Burrr

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RandyBoBandy

Minister of Fire
Feb 25, 2015
1,395
Whitmore lake, MI
Going to get down to the teens tonight. Excited to load the stove up with 3 yr old oak. This is the first full oak load out of the stack. 3 yrs is a long time to wait
 

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I like how guys around here save the good wood for special occasions like fine wines.
Dark living room, glowing coals with the occasional wisp of dancing secondaries in the stove and a good brew. What more could you ask for?
 
Dark living room, glowing coals with the occasional wisp of dancing secondaries in the stove and a good brew. What more could you ask for?

That's beautiful, man. Supposed to be down to 20 here tonight...have had the Blaze King going steady for 48 hours now, and full of Mulberry and Ash for the overnight burn. It's going to be nice and toasty downstairs when I get up!
 
I find it wierd reading the commmets about other areas of the country.

We have over 10" of snow on the ground and have been burning steady for at least 3 weeks or so.
 
Going to get down to the teens tonight. Excited to load the stove up with 3 yr old oak. This is the first full oak load out of the stack. 3 yrs is a long time to wait

You are practically my neighbor brother, Hartland, here. :)
 
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I find it wierd reading the commmets about other areas of the country.

We have over 10" of snow on the ground and have been burning steady for at least 3 weeks or so.
I wish we had 10" of snow on the ground. I'm ready for the mud to go away. What temps are you seeing this time of year?
 
I wish we had 10" of snow on the ground. I'm ready for the mud to go away. What temps are you seeing this time of year?

It's 34 degrees right now. Been running in the low 30s during the day at high teens at night.
 
A word of caution. I've found I have to pay close attention when I load the stove up extra full with a load of really dry oak or other hardwoods. Such a load can take off and burn like a blast furnace if you treat it like you would a smaller load of lesser quality wood. I actually got an old pre-EPA stove glowing red before I knew what was happening! A neighbor was cleaning out his garage and offered me a load of hardwood that had been drying out for about ten years at the time since he had stopped burning a long time ago. I stacked the wood behind the house under an overhang to keep it dry and would throw a split or two in with some lesser quality wood I had been burning. Well, along came a rainy day and I didn't feel like braving the elements to hike out to my woodshed and instead just brought in a full load of this super dry wood. I loaded the stove as usual and set the air as usual and the next thing I knew I could smell that smell you get when the stove is really hot. When I took a look at things I was shocked to find the a section of my stove red hot along with about a foot of the single wall black pipe of my flue!
 
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Neighbor here as well...Green Oak twp, just a skip instead of a stone's throw.

Last night was the first night loading NS, everything so far has been EW including today. Put 6 splits of ash in at 10pm last night, had plenty of coals and got 'er back up and running at 8am this morning. I'm holding my oak and cherry for January.
 
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Going to get down to the teens tonight. Excited to load the stove up with 3 yr old oak. This is the first full oak load out of the stack. 3 yrs is a long time to wait
Whitmore Lake MI? Do you know Gordon VanAmburg, Vans Archery? I've hunted in your woods!
 
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first full oak load out of the stack. 3 yrs is a long time to wait
What type of Oak, Red or White? Either one, you'll find that it was worth the wait. 3 yrs. is the number for Oak. ==c
A word of caution. I've found I have to pay close attention when I load the stove up extra full with a load of really dry oak or other hardwoods.
Not sure if his 2250 is a downdraft stove or not but if I recall, I think operators of that stove keep a pretty close eye on them early in the burn. o_O
Put 6 splits of ash in at 10pm last night, had plenty of coals and got 'er back up and running at 8am this morning. I'm holding my oak and cherry for January.
Well, if it's White Ash you've got, you'll find that it burns longer than Cherry. If you have Green Ash, it may be on par with the Cherry. I'm burning Cherry now, Oak etc. when it gets colder. I don't have any White Ash in the my stacks right now, been taking all I cut to the in-laws since I'm not far ahead on their stacks. We will be choking on White Ash shortly, now that the EAB is here. :(
 
Whitmore Lake MI? Do you know Gordon VanAmburg, Vans Archery? I've hunted in your woods!
I don't know him personally but I have been in the store.
 
Whitmore Lake MI? Do you know Gordon VanAmburg, Vans Archery? I've hunted in your woods!
Did you drag anything out of my woods?
 
My three year oak is mostly white. I have about 2-3 full cord of that. I have about another 2-3 cord of red oak c/s and waiting to be stacked.

