My Kindling

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Boom Stick

Feeling the Heat
Oct 26, 2011
312
Capital Region, NY
2.5 years ago I scored a massive load of Black Locust. C/S/S it for when I get the insert one day. That one day is next week. I cut up a big pile of kindling out of this and stacked it on a pallet uncovered next to my covered firewood. Took a larger split today and chopped it in half and checked moisture. 13.8% inside and 15.6% outside. been snowed on rained on and open to all weather. Not bad, I am thinking.
 
Touch a match and see what it does!
 
Boom;
You are "waaaay ahead" of most. Way ahead of me when I started burning wood.
You have some really dry wood ready to go & the stove is a week away yet.
Super high BTU wood at that!
Way to go man. You'll have a great first burn & many after that :)
Congrats!
 
If I could cover my kindling or my firewood, I think I'd cover the kindling. You want really dry kindling, but firewood that gets a little rain on it is still OK.
 
Way to get ahead of the curve! Like many I started out behind many years ago. Dry wood solves 90% of heating/burning/stove issues imho. Congrats on being well prepared. A C
 
I haven't been using kindling, just a fire starter square.
This morning, I put some splitter trash that's been in a plastic can for several month on the bottom, and put the splits on top. Then, I put a fire starter square under a split that was nicely raised by the kindling. It started much stronger and faster than usual, and in the morning, I can't afford to mess around.
 
BL kindling...huh. When it's that small (and dry) I guess it will light right up. It would burn hot and get the load going in a hurry, I'd think. I've got some smaller stuff I could make kindling out of. I didn't score a "massive amount" of BL (about two cords on a recent score) so I'll probably just use the Pine I have for kindling this season and get some dead Tulip Poplar split down for next year.

In your sig pic, are you holding a big trout or a BL split? :cheese:
 
You actually css wood over 2 years before you got your insert.........

That's some serious forward thinking, bet you're glad now you've got the insert ;-)
 
You went right to the top getting black locust and seasoning it before you got your stove. I bought my wood almost a year before I had my stove too since I learned that reading this forum. I had to pick all the oak out though, one thing I didnt learn til later was oak takes 2-3 years before you can burn it.
Ive been making next years kindling out of a pine that fell during the snow storm, scraps of pallets will do the job too.
 
Woody Stover said:
BL kindling...huh. When it's that small (and dry) I guess it will light right up. It would burn hot and get the load going in a hurry, I'd think. I've got some smaller stuff I could make kindling out of. I didn't score a "massive amount" of BL (about two cords on a recent score) so I'll probably just use the Pine I have for kindling this season and get some dead Tulip Poplar split down for next year.

In your sig pic, are you holding a big trout or a BL split? :cheese:

I guess I consider a massive score about 2.5 cords. Considering that one day I had nothing and then a few days later I had that amount, it seemed massive to me. At that point I never bucked, hauled, split and stacked wood before so it seemed really big to me. All of it was BL so I thought would bust some up into kindling. ABout two 36" fire wood rings worth. I guess there is better kindling out there but this stuff takes of pretty good when I have used it ice fishing and camping in the past. I am sure it will work for me this year although Now that I am learning what the "pros" do around here I will probably find some wood of lesser quality to make my kindling stash out of for next years burning. I do what works for me and figure things out as I go along.

The fish in my sig pic is a steelhead caught in the Salmon River in Upstate NY. much livelier than a split of wood!
 
bogydave said:
Boom;
You are "waaaay ahead" of most. Way ahead of me when I started burning wood.
You have some really dry wood ready to go & the stove is a week away yet.
Super high BTU wood at that!
Way to go man. You'll have a great first burn & many after that :)
Congrats!

Thanks. All I think about is lighting that first fire and watching a movie and having some good IPA to wash it all down. Only problem is I am used to living in a house that we keep around 60-65. I really don't like it too warm. Been waiting a long time for this so I am pretty excited.
 
Boom, Congrats on that insert. 14% is about as good as I can do no matter how long the wood sits. Please post some pics on how she burns.
 
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