OK guys, I'm a little over 2 months in with my NC30 after years with a smoke dragon and I thought I had things figured out pretty well. Been burning almost all ash. Once I got the system figured out with help from you all I've been doing great. Now I'm trying to burn maple and cherry and it won't start worth a darn! It's not as well seasoned as the ash, but it's around 20% give or take. No juicing or sizzling out the ends... In your experience, is ash just really easy to get going or are maple and cherry really hard to get going? What about oak and beech? I'll have some beech ready for fall of 2021 and oak for 2022 (hopefully...). I never had a problem with the old stove, but they aren't as finicky. Maybe I'm trying to get too many big chunks and not enough smallish ones? I'm doing a half load for overnight seeing as it's not too cold (38 degrees right now)... Maybe I need to split some of this down smaller... I tend to split them pretty beefy...
Differences in getting different species to light?
- Thread starter NickW
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
The denser the wood, the more heat it can take to get started. Oil content of the wood also aids starting. Dry doug fir is very easy to light. Locust or Osage Orange, not so easy.
Thanks for the reply's. I think I was fighting several things. Moisture 20-23% (just spot checked several pieces on fresh splits), too big of chunks, not enough coals... I don't have any softwood ready yet, never used it with the old stove because I couldn't get heat from it. Have some pine seasoning and will bring Aspen home from up north over the summer. There are many knocked over but off the ground, so hopefully they'll season quick. I had lots of small ash from branches that I used to help get the bigger chunks lit, all gone now. Tonight is supposed to be down to mid 20's again, so I'll make a bigger overnight fire using a better balance of sizes. I've got some smaller maple outside that should be in that same low 20's area moisture wise, so maybe I'll use some of that instead of splitting the bigger stuff down.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
I've never burned cherry.
Real dry maple whooshes into flames as soon as it hits the coals. So does any other kind of real dry wood, though.
Bigger splits make for longer burns, but also longer drying time. Drying outdoors under cover in Wisconsin, I'd say give monster maple splits 4 years if you want it to be dry in the middle. Little splits a year or two, regular to largish splits about 2 years.
Wet oak is the worst to get going. Man, it does not wanna go. Dry, it burns like a torch as soon as it hits the inside of the stove.
There is a whole lot of inaccuracy with moisture meters between bad meters and all the ways people use them which can vary the readings a lot. There's a post every day where someone lists a half dozen wet wood symptoms and then says their wood is 10%-20% MC.
Get yourself a big dry split and split it down the middle. If the color is much darker inside and it smells and feels moist, it ain't dry. If two sticks thump together and don't ring at all, it ain't dry. If it doesn't light when you throw it on the coals.... well, either it ain't dry or it is dry but has surface moisture.
You can still burn wet wood in modern stoves- but burn it hot, and sweep. the flue often. Every week maybe until you get a handle on how often you need to sweep.
Real dry maple whooshes into flames as soon as it hits the coals. So does any other kind of real dry wood, though.
Bigger splits make for longer burns, but also longer drying time. Drying outdoors under cover in Wisconsin, I'd say give monster maple splits 4 years if you want it to be dry in the middle. Little splits a year or two, regular to largish splits about 2 years.
Wet oak is the worst to get going. Man, it does not wanna go. Dry, it burns like a torch as soon as it hits the inside of the stove.
There is a whole lot of inaccuracy with moisture meters between bad meters and all the ways people use them which can vary the readings a lot. There's a post every day where someone lists a half dozen wet wood symptoms and then says their wood is 10%-20% MC.
Get yourself a big dry split and split it down the middle. If the color is much darker inside and it smells and feels moist, it ain't dry. If two sticks thump together and don't ring at all, it ain't dry. If it doesn't light when you throw it on the coals.... well, either it ain't dry or it is dry but has surface moisture.
You can still burn wet wood in modern stoves- but burn it hot, and sweep. the flue often. Every week maybe until you get a handle on how often you need to sweep.