Once I'm in cat mode I don't worry about the stove going nuclear. I do keep an eye on cat temps though. It is a down draft stove. It's actually easier to keep the firebox at lower temps with a full load compared to a smaller load.
 
Neighbor here as well...Green Oak twp, just a skip instead of a stone's throw.

Last night was the first night loading NS, everything so far has been EW including today. Put 6 splits of ash in at 10pm last night, had plenty of coals and got 'er back up and running at 8am this morning. I'm holding my oak and cherry for January.
Green oak is really close! It's cool to find out there are very local people on the forums. The only way I can load NS is if I was burning 10" splits..... so not happening.
 
My three year oak is mostly white. I have about 2-3 full cord of that. I have about another 2-3 cord of red oak c/s and waiting to be stacked.
That dry White will amaze you with how long it can burn. It's definitely "Burrr" Oak. ;)
It's actually easier to keep the firebox at lower temps with a full load compared to a smaller load.
Interesting. Do you figure the smaller load is radiating more heat to the stove top when it coals, whereas the bigger load "contains" the heat better? Or is the STT the result of the cat burning...or what do you figure is going on there?
 
Well, if it's White Ash you've got, you'll find that it burns longer than Cherry. If you have Green Ash, it may be on par with the Cherry.

Yeah, you're right...not sure what I was thinking or thought I saw way back when I was stacking everything, or maybe I wasn't and just put them together. Not sure what ash I have to be honest, got it from someone else. My guess is white.
 
Neighbor here as well...Green Oak twp, just a skip instead of a stone's throw.

Last night was the first night loading NS, everything so far has been EW including today. Put 6 splits of ash in at 10pm last night, had plenty of coals and got 'er back up and running at 8am this morning. I'm holding my oak and cherry for January.

Nice see a bunch of fellow Hearth.com folks in the area. Doesn't surprise, smoke rolls out of a lot of chimneys around here, when things get cold. Got down to 13 at our house last night, Had one nice chunk of cherry in the stove and some larger kind of punky Green Ash. Was still 70 in the house this AM.
 
Green oak is really close! It's cool to find out there are very local people on the forums. The only way I can load NS is if I was burning 10" splits..... so not happening.

Agreed, normally I'm on the site with my phone so I don't see everyone's location but saw yours with your screen shot...and Sodbuster, too.

Yeah, as of yesterday I officially transitioned from using mostly the pine I had to straight up ash. The pine I cut longer since I can fit up to 20" EW, but everything else is about 16" for NS. I still have some splits of pine left which I'll use on the warmer days we have remaining this month.
 
A word of caution. I've found I have to pay close attention when I load the stove up extra full with a load of really dry oak or other hardwoods. Such a load can take off and burn like a blast furnace if you treat it like you would a smaller load of lesser quality wood. I actually got an old pre-EPA stove glowing red before I knew what was happening! A neighbor was cleaning out his garage and offered me a load of hardwood that had been drying out for about ten years at the time since he had stopped burning a long time ago. I stacked the wood behind the house under an overhang to keep it dry and would throw a split or two in with some lesser quality wood I had been burning. Well, along came a rainy day and I didn't feel like braving the elements to hike out to my woodshed and instead just brought in a full load of this super dry wood. I loaded the stove as usual and set the air as usual and the next thing I knew I could smell that smell you get when the stove is really hot. When I took a look at things I was shocked to find the a section of my stove red hot along with about a foot of the single wall black pipe of my flue!

Thanks for the advice, Nick, the next set of stacks I'm switching to is really dry White Oak. I've never burned pure Oak before only a split here and there. Woody, if the EAB is just getting to your area now, you'll be amazed at prolific the tree was, once they're all dead. Sad to see, but a gold mine for wood heaters. We now have Oak Wilt moving through Michigan, at least my part.
 
if the EAB is just getting to your area now, you'll be amazed at prolific the tree was, once they're all dead. Sad to see, but a gold mine for wood heaters. We now have Oak Wilt moving through Michigan, at least my part.
I can imagine. I'm already aware that the Ash is one of the most common species here, but when they are all gone I'm sure it will be even more apparent. Not sure if it's wilt or some other disease but the Red Oaks here seem to die off more than any other specie.
The White Ash is plenty good but the Red Oak seems to burn a little longer for me, even though the BTU ratings would indicate that they are very close..
 
Did you drag anything out of my woods?
Yup. Made mistake of taking 80lb draw bow, freezing rain and shot an 8pt. Had a video years ago of the shot 94 yards. It was like the old Robin Hood movies...so many trees, lucky the leaves were gone! Our here in West, 80+ yards common with a bow. Back there, crazy!