All you wood burners....

[BIGNASTY]

Like to have one of the bob cat cutter/splitters just for the fun factor. Thats really cool.

 

[NIsaacs]

I thought it was an awesome rig, it even had an adjustable cutter. The only down side I could see was short log length and no way to catch the sawdust. The . 404 saw chain will make a bunch, quick.



When I had my house log yard I had a wood processor for waste that would handle 30' plus logs and I used an open top 55 gal barrel to catch the sawdust. It was an amazing piece of equipment.



Nick

 

[JTHUSKINS]

I built my house in 1983 and installed a wood furnace which has heated the home every winter since. I grew up on a farm and we heated with wood so I don' know any other way. Don't have any idea how much it has saved me in heating cost over the years plus the process of working up fire wood is really good exercise. As long as I'm healthy and able to work up my fire wood I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Greenleaf]

Same here. I raise my (coffee) mug to you!

 

[Greenleaf]

..... yet another cool cat pic. next to the parlor stove. RIP Callico Cat and my old Georiga work boots... ... ... :{

 

[JLEONARD]

Those boots stink really bad Scott. :-laf Just sayin'... ...

 

[Greenleaf]

True THAT!

Most likley why the stupid neighbors dog was so durn attracted to them. She found her way over and into the garage one summer some years back. Black Lab you know... ... ... .....



Well, she carried off ONE of my name brand insulated/steel toed work boot. My wife cought he!! for that. Who else whould have hidden my boot. I mean jeezzz.



So, anyhow, we find that the neighbors dog latched on to one. The smoking gun was the dog's new found chew toy near their home.



It was quite some time till I had another quality pair of good and comfy/well worn work boots.



... ... ... ... feel me on this??????

 

[JLEONARD]

True THAT!

Most likley why the stupid neighbors dog was so durn attracted to them. She found her way over and into the garage one summer some years back. Black Lab you know... ... ... .....



Well, she carried off ONE of my name brand insulated/steel toed work boot. My wife cought he!! for that. Who else whould have hidden my boot. I mean jeezzz.



So, anyhow, we find that the neighbors dog latched on to one. The smoking gun was the dog's new found chew toy near their home.



It was quite some time till I had another quality pair of good and comfy/well worn work boots.



... ... ... ... feel me on this??????

Now that's a funny story!!:-laf

 

[Yo Hoot]

Finally got around to the first cleaning of my wood burning insert and brushing out the flue liner

http://www.hearth-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=113&p=213#p213

 

[WalterJ]

Greetings:



The magic to safety is maintaining minimum flue exit temperatures. Stove thermostats that are designed to increase burning time rather than maintain min. stack exit temps. will produce copious amounts of dangerous creosote. Us amateurs need to embrace the sciences involved, eh? Good luck & safe Wintering.



• Keep flue temperature high. Maintain a minimum stack temperature of 250ºF to prevent

creosote condensation. An inexpensive thermometer ($10-$15) that will adhere to the

stovepipe can be placed a few feet above the stove and below the insulated chimney

pipe.

• If a high combustion efficiency is maintained, the quantity of unburned fuel components

that form creosote will be greatly decreased. Overnight fires that are over-dampered are

the worst creosote generators since the fire tends to smolder.

• Insulate stacks both inside and outside the house. This will help reduce creosote

condensation by minimizing heat loss and keeping the flue gas above the 250ºF

minimum temperature.

• Dry wood a minimum of 3 months; but to 12 months if possible. The length of time

required to season wood depends upon how it is stored, the daily temperatures, relative

humidity and whether the wood receives direct sunlight or rainfall. Using dry, seasoned

wood for fuel results in a hotter firebox temperature and makes it easier to maintain the

flue gas at 250ºF.

write or call:

Alaska Department of

Environmental Conservation

Division of Air Quality

555 Cordova St.

Anchorage, AK 99501

907-265-7698

www.dec.state.ak.us/air/anpms/

 

[GHarman]

I heat my shop with wood and a NG Unit heater. The wood I use is mostly pine and aspen as well as scrap pallets or any other wood I can find. I dont cut and haul wood like I used to at the old house. My Wife is Scared Plum to Death of any open flame or hot coals and sparks!

So we dont burn it at home. Shame, too!

My friends in Alaska have a unique way of cleaning their stove pipe. It is called (of Course) an "Alaskan Chimney Sweep"! Climbing on your roof in the dead of winter with many feet of snow is impossible , so, you can rig it to clean from the inside, just above your stove if the pipe is straight up after it leaves your stove. I have not found anyone who manufactures these in kit form or installs them professionally. They are home made and absolutely CUSTOM fit!! They do take a little fiddling with during installation to make sure they work! And they do work well!

