It’s that time of year ....

[BIGChrisNH]

I have to admit something. Right around this time of year I get sick of bringing the wood in, bringing the ashes out... I love burning wood, I just get sick of that part of it. Anybody else feel like that?

 

[Mark cerel]

I feel ya . Another few weeks of burning and I'll be done. Have a hard time burning in April even if it is needed.

 

[webby3650]

I love it, hate for the season to end. My current setup makes it hard to get wood inside, so I’m anxious to come up with solution for next year. My solution may just be having the kids carry bags of coal inside for me. It’s so much much easier than wood, especially in my current situation.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

That’s it I think we by. I bring mine in through the bulkhead day after day. I just get tired of that I think

 

[Grizzerbear]

I love burning wood. I love the whole process. I am sick of the cold rainy weather we have had this winter. Ready for everything to green up and get in a friggin t shirt. The rain this winter has been ridiculous.

 

[Geoff C]

I use the heat pump until the real cold kicks in. In Nov my electric bill goes up around $30. Dec less than $100. Then I start burning full time.

3 months of 24/7 is good for me. Not long enough to get sick of it.

 

[peakbagger]

I use my minisplit on the warm stretches. Nice mini vacation from burning but the heat is not the same.

 

[Woody Stover]

I don't mind handling ash, with the grate in the floor of the stove. It's easy to just swirl it down into the pan with a poker, and I never have to handle hot ash or hot pan/bucket.
I just tried some Red Elm last night that I wasn't sure was dry enough yet. It was dry, and seemed to kick off my weak combustor faster than the Oak I've been using, from a stack crash that got rained on. So naturally I was excited to bring up more Red Elm to the on-deck circle today.
My sister wants some Hickory ash to use in her pot glazes, so that's another thrilling reason for me to keep burning. She's in NM, no Hickory out there. I'll send her some Red Elm ash too, and see if that yields any cool effects..
No backup heat here, so I just keeps on burnin', whether I want to or not.

 

[Sawset]

Took off half a day today, and went out for a long walk. Trimmed some brush, scouted some trees to cut come spring, tracked some critters, found a nice rack from that buck I've been seeing but that didn't survive the winter. Damn good to perk a guy up. And came back, cleaned the stove, emptied the ash and filled the cart, get ready for another single digit night, knowing the sun is coming around and spring not far behind.

 

[WoodBurnerInWI]

I was thinking it's that time of year where temps begin to yo yo from cold to warm and then cold again at night. At least our extended weather outlook seems to be hinting at several 50 degree days around here starting this Sunday and on and off for the foreseeable future. Hate this kind of weather, always have to decide last min whether or not to keep the stove going or just do an afternoon into the overnight fire (50 degree plus days make the inside of my house mid 80's if the stove is running!!)

The dry weather is much appreciated though. Plenty of great afternoons after work and on weekends cutting and stacking wood!! Soon I'll be ready for the tree guys to drop off another load of logs!

 

[Jason721]

Nope.. it never gets old. Don't mind it at all. I got sick of starting a fire daily with the stove I just took out. With our new to me stove it's no longer the issue and kinda bummed the season is coming to an end.

 

[coaly]

These people on facebook have had enough, selling cheap!

 

[Woody Stover]

These people on facebook have had enough, selling cheap!
View attachment 257736

Look how black the windows are! Is that a BK?

 

[RFarm]

I wish I could burn more often but it has been a warmer than normal winter. 2 weeks or rain setting in on Monday. Probably make a fire every third day to knock the dampness out of the air.

 

[kennyp2339]

When we have a hard winter I normally hit my limit right around now with the stove, but this winter hasn't been hard to say the least, actually I'm only at 1/2 of what I normally burn in a season and Im not the least bit tired of it yet, as a matter of fact I've been cutting and splitting wood the past few weekends, also brought a load of logs over to a friends house.

