The paper bag method also works well.

 

[billb3]

Dress up like a fairie and sprinkle it as magic dust around the neighborhood ?

May as well give all those nosy neighbors something to talk about.

 

[blades]

Pyro, that was nasty, it will take me 20 minutes to get all the sprayed coffee wiped up.

 

[kmmuellr]

Dress up like a fairie and sprinkle it as magic dust around the neighborhood ?

May as well give all those nosy neighbors something to talk about.

LOL!!

On the firestarter’s package it says of the ingredients cedar sawdust/chips and wax.I think I’ll try to make my own fire starters with my sawdust.The paper bag method also works well.

How bout chips into the paper bag, then melted wax. Roll to compress, and you should be good to go.

Or small starters: chips and wax into a paper egg crate.

K

 

[basswidow]

I just rake my sawdust up and toss it in the woods. How do you season sawdust? - and I would imagine it wouldn't provide much in the way of burning - like kindlin.

Isn't it a royal pain to pay for wood and then have to cut it down to size for the stove? I enjoy cutting as much as the next guy, but that would be frustrating. How do you hold each split? Do you have to do each split in the cord or is it only a small percentage? Why not cut your own rounds to the desired length and then split it? Or find a supplier who will? I'd be frustrated with that - to the point that I would buy a bigger stove. I've had to split down pieces before that I felt were too big for my wife to handle - that came in delivered wood - but that took just a few minutes.

When I was a kid, the school janitor would use wet sawdust on the floor for sweeping.

 

[ansehnlich1]

If you're talkin chainsaw leftovers mine go on the mulch pile or in the garden, or the flowerbeds, or sometimes I just rake em out across the grass, they dissapear by July.

 

['bert]

get out of suburbia ASAP :coolsmile: No good can come from living in place like that.

 

[CrawfordCentury]

I cut and split between 8-15 cords per year, so there's plenty of biomass that's a byproduct of my labors. Splints, bark, chunks, anything big enough, gets tossed into the stove. But there's still alot of mess.

A lot goes to the garden. Keeps the weeds down and adds nutrients to the soil. We also have a lot of uneven areas, so it gets used as fill.

If you've got chips/dust more or less exclusively, get a bunny, name him Nibbles, and use it for bedding.

 

[kmmuellr]

I just rake my sawdust up and toss it in the woods. How do you season sawdust? - and I would imagine it wouldn't provide much in the way of burning - like kindlin.

Isn't it a royal pain to pay for wood and then have to cut it down to size for the stove? I enjoy cutting as much as the next guy, but that would be frustrating. How do you hold each split? Do you have to do each split in the cord or is it only a small percentage? Why not cut your own rounds to the desired length and then split it? Or find a supplier who will? I'd be frustrated with that - to the point that I would buy a bigger stove. I've had to split down pieces before that I felt were too big for my wife to handle - that came in delivered wood - but that took just a few minutes.

When I was a kid, the school janitor would use wet sawdust on the floor for sweeping.

Yep, it sucks paying for it, then having to cut it. I probably have to cut 2/3 of the splits. Unfortunately, I purchased the insert this year, and haven't had the time to cut, split, and season my own. Trust me, I will be doing that this spring!

To hold the splits, I built a box/jig that's open on the top and front. I can load in 10 or so splits and cut all in one sweep. I keep the chain just in front of the box, and they come out at the right length for me.

Kevin

 

[joshlaugh]

I throw some in my compost bin and the rest go in the garden. They seem to disappear pretty quick.

 

[basswidow]

I just rake my sawdust up and toss it in the woods. How do you season sawdust? - and I would imagine it wouldn't provide much in the way of burning - like kindlin.

Isn't it a royal pain to pay for wood and then have to cut it down to size for the stove? I enjoy cutting as much as the next guy, but that would be frustrating. How do you hold each split? Do you have to do each split in the cord or is it only a small percentage? Why not cut your own rounds to the desired length and then split it? Or find a supplier who will? I'd be frustrated with that - to the point that I would buy a bigger stove. I've had to split down pieces before that I felt were too big for my wife to handle - that came in delivered wood - but that took just a few minutes.

When I was a kid, the school janitor would use wet sawdust on the floor for sweeping.

Yep, it sucks paying for it, then having to cut it. I probably have to cut 2/3 of the splits. Unfortunately, I purchased the insert this year, and haven't had the time to cut, split, and season my own. Trust me, I will be doing that this spring!

To hold the splits, I built a box/jig that's open on the top and front. I can load in 10 or so splits and cut all in one sweep. I keep the chain just in front of the box, and they come out at the right length for me.

Kevin

I'm getting the picture now. I was thinking you were cutting them one at a time. 10 or so in one sweep is not bad.

 

[firefighterjake]

I cut my wood to about 17 1/2 inches to make it fit in my stove. What I buy is 16-20 inches long, and I have to cut approx 3/4 of what I buy. Since I live in suburbia, and my wife (not to mention neighbors) would be pissed if I left a pile of chips on my lawn, I cut over a tarp. Now I've got a garbage bag full of wood chips. Is there anyway that I can burn them w/o smothering the fire? Any good uses?

Thanks!
Kevin

If you're talking chunks . . . save 'em and burn 'em. If you're talking sawdust from cutting up the chunks, I would just toss it into the woods, sprinkle it on the lawn for compost or toss it in the trash.

 

[Hunderliggur]

Duh, the chipper! I have chunks, bark, a general mess from cutting and splitting but toomuch work to put in the wood boiler. Time to put the chipper on the Bobcat to make some mulch for the work area!