I became a wood burner as young man while I was still in college. I was renting an old house in St. Petersburg, Florida that had a huge oil furnace sitting in front of a walled over fireplace that vented through a thimble into the chimney. I asked my landlord if he would mind removing the oil burner and let me set up a woodstove to replace it. He agreed and I bought a small cast iron Franklin stove at a Montgomery Wards store for $99. I then used a hacksaw to cut a large opening in one of the long side walls (it took me hours to accomplish and many blades) so I could burn it like an open fireplace and see the flames. Unfortunately, I quickly learned the chimney had a poor draft and as much smoke billowed out into the room as went up the flue pipe!
I then took the piece of cast iron I had cut out and hinged it at the bottom of the opening and experimented to see how large a crack I could leave open and still establish a good draft. This ended up being about two inches, so I arranged a chair off at a 45 degree angle so I could look over and see the fire through the cracked door. So began my love of burning.
The only other memorable thing from this first stove that I’ll mention is how I nearly burned the house down. Mind you, I had no experience with wood burning growing up. The closest I came to getting any experience was tending the burn barrel in our back yard when I was sent out to burn the trash. Here is how my close call with arson occurred.
I needed to clean out the ashes from the stove eventually and since I hadn’t had a fire in the stove for a couple of days I just grabbed one of those double thickness paper bags the grocery stores used back in the ‘70s and shoveled the ashes into it. I didn’t see any sign of hot coals and the stove was cold to the touch for a couple of days. When I had about 4 or 5 inches of ashes in the bag I folded the top shut and carried out to a back porch room that had a wooden floor and set it near the trash container so I could put it out on collection day.
When that day arrived a few days later I went into the room and was puzzled to find a large pile of ashes sitting on the floor! I was completely stymied on how it got there. When I cleaned them up and put them into a fresh bag I was shocked to discover the bottom of a brown paper bag sitting under the pile with singed edges! That’s when I learned how seemingly cold ashes can trick you.
I could probably write a book describing my 50 years of burning, but I’m not sure the forum is even going to allow this abbreviated story, so I’ll cut to the chase. After toting more than 4 million pounds of wood from tree to stove (all worked up by hand) my wife and I are moving from our 11 acre homestead with four wood stoves into town. I’ll soon be 75 years old and while I still log 4 cords of wood each year we’ve decided it’s time to scale back on things. We found a great home within walking distance of downtown Marion, NC. It’s about ten miles from where we currently reside. The house has two wood burning fireplaces that have both been converted over to gas logs. So, I’ll still be able to enjoy some pretend burning, though my conscience will probably restrict me from that enjoyment too often.
I joined the forum in 2013 when I was seeking information on how to replace a slammer installed insert with a new Jotul F600 wood stove. I was very active with the forum for a few years, then other activities slowly pulled me away. Nonetheless, the forum will always have a special place in my heart, so I wanted to send this goodbye message to everyone. Thanks for the memories.
P.S. I almost forgot to mention I'm leaving behind 12 cords of seasoned oak undercover and three cords of split and stacked maple from a tree Helene brought down last year in the form of a 36" diameter maple tree across my driveway. I'm hoping that perk might help sell our house!
I then took the piece of cast iron I had cut out and hinged it at the bottom of the opening and experimented to see how large a crack I could leave open and still establish a good draft. This ended up being about two inches, so I arranged a chair off at a 45 degree angle so I could look over and see the fire through the cracked door. So began my love of burning.
The only other memorable thing from this first stove that I’ll mention is how I nearly burned the house down. Mind you, I had no experience with wood burning growing up. The closest I came to getting any experience was tending the burn barrel in our back yard when I was sent out to burn the trash. Here is how my close call with arson occurred.
I needed to clean out the ashes from the stove eventually and since I hadn’t had a fire in the stove for a couple of days I just grabbed one of those double thickness paper bags the grocery stores used back in the ‘70s and shoveled the ashes into it. I didn’t see any sign of hot coals and the stove was cold to the touch for a couple of days. When I had about 4 or 5 inches of ashes in the bag I folded the top shut and carried out to a back porch room that had a wooden floor and set it near the trash container so I could put it out on collection day.
When that day arrived a few days later I went into the room and was puzzled to find a large pile of ashes sitting on the floor! I was completely stymied on how it got there. When I cleaned them up and put them into a fresh bag I was shocked to discover the bottom of a brown paper bag sitting under the pile with singed edges! That’s when I learned how seemingly cold ashes can trick you.
I could probably write a book describing my 50 years of burning, but I’m not sure the forum is even going to allow this abbreviated story, so I’ll cut to the chase. After toting more than 4 million pounds of wood from tree to stove (all worked up by hand) my wife and I are moving from our 11 acre homestead with four wood stoves into town. I’ll soon be 75 years old and while I still log 4 cords of wood each year we’ve decided it’s time to scale back on things. We found a great home within walking distance of downtown Marion, NC. It’s about ten miles from where we currently reside. The house has two wood burning fireplaces that have both been converted over to gas logs. So, I’ll still be able to enjoy some pretend burning, though my conscience will probably restrict me from that enjoyment too often.
I joined the forum in 2013 when I was seeking information on how to replace a slammer installed insert with a new Jotul F600 wood stove. I was very active with the forum for a few years, then other activities slowly pulled me away. Nonetheless, the forum will always have a special place in my heart, so I wanted to send this goodbye message to everyone. Thanks for the memories.
P.S. I almost forgot to mention I'm leaving behind 12 cords of seasoned oak undercover and three cords of split and stacked maple from a tree Helene brought down last year in the form of a 36" diameter maple tree across my driveway. I'm hoping that perk might help sell our house!
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