Tactics for burning semi-seasoned wood

[Chettt]

Don't overlook deadfall twigs and sticks. I collect them year round in my trunk or in my bike's burley. If you have more time than strength, tie your twigs together with picture hanging wire. Once loosely tied, continue packing them in till you have a tight log size bundle. The tighter they are the longer they'll burn and hold their shape. Place four or five of these on firebox bottom and then top with rounds and splits. I've used this method for camp fires and woodstoves.

next year will be better.

 

[woodconvert]

I found an obscure picture of some warming shelves (on a Vermont Castings stove I believe).

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=1966540

Pretty simple concept and I do use them a lot for various things.

 

[eernest4]

Dear gyrfalcon:

PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND TAKE THIS ADVISE.

BUY YOURSELF a 5 ton, 2 hp, Task force electric log splitter from www.lowes.com
Extreemly inexpensive , only $299.oo brand new. The first cord of wood you split with it will pay for it.

It is an extremely simple machine to opperate .
You push the on button, you have to hold it in with your thumb as it will automatically return to off without your thumb pressure on it. This starts the quite running electric motor.

Then you push the hand lever forward with your other hand. This opperates the hydralic ram & pushes the log against the splitting wedge. if you let go of the hydralic lever, the ram with automatically retract into the cylinder.
Thats all there is to it.
You have to keep both hands on the controls to opperate the machine as a safety measure.


this is a very small machine , about the smallest made,it only wieghts 100 lbs & is on wheels so that even a weak woman can easily move it around & opperate it.

It is 120volt electric , so it will plug right into the wall or you can run it from a 12 gague extension cord.

It pulls 15 amps , so it needs to be on a circuit with nothing else drawing power from that circuit while the log splitter is running.

You dont need a seperate circuit for it, meerly turn off everthing else on the circuit you plug the log splitter into.

This is a 5 ton splitter, one ton more power at the same price as the 4 ton ryobi electric log splitter from www.homedepot.com The ryobi only splits up to 10 inch diameter logs.

The 5 ton TaskForce splits logs 20 inches long & up to 12 inches in diameter. Some of the users say they have even split 14 & 15 inch diameter logs.

I am 59 & I bought a similar electric log splitter, only a 4 ton though. So far, I have split about 10 cords with it in 2 years.

The electric log splitter is nice for a woman, no balky gasoline engine to pull start & you can split logs just as fast & easy as any man could do .

Being electric, you can even take it in the house or garage & be warm splitting your logs in the winter time.

The drawback of the machine is that you will hit some logs it just doesnot have the power to split. My machine, 4 ton , sometimes stops against a 12 inch diamater log because not enough power to split it. The 5 ton machine will go thru logs mine cant , but will still stop on a 16 inch log.

www.ramsplitter.com sells larger 12,16 & 20 ton electric log splitters, but $1100.oo to $1400.oo & they are full sized splitters as powerfull as any gasoline model & will split anything you can lift to get on them. They are also vertical & horz ,convertable opperation. they require a 20 amp dedicated circuit & are probably more machine that you need, but I tell you of them for your knowledge.

an electric chain saw t think you would also be able to handle, they are cheap 40.oo to 60.oo
& work well & dont vibrate. It would come in handy for cutting oversized logs down to legnth to fit into the electric log splitter.

I won't usually say anything unelse I have been there & done that & i have . That is why I feel sure that if you buy the electric log splitter,you will love it.

My best heartfelt advise, so i hope you take it.

 

[dtabor]

Hey there fellow Vter.

I feel for you on the wood situation. Been there, done that and it really stinks. I burned the sizzling wood one year. I used Saf-T-Flue on a regular basis and when the guy came to clean my chimney, it was in great shape and he couldnt believe it.

Not sure what town you are in, but Id have to think someone around you in neighboring towns has some wood. I see it advertised in the paper here all the time. Then you have to trust that they know what they're talking about when they say seasoned! I see the same thing here all the time that people are burning wood that they dropped and split a couple months ago, or think since the tree has been on the ground for awhile that it must be dry by now!

Good luck to you.

D

 

[nshif]

Just a thought ... any neighbors or friends close by with an abundance of dry wood? Maybe you could trade out some of the wet stuff for their dry stuff and they could burn the wet stuff next year? maybe even a 2:1 swap. youd still be better off. And next year buy your wood in the spring and let it dry through the summer.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Dear gyrfalcon:

PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND TAKE THIS ADVISE.

BUY YOURSELF a 5 ton, 2 hp, Task force electric log splitter from www.lowes.com
Extreemly inexpensive , only $299.oo brand new. The first cord of wood you split with it will pay for it.

Thanks so much for the very detailed advice, and I will sure bear it in mind. But you know it's not just the splitting itself, it's the lifting of big heavy green rounds onto the darn thing, as well. If I were 10 or 15 years younger, I'd probably go that way, but I'm heading for the downslope of the capacity for strenous physical work, and I've got a lot of it to do around here as it is. I have only minor lower back problems now, but lugging big rounds of wood around seems like pushing things farther than I should go. I may well change my mind after this winter, but for now, I think it works better for me to pay to have my wood split and do the small amount of additional splitting I need myself with simpler tools. Gotta choose my battles carefully!

 

[gyrfalcon]

"I think stoves like mine don’t run as hot as some, so 300-400 isn’t quite as bad as “GAH!” grin The manual says burning at 600 or higher will damage the stove and void the warranty. Believe me, if I had a practical alternative, I would save even the better wood for next year, but it’s really this or nothing for this winter."

My opinion is that you should be able to achieve 500F, probably easily, with dry wood. The fact that you cannot is a concern. Just for giggles do you have someone that can check your chimney out for creosote buildup???....maybe with a stainless liner you are fine but I would be very cautious.

"I envy you the warming shelves. They sound great."

They are functional so they serve a purpose. I like them.

Hey, i just had a thought...and maybe someone else has mentioned it but i've read guys in here burning "Bio-Bricks". I wouldn't know a bio-brick if it smacked me in the mellon but it sounds like an option until you get some dry wood.

The chimney is brand-new, just installed, and the whole thing is stainless steel, not just the liner. It's more of a pipe than a chimney, actually. In fact, when I asked the master chimney guy who installed it how I should check for creosote, he quite scornfully blew the whole idea off. According to him, the combination of this stove and the fancy SS chimney makes it not an issue. I assume he knows what he's talking about, but I do plan anyway to have him or somebody more local have a look in a week or two just to be sure.

I assume, too, but I don't know, that I was getting up around the 500 mark with the very dry wood my neighbors loaned me, but I had used that up by the time I got the thermoeter, so I don't know for sure.

I've been looking around for either biobricks or Prestologs since reading about them in other threads on this forum, but so far no joy. It may be that in such a heavily wooded state, there's not enough demand for them for places to stock them.

 

[gyrfalcon]

I use a sledge & a wedge too.
My back, neck & shoulders are too crappy to swing an axe.
I split my pieces & dry them by the hearth if I need to too.
BTW-
Pallets are easy to break apart

How, just with the sledgehammer? I've got a spare one lying around, and I'm pretty sure I can get more if I can get the loan of a pick-up.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Don't overlook deadfall twigs and sticks. I collect them year round in my trunk or in my bike's burley. If you have more time than strength, tie your twigs together with picture hanging wire. Once loosely tied, continue packing them in till you have a tight log size bundle. The tighter they are the longer they'll burn and hold their shape. Place four or five of these on firebox bottom and then top with rounds and splits. I've used this method for camp fires and woodstoves..

Hmm. Interesting idea. It's all pretty well covered by snow (actually frozen slush at the moment!) now, but I'll keep my eyes open.

[/quote]next year will be better.[/quote]

Yeah. Can't wait. This has been a hell of an intense education on the subject these last few weeks.

