All is ready

[itsme again]

I had a post before about how much trouble I had cleaning the snow off of wood fire wood during the winter. The plastic over the wood method works, but is NOT the best , by far.

So, I posted a picutre of what I bought to solve that problem.

Then my load of logs was delivered, and I had that to get cut.

 

[itsme again]

Part 2...

Well, during this summer, I have made a few changes and upgrades.

As you can see, I enclosed the front and both sides of the shelter and put a sliding door on the front and 2 swing doors on this side.

The inside measurement is 17' x 20'. I have inside of it right now 14 full cords and there is still room left for my splitter. Nice to have a jump a head for once. With the wood that I have left over from the prvious years and the new load, I am FINALLY getting ahead of the game.

This is my 3rd year for this stove and it will by far be the easiest, when it comes to adding wood wothout moving plastic and also clearing snow. Just snow blow a path to the stove and the front door, and I will be done when it snows.

I'm not rushing summer to end at all, but I'm glad I won't have the extra work of snow clean-up.

 

[itsme again]

and

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

You have been "One with the Wood" this summer...nice work

WoodButcher

 

[smokinj]

That will work very NICE!

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I would guess that you don't load wood in there until it's dry?

Good looking setup

 

[itsme again]

These being open and, although you can't tell from the pictures very easily, there are air slots left open in the corners for curculation. The wood to be used first is well seasoned, and the rest will be by the time it is burnt.

 

[scfa99]

I feel like such an amateur now... Wow what a setup.

 

[smokinj]

and

Wow loaded for bear, what parts you live in?

 

[Hansson]

That is a cool setup!

 

[itsme again]

I live at the bottom of the Adirondacks, in NY.

 

[tcatrider_99]

that looks familiar! :cheese:

 

[tcatrider_99]

oops - double post

 

[brewerpete]

having that setup must be a NY thing LOL

looks great. I'd be interested in tcats word on whether he throws it right in there or dries first? seems like you've had it longer

 

[tcatrider_99]

It's a NY thing alright. Winters get mighty windy, and cold, and snowy, and windy, and windy ( I live on a hilltop). So it's nice to have shelter when loading the boiler.

The short answer to your question about drying my wood is it really doesn't seem to matter a whole lot. For those that want a more in depth explaination read on -

This will be my second winter with this set up however I have had this particular boiler for 8 or 9 years now. I moved it from our old farm house to our new house last year when we had the house built. At the old house I had a similar set up in that I had a concrete woodshed approximately 15 ft from the front of the boiler. I have used both seasoned and unseasoned wood over the years. Normally I try to get my logs in the spring and they sit untill early fall (september - october) then I'll cut, split, and stack the wood in the shed over a period of a week or two (depending on how much I can get the kids to help). However I have had years where I ran into problems and got my logs in the fall, and cut, split, and stacked right away. I've also had a year or two where I used wood that sat for a couple years. To be perfectly honest I don't think I saw a real noticable difference either way in wood usage. Probably the only difference I did notice is of coarse its a bit harder to start a fire with green wood

At the old house (100+ year old 2500 sq ft farm house updated in the early 70's) we had forced hot air and didn't use the boiler to heat the dhw. The wife kept the thermostat on 80 all winter, I opened windows all winter. We would go through one log load a winter. Approximately 22 - 25 face cords from mid October to mid April give or take depending on weather.

Now at the new house (2400 sq ft) we have hot water heat throughout the house. Thermostat still set on 80, windows still open :-S and we are heating the dhw. I fired up the boiler in early October last fall and it's been running ever since (yes it is burning in the pics - notice the plums of smoke :roll: ) I am just now finishing up the last of last years log load.

One thing I do that may be a bit different then most is I split my wood quite a bit smaller then I really need to. I do this for a couple reasons. One, I want the wife and daughters to be able to take care of it if for any reaon I'm out of commission and secondly in the first years of having the boiler I was splitting everything by hand so I tended to not splt as much. I found that the boiler would go longer between refills IF the wod burned properly however quite often the bigger chunks would get hung up and create air gaps which would not allow it to burn properly.

