Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

Started in the "Tractors, Mowers, Chipper..." thread

Greyish wood is hackberry

We cut/split & stacked 23 cord in 2022 for two households.






My friend runs a tree service so plenty of wood on the lot


Brute Force box wedge splitter

Also use a Built Rite occassionally

I have an Empire St Claire ZC high efficiency fireplace
My friend uses a BK Ultra , High Country insert & an OWB

 

Good to have a friend like that.

 

I don’t know how many of you still split by hand. But I’ve grown to like my Husqvarna Large splitting axe.

It’s actually not large. It’s more like medium. I use a large maul to quarter the rounds. Then use the Husky to split them smaller.
https://www.husqvarna.com/us/axes/splitting-axe-large/

 

my go to is a 6lb splitting axe with a curved handle

 

My 8 year old $39.95(on sale) X 27 lol
Certainly not up to the standards of the top notch splitting axes, but a journeyman splitter all the same


Also use the IsoCore for the bigger rounds.

 

Welcome!

 

Thanks.

What saws do you folks run?

Any modded saws?




395



Is there a milling thread too?
Most of my free time is spent on chainsaw forums that include subforums on milling.

 

Same boiler the house was built with, going strong! Just restacked the pile. Still need to get rid of the old dead Modine at some point though

 

thread for saws:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/what-chainsaw-do-you-run.314274/

 

I second the wood in log form. I have been known to be outside in our neighborhood and hearing the unmistakable sound of a large chipper /shredder. Then following the sound, and finding the tree service, asking the key question. What are you doing with the "too large to chip" pieces? Usually the homeowner has no desire to keep them. I ask if the tree servie would like to dump/haul theese big parts to a closer place- my driveway. This has been a success at least 3 times and I get fresh, mostly green wood delivered to my home for free. I do own (in partnership) a 25 ton hydraulic spliter, which makes this do-able. Only drawback is that I am required to get on this project promptly as I am left with no driveway till I get them worked up.
I also go to my old place of work and pick up wood skids they are discarding to put under my stacked wood. Even though I stack on my concrete drive, it helps keep the wood drier on the bottom of the stack. The skids rot and wear out so mwhen this happens I simply "trade-in" my old rotted skids for better ones. saves me the disposal problems.

 

I have found, at least around here, the level of dryness, rot, and decay, plus the kind of wood it is, will determine if I can get by with uncovered or not. White oak will last a long time -like several years, while Red/black oak will start to rot and decay quickly. Hickory -which is great heat/ BTU per ton wood always seem to draw some kind of borer worms bcause I always find a pile of wood dust under every piece In my stack -even if it was green when it was stacked. I almost always burn wood that has been seasoned for at least a year or more. I know I go through more wood this way -but I feel better having less creosote build up in my flue-hence I sleep better. I have been using wood as a source of heat (supplemental? of course) for this same home since the late 1970's.

 

That's cheating! I'm still using an old splitter a friend gave me after a tree fell on it and broke the fittings off!

 

Rusty looks like a nice warm setup. I have one question, With the wood stored inside your home have you noticed any increase in the amount of bugs and or spiders in your home? We did this several years back, and while it was nice,easy and conveniant, we started to notice our "resident population" increased with inside storage of wood. My wife hates to see any spider or bug in the home , and this eased up when I went back to outside storage.

 

I see some walnut as well in that first pic!

 

Sometimes "cheating" with a hydraulic splitter is a necessity when one is still actively involved in the "sport" of "wood heating" when your 7th decade happens!

 

the "local tree service" in town, amongst others, lives in the same neighborhood as my GF until we bought a house together. They sell logs in about 5.5cord loads. They also have a firewood business so not much hope getting any free wood from them. they are contracted to take down a huge pine tree in my neighbors yard. I'd offer to take the wood if it wasn't pine but I have plenty to drop in my yard as we claim some land to make the yard bigger. I don't have a real need for that much pine.

 

We bought our house in September of 21. Went through a rediculous amount of propane to heat it through the winter. I installed a Vermont castings defiant from 1983 years in the basement. I added a wireless thermometer so I can see temps from upstairs and set an alarm in case if overheating past a set temperature. Also installed a thermostat to turn on an in line vent fan to force hot air from rafters up into the 1st floor. Have it set so when the rafter air hits 87* the fan turns on. When it drops below 87* the fan turns off. Wires luge a charm! And it’s gets up to about 110* in the rafters! The propane usage this winter has gone down drastically now.

 

If you want to "install" a creosote lining in your flue then -by all means burn that pine --- REALLY! NO NO NO. A couple years back I got some free oak with a big chunk of white pine on the same load -to get the free oak I had to take the pine. Figured what the heck what is one log going to hurt. Even after splitting it into kindling sized pieces and seasoning more than a year, I still had a extra noticable creosote build up that year. For kindling it worked great but it was not worth the cresote buildup.

 

Is there any way you could fashion/create a hood over your stove and vent that up to that intake ( I think I see that vent hole?) then you would be able to get a more efficient path for the heat to you next floor up. Better yet is there a close path to your Forced air? system? My stove is a "jacketed with blower type that feeds directly into my hot air plenum

 

The wood stove is directly under a hallway and I did not want a floor vent. I installed the an 8” to 6” reducer with a 6” in-line fan. That goes to a to 4”x12” register then I plumbed through the wall. All this in inside of a pantry and takes up very little space. I had thought about making a hood of some sort to make it more efficient. Too many projects to do hahaha.