When I emailed my totally urban sister in New Jersey about my wood woes, she promptly emailed back with the URLs of various *mail-order* wood suppliers. (Tee-hee!) Stuff like 50 bucks for a 20-pound box of fancy wood for flavoring the grill.

 

[KevinM]

Bio-Bricks or Energy Logs are made from highly compressed sawdust and wood shavings, no wax or other materials. They are really heavy and make great coals for under damp wood. Different types have different characteristics and shapes so try some out before you get a larger order. Rona (Canadian Hardware chain) now even has there own house brand which is cheaper than name brands but you can also buy them bulk (skids or tonnes) for cheaper prices.

For moving wood around http://www.condar.com/backsaver.html really helps. My neighbours made a little chute to slide the logs down through a window into their basement.

Kevin.

 

[gyrfalcon]

I found an obscure picture of some warming shelves (on a Vermont Castings stove I believe).

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=1966540

Pretty simple concept and I do use them a lot for various things.

Nice! I barely have room for a thermometer, fan and humidifier on my tiny stovetop.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Hey there fellow Vter.

I feel for you on the wood situation. Been there, done that and it really stinks. I burned the sizzling wood one year. I used Saf-T-Flue on a regular basis and when the guy came to clean my chimney, it was in great shape and he couldnt believe it.

Not sure what town you are in, but Id have to think someone around you in neighboring towns has some wood. I see it advertised in the paper here all the time. Then you have to trust that they know what they're talking about when they say seasoned! I see the same thing here all the time that people are burning wood that they dropped and split a couple months ago, or think since the tree has been on the ground for awhile that it must be dry by now!

Good luck to you.

D

Thanks! I'm in Shoreham, and I see those ads in the paper, too, but every one was out anyway, when they would even return my call. I think they sign up for X weeks of ads, so they keep running long after there's no stock left. And according to the two local guys I got these two lots of wood from, it's seasoned enough to burn.

I was going to ask about the Saf-T-Flue stuff, so I'm glad it hear it works. My stuff isn't sizzling much, if at all, so it's not the absolute worst, just sub-ideal.

 

[Eric Johnson]

That's funny. Reminds me of the time I got my weekly $50 (at the time) "allowance" mixed up with some junk mail pieces, and my wife threw it in the boiler. Made a heck of a warm fire, I'll say that.

I think dry wood is something you learn, through excruciating experience, to make sure you have on hand for the heating season. Unfortunately, there's no way to dry out green wood quickly, short of baking it in a dry kiln. Wet wood can be dried out in a matter of days if it's kept dry and warm, but there's a huge difference between wet and green.

There is a guy to the north of you (Randolph, maybe) who sells kiln dried wood, but it's pricey, as you might expect. His name is Ray Colton, and he mostly supplies ski resorts, I think. If you can find a local logger cutting white ash, that's an easy-splitting wood that burns OK green. Better than most of the alternatives, anyway. Busted up pallets are always an option. Mixing pallet wood in is not a bad idea.

Anyway, it sounds like you're on the right track for next season. Get it split and stacked as early in the spring as you can. And put up more than you think you'll need.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Just a thought ... any neighbors or friends close by with an abundance of dry wood? Maybe you could trade out some of the wet stuff for their dry stuff and they could burn the wet stuff next year? maybe even a 2:1 swap. youd still be better off. And next year buy your wood in the spring and let it dry through the summer.

So far, no luck on that score (I've only lived here 18 months, so don't yet know that many people well enough to ask), but I've been thinking about putting a notice on the bulletin board at the general store. Geez, this is nuts! Three quarters of the state or more is covered in forest, but I can't find wood to burn! It's like "Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink."

 

[gyrfalcon]

Bio-Bricks or Energy Logs are made from highly compressed sawdust and wood shavings, no wax or other materials. They are really heavy and make great coals for under damp wood. Different types have different characteristics and shapes so try some out before you get a larger order. Rona (Canadian Hardware chain) now even has there own house brand which is cheaper than name brands but you can also buy them bulk (skids or tonnes) for cheaper prices.

For moving wood around http://www.condar.com/backsaver.html really helps. My neighbours made a little chute to slide the logs down through a window into their basement.

Kevin.

Heh. Well, that's half the battle, but do they have another little chute that tosses them back upstairs again? <groaning at the thought>

 

[gyrfalcon]

That's funny. Reminds me of the time I got my weekly $50 (at the time) "allowance" mixed up with some junk mail pieces, and my wife threw it in the boiler. Made a heck of a warm fire, I'll say that.

I think dry wood is something you learn, through excruciating experience, to make sure you have on hand for the heating season. Unfortunately, there's no way to dry out green wood quickly, short of baking it in a dry kiln. Wet wood can be dried out in a matter of days if it's kept dry and warm, but there's a huge difference between wet and green.

There is a guy to the north of you (Randolph, maybe) who sells kiln dried wood, but it's pricey, as you might expect. His name is Ray Colton, and he mostly supplies ski resorts, I think. If you can find a local logger cutting white ash, that's an easy-splitting wood that burns OK green. Better than most of the alternatives, anyway. Busted up pallets are always an option. Mixing pallet wood in is not a bad idea.

Anyway, it sounds like you're on the right track for next season. Get it split and stacked as early in the spring as you can. And put up more than you think you'll need.

Yeah, well, the problem is everybody seems to have a different definition of "seasoned." I was late getting started on this through circumstances beyond my control, but I sure never expected to have wood described by trustworthy, reliable people as "seasoned" that was only halfway there. I sure will be ready to roll come spring, though. That's the time of year a gardener's muscles start itching to really dig in and do something, but there's nothing you can really do yet other than plant some peas and lettuce and stand around tapping your foot. I'm VERY eager to sort of start from the beginning on this whole business at this point.

Just about everybody here is talking pallets, so maybe that's the best way to go. Still no luck finding biologs or energy logs or anything of the sort here.

What's your opinion of "fatwood"?

 

[Eric Johnson]

If you're a gardener, then you should buy loads of logs and process them yourself. I have a raised bed organic garden and I fill the paths between the beds with sawdust. It keeps in the moisture, is a worm sanctuary (for some reason) and allows you to walk around the garden barefoot.

There are plenty of loggers in your part of Vermont. Look in the phone book for "logging contractors" or "timber buyers." Tell them you want to get a triaxle load of good hardwood firewood. Tell them no soft maple or cherry. The markets for logs aren't very good at the moment. A lot of guys would like to sell a load of wood for cash (it doesn't bounce). If you can get your hands on a chain saw, a hard hat, chaps and steel-toed boots, you'll be all set. I'm guessing you'll pay about $75 a cord. When dried, it will be worth $200. Not a bad investment for a guy with a woodstove.

 

[jeffman3]

We are getting a Tribute also! I don't know when we will up and burning, but it is coming! It was supposed to be put in on the 28th, but 4-6 inches of snow will most llikly prevent that. I also don't have good wood this year. (gee... go figure) I expect to have problems, this season, but we will manage I suppose. Our plan is to burn cottonwood that has been dead and down for years. I have just short of half a cord. (Yea I will need alot more) I also have access to elm branches that were downed in an ice storm last spring. (I cut some of that today, not quite half a face cord.) I will get out and cut more of that as the weather permits. My plan is to burn more of the elm branches then cottonwood, but I will just have to see how it goes.

At least you are burning! :cheese:

Keep us informed how it is going. Maybe we can learn from each other seeing how we both will burning the same stove.

 

[gyrfalcon]

We are getting a Tribute also! I don't know when we will up and burning, but it is coming! It was supposed to be put in on the 28th, but 4-6 inches of snow will most llikly prevent that. I also don't have good wood this year. (gee... go figure) I expect to have problems, this season, but we will manage I suppose. Our plan is to burn cottonwood that has been dead and down for years. I have just short of half a cord. (Yea I will need alot more) I also have access to elm branches that were downed in an ice storm last spring. (I cut some of that today, not quite half a face cord.) I will get out and cut more of that as the weather permits. My plan is to burn more of the elm branches then cottonwood, but I will just have to see how it goes.