 

[Hogwildz]

Plummes of smoke, 22 cords, and burn properly just doesn't fit right all in the same paragraph.
Its not so much the size thats keeping it from burning properly, its the moisture in it.
I'll leave the rest to the others. If I got to explain, ya won't understand.

 

[tcatrider_99]

Plummes of smoke, 22 cords, and burn properly just doesn't fit right all in the same paragraph.
Its not so much the size thats keeping it from burning properly, its the moisture in it.
I'll leave the rest to the others. If I got to explain, ya won't understand.

Ya know - this is exactly why when I come to this site i just look around and read rather then post. Too many people just want to pick your post apart and assume your giving some kind of BS story. Get a life.

Let me explain myself for those that obviously need it.

"plumes of smoke" - an attempt at sarcasm directed at the multitude of people on here that claim outdoor boilers cloud the sky!

22 cords - whatever. That's what I burn, 1 log load, you can choose to believe it or not, means nothing to me what you choose to believe.

My last sentence about burning properly meant that with the bigger chunks i was not able to pack the firebox tightly enough and at times the large hunks would get hung up and not drop as the wood under it burned therefore I found that by splitting it more the firebox could be packed tighter.

 

[TMonter]

Do you have any auxiliary storage with your boiler? If not that would explain a lot of why you go through so much wood during the winter.

 

[tcatrider_99]

Do you have any auxiliary storage with your boiler? If not that would explain a lot of why you go through so much wood during the winter.

No. No auxilary storage. Do you really think 22 face cord is a lot for a winter? That's what about 7 - 8 full cords. Costs me about $700 to buy the load per year. I didn't think that was much at all compared to what I would spend on oil!

 

[itsme again]

What a great set-up. We should start a club. A who has the nicest wood shed club. You can be President I will be Vice-Pres. Just as long as we only have meetings when the smoke isn't billowing from the chimney :snake: :cheese:

We can call it the Smokin' Out the Neighbors Club :coolgrin: :red:

I guess I will have to throw some garbage in my stove so it will smoke. Oh, wait, all boilers smoke, what was I thinking ! ;-) ;-)

Sorry Dean............. had to do it.

Oh, by the way, you would think that after 9 years of wood burning, you wood (ha ha ) have figured it out by now, Wood only smokes if you set it on fire dummy. stop lighting your stove. %-P

 

[BrotherBart]

Do you have any auxiliary storage with your boiler? If not that would explain a lot of why you go through so much wood during the winter.

No. No auxilary storage. Do you really think 22 face cord is a lot for a winter? That's what about 7 - 8 full cords. Costs me about $700 to buy the load per year. I didn't think that was much at all compared to what I would spend on oil!

I think "face" got missed in your statement about number of face cords. 7-8 full cord to heat the whole joint with a boiler all winter is super.

 

[sinnian]

You both seem like smart and competent people but I felt compelled to remind you to rake the snow off of your roofs during the winter.

 

[Hogwildz]

Plummes of smoke, 22 cords, and burn properly just doesn't fit right all in the same paragraph.
Its not so much the size thats keeping it from burning properly, its the moisture in it.
I'll leave the rest to the others. If I got to explain, ya won't understand.

Ya know - this is exactly why when I come to this site i just look around and read rather then post. Too many people just want to pick your post apart and assume your giving some kind of BS story. Get a life.

Let me explain myself for those that obviously need it.

"plumes of smoke" - an attempt at sarcasm directed at the multitude of people on here that claim outdoor boilers cloud the sky!

22 cords - whatever. That's what I burn, 1 log load, you can choose to believe it or not, means nothing to me what you choose to believe.