Last edited:
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
Did have a piece of cherry juice a little bit earlier today, so it's definitely not ideally seasoned; but I think I got a little cocky about what I could do with not enough coals and too big & too few chunks of wood. Thankfully it's getting to be shoulder season. It's amazing how a couple of small pieces of wood and some bark can get it up to a decent temp long enough to take the chill out. I got a pretty good rip-snorter going tonight no problem... Made sure I had good coals and more wood of varying sizes.
DBoon
Minister of Fire
Nice dry cherry takes off like an inferno for me. I always mix a couple of pieces of that in with the hickory that seems to take an hour to noticeably outgas and burn really hot.
I've never burned hickory. There's plenty around here, but I've never had the opportunity to snag any. The charts say it's one of the best and the guys here who burn it seem to agree. If you weren't from NY I'd say throw some in your truck and bring it over for me to test 
. I've got some beech and a little locust which I understand are close... Beech, cherry & maple in the stove now - running 540 STT, house is nice & comfy.
. I've got some beech and a little locust which I understand are close... Beech, cherry & maple in the stove now - running 540 STT, house is nice & comfy.I will say in reference to jetsam's comment about wet wood symptoms... I really don't know if my moisture meter is super accurate. The ash I had been burning and lit well measured 13-18%, some ash I recently split that juiced out the ends as I was splitting wouldn't even read so I think that means over 50%, an ash I took down last week was 35% in the trunk and high 20's to 31 on the branches, last fall some beech was around 40% and some maple was around 25%. I thought these all seemed fairly reasonable....?
Cherry & maple mix doesn't seem to last as long as the ash either... Maybe it's partly because it's not seasoned as well and I have to keep the air open longer? Not sure what tickled xmastreefarmer about the other post? The maple I am referring to was 25% in fall, so it should have seasoned a little over winter... maybe has a bit of surface moisture...
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
OK, maybe my Cherry is a little damp; I had a tarp on it that was a bit spotty..
Those all seem like they could be about right.
Yep, having to burn moisture out longer is going to shorten the burn, of course. Or if it is soft Maple, it won't last as long as even Cherry. Hard (Sugar) Maple OTOH burns pretty long.
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
Tonight, the Cherry splits I used to kick off the load are burning well. "Burning wood is like a box of chocolates.." 
I had the opposite tonight... 5 splits (3 big, 2 med) of 20-25% maple took off OK, not great but OK; but wouldn't keep secondary's firing with the doors closed. Coals piled in the front. During the day I had a 3 big split fire that lit & fired well and lasted 6 hours, coals underneath. The coals in front worked better with the well seasoned ash previously, coals underneath would get a little scary sometimes. Those loads were a better mix of sizes though too.Tonight, the Cherry splits I used to kick off the load are burning well. "Burning wood is like a box of chocolates.."
Taking the chill off with a quick fire and let it go out to check for creosote this afternoon. Then I'll get a coal bed established and build on top of that tonight instead of piling in front and see if that helps. I've discovered that not only is the cherry & maple not ideally seasoned, but also has some surface moisture yet even though it's been in the garage for a month with a fan on it... Unfortunately it's the best I have right now (I think). Maybe I'll check the moisture on some recently split ash that was in the mid to upper 20's, but I suspect that hasn't seasoned much in 2 weeks; although ash burns better than other hardwoods when it's not well seasoned.
I'll just have to keep trying things to see what works best and watch for creosote buildup. By the time I figure it out burning season will be over...
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Once the RH in the garage gets up above the RH outdoors, which will happen quickly with a cord of wet wood in there, the wood is better off outside with a tarp over it.
I guess you could leave the garage door open, but at that point the tarp seems like a much more practical answer to the problem.
If you want to turn it into a wood shed, you could take out the door and most of the opposite wall.
I guess you could leave the garage door open, but at that point the tarp seems like a much more practical answer to the problem.
If you want to turn it into a wood shed, you could take out the door and most of the opposite wall.
