Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

Local orchard owner took down a couple of old trees that had died or were dying and offered to let me take the logs for firewood if I cleaned up the limbwood too. I guess the limbwood rotting attracts insect pests that attack the healthy trees when they're done eating the dead stuff.

Unfortunately, he hasn't cut the grass in the orchard lately since it's not picking season yet, and I found a surprise while I was working up one of the logs.




Tall grass and lumps of granite: A combination certain to throw an unexpected sharpening break into your cutting plans.

 

I watch a fellow tie a tree to his tractor to control the fall it was pretty funny watching the tractor fly it didn't just drag it,it was off the ground. A decent size tree will top 5 tons.

 

Red oak splits easily I can usually beat a splitter with a splitting maul except I wear out a lot quicker than the splitter does. Not so white oak it is pretty knotty lot of braches going every direction.

 

Yep we don't have madrone but if I'm cutting fire wood a year out I usually cut it green and leafted out. Leave all the branches on the leaves help to draw the moisture off then work it up late in the fall before the snow.

 

Branch firewood especially from firs is often overlooked and sometimes some of the best wood . The growth rings are incredibly tight and in the case of lower branches can be as numerous as the tree itself but in a much more compact area . About 5 years ago I started cutting up any branches of 2" and larger size while I buck up the logs

 

Since pine is what is readily available, and I had the chance at the maple, I have been keeping branches as small as about 1".

 

I used to laugh at people that had branch wood in their woodsheds and call it " old man firewood " now I keep it so either I'm coming around to how good it is or I'm now an old man or both

 

It is small enough to generally not need to be split, and if you pack a wood stove full with branches, it will still take awhile to burn through. As long as the branches are big enough around, they are definitely worth keeping, and I have only been burning for about 3 years now.

 

Im hoping to replace my gas heating stove with a wood stove for this coming season. I just need to get my chimney inspected first. The gas heats nice, but it's expensive given that it's propane instead of natural gas. I also need to blow more insulation in my attic.

 

I think I resemble the old man remark. I take the odd branch and small Burch (3" or so) and pinch it in the log splitter and stand up to cut them!

 

I am building my new house at present, hope to be in by winter. I have two sources for heat, hydronic heat in the slab and a wood stove (primary). Any advice appreciated, this will be my first time in a wood heated house.

 

How did you like using the Zip Wall sheathing system ?

 

Have the hydronic go somehow through a radiator type device which gets heated by the fire as part of your return line. This will help you to use a little more of the heat from the fire while requiring less from your boiler/hot water heater.

Whatever wood you get, let it sit covered after splitting for a year to dry out (called seasoning). Split the wood you get quickly after falling trees (within a month) or wait for a year before splitting. Get a hydraulic log splitter somewhere in the 22 ton range (don't get the electric 5 ton). Log splitter will make the really knotty pieces much easier on you and will save your back over time. I have mostly pine around me which is pretty soft, but recently got some maple, a hardwood. I mostly split with a double bit ax, not a splitting maul. I can swing the ax for a longer period of time because it is lighter. It also has a longer handle, so I can get it swinging faster. If you have issues splitting wood by hand, strip a length of bark off both sides of a round where you want it to split. Always have a sledge hammer or actual maul and 2 (yes two) splitting wedges. I have a 6#, 10#, and 12# sledge hammers and when I need to drive a wedge! sometimes the 6# doesn't have quite enough to it, so I usually just go straight for the 10#, while the 12 takes so much more to swing it. I have 2 different kinds of wedges, wedge 1 gets more use than wedge 2. Wedge 1 drives in easier and mostly splits things when I need it. When it doesn't work, I pull out the second wedge and drive that in farther over in the round. Driving the flat wedge in from the beginning is much harder for me.

If you have the opportunity to get free wood, but you have to remove a stump that is more than 10" across, skip it. Removing the stump is a complete pain in the ass and not worth the time. Stumps don't burn for shit. I had one stump that survived 3 fires outside. It was also about 3 feet across and took up half of my trailer. If you can get the tree without the stump, then it is usually worth it.

Best wood to get is orange Osage. It is even better than madrone. (don't mind me, I'm just picking a fight with Oz). I don't know what kind of trees you have in North Carolina, but hardwoods make for longer lasting heat than softwoods. Oak, maple, madrone, fruit trees are good. Pine is okay but will pop a lot. Cottonwood, magnolia, and anything weak like that is crap, but if it is free, then still better than buying a cord from somebody else.

Keep your newspaper to get your fires started. With any wood you get, split some of it small enough for kindling. Cedar is best for kindling as it dries out really well, and is easy to light. For rookies to starting a fire, get a throw away propane cylinder, and torch head with push button igniter on it. That is much easier than using a lighter or matches, plus it throws out a lot more heat than a lighter or match. Also, keep the lint from the clothes dryer. Every so often, you get enough of that to use for a fire starter and that stuff lights really well.

Be prepared to get your chimney swept annually. I was burning wood that wasn't properly seasoned for too long, and had a chimney fire. Creosote buildup happens inside the chimney, which is still combustible. When I had the chimney swept, the guy told me that I had about the second worst chimney he had ever seen. If your wood is properly seasoned, then the creosote doesn't tend to build up. It also helps to have hotter fires, but too hot just burns through extra wood without providing any real benefit to you.

 

I have hydronic slab heat and woodstoves as my heat source too

 

OZ-T, Zip system is nice. What advice can you share using the same two systems I have? Do you keep your slab at a constant low setting then supplement with the wood heat? That's how I imagine I will do it.

Smar969905, thank you that is all very informative! I will be using red oak primarily.

 

Yes , constant thermostat setting for the slab , supplemented by my woodstoves

Have you poured the slabs yet ?

 

Oh yeah like a year ago, it went down before the walls (monolithic). Siding is almost done, paint next week, then metal roof. After exterior is done, I'll move indoors with plumbing, elec, etc.

 

Very nice. Post pics of progress. I like that porch.

 

Any chance you installed in slab temperature probes ?

 

For your electrical, I highly recommend getting a 400 amp service and rated panel in your house. Oversize it now, so you can add more circuits later easier. Also keep your panels easily accessible to add more later without tearing walls apart. I say this as an electrician for a living who has acreage and wants to add additional outbuildings with power.