Fire Wood Question

[scott_vt]

If buying firewood and you don't have a moisture meter then your best bet is to have a campfire going when the delivery man shows up.

Mornin Beam,
"Buying" is not in my vocabulary !

BTW that is for sure a nice stack of wood !!!

 

[coachgrd]

Sorry to hijack your thread but I'm also a new wood stove owner...I've got 3.5 cords seasoned, split, stacked and ready to roll. I'm holding off until Thanksgiving to burn.

Anyway, I've seen this product at Home Depot called "Fire Starters." It's a small block of material that you simply light and it does the rest...no paper, kindling etc. needed. Anyone use this product?

 

[scott_vt]

Sorry to hijack your thread but I'm also a new wood stove owner...I've got 3.5 cords seasoned, split, stacked and ready to roll. I'm holding off until Thanksgiving to burn.

Anyway, I've seen this product at Home Depot called "Fire Starters." It's a small block of material that you simply light and it does the rest...no paper, kindling etc. needed. Anyone use this product?

Mornin coachgrd,
Ive heard of it but never tried it ! I do it with a few crumpled newsapapers a bit of cardboard on top of that along with a few pieces of kindling spelled woodshop scrap and one or two larger pieces sitting on the pile ! When my flue is cold, I have an exterior chimney, I light a piece of newspaper and stick that in the clean out door at the bottom of the flue to create a draft and then light my newspaper in the stove. Once I start burning 24/7 it never goes out so its not a problem at that point !

My Uncle Dave always has a large coffee can with a bit of diesel fuel in it along with a few pieces of kindling that he keeps not far from his stove and that works for him !

 

[Ductape]

I frequently use starter logs in my woodstove. I always did it the old fashioned way, with newspaper and kindling...... but tired of the occaisional failed start. The starter logs always start the fire..... first time, and in no time. Even starting out with decent sized pieces of oak. Oh...... but being the cheapo i am, i cut the cost of them in half by using my hatchet to gently split the starter logs in two. Even half sized..... they work great.

I also burn the best type of wood......... FREE.

I once ran low, and paid $80 for a pickup load. Other than that..... my firewood has been free. I do not have big acreage to cut from, we live in town. I have been able to scrounge wood wherever i can, and am currently over a year ahead. I don't burn sortwood, but i have taken some hardwoods which aren't the longest burning....... but at FREE, the price was right.

Of course, all the thousands i have not given to the oil companies, hasn't exactly stayed in my pocket. I have invested much of back into my firewood operation. A used Bri-Mar dump to get the wood home, four chainsaws, splitter, hand tools like a timber jack, maul,etc. are all things that have shown up with the money i've saved. I figure i'm still way ahead though.... and you can never have too many tools, right???

When looking into alternative heat, such as pellet stoves, or even natural gas.... i figured firewood was the only choice where i would get any heat for free.


Scott

 

[scott_vt]

Oh...... but being the cheapo i am, i cut the cost of them in half by using my hatchet to gently split the starter logs in two. Even half sized..... they work great.

I also burn the best type of wood......... FREE.



Of course, all the thousands i have not given to the oil companies, hasn't exactly stayed in my pocket. I have invested much of back into my firewood operation. A used Bri-Mar dump to get the wood home, four chainsaws, splitter, hand tools like a timber jack, maul,etc. are all things that have shown up with the money i've saved. I figure i'm still way ahead though.... and you can never have too many tools, right???




Scott

Mornin Scott,
Ahhh a man from my own heart !!!

BTW, try not to think about the chainsaws, trailers, tractors to haul, tools etc, think of the fresh air and excersize you get when acquiring what nature provides for free !!!

 

[WayneB]

Mornin coachgrd,
Ive heard of it but never tried it ! I do it with a few crumpled newsapapers a bit of cardboard on top of that along with a few pieces of kindling spelled woodshop scrap and one or two larger pieces sitting on the pile ! When my flue is cold, I have an exterior chimney, I light a piece of newspaper and stick that in the clean out door at the bottom of the flue to create a draft and then light my newspaper in the stove. Once I start burning 24/7 it never goes out so its not a problem at that point !

Scotty up here we mainly have one fire to start, in October! Actually, built our first fire of the year last night, just to get the chill off so this year we will have two to start. Little paper and kindling from the wood shop does the trick.

My kindling has really built up since last year so we will be burning some of it this fall for early morning fires.

Looking at your chimney in the painting pictures I find it hard to believe it doesn't have a great draft!

Wayne

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Wayne,
It does have a great draft once I get it going !!! I think its going to be a little bit cool up Vt this weekend, might have to wear the old barn coat !

 

[Egon]

any heat for free.

There is no free heat! Just less expensive sources!

 

[dmccarty]

To start a fire I use balled up newspaper, not rolled, along with splinters from splitting the wood and sticks from around the house. When splitting I always get larger splinters/slivers which I have started putting in buckets. During the burning season I walk around the house and pick up downed limbs from trees and put them in rubber maid containers with lids. I use those twigs and sticks to start the fire. Basically what you would do if you where building a campfire.

This year I piled up the tops of trees so it should be a bit easier getting the firestarter. Or so I hope.

I get a magazine called Sawmill and Woodlot. The latest issue has an article on using coatings to prevent drying of logs to minimize wood loss due to the wood checking. Well now with firewood seasoning we want to maximize checking but the information was interesting.

They did a study where hardwood logs had one end coated to prevent/minimize checking. Its a wax based coating by the way. After 12 weeks the wood had checked 6 inches into the log on the uncoated end. Minimal to no checking on the coated end. Checking occurs as water is drawn out of the end grain of the wood. So it seems a 12 inch piece of cordwood would have been checked from end to end after 3 months in the study environment. I wish they had checked for the moisture content but it was not mentioned.

Later,
Dan

 

[jeffinsgf]

Just a couple of things to add.

As some others have indicated, the BEST wood to burn is the one that is the most readily available and least expensive in your area. That may be mesquite where you are. I burn eastern red cedar mixed with oak, hackberry, persimmon, and whatever else blows down on my place. I've heard a lot of folks say you can't burn cedar (juniper), but my chimney sweep says my chimney had less creosote than any he'd seen, and that was after I went 3 or 4 years without having it swept. Any conifer will burn up faster than hardwoods, so a blend is best, I think.

I have about 3.5 cords ready to go. I have about a half cord that is cut into four foot lengths that needs to be bucked and split, but I'll get to that now that it is cooler and it will be the last that is burned next spring.

I've spent most of my life processing wood in one form or another, mostly into furniture. Some of what has been mentioned in this thread about drying is right, but incomplete.

Wood does lose more of its moisture from the ends, but exposing the long grain will speed the process up significantly, too. The bark will retain water -- that's a big part of its job in the first place. When you split and buck to length, your wood will dry much faster than just bucking to length. The more you split, the faster it will dry. Rightly or wrongly, my stove store suggested small splits over large pieces. I find I can pack more into the stove that way, but the big ones do seem to burn longer --- in the total load life, I think the small splits work best.

On the sawdust and parafin fire starters -- I like them. Lazy, I guess. They're just faster and easier than newspaper and kindling. I just throw two or three small pieces of cedar on top of one of those, stack the hardwood on top of that and let 'er rip.

Could have used a small fire last night. If it gets down in the 40's again, I think I will fire the stove up tonight.