Good point Jetsam. This is a big detached garage 28×48 with vented soffits and during the day I often have at least one if not both 16' garage doors open as I'm putzing around outside. Only had moved a face cord in to see if it would help. Figured the size & fan & open soffits would keep RH down.
Out of curiosity, my most likely place for creosote buildup should theoretically be the cap and section of liner above the masonry cap, right? Furthest from the heat source and most exposed... If that's got much buildup I'll clean the whole system, if not maybe I'll just keep an eye on it. I'm only 3 days into this less seasoned wood, so I don't expect too much buildup. I've been burning fairly hot - at least 400STT. Just a little concerned about the slow starts on some of the overnight loads...
I may have a little help to my situation, most of the branches from the "church lady tree" I took down last week seem dry as a bone up to about 4" in dia. Warming some of them up to split to check... Also have some misc stuff in from outside warming to check. I rechecked the maple & cherry I brought into the garage a month ago. Maple still shows 22-23%, but the cherry was up over 30% so back outside it went. Seemed really odd though because the maple seemed heavier than the cherry... (it's sugar maple, not soft)
I may have a little help to my situation, most of the branches from the "church lady tree" I took down last week seem dry as a bone up to about 4" in dia. Warming some of them up to split to check... Also have some misc stuff in from outside warming to check. I rechecked the maple & cherry I brought into the garage a month ago. Maple still shows 22-23%, but the cherry was up over 30% so back outside it went. Seemed really odd though because the maple seemed heavier than the cherry... (it's sugar maple, not soft)
Air movement really helps to dry out a stack of split wood. That's missing in a garage unless you point a fan at the stack.
Yes, I have a box fan on it too.
So I inspected my liner and decided to clean it even though i didn't think it was bad. See attached pictures before cleaning. The cap had some buildup on the screen and there were some flakes up close to the top. The rest I would consider more "soot" than creosote. I would like comment's from you more experienced guys. This was all installed Jan 23rd and hasn't been cleaned since. The first week I was slowly getting brave enough to get to the recommended temps - previously being a smoke dragon guy, that's a scary temp difference. The last few days I've been struggling a little with not great wood, but still trying to burn as hot as I can. After 9 weeks of nearly 24/7 burning would you consider this fairly normal or a lot of buildup? I would say all total I have about 3 cups worth of creosote and soot.
Attachments
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
Right, when both are dry, hard Maple is quite a bit heavier. BTU about like Red Oak, so you'd expect it to be about as heavy..
That doesn't look too bad at all.
I was wrong (don't tell my wife I said that!).
Didn't find any ash from the "church lady tree" that was under 30%. Did much better though with last nights fire spreading the coals out under all the wood instead of piling it up in front. Used some of the small ash branches to help get it going. Some just got a little damp on the end, others looked like a rabid dog; but they at least would stay lit long enough to dry themselves out and get the maple going good. The other maple I had outside was the same as the ash; some just a little damp on the end, others foaming. Not a good situation. Good thing ash burns and creates some heat wet, but I'll be inspecting the chimney weekly.
Next years stack is going to be any ash 30% or under now. Anything over that goes on one of the other stacks. In 2 years I'll be in great shape! Beech, maple and the wetter ash should all be ready. Hopefully the ash I get from the neighbors friend that was cut last year will be under 30% and I am able to get it soon!
Didn't find any ash from the "church lady tree" that was under 30%. Did much better though with last nights fire spreading the coals out under all the wood instead of piling it up in front. Used some of the small ash branches to help get it going. Some just got a little damp on the end, others looked like a rabid dog; but they at least would stay lit long enough to dry themselves out and get the maple going good. The other maple I had outside was the same as the ash; some just a little damp on the end, others foaming. Not a good situation. Good thing ash burns and creates some heat wet, but I'll be inspecting the chimney weekly.
Next years stack is going to be any ash 30% or under now. Anything over that goes on one of the other stacks. In 2 years I'll be in great shape! Beech, maple and the wetter ash should all be ready. Hopefully the ash I get from the neighbors friend that was cut last year will be under 30% and I am able to get it soon!
Similar threads
