Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

I forgot this thread existed. Here are some from this year. 16.5 cords cut, split and stacked.





I modified the log splitter handle to be more comfortable with the base of an elk shed.





One of the half dead beetle kills we cut down.



We were getting up to 25 pieces out of one round out of that one.

 

That's a lot of wood!




Anyone ever try a "barrel stove"? 55 gallon drum with a kit to make it a wood stove. Supposedly it puts off a lot of heat and since you can load it with a lot of wood it apparently has a long burn time.

Trying to find a better option than my little VC intrepid which hardly even heats the basement let alone the house.

Barrel stove is certainly not as pretty but it's a lot cheaper than a new bigger wood stove.

 

Less efficient and with a shorter lifespan, too.
I know several people who have them in shops/camps, plus a guy (a friend of my dad's) that has a barrel stove in his shop, but his isn't anywhere near the basic unit you get with the kit. He does metal fab for a living, so he turned his barrel stove into a much more efficient unit using some scrap steel he had kicking around the shop.
He cut the top off of his, fabbed up a firebox complete with air intake system and reburn tubes, and welded a series of baffles into the exhaust. Then he filled the left over air spaces with refractory cement and welded the top back on. The entire firebox is firebrick lined, and it takes him about 2 hours to start getting good heat out of it on Monday mornings, but it holds heat for hours once he gets it up to temp and it heats what is probably a 30x40 building pretty comfortably. His is also about the only barrel stove I've ever seen that isn't a smoke dragon or a wood hog.

BUT, if somebody who didn't already have several tons of scrap steel in a shed out back tried to do something similar...you might as well just buy a factory-built stove for what you'd have to spend in materials.

Honestly if you're looking for something that'll throw more heat you'd be better off just getting a larger stove out of Craigslist or something. They'd be a lot more efficient than a barrel stove, they'll last longer (barrel stoves tend to burn out fairly quickly) and would throw a more even heat. Barrel stoves also tend to be very peak-y with their heat output. Plus I've yet to see a barrel stove that's UL listed, which is a requirement for some insurance companies. If you were to have a house fire that started with a non-UL listed stove you might have a hard time getting a payout.

 

^ thanks.

yea they seem kinda sketchy. right now i can't budget buying another stove. I was checking craigslist and it seems kinda hit or miss. some stuff is ready for the scrap yard, some stuff they're asking way too much. I guess I'll wait and see what I can find when I put some money together.

 

ended up picking this up yesterday-

http://www.hearthstonestoves.com/store/wood-products/wood-stoves/heritage

 

Nice looking stove

 

thanks. hopefully it heats the basement a lot better than the current one.

got it $2000 cheaper than the msrp, in "like new" condition.

 

Congrats! I've got the Mansfield in the cellar as the primary house heater and it works awesome. It's been in the single digits around here this week and the house hasn't gotten below 70 degrees with 2.5 feedings per day (1 in the morning before I leave for work, 1 in the evening when I get home, and a top-off before we go to bed). They're great stoves.

 

Awesome!

So far I've just had a small fire going to try to break it in. Not sure how important that is on a used stove but I'd hate to damage it. Ill try to post a pic in a little bit.

 

Your dog kind of looks like a goat from that angle.

Nice stove.

 

Always a good idea to have a small fire at the start of the burn season, even on a used stove.

 

I have a question for you wood heat guys. Do any of you use leather wood carriers? If so, can you recommend a good one? My dad has had his for damn near 30 years and it's finally starting to tear. His birthday is coming up so I want to get him one that will last him another 30 years. I've found a few online but figured this would be a good place to ask for a good reference. Thanks.

This looks to be the best one I've come across so far:
http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Fireplace-Accessories/Log-Carriers/Leather-Log-Carrier

 

Sub'd

 

Not sure, to be honest. Most of the ones I've seen for sale lately are canvas rather than leather. And I use a wheelbarrow, since I burn through a decent amount of wood in a week and if I was using a carrier I'd be making a lot of trips to fill my wood rack, haha!


Also, I was in the Boston Garden this weekend and stumbled across Oz's favorite guy!

 

He goes through a lot of wood in a winter, it's the primary heat for their house. Their stack is in the garage so he just uses the carrier to bring it into the house. Their house goes through about 2 loads a day when it's cold out. I've come across a lot of canvas ones, and I'm not against them, just want something that will last and not fall apart in a couple years.

 

Mike- Would this one work for him?
http://www.amazon.com/Plow-Hearth-Leather-Firewood-Sling/dp/B00NY6H8ZW/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1421673029&sr=8-11&keywords=leather+log+tote

 

I saw that one but it looks small and not very sturdy. Some of the carriers I've been coming across are only 24" long. That might be fine if you're small framed but that would mean he'd be taking 5 - 6 loads rather than 2. The one I linked above is 37" and I like that the leather straps run the whole length to reinforce it. Only thing I don't like is the handles are riveted on rather than part of the reinforcing.

I found this one also. It's canvas but reinforced with leather. Looks nice also:
https://www.frostriver.com/shop/firewood-sling/

 

Gotcha. That Canvas one does look nice.
FWIW, my grandfather has been using the same canvas bag since I was a kid.

 

I use one that is similar to your link