At least you are burning! :cheese:

Keep us informed how it is going. Maybe we can learn from each other seeing how we both will burning the same stove.

Congratulations on your expected new baby. I think it's a pretty nifty little stove-- but it is a bit fussy.

I hope you know to cut your firewood no longer than 14 inches for this stove. The booklet that came with mine, which may have been revised since, says it takes 16, but it doesn't. Very, very thin splits or kindling that long can be forced in, one or two of them max, from upper corner to lower corner, but that's it. That's one of the reasons I ended up looking for cordwood in December.

Also, if you still have wood to cut, cut some 8 or 9 inches long so you can put some in front to back on the bottom. The main air inlet is smack in the middle of the front of the stove, and if everything in the box runs across that, it's much harder to keep a good draft going.

When I've been able to get a good fire working, it warms a quite large room up very well, but without getting so searing hot itself that you're terrified of coming near it. And the soapstone means it continues to broadcast heat for hours after the actual fire has died. (Also means it takes the outside a while to warm up from a cold start.)

You may already know this, but... a stovetop thermometer is a must, and also one of those non-electric stove fans that sits on the stove and moves the heated air out from around the stove. You'll have to get the more expensive kind designed and sold for gas stoves, though, because the soapstone ones don't run hot enough to make the cheaper fans turn from just the stovetop temperature alone and have to have a little motor in them. NO idea how it really works, but that's the general idea. They cost around $150.

 

[colsmith]

Don't abandon the idea of splitting your own wood, especially since you mention you are a gardener which probably means you already do a lot of physical stuff. I hate to admit to being middle aged, but at 48 that is a bit past the middle already. I am large for a woman, 5'10", a little heavier than I should be, but fairly strong from years of regular swimming, gardening, and working out. This year I dropped my health club membership because I know I get a better workout schlepping wood around and splitting it. When I started splitting this fall I was a bit concerned that I seemed to have lost the ability to split wood very well, and was actually thinking about buying an electric splitter. But it just took me a while to get my maul swinging muscles back in shape or something.

I use an 8 lb. maul. Last year I used our 12 pound maul sometimes but haven't tried it recently, although I think I am up to it again now. Since you are probably smaller, a 6 lb. maul would be good. I have notoriously bad depth perception but am somehow a crack shot with a maul. If you just practice little with wood on a chopping block you will improve your aim. Also, having the wood elevated slightly on a chopping block means you are striking it quite far away from your body, so less likely to hit yourself. Or, just get an electric splitter if you don't feel up to using a maul, but really it isn't very hard. And I feel so powerful when the wood splits!

Since you have a soapstone stove, there is also less danger of wood piled near it setting itself on fire for speed drying of wood. Just pile it on the hearth not touching the stove. Good luck!

 

[gyrfalcon]

Don't abandon the idea of splitting your own wood, especially since you mention you are a gardener which probably means you already do a lot of physical stuff. I hate to admit to being middle aged, but at 48 that is a bit past the middle already. I am large for a woman, 5'10", a little heavier than I should be, but fairly strong from years of regular swimming, gardening, and working out. This year I dropped my health club membership because I know I get a better workout schlepping wood around and splitting it. When I started splitting this fall I was a bit concerned that I seemed to have lost the ability to split wood very well, and was actually thinking about buying an electric splitter. But it just took me a while to get my maul swinging muscles back in shape or something.

I use an 8 lb. maul. Last year I used our 12 pound maul sometimes but haven't tried it recently, although I think I am up to it again now. Since you are probably smaller, a 6 lb. maul would be good. I have notoriously bad depth perception but am somehow a crack shot with a maul. If you just practice little with wood on a chopping block you will improve your aim. Also, having the wood elevated slightly on a chopping block means you are striking it quite far away from your body, so less likely to hit yourself. Or, just get an electric splitter if you don't feel up to using a maul, but really it isn't very hard. And I feel so powerful when the wood splits!

