Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

Nice

I have a 6lb maul head on a long axe handle I really like

 

The head on this maul is a 6 pounder on a 36 inch handle. Its a nice splitter but I'm too wimpy to swing it all day, I usually go with a lighter axe.

 

I like using a maul

 

I like wood

 

Good morning! -33 windchill, 69 in the house!

 

13 degrees here, 3 with the wind chill, here south of Augusta,GA. 69 degrees inside my earthsheltered, Passive solar home. My wife calls me cheap,I say I'm frugal! We're just not used to this cold,an I'm afraid many will lose their plumbing, or their lives due to attempts to stay warm,this morning!

 

I got my Husqvarna branded chaps at Lowes about 5 years ago. They've held up pretty well; no rips or tears. Fortunately I've never needed to use them, but I'd much rather spend the $50 on a set of chaps than what it'd cost me for an ER visit. I volunteered at the local hospital when I was a teenager, and chainsaw injuries are the worst. Ever since then it's been ATGATT when I'm running the saw.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_192767-86886-531309565_0__?Ntt=chaps&UserSearch=chaps&productId=3390506&rpp=32

 

That 6 pounder is almost the spitting image of the maul that I use for my wood processing. I have a smaller Scout's axe that I use for kindling work, or for splitting down to size for the cookstove. I'll admit that the 6 pounder feels pretty damn heavy every year when I first start splitting, but by the time I've worked my way through 8 cords of splitting and stacking I don't notice the weight anymore.

Edit: Oops; I was just at the Snow & Nealley website; evidently I've got an 8lb maul.

 

Had this Buck in my previous home,boy do I miss it!!

 

The Buck Stoves were some of the best wood stoves ever built! I have a rolled,welded, plate steel stove, Called Silent Flame, produced by The Long Mft. Company of NC.,a farm supply co. Its been in use,every winter since I built the house in 83. It's still in perfect condition. I use it for suppmental heat on cold, cloudy days!

 

2 questions for you: How do you like your fiskars compared with the maul? I use the fiskar long handled version and it works great but I've been considering getting a heavier maul, just not sure if it would be any better.

also, how long does it take to stack your wood? Is it much more difficult or take much longer than a standard block stack?

 

My understanding is the thorny locust is also known as black locust, and that a honey locust does not have any thorns. That being said I suspect that cross breeding occurs because I have come across locust with a wide variety of thorn density. Some will be bristling while others have just a few. Most trees have the thorns concentrated on the trunk but some are more concentrated on the branches. Supposedly the thorns contain a skin irritant so that when they puncture skin they cause inflammation.

Also the heat density values seem to vary from source to source. This link seems fishy as I am pretty sure eastern hornbeam is a type of ironwood. And I highly doubt that mulberry has a higher energy density than either oak species (red or white). Just my two cents. I know I will cut an oak before a mulberry all other things being equal.

By the way OZ sometime I am going to go through this whole thread and count the number of times you mention madrone. We get it, madrone is great and most people aren't lucky enough to burn some.

 

Madrone FTW

 

Locust thorns hurt! And it's great firewood, I have a ton on my property. At first I didn't know how good it was and almost didn't use it but now I'm grateful for it.

It's also hell on chain saw chains, after cutting up a single decent sized tree I need to spend a good amount of time resharpening the chain. It's only the younger trees that have lots of thorns, the older, bigger ones only have thorns on the branches.

 

Humm, I'm in the midwest and the bigger trees can be just as bad or worse than the small ones. Also like someone mentioned above I will cut just through the bark all the way around a thorny locust base to cause it to loose its thorns in a couple years. Around here it is known as girdling the tree. Seems kinda mean in a way, choking the tree and all, but it is nigh impossible to cut up a thorny locust without.

 

I wonder if I have a different variety than you do? With my stuff I've found that I need to either split right away or let it dry a few months before trying to split. There seems to be an in-between stage where it's nearly impossible to split.

 

Perhaps it is a different species. I know the physical properties of trees within a species can vary by location (even within a geographical region, not to mention a 1,000 mi difference). I cant for sure on my end. This is my second year burning so I only cut a little locust last year and girdled the rest that needed to be cut (fence rows mostly). What I did cut I thought split pretty nice.

 

Don't all woods have roughly the same BTU's per lb, and their output depends entirely on weight per cubic foot?
Madrone weighs roughly 50lbs per cubic foot
Lignum Vitae weighs an average of 66lbs per cubic foot.
Greenheart FTW.

 

Yep , Madrone wins again

 

I'm never buying anything that needs weighing from you...