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[Ridgekid]

Fired up the Green Dragon again. I have a funny feeling this will be for the season.

BTW: I have two cameras at my house. I finally figured out how to share the one for the backyard for view of our CB5036. Instructions are in my signature.

[MTJAG]

Glad to see you are smokin'...

[Ridgekid]

So here's my count so far in 4 days.

10 pieces to start it Oct 20th 4:44 pm
8 pieces to restock Oct 21st 10 pm
6 pieces to restock Oct 23rd 8 am

So that averages to 6 pieces a day. We are still on a learning curve.

Wife used a lot of hot water the last two days catching up with laundry, taking her baths and the dishwasher use.

I find the Green Dragon smokes a lot less if I allow her to burn what I fed her first. It's also easier to stir the ashes when she's almost done "eating".

When I stock, I stack it like a pyramid in front of the door although she has ample room for more.

We'll see how she does when the snow starts flying.......

[MTJAG]

I can't count that high.   I feed mine a few small limbs/branches that litter my property and then throw in three or four blocks about 20" long and 6" in diameter...that gets me through
A 24 hr time in moderate temps between mid 30's at night and mid 60's during the day.  We are expecting snow on Wednesday so I expect my consumption to increase
 

[MTJAG]

I've been stirring my ashes and coals around, then pulling them to the front.  Then I load the new stuff on the backside of the coals.

I guess it's ok to burn pallets with nails in there too.  I had some old pallets laying around and decided to get rid of them...suppose I need to collect the nails on my next cleaning...

[Ridgekid]

I don't think the nails will hurt anything. Some of my kindling has nails in it. Never thought about it hurting anything.

As far as wood count, I'm keeping a journal. I will calculate my daily wood usage average and I might be able to figure how many pieces in a cord. OK, it won't be accurate, but at least I can see if my estimate of using 8 cords this winter will be close. So far I seem to be on track, but winter really hasn't arrived yet.

[MTJAG]

Yesterday, I put a stump from a pinion pine into my OWB.  I had to rotate is several times to get it all the way in the door, but finally got it in there before the snow started.  I should have taken a picture of it before putting it in because it was so gnarly with roots and limbs sticking out this way and that.  That is the beauty of an OWB though, because it can take something like this and use it as fuel.  And believe me when I tell you that a pinion pine stump is great fuel since it has lots of resin.

[Ridgekid]

We'll get a good test in the next 48 hours. "Wintery mix" in the forecast.

Thus far still averaging 6 pieces every 24 hours. It could probably last longer but the wife couldn't miss her hot baths when they are free!

[MTJAG]

Well, with temps that dropped to 7 degrees last night, I found I didn't quite have enough wood loