I'm gonna start a 2 year row of stacked wood and fill it with the oak. Tons of it on the property I'm cutting on. 4 nice cherry trees are coming down next
F400 still wants to overfire at night
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claydogg84
Minister of Fire
I'm a bit torn over the oak myself. This is only my second year burning. My first year I scrounged enough dead standing stuff to get me through the winter - ash,elm, cherry, maple, locust. I haven't had much oak until just recently which I won't get to for 2+ years. I think I like locust better as it seasons faster in my eyes and is comparable heat/duration wise. I'm stocked pretty good now, had 13 cord split/stacked since very early spring. Looks like you're on your way to having a nice stash, and we should both be burning some oak in about 2 years! I don't have a picture of the mound of splits in my yard, maybe I'll snap one tomorrow.
I love cutting wood. I mean I friggin love it more then anything as far as hard labor. I'd love to cut for a living . I post Craigslist adds to take wood or fell trees for people. Every few months I'll get someone who wants 10 trees gone and I score. I'm working the women's property now who wants close to 20 trees taken. All big oak, maple, cherry and shagbark . It's back breaking work but I'm tickled pink when that pile is in the yard. As long as it keeps my wife and unborn child warm, I'm happy
Oak is worth the wait if you have the room to store it. On the other hand, if you can get a steady supply of Locust you ain't missing nothing in my opinion.
The only problem I have with Locust is finding more Locust
claydogg84
Minister of Fire
I was gung-ho the first year. Couldn't get enough of it. That changed a bit the second year for me. I still enjoy cutting and splitting, but it seems like a bit more work than I thought it was last year. I've yet to land a nice Hickory tree for my collection, jealous... I've never felled a tree before either as I get most of my stuff alongside the road.
claydogg84
Minister of Fire
Oak is worth the wait if you have the room to store it. On the other hand, if you can get a steady supply of Locust you ain't missing nothing in my opinion.
The only problem I have with Locust is finding more Locust
There is quite a bit of it around here which makes me wonder if I should even be bothering with the oak. I've got room for 2 1/2 - 3 years worth of wood, but it's tightly stacked so I'm not sure how it will dry. Time will tell I suppose.
I've been cutting for a long time, just never burned . Always had a fascination with chain saws since I was a kid and always loved the yell of timber. Felled 30-40 last year but had to split the wood up . This year I'm greedy so only getting help to fell the tree and then the rest of the work is on my own
There is Black Locust and Honey Locust. I don't know the difference but both are between Red and White Oak as far as BTU's.
What I found to be true though is what a farmer told me once while discussing fence posts.
He referred to it as Field Locust and Forest Locust. He went on to say that a Locust growing in full sun grows to fast and isn't as dense as a Locust that grows slower under a forest canopy.
What I found to be true though is what a farmer told me once while discussing fence posts.
He referred to it as Field Locust and Forest Locust. He went on to say that a Locust growing in full sun grows to fast and isn't as dense as a Locust that grows slower under a forest canopy.
claydogg84
Minister of Fire
claydogg84
Minister of Fire
All of these need to come down soon. Plus 3 to the left and 5-6 behind me
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last night was better. i really didn't feel like staying up late watching this thing so i set the heat to 65 . i raked coals forward, and just put 3 large splits in. 2 in the back one in the front. left door crack until it lit, about 25 minutes. closed door and watched it for a minute. backed air down to little under half over the course of about 10 minutes. seemed like thats where it wanted to run. my wife stayed up and watched it because she had today off. i woke up at 12:30 to find the stove still running like that at around 450. woke up to find a great coal bed even with just 3 splits. now it wasn't overly cold last night, maybe 37? so i assume thats why this worked out this way.
Paulywalnut
Minister of Fire
When you tell us your glass is black most of the time tells me your wood is not seasoned. The Jotul needs dry seasoned wood. That's not why your stove is over firing but I think you need to cut the flue back slower before turning in at night. Incan only get 6 or 7 hours out of an overnight fire. Have you checked your ash door? Make sure it's shut tight, and check for leaks there.
