At Home In The Woods

[dstig1]

Yeah I agree with M7 that you need to get ahead of this issue. You need to make firewood a priority for a while if you plan to use this regularly going forward. Even if that means buying a couple cord of good dry firewood (of you can find it) to get you going so you have time to cut and split what you need to get ahead of the demand. One way or the other - pay or work - you need to do this or you risk serious issues like a flue fire. Cut it, split it , stack it and let it dry. Your pallets are nice for handling, but they are probably not the best for airflow. Firewood is usually stacked in single rows, but you have a 4x4' square. Then tarping over the top tightly like you show further restricts air. handling firewood as little as possible is good, but not if it stays wet. You can always use those bins to toss firewood into to bring to the house or something, but working on improving the airflow in those will help the most. Perhaps a lean-to where you can put them relatively out of the weather but still with lots of room for air movement?

 

[MotorSeven]

I like the criss cross method of stacking which allows max airflow. Dst's right about tarps, they suck....trapping moisture underneath. Sheets of old barn tin across the top of the stack is what I use. Once the stacks dry they can go into the steel bins & stacked tighter. Again tin across the top of the bins keeps the rain out. Also, once dried out a little rain on the wood is no big deal and will evaporate the next sunny day.

A woodshed is on my radar so I can fork those steel bins full of dried wood under a large roof.....another project on the "LIST".

 

[PAGUY]

I would think a wood shed would be high priority for anyone who burns wood for heat. That creosote build-up would scare the bee Jesus out of me. To risk a house fire just to save money doesn't sound very smart IMO.

 

[radioman]

Having a real mans saw means less messing around with the settings and just cut wood. hand sharpening it each time before you use it also helps alot. you need a min of 50 cc's to 70 cc's just to get the work done and cut thru big wood like butter. Anything bigger means more money and heavy to use since for a homeowner.
I bought a homelite super XL that looks like new from craigslist for 40 bucks. it needed a new gas line, and new chain and now it really cuts wood niiiiiiice. I can cut your wood pile in a day with the superxl no problem. This would give you plenty of time to split it when you are ready.
If I were you -I'd go visit your local dealer for a chainsaw and stay away from all of the box store models. This will ensure your longevity and use of the saw without messing with many small issues that a box store saw has. I refuse to recommend a brand as its best to get a saw from a dealer who willing to spend time with you and explain real in and outs of difference between box store and real saws. That is called service and I'd spend my money there. nothing like listening to a real informed decision and not a sales pitch.

 

[Obed]

Our fireplace has a baffle at the top of it. Before I cleaned the chimney, the baffle had 2" of creosote sitting on it that had fallen down the chimney onto the baffel from regular use. We will have to keep an eye on the baffle and periodically clean it off. So the amount of creosote actually in the chimney was not as much as it would seem from the pictures.



Yes, I do need to get ahead on my firewood. My goal this burning season is to get next year's firewood supply cut and split. Eventually I would like to get 2 years ahead.

I woodshed would be great but we just can't figure out where to put it.

I definitely need to do some chainsaw shopping. Using a cheaper saw while getting started has helped because I now have a little better idea what I might want in a saw.

Our fireplace is drafting nicely now. It is great to open the fireplace doors and hear the air getting sucked into the fireplace.

 

[woodlandfarms]

When we heated our house with wood, we would occassionally stoke a big fire in it, it helped a lot with keep creosote down, Of course you don't want to do that with a loaded pipe, but now that you have cleaned it running a hot flame wil help reduce that creosote load.

 

[jinman]

Our fireplace has a baffle at the top of it. Before I cleaned the chimney, the baffle had 2" of creosote sitting on it that had fallen down the chimney onto the baffel from regular use. We will have to keep an eye on the baffle and periodically clean it off. So the amount of creosote actually in the chimney was not as much as it would seem from the pictures.

Yes, I do need to get ahead on my firewood. My goal this burning season is to get next year's firewood supply cut and split. Eventually I would like to get 2 years ahead.

Obed, I don't burn wood for heat, but your photos scared the livin' poo out of me.:shocked: You've burned only one season and your chimney was an accident waiting to happen. I think you are lucky to have had some smoke back up into your house. I ran out and looked at my fireplace vent after seeing your pictures. I burn oak exclusively and most of it a very hot fire, but my chimney tiles are 13" x 18" and must take awhile to get really hot. All I ever see is thin black soot coating. Do you think you may have clogged that chimney due to your original problems with your insert? I'm thinking of an insert so I can get some benefit from all the available firewood on my place. Those photos of yours sure will make me take the installation seriously. I'm going to put an insulted stainless duct up my flue even if it is only 10 years old. Thanks for posting that sobering evidence that installation, dry wood, and burning technique are so important.

 

[dave1949]

Obed,

You can tie a rope on the loop on the bottom end of your chimney brush and let it dangle below the brush as you clean. The rope can be used to pull the brush down to the insert stove should it become separated from the poles. Small chance, but it eliminates some risk of an "orphaned" brush somewhere in your flue pipe that you have to fish out.

You have a tall chimney. It makes sense that the creosote is condensing out at the top when it reaches cooler outside air and has cooled some already since leaving the fire. I think burning better cured wood (2 yr min. for oak) and burning with a hotter flame will help. Sometimes it is better to burn smaller split pieces with a bright flame than big pieces--which if burned hot would overheat your insert.

Someday ... check the temperature of your chimney cap while burning, I bet it isn't very warm.

 

[CurlyDave]

...I'm going to put an insulted stainless duct up my flue even if it is only 10 years old. Thanks for posting that sobering evidence that installation, dry wood, and burning technique are so important.

I burned wood as my only heat source for 20 years. What I found was that the creosote plugged up the spark arrestor long before it built up in the flue to any great extent.

I was fortunate in that I could climb to a low roof, reach up with a propane torch duct taped to a 10' length of 1 1/2" PVC pipe and use the torch to burn off the creosote blocking the spark arrestor screen. Obed's installation does not look conducive to this technique, but if anyone is doing a new install I would strongly recommend considering an installation where you can reach the chimney cap from a easy-to-access location where you do not risk life and limb to clean the spark arrestor. Similarly, consider having to periodically sweep the chimney before installation. Think about doing this in the dead of winter with snow & ice on the roof.

 

[CurlyDave]

...I tied the rope around the chimney, then tied the rope to my rock-climbing harness. Tying that rope around the chimney was rather slow. My wife suggested that I might install a eye bolt to the side of the chimney framing for attaching a safety rope next time. I really like that idea. The time it takes to tie that long rope around the chimney and get it just the right length tempts me to skip using the safety rope. However, one slip climbing on top of that chimney would be disastrous...

Consider installing a stainless steel cable (wire rope) around the chimney, and just leaving it there instead of the eyebolt into the framing. Any kind of lag screw into framing has the potential for rotting the wood over the years and becoming very weak over time.