My last sentence about burning properly meant that with the bigger chunks i was not able to pack the firebox tightly enough and at times the large hunks would get hung up and not drop as the wood under it burned therefore I found that by splitting it more the firebox could be packed tighter.

BB is correct, I missed the face cord wording. My mistake. 7-8 cords is not bad a year and congratulations with that. As for admitting burning green wood & then noticing no difference between burning green & dry wood (WOW HOW COULD YOU NOT???LMAO), nuff said there.
And just in case you have not noticed. The very photo you posted is showing the smoke smoke coming out of your boiler (hopefully this is after a new load and not the usual burn), again nuff said.
You are welcome here as is any of us. But if your going to post photos of your boiler putting smoke out, you may want to keep in mind, a good many folks here burn EPA approved appliances for a reason, because they are friendlier to our environment. I ain't no smoke police, nor do I give a crap if you smoke your area out and can't notice a difference. But I also do not post photos of my chimney pumping out smoke, and then in same paragraph note that I notice no difference between green & dry wood burning. That sir, is either pure ignorance, or just plain stupidity. Just because a person burns a boiler, stove, etc etc for any amount of years, if not burned properly, 20 years of bad burning practice will still not make you a correct burner.
Another point to keep in mind, many folks are going to wood heat. That wood you so freely waste during the summer & non heating months to merely heat your hot water, is a waste no matter how you look at it.
Just a matter of common sense, which some folks just can never obtain. You want to impress some folks, put your smoking boiler photos away, don't waste those "face" cord during no heating months just to heat hot water, and give the wood saved to families in your area that may not have the resources to the wood you do, and who may appreciate every BTU squeezed out of a load that is heating their home at 20 degrees or less.
I can understand why some choose to burn OWB's, and I have seen some burned as efficiently as they can be. I have also seen other morons burn tires, trash etc in them. As with ANY wood burning appliance, its the user and their burning habits that determine how much smoke or volatile gases come out that stack. Green wood burning will not get you praise from me, nor many others I am guessing.
I hope you become a little more knowledgeable and learn how to burn properly DRIED wood, you may actually notice the difference, as will your neighbors if you have any.
There is a reason many townships throughout the country are starting bans on OWB's. While I can't say I agree with anyone telling others what & how they heat their home with, I can understand when some folks just throw whatever in there whether OWB's, wood stoves, whatever, and burn it, along with smoking their neighbors out, there is where the ignorance of bad burning by a few, will ruin it for many.
Nuff said, I am off to "get a life". Thanks for reminding me I sometimes give & waste too much of my valuable time, to some that just truly do not deserve it.
Happy wet wood burning, thats soooo economical.

 

[tcatrider_99]

BB is correct, I missed the face cord wording. My mistake. 7-8 cords is not bad a year and congratulations with that. As for admitting burning green wood & then noticing no difference between burning green & dry wood (WOW HOW COULD YOU NOT???LMAO), nuff said there.
And just in case you have not noticed. The very photo you posted is showing the smoke smoke coming out of your boiler (hopefully this is after a new load and not the usual burn), again nuff said.
You are welcome here as is any of us. But if your going to post photos of your boiler putting smoke out, you may want to keep in mind, a good many folks here burn EPA approved appliances for a reason, because they are friendlier to our environment. I ain't no smoke police, nor do I give a crap if you smoke your area out and can't notice a difference. But I also do not post photos of my chimney pumping out smoke, and then in same paragraph note that I notice no difference between green & dry wood burning. That sir, is either pure ignorance, or just plain stupidity. Just because a person burns a boiler, stove, etc etc for any amount of years, if not burned properly, 20 years of bad burning practice will still not make you a correct burner.
Another point to keep in mind, many folks are going to wood heat. That wood you so freely waste during the summer & non heating months to merely heat your hot water, is a waste no matter how you look at it.
Just a matter of common sense, which some folks just can never obtain. You want to impress some folks, put your smoking boiler photos away, don't waste those "face" cord during no heating months just to heat hot water, and give the wood saved to families in your area that may not have the resources to the wood you do, and who may appreciate every BTU squeezed out of a load that is heating their home at 20 degrees or less.
I can understand why some choose to burn OWB's, and I have seen some burned as efficiently as they can be. I have also seen other morons burn tires, trash etc in them. As with ANY wood burning appliance, its the user and their burning habits that determine how much smoke or volatile gases come out that stack. Green wood burning will not get you praise from me, nor many others I am guessing.
I hope you become a little more knowledgeable and learn how to burn properly DRIED wood, you may actually notice the difference, as will your neighbors if you have any.
There is a reason many townships throughout the country are starting bans on OWB's. While I can't say I agree with anyone telling others what & how they heat their home with, I can understand when some folks just throw whatever in there whether OWB's, wood stoves, whatever, and burn it, along with smoking their neighbors out, there is where the ignorance of bad burning by a few, will ruin it for many.
Nuff said, I am off to "get a life". Thanks for reminding me I sometimes give & waste too much of my valuable time, to some that just truly do not deserve it.
Happy wet wood burning, thats soooo economical. [/quote]