There is an extended cap on the chimney with an axle and pully on spring loaded guides through the cap. Just above the damper is another axle, as a drive axle with a pully mounted in the center of the pipe. You thread 1/8" or 3/16" wire rope through a chimney brush mounted inside the pipe over the pullys and clamp it with some spring tension, in a loop, that allows for heat expansion of the wire rope and maintains tension on the wire rope during stove operation. The bush is cranked up and down with the lower drive axle and pully with a crank handle. When a couple of passes are made, the brush is cranked up into the storage position, in the extended cap. Your tension is set when you clamp the wire rope below the brush. The brush is fitted from the bottom, a foot or so above the drive pully. The wire rope clamps are your lower position stop limits.

As a popular German Chef used to say; "Veddy zimple, Veddy easy":-laf!

Hope this can be of help to ya'all that live in deep snow country!

GregH

 

[GHarman]

If yer interested? I discussed this before a few years ago. Unfortunately, I still dont have a picture of his Moms setup. She has been gone and sick alot. I'll try as soon as it is acceptable to those folks!

Heres the TDR Shop link!

GregH



https://www.turbodieselregister.com...-and-Alaskan-Chimney-Sweeps&highlight=GHarman

 

[goodguys75]

Some pics of my main floor operation. I keep the supply in the cellar. I don't keep it outside. I like it indoors where it's warm... ... ... ..... and handy.

I hope the fire is not on with the cat under there... . that would be hot... . :-laf

 

[WalterJ]

Since some of y'all are mentioning Creosote formation, mayhaps some don't know the science?



I understand that maintaining a minimum stack exit temp of 250 deg. is necessary to prevent condensation of the volatile matter, i. e. creosote, which may combust over 100 deg. All wood contains varying amounts of volatile material, so it's not the species, nor the moisture content, but the combustion process which determines the danger. Burning some "wet" smoldering pieces lowers the stack temp. , thus condensation and it's heavier to carry and it consumes more energy to attain ignition temp.

 

[Yo Hoot]

Yes first and foremost is the quality of your wood supply. You must use properly seasoned wood or you will have nothing but heartache trying to keep a good hot fire maintained and minimizing creosote buildup.

You can burn not so seasoned wood if you mix it in with your good wood. I do that all the time. The key is like was said earlier... . get the temps above 250F.

I self clean my stoves by running a good hot fire for a short time to burn off buildup. I do this every day or every other day. My chimneys almost required NO cleaning at all after the first season. My stoves had more buildup in them than the flue pipes.

 

[Wayne M.]

Geez, reading this thread is bringing back all sorts of memories. Back in the '70's during the tough energy crisis Carter years (sound familiar?) I grew up in an Victorian house built in 1900. The main fireplace/ hearth was reconditioned by Dad, and a glass door insert was installed. It was pressed into service to offset the heating bills.
I'll never forget one night when I was about 11 years old, going to sleep one night, I heard what sounded like a jet airliner real low over the house (we were not far off Newark's flight path), so it didn't seem too odd. Then a minute later there was a glass break EXPLOSION with my Dad screaming GET UP GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!!! My Sister and I came down to see the glass doors GONE and massive flames in the fireplace and my dad bringing in the garden hose. I don't remember more than that and the FDNY response. The windup was that we had a chimney fire due to creosote buildup. The chimney went up through closets and the attic. There were crayon circles of hotspots that were warm for days it seemed.
After a cleanup and regroup, the chimney was cleaned, and we switched to coal. A large piece of slate was dropped in front of the hearth, and on it went a Vermont Castings Vigilant stove. It was this time when the good memories started. One of my first chores was managing the coal and ash. 2-3 5 gal buckets a day in the dead of winter. I loved almost as much as the dog n cats. The stove became a tradition over the next few years, and we moved to a more modern house, the Vigilant came with us... We continued to burn coal until it became unavailable on Staten Island in approx 1990. Dad still has the stove.

 

[mwilson]

The trick is to get a full year ahead on the woodpile. We have made it to that point unlike years ago when we first got together and had no money...



Dry wood = No creosote.



My wife is a firewood / wood heat junkie and is the resident expert, I have learned a lot from her over the years.



This will be next seasons firewood... . purchased in April of this year.

And this is the bulk of this years which we will putting in the cellar shortly. This was purchased in April of 2011.

Just like money in the bank... ...



Mike.

 

[Yo Hoot]

Nicely stacked!


Wood is natures solar batteries.

Trees use the sun and carbon dioxide to grow. They expel oxygen in the process.

When we burn wood, we are simply using the created oxygen and putting the carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere.

Carbon neutral.

 

[Wayne M.]

Honest question about the woodpiles. What about bug control? I remember especially driving rt2 in VT. There was wood surrounding houses and porches. All I could think about was termite infestation.

 

[mwilson]

Honest question about the woodpiles. What about bug control? I remember especially driving rt2 in VT. There was wood surrounding houses and porches. All I could think about was termite infestation.

Honest answer is we do not have termites here in Northern Maine. Our winter temps keep a lot of undesireable stuff outta' here.....

This is only speculation but termites would more than likely prefer softwoods?. ?

All the firewood used up here is hardwood so it might be hard on their little teeth, pincers, or whatever the rat *******s are packing...

A lot of bugs do make their home in a woodpile but are not a nuisance as a rule.

Mike. .