Standing dead ash (which unfortunately is most ash lately) splits seasoned. You just don't come by much healthy ash these days.
The importance of seasoned wood - Dry vs Wet
- Thread starter begreen
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Standing dead ash (which unfortunately is most ash lately) splits seasoned. You just don't come by much healthy ash these days.
rudysmallfry
Minister of Fire
Remember the Neelys that had a BBQ show on TV? They have a restaurant. He opened his cooker and was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. Exclaimed, "that's what I'm looking for!"
Absolutely not. I have an offset smoker. Should barely see anything, if at all. Small hot fire in the firebox. Only visible smoke is when adding new splits until they catch.
rudysmallfry
Minister of Fire
I'm actually in an interesting situation this year. I'm stuck home with a broken leg. I have a mixed bag of seasoned/semi-seasoned wood outside that friends have been bringing in for me. They aren't being picky about which pieces to bring it, and I'm not about to be a PITA since they're nice enough to do it for me. Once in awhile, I'll toss in a piece and realize it's too green. It just sits there and smolders. I've been trying to offset them with some really dry pieces and hoping I'm not gunking up my pipe. I wonder how long the moisture has to sit in the pipe without being otherwise blown out by a nice hot fire before it becomes a problem. I did a midseason clean out before this happened and found almost nothing in there. Hopefully I'm over thinking it.
Sorry to hear about the leg Rudy. Hope it mends quickly.
Damp wood can make a mess of things pretty quickly, especially if there is a screen on the cap. I found this out the hard way many years ago when we had some wet maple mixed in with the dry due to a leaky tarp cover. The cap screen plugged after a month of burning. If you can get some help bringing in wood, getting the heavier damp pieces into the house in a rubbermaid tote for a month will help dry them out faster. Maybe have an empty tote or two to put them into? One can often tell the damp wood by weight and banging two splits together. If they go thud instead of ringing like a bowling pin, then put them in the totes.
Damp wood can make a mess of things pretty quickly, especially if there is a screen on the cap. I found this out the hard way many years ago when we had some wet maple mixed in with the dry due to a leaky tarp cover. The cap screen plugged after a month of burning. If you can get some help bringing in wood, getting the heavier damp pieces into the house in a rubbermaid tote for a month will help dry them out faster. Maybe have an empty tote or two to put them into? One can often tell the damp wood by weight and banging two splits together. If they go thud instead of ringing like a bowling pin, then put them in the totes.
rudysmallfry
Minister of Fire
No cap involved. It's a class A steel chimney. It's got a top, but no mesh. I have been placing the heavier pieces aside. I used to split and check with a moisture meter when in doubt, but can't split right now, so I have been doing the thud tapping thing. I see a lot of what looks like cherry in today's pile, so that should get me a nice hot burn.
It's the first time in the 20 years I've had this stove that I've been able to burn 24/7. It used to be load the stove and then off the work for 10 hours. I'm hoping with he more consistent burning, the chimney won't have enough time to cool down and get any buildup anyway.
Similar threads