Hey Pyro - I was about to type a long post showing how foolish and useless your comments on my post are but I'm not going to waste my time you obviouslt can't read well and just skimmed my post picking out certain parts to bust on so I'm sure whatever i type now would be a waste as well but let me point out a couple simple things for you.

What I said was I didn't notice in the way of wood usage with green wood, I said nothingabout how clean it does or doesn't burn - read the whole post!

What I said was "years I had problems and couldn't get wood till fall" that it wasn't properly dried - normally it is - read the whole post!

If you consider the little amount of smoke coming out of the chimney in the pic to be excessive then so be it. You must have magnified the pics considerably to even see it. More smoke comes out of everyone of my neighbors chimeys all winter long.

And lastly - you've got a bit of nerve and are quite a hipocrit to be on a wood boiler forum telling me I should not be using wood to heat my water because it's not cold out. So I should burn oil at $4.00 a gallon - who are you to judge?!?!

I'm done wasting time on you!

 

[itsme again]

And Justin case you have not noticed. The very photo you posted is showing the smoke smoke coming out of your boiler (hopefully this is after a new load and not the usual burn), again nuff said. """

I looked at the photos of his stove and if that itsy bitsy wisp of smoke that is coming out of the chimney is what you are worrying about, then that is nuts. You get more smoke cooking bacon on the stove than what is coming out of his chimney in that photo. I would really like to see some pictures of other users stoves when they are burning. Not pictures after they have been at a full burn, but when they actually are putting out whatever smoke they do put out.

Wood smokes, all of it, dry or not, no matter what kind of system you have,

Pellet stoves, wood stoves, indoor outdoor, in your basement or in a fireplace in the family room. No matter how you burn a piece of wood, it will smoke, at least a little.

You come up with a smokless firewood and you may be a millionaire by winters end.

You know, Not to change the subjuect, but hunting groups have been having the same problems for years, Bow hunters saying they are batter than gun hunter who say they are better than bow hunters etc etc and so on. Mean while, anit-hunter just eat this stuff up because they figure that if hunters are fighting amongst themselves, it is easier for them to get stupid laws passed and restrict hunting all together.

This is the same deal. My stove is better than your stove because blah, blah, blah. Your polluting the air etc etc etc. Wood fires have been around for MILLIONS of years. In the grand scheme of thing, other sources of heat are still brand new in a time comparison.

If you burn wood, GREAT. What people need to do is stop coming into someone's thread and dropping insults, just because you can. I don't care if that person is an administrator or regular users. If your not going to say something positive and just want to insult someone's setup, than leave your post UN-TYPED. No one needs to hear it or read it.

You may think you know it all when it comes to this subject, and that just proves that you don't

NUFF SAID !!