Wood stove fire starter's

[RoosterBoy]

hay guys do you all still start your wood stoves fire with newspaper or fire starters i bought a box of rutland fire-starters and with one piece i was able to start my fire no crumbling newspapers anymore what do you guys use i payed $3 for 24 bricks they say it burns for 12 minutes

thanks
Jason

 

[Tendencies]

I buy the dura logs from Menards, there about 6 bucks or so, I run em thru the band saw couple different ways and end up making 2 inch square chunks outta them, 1 will start a fire real easy, I get about 30 chunks per log.....

T

 

[BrotherBart]

My favorite starter is chunks of old downed cedar trees. After this year I will have pretty much used up the ones in my woods. Two or three chunks of many years seasoned cedar on top of a couple of pieces of paper and look out, fire is gonna happen.

Other times I just use small pieces of seasoned pine. Works just about as well. Just not as intense a burn as the cedar. That stuff burns like gasoline.

 

[RoosterBoy]

im am just glad i found this because there real cheep 144 of them for $12 what i like best is not dreading crumbling up newspapers and getting my breath ready to blow on the fire till i pass out trying to get it going.

one stick burns 12 Min's and by then the wood is well started there real easy to use and the best $12 i ever spent

thanks
Jason

 

[Roospike]

DuraFlame logs as firestarter thread https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/3207/

 

[BikeMedic2709]

Check out the thread on the Super Cedars. They are incredible! Seriously. I made my own firestarters out of sawdust and wax. They work great as well, and the price is fantastic. If you dont mind the work involved (it is not the difficult just kind of messy if you are not careful) you can make a bunch for 10 bucks. I think I made 85 starters for $10. I had fun doing it.

 

[jabush]

Check out the thread on the Super Cedars. They are incredible! Seriously. I made my own firestarters out of sawdust and wax. They work great as well, and the price is fantastic. If you dont mind the work involved (it is not the difficult just kind of messy if you are not careful) you can make a bunch for 10 bucks. I think I made 85 starters for $10. I had fun doing it.

Got my samples the other day. Can't wait to find out how they work

 

[BikeMedic2709]

You WILL be hooked! I AM!

 

[Homefire]

try a propane torch and 1/2 inch x 20 inch kiniling piled on top of the wood, your fire in ten mins or less.
The tank should last about 100 fires. Mine cost 2bucks on sale at lowes

 

[Dunadan]

Hi all,

Just stumbled across these forums. I'm a (almost) new wood insert owner. I have a Lopi Revere being installed next week. Already have 3 cords of seasoned wood stacked and ready to go for winter.

I've been thinking on this threads topic for the past week or so. I decided to test out my new wood over the weekend in our fireplace and had a terrible time getting a decent fire going, though this is nothing new, so I'm not blaming the firewood (I have the same problem with the kiln dried stuff I used to pick up down at the local quick stop).

Anyways, I've been a bit worried about whether I'll be able to build a good fire in the stove. The folks down at the stove shop always have a great fire going, and just have to toss a few logs in to show them off.

I know I'm going to use some type of firestarter. The stove shop sells the fat wood, as well as a few other types. Now I will look at the Super Cedars here.

But, is this enough? Do you just put one of these in and throw logs in? How much do you need to use small kindling, then medium wood, then logs?

Can someone walk this stove newby what to expect?

Thanks

 

[BikeMedic2709]

No kindling when using the Super Cedars. I put 1/2 in the middle, stack a few regular sized splits around and on top of the starter. Light it and let it go. You will not have to do anything else. If your wood is seasoned properly, no problems. Really. No problems!

 

[Tendencies]

Just remember to leave your door open an inch or so and your drafts wide open, as the fire gets bigger add as necessary and once you have a large split or 2 in it go ahead and close the door and start controlling with your regular dampers..

T

 

[Dunadan]

Thanks for the responses.

After reading all the great testimonials on Super Cedars posted here, I'm pretty confident that's the way to go.

On the subject of Super Cedars, any special storage issues with those? Asside from not storing them on top of my stove.

I can just imagine a box of 100 catching light. That would sure be a site.

 

[BigV]

I have found that getting a good base of coals goes a long way in keeping a good fire going. I use firestarters with small kindling and then add larger pieces as the smaller stuff burns down. Once a good bed of coals are established than just about any size log will burn after that. As far as storage goes, the super cedars are individually wrapped so you won’t need to worry about them melting and sticking together, but I wouldn’t recommend setting them too close to your stove as the wax will melt and they will get really soft. Another brand I have tried are StarterLogg. They are wrapped with 4 starterloggs in a pack and will tend to stick together when they get warm. This makes them difficult to get apart. I keep mine in the garage and just bring in a few at a time when I need them.

 

[kevinlp]

I tried a Super Cedar over the weekend. I didn't believe they could be as easy as everyone said. I was quite surprised. Split the piece in half. Place it between two splits and place a split on top. The super cedar burned for about 30 minutes. In 10 minutes the splits were going on their own.

Very impressive. These are the ultimate in quick fire starting.