 

[SpaceBus]

I don't mind handling ash, with the grate in the floor of the stove. It's easy to just swirl it down into the pan with a poker, and I never have to handle hot ash or hot pan/bucket.
I just tried some Red Elm last night that I wasn't sure was dry enough yet. It was dry, and seemed to kick off my weak combustor faster than the Oak I've been using, from a stack crash that got rained on. So naturally I was excited to bring up more Red Elm to the on-deck circle today.
My sister wants some Hickory ash to use in her pot glazes, so that's another thrilling reason for me to keep burning. She's in NM, no Hickory out there. I'll send her some Red Elm ash too, and see if that yields any cool effects..
No backup heat here, so I just keeps on burnin', whether I want to or not.

I want to build a wood fired kiln for the unique glaze that happens from wood ash in the ware chamber.

 

[jetsam]

I used to get that way. I got solar put in and added some resistive heat, adding a heat pump sometime this year.

Going from 3 loads day in winter to 1 or 2 has been pretty nice. I may do 24 hour loads all year after the heat pump is in.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

It’s the bulkhead that I get tired of, opening the rusty doors, filling up the wheelbarrow with wood, wheeling it over to the bulkhead, chucking the wood down through the bulkhead, wheeling the big wood box at the bottom of the bulkhead over to the hearth area, and repeating that over and over. I love the heat it just gets monotonous. I’m ready to plant the garden already lol

 

[Woody Stover]

I want to build a wood fired kiln for the unique glaze that happens from wood ash in the ware chamber.

I don't know exactly how it all works; Does she need a bunch of ash to mix with different ratios of other glaze components, over many trials, how much does she need, and so on? I don't want to pay to ship 20# of ash if 5# is more than enough..
I'll talk to her in the next day or two and get more info.
Today, I gotta go out and do some woodwork. Absolutely beautiful here today, just over 40, sunny, not real windy.

 

[peakbagger]

Sad to say Space Bus, but you are few years late to this site. There was a potter that would report out on experiments with wood fired pottery kilns and report on his progress. I havent seen him post any shots of his adventures in kiln firing for a couple of years but it was interesting stuff.

 

[SpaceBus]

Sad to say Space Bus, but you are few years late to this site. There was a potter that would report out on experiments with wood fired pottery kilns and report on his progress. I havent seen him post any shots of his adventures in kiln firing for a couple of years but it was interesting stuff.

That's a shame. With so much clay available locally I figured it would be fun to build a small wood fired kiln. Maybe even make a brick kiln. I have met some local potters that would be interested if I am successful. It will probably be a few years yet before we have the time to devote to such a project. There is a lot of reading material about traditional Japanese wood fired kilns built into hillsides using local materials.

 

[SpaceBus]

I don't know exactly how it all works; Does she need a bunch of ash to mix with different ratios of other glaze components, over many trials, how much does she need, and so on? I don't want to pay to ship 20# of ash if 5# is more than enough..
I'll talk to her in the next day or two and get more info.
Today, I gotta go out and do some woodwork. Absolutely beautiful here today, just over 40, sunny, not real windy.

In an updraft kiln there's usually enough fly ash from wood combustion to produce a "natural" glaze. I believe there are other techniques, but I don't know enough about it. All of my experience is from high school.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

As a part time burner im getting as many fires in as possible. Not ready for the season to end. In another month it will be 60 s and up everyday.

 

[webby3650]

Sad to say Space Bus, but you are few years late to this site. There was a potter that would report out on experiments with wood fired pottery kilns and report on his progress. I havent seen him post any shots of his adventures in kiln firing for a couple of years but it was interesting stuff.

I bought a few of his pieces, they are great! I miss seeing his posts.

 

[fvhowler]

This is my second season burning almost full time. I just simply take breaks from burning to keep me from getting burned out (pun intended). Regardless, my allotment for this winter is almost done. I may have one weeks supply left. It will be in the 70's next week anyway. I do love everything about burning wood. You have to...to put up with the whole process.