Tactics for burning semi-seasoned wood

[tutu_sue]

gyrfalcon, another alternative for splitting wood is a tool known as a froe. Using a one hand sledgehammer, you will be able to easily split and not take out your back. I have seen a large froe at www.lehmans.com and smaller one at www.garretwade.com. My hubby made a small one, about a foot long and I use it to split 6 inch logs for kindling and smaller pieces. I'm 5'3" with back problems for years and I can ably split 16 inch rounds using an Ames Super Splitter axe we got at Lowes. I feel that if you're not sure how your back will handle it definitely look at the smaller electric splitters. They work quite well. We are also installing a Tribute soon and will be using 12" to 14" splits my hubby used his chain saw to cut down from 18 inch logs we had cut for our other bigger stove. I split the leftover slices into 4 inch chunks and will use those in the Tribute as well.

In case you're interested in seeing how a froe works, here is a cool video from Taylor guitars showing a guy splitting a large round from a big Alaskan Sitka Spruce: http://www.taylorguitars.com/see-hear/Video.aspx?file=CuttingSpruce_high.wmx

 

[woodconvert]

"I tried it a bit this evening, and some smaller splits I brought in from outside warmed up and dried out their dampness in a couple hours without getting anywhere near hot enough to burn"

So you did get some dry?. I dried out a couple monster splits last night from the bottom course of one of my stacks. We didn't have a hot fire going as it was in the mid 30's but it dried out nice in about 2.5-3 hours. Something else I noticed in doing that last night...a piece of suspected high moisture wood will push out the moisture out of the end grain until dry. You won't get a puddle on your hearth but you will feel the end of it (usually the end on the hearth) being a little damp. If you've got enough room on your hearth I suppose you could dry and burn to get you through though it would be a chore (also make sure you are not bringing in critters on the wood and giving them an early spring...)

 

[gyrfalcon]

gyrfalcon, another alternative for splitting wood is a tool known as a froe.

Boy, there's a nifty-looking tool I never heard of before. And many thanks for including the video link to show how to use it, Sue.

 

[gyrfalcon]

"I tried it a bit this evening, and some smaller splits I brought in from outside warmed up and dried out their dampness in a couple hours without getting anywhere near hot enough to burn"

So you did get some dry?. I dried out a couple monster splits last night from the bottom course of one of my stacks. We didn't have a hot fire going as it was in the mid 30's but it dried out nice in about 2.5-3 hours. Something else I noticed in doing that last night...a piece of suspected high moisture wood will push out the moisture out of the end grain until dry. You won't get a puddle on your hearth but you will feel the end of it (usually the end on the hearth) being a little damp. If you've got enough room on your hearth I suppose you could dry and burn to get you through though it would be a chore (also make sure you are not bringing in critters on the wood and giving them an early spring...)

That's interesting. This wood isn't soaked, but it is of course cold and has some (water) moisture in it, bits of snow and ice, etc. I've made a space a couple feet from the hearth to cross-stack two or three days' worth to dry out for a couple days before using it, as well as putting a few "hurry-up" pieces on the edge of the hearth. Discovered I can't stand 'em up on end, though, with two half-grown cats running around the house. I keep trying to tell them they're "combustible material" and ought to stay outside the hearth area, but as usual, they pay me no mind whatsoever!

 

[Burn-1]

Gyrfalcon I haven't read through this whole thread but I use this 3 lb mini maul from Labonville for splitting up wood near my woodbox. It's not that heavy but still will split most of my wood although most of what I have is ash. And, I can swing it in my shorter basement as well and with a shorter handle it's more accurate but not the stopping power of a larger maul.

I was in the same boat as you last year burning in a Phoenix. One of the things I did was to split up the wood a bit and secured as much kindling as I could, (town dump, construction sites with permission, local pine millwork shop),. The best kindling I found was dead pine branches. If you can find some that would help quite a bit. I would make two small short kindling fires like a soapstone stove 'break-in' fire and then add the split wood with more kindling and leave the door open a crack for a few minutes. The combined heat from the coals, kindling, and new split wood should be enough to sustain and build the fire before turning down.

The trick with the soapstone is that it will absorb so much of the initial heat of the fire that if you use damp wood the fire won't be able to build on itself to get to where it will ignite the volatiles and wood gases. 400 degrees is a decent temp for soapstone if you are talking about the stovetop and OK if a flue thermometer temp but you should try to get it at least that high.

As far as the stovetop fans go the best price I have seen on the Ecofan GS (for gas stoves) is at Lee Valley. This is a Canadian company which you could either mail order from or road trip to Ottawa.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Gyrfalcon I haven't read through this whole thread but I use this I would make two small short kindling fires like a soapstone stove 'break-in' fire and then add the split wood with more kindling and leave the door open a crack for a few minutes. The combined heat from the coals, kindling, and new split wood should be enough to sustain and build the fire before turning down.

The trick with the soapstone is that it will absorb so much of the initial heat of the fire that if you use damp wood the fire won't be able to build on itself to get to where it will ignite the volatiles and wood gases. 400 degrees is a decent temp for soapstone if you are talking about the stovetop and OK if a flue thermometer temp but you should try to get it at least that high.

Thank you very much for the excellent advice, just what I'm looking for. Long story short, the wood I've been able to get isn't green, but it's not seasoned quite enough, especially the bigger splits, for the small stove to easily cope with, and will not burn at all if I try to build fires the way one is supposed to (top-down fires, etc.) Kindling supply of the volume I need to get something going well under these circumstances is definitely a major problem. I did finally find some of the biobrick type things in a supermarket and I'm experimenting with them, but that's a pretty expensive kindling substitute. Once I get hold of a wedge and sledgehammer, or one of these froes, and make a decent supply of thinner splits from the wood I have, I think I'll be in better shape. The small patches of forest I have access to here (middle of mostly open farm country) are under a pretty good blanket of snow which will likely last the rest of the winter, so foraging for kindling there will probably have to wait till next year-- when I won't need it as badly, of course!

 

[tutu_sue]

Another reason I like froes - won't hit my hand with the hammer. Just a consideration when using wedges - be careful. Best wishes on your woody endeavors. Give the kitties a hug for me...