You got it! I’ll gladly join the dozen or so others. You are the one and only after nearly 10 years on here.
2017-18 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)
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Highbeam, I have noticed alot of people mentioning "burning down the coal bed", on their BKS and other stoves. Why is this so nowadays? Is it something to do with the combustors? I've burned wood my whole life and for 14 years in south carolina. I have four stoves I currently feed at my place. Should I try to burn down the coals in the BK, before reloading? I'm putting a princess that I got for free in my shop if I like the ashford.
I burn fir, and lodgepole. But....I decided to get some 24 inch dead standing, clear spruce for my shop, and garage. ( I like our high ravine spruce better than lodgepole, and all the west coast migrants won't touch spruce). Thanks
I burn fir, and lodgepole. But....I decided to get some 24 inch dead standing, clear spruce for my shop, and garage. ( I like our high ravine spruce better than lodgepole, and all the west coast migrants won't touch spruce). Thanks
WoodyIsGoody
Minister of Fire
I am normally gentle with things but old habits die hard and the stove the Chinook replaced opened 180 degrees. When I opened my brand spanking new Chinook for the first re-load, I naturally tried to open it well past 90 degrees. Ouch! It took the paint off a vertical line on the face of the door. Fortunately, I'm more into function over perfect appearance and the Chinook has function in spades. Although it would have more function if it could open closer to 180 degrees because I'm right handed and have fairly broad shoulders. reaching in for a hot re-load puts my left shoulder near the hot door.
I can't think of a good solution other than continuing to be gentle with it. If it's any consolation, I couldn't see the missing paint in your photo even once I knew exactly where to look.
Rangerbait
Feeling the Heat
Woody is a little bitchy, but he also has some good insight...not everyone can be as emotionally stable and likable as I am ;-)
Rangerbait
Feeling the Heat
Yeah, I'm over it...just wondering if it eventually causes paint to chip off or some crap.
It’ll just put a mark on the stove face. No biggie, it’ll match all the other scuffs after a short time.
WoodyIsGoody
Minister of Fire
There is no need to "burn down the coal bed" unless it gets too big to load more wood safely. It probably didn't get cold enough in South Carolina to experience a coal bed that keeps growing because it only happens when big loads are burned consecutively and not left to burn out. This was a problem in cold weather with the old pre-EPA "smoke dragons" too. Nothing specific to cats or tubes, if anything, they reduce the problem.
I'll burn any specie as long as it's well seasoned. I like Spruce better than Cedar and Grand Fir (White Fir) but, it's not very high on my list. I would be more likely to use structurally, for it's wonderfully straight grain and strength to weight advantages.
How to reduce a large coal bed during the dead of winter is asked many times every winter with EPA stoves. It happens when the stove is being pushed to provide continuous high btus. Been that way for the past 11 yrs I have been on this site. Same questions will be popping up again in a month or two.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
You won't ever have a coal problem unless you get your hands on sone hardwoods. Spruce/fir/pine do not coal very much at all.
The "problem" is only a problem when you are trying to push the stove as hard as possible, and there are too many big red hot coals in there to get a full load of new wood in.
Even if you are burning with hardwoods, coals are in general your friend.
I think I’ve seen it discussed more with non cats than BK’s. It’s an issue typically when you are pushing a stove too hard. Under normal circumstances it’s not a common problem. Extreme cold, huge house, etc..
WoodyIsGoody
Minister of Fire
Well, that's not exactly true but I'll excuse you since you don't have Douglas Fir back East.
It did actually get cold enough to build coal beds in south carolina. Usually for two days is all though. All I have ever had are pre EPA stoves. I do own a englander cat stove, but I destroyed the cat instantly because I like to burn whatever I want in my outbuildings. I'm a home builder so I burn whatever I throw in the back if my truck at night. I won't do this to the Ashford ofcourse. Thanks for the feedback on the combustor/non combustor question though. As far as using the spruce for structural material.....All those giant spruce are on forest service. We can't take any lengths over 6 feet out if that rule still applies. And I won't use spruce for anything but concrete form boards. I've have gotten alot of work from DIYers, who mill their own spruce without understanding that is is a sponge, same as lodgepole. It is straight and perfect for remaining true after many concrete pours.
Stove size relative to the heated area too. We saw it a lot when temps dropped below 20 with the Castine. Not so much so with the T6 now.
Well, that's not exactly true but I'll excuse you since you don't have Douglas Fir back East.
I very got a confession. I use to curse for not having some good old doug fir when I was burning red oak and hickory in the south. Maybe I was just use to burning wood in my own territory but the season time, and wear and tear on chain drove me nuts. Now I'm home again, I wouldn't trade a load of fir for oak. Even though I know I could dry it much much quicker here.
I like burning doug fir too. Normally we burn doug fir and hopefully have a reserve of hardwood. This year the hardwood is locust, cherry and madrona. When it gets really cold out, I like me some locust.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Oak is less trips to the woodpile, but the woodpile takes more work and time to make.
I have access to lots of oak, but I always make sure to have some pine ready to go too.
I had a first today. We installed a Jotul 602 for a lady. She said she’s burned wood before, and knows that trash and the like aren’t good to burn, and cherry. What? She’s always avoided it, she was told that it was bad,” had poison or something in it.” Cherry might just be my favorite to burn. Ive got 37 acres, not a single cherry tree! Mostly just Oak and Hickory..
My dad lived outside of Hobart WA for about 15 years before moving home again when he got older. He always had issues with burning different species. I think some of us get so use to the way we use expect on air flow, burn times, btu output, ect. Being an ex logger I was always jealous of your perfect trees out there!
jetsam
Minister of Fire
I had a first today. We installed a Jotul 602 for a lady. She said she’s burned wood before, and knows that trash and the like aren’t good to burn, and cherry. What? She’s always avoided it, she was told that it was bad,” had poison or something in it.” Cherry might just be my favorite to burn. Ive got 37 acres, not a single cherry tree! Mostly just Oak and Hickory..
My neighbor, who burns 15 cords a year, saw me hauling a truckload of pine out of the woods. He wanted to know what I was going to do with it. He knew I wasn't going to burn it in the house, and it was bucked too short to mill.... what reason could I possibly have?
It seems like everyone out here knows for a fact that "pine will burn your house down". I never heard that particular myth before I moved to the northeast.
Some people believe the wood of certain fruit trees contain arsenic as the pits do contain arsenic compounds. Apple seeds contain an arsenic compound. If it was a lethal form, I (and my chickens and dogs) would be dead toxic waste. Pressure treated cherry is a definite no burn as it is lethal to cats, people and other living creatures.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Apple seed cyanide is certainly a lethal poison in certain doses, but you can't reach those doses by eating apples. It's not that there's no cyanide there; it's that small doses are metabolized, and you don't get the small doses in the first place because the seeds are evolved to slide through digestive tracts.
http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/apples.asp
Water- also a lethal toxin. Look out.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication
PT wood is actually less awful to burn than it used to be- most of it is treated with micronized copper now. (You should still absolutely not burn it.)
I fired up my Princess for the first burn of the season tonight. Currently running on a masonry 6”x6” flue, 20’ tall. 2’ vertical then a 90 into the thimble. Only about 16” of horizontal run, it’s performing awesome! I will most likely bust out the clay tiles to make room for an insulated liner before winter though.
That's what I did. Bust out the terracotta that is. It took longer to pull the pieces out of the clean out than it did to break them.
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