Since you have a soapstone stove, there is also less danger of wood piled near it setting itself on fire for speed drying of wood. Just pile it on the hearth not touching the stove. Good luck!

Hey, Marcia, thanks for the encouragement. I'm not that much smaller than you, but I'm a good bunch older and although no couch potato, haven't got the history of swimming and working out so I'm nowhere near as fit. Also I live by myself out in the middle of nowhere (which I love!), and that makes me extra hesitant about trying things with new tools that could injure me badly, ones I'm not really strong enough to use and have no experience with whatsoever (well, in Girl Scout camp when I was a kid, I learned to swing a pretty mean hatchet, but I don't think that counts!). I think I'll start small with the lighter wedge and sledgehammer and see how that goes for me and whether I feel enough confidence to "move up." I would really, really like to be less dependent on others for at least some of this kind of thing, but I've also injured myself in the past (two year-long bouts of nearly crippling sciatica, for one thing) and know how easy it is and how hard to recover from.

Thanks very much for the advice on the soapstone and drying. I thought that might be the case, since I can get quite close to the stove without discomfort. Also, the fact that I'm not achieving terribly hot fires... 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.

 

[dtabor]

Gyrfalcon,

Its quite a way's north of you, but Guys Farm and Yard in Morristown is advertising Biobricks and he has a store in Williston. Not sure on delivery prices etc.

D

 

[jeffman3]

"Congratulations on your expected new baby. I think it's a pretty nifty little stove-- but it is a bit fussy.

I hope you know to cut your firewood no longer than 14 inches for this stove. The booklet that came with mine, which may have been revised since, says it takes 16, but it doesn't. Very, very thin splits or kindling that long can be forced in, one or two of them max, from upper corner to lower corner, but that's it. That's one of the reasons I ended up looking for cordwood in December.

Also, if you still have wood to cut, cut some 8 or 9 inches long so you can put some in front to back on the bottom. The main air inlet is smack in the middle of the front of the stove, and if everything in the box runs across that, it's much harder to keep a good draft going.

When I've been able to get a good fire working, it warms a quite large room up very well, but without getting so searing hot itself that you're terrified of coming near it. And the soapstone means it continues to broadcast heat for hours after the actual fire has died. (Also means it takes the outside a while to warm up from a cold start.)

You may already know this, but... a stove top thermometer is a must, and also one of those non-electric stove fans that sits on the stove and moves the heated air out from around the stove. You'll have to get the more expensive kind designed and sold for gas stoves, though, because the soapstone ones don't run hot enough to make the cheaper fans turn from just the stovetop temperature alone and have to have a little motor in them. NO idea how it really works, but that's the general idea. They cost around $150.[/quote]


Thank you I suspected that 16 inches was a bit optimistic! I have been cutting most of the wood around 12" with some smaller too. We are planning to run an oscillating fan pointed toward the stove to move air for now, but a blower or stove top fan is in the plan for down the road, as well as a soap stone steamer. (read... "birthday gifts")

 

[gyrfalcon]

Gyrfalcon,

Its quite a way's north of you, but Guys Farm and Yard in Morristown is advertising Biobricks and he has a store in Williston. Not sure on delivery prices etc.

D

Hey, tbanks! I'll check that out.

 

[James04]

Gyrfalcon,

Its quite a way's north of you, but Guys Farm and Yard in Morristown is advertising Biobricks and he has a store in Williston. Not sure on delivery prices etc.

D

Hey, tbanks! I'll check that out.

gyrfalcon,

This seems like the best option for you. That and the small splitter from Lowes. I use biobricks to help burn my less than seasoned wood and I also own the splitter. You will not go wrong. Trust me you will love it. You can actually roll the logs onto the splitter because it is so low to the ground. It has wheels and a handle so you can move it around if you need to. Home depot also sells one similar made by Royobi. But the one from lowes is nicer in my opinion.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=241483-53393-26083&lpage=none

James