Glass is clean now. When it's a crappy smoldering burn it's turns black but when I have it running right the glass just has a brownish haze that wipes right off .
Ash door is sealed good
Ash door is sealed good
I can only get 6-7 hours out of it too but I do have a good coal bed and re lights pretty quickly in the morning . Stove is at around 250-300 and still giving off enough heat to keep the house above 70
Sounds good!
With small loads like 3 splits you may find it better to put 2 on bottom and 1 on top. Wood burns best when stacked.
You always want to have secondaries lit off and little to no smoke out the stack once stove is up to temp until you begin to enter the coaling stage, at that point temps will naturally begin to drop.
Using small loads is a great way to get familiar with your stove and really, the art of running your stove.
Running the stove with the primary air at just under half sounds like a lot of air though. This could be an issue with wood or draft but likely just the way you positioned the splits in the box. Could also be normal for your stove though, someone with experience with the same stove as you could better answer that.
With small loads like 3 splits you may find it better to put 2 on bottom and 1 on top. Wood burns best when stacked.
You always want to have secondaries lit off and little to no smoke out the stack once stove is up to temp until you begin to enter the coaling stage, at that point temps will naturally begin to drop.
Using small loads is a great way to get familiar with your stove and really, the art of running your stove.
Running the stove with the primary air at just under half sounds like a lot of air though. This could be an issue with wood or draft but likely just the way you positioned the splits in the box. Could also be normal for your stove though, someone with experience with the same stove as you could better answer that.
just under half is a lot i think too but i think it is the way i loaded them, stuffing them in, but only putting 3 in. ill try stacking them when i try and run 3 overnight again. i have a pretty short chimney too imo so maybe thats some of my problems
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
A very good idea . . . once you get your hands on some seasoned oak (burning some "vintage" 3 year old oak now) you'll realize why many consider it to be the King of Firewood.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
You might think different if you had to cut wood for a living. I cut pulp for about a month in January one year in between jobs right after college . . . slogging through snow above your knees in sub-zero weather and alternating between sweating and freezing got old pretty quick . . . but it also helped motivate me to find another job.
Cutting wood to provide heat for the home is a whole other thing than working in the woods cutting wood . . . trust me on this one.
So far it really doesn't sound like your chimney is hurting you. With the short chimney though, it could be that you'll find it a little tougher to get the stove going from a cold start but it does sound like your draft is fine once the pipe is warm. I only mentioned it as a possibility but more likely is just the way you positioned the wood.
If you do have trouble establishing a draft from a cold start though a top down fire can really help with this.
Lots of good info on top down fires here but basicly I just stack some smaller splits in the stove, put a little kindling on top of them and then 4 or 5 pieces of black and white (no color) newspaper rolled up and tied into a loose not to top it off. Light the newspaper.
If you do have trouble establishing a draft from a cold start though a top down fire can really help with this.
Lots of good info on top down fires here but basicly I just stack some smaller splits in the stove, put a little kindling on top of them and then 4 or 5 pieces of black and white (no color) newspaper rolled up and tied into a loose not to top it off. Light the newspaper.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
I know with the Castine's bigger brother the Oslo the outside temp makes a big difference on how well it heats and holds the heat. More "mild" temps like last night with the temps in the mid-30s typically means the stove has a lot more coals and the house and stove are much warmer than when the outside temps are in the teens.
If you're getting 6-7 hours I would say you're doing pretty well to be honest.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
From the way those trees are leaning . . . and they're leaning wicked hard . . . I would say it's only a matter of time before gravity pulls them down.
it wont be a fire when i wake up, but good enough coal bed to relight quickly. weather has been mild still and we have barely burned a full cord of wood of off and on burning since october
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Yeah, that's pretty much what I get as well . . . a coal bed that I can either throw some small splits on or some kindling and it will light up in no time. With cooler weather the house may have cooled down some (I have my oil boiler set to kick on at 60 degrees), but so far this fall it hasn't had to turn on more than a few times.
ya if its cold my house will drop to 65. oil doesn't come on till 60. when its wicked cold out , say under 15 ill set my alarm and get up to fill the stove i think.
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