Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

ok, almost done for this season, another half cord to go.

 

I just bought my first house and it has a wood burning fireplace. Inspection said the flue and chimney are clean, but the fire box is really dirty.

Any tips on how to clean? Barbecue brush? Creosote log?

 

Do you just tarp your pile for the winter ?

 

Not really. keep a cord or so under a porch. restock it from main stack. works ok.

 

Your main stack sits out in the weather though ?

 

Yup. it's a losing battle trying to keep it under a tarp with the winter wind I get.

 

I have been thinking I need to make a wood fired generator so I can run AC from wood Any buyers?

So Oz doesn't boot me, I have been burning off and on for a week now. Shoulder season is on me.

 

Did a little splitting last night, was thinking about getting a new splitting maul. Any of you guys own/tried those orange Fiskar ones? The reviews online look good.

 

It works good. Not romantic to look at, but works well.

 

I had one like this, and the epoxy in the head finally broke after 3 years and the head came off. Probably didn't help to drive it like a wedge with my 8# maul. I mostly split with a double bit axe. While dealing with some pine that didn't want to split nicely for me lately, I would start with my axe making a nice line from edge to edge, then pull out the 8# which has a blunt "edge", and split the rounds with that.

I will say that if you get the fiskars splitting axe, get it with the longer handle. The short handle keeps you closer in, and will give less force of impact on the wood.

 

I have a 27x and it works well and I like it better than the 8# maul since it is lighter and very effective especially in clear wood. Gnarly knotty wood is a pain but that is what I use the hydraulic splitter for. Most of the splitting I do is with the hydraulic splitter when I rent one to knock out a lot of wood in semi short order.

 

Are you guys considered a hydronic system, wood powered?

 

My BIL has 2 systems in his house and shop

 

I have the chopping axe and I love it! Super light weight makes swinging it easy. Went camping over the weekend and it splits wood surprisingly well too! I would like to get one of the splitting mauls though just to help with tougher pieces of firewood

 

Most anything by Fiskars is pretty high quality!

 

I keep an X15 in my truck behind the rear seats as part of my " just in case " gear

 

http://www.wired.com/2013/12/put-away-the-axe-this-stove-can-burn-an-entire-tree/

 

That looks really fucking awesome. Not sure about practicality of it though, short of having a nice open area to bring it in and set up a log.

 

I was at a big shop in up country Maine many years ago and they had a system like that with rollers on the supports and an over head crane to lift the logs. It was a hot water system and they cranked it to the max for maybe 2 hours or so then enjoyed the hot water heat from the storage tank for the next 6 hours or so. There is a co. not far from me that sells gasification boilers his house is the show room he has 1200 gallons of insolated storage tanks and uses radiant heating to heat the house no problem having to feed the boiler in the middle of the night the 1200 gallons of hot water is more than enough to go for hours.

 

Got a lot of the white oak tree split up some thing close to 2 cords so far probably another 2 left. The tan colored wood is the white oak that stack is 4X4X16 the wood in the trailer is about 1/2 cord maybe a bit less because it's tossed in (park it next to the splitter) Now for you guys thinking about filling your Tacoma the trailer is 8X5X about 2 high the weight is between 2,200 to 2,500# possible another 400# more it's pretty damn green. There is no way I would take that trailer on the road it is only towed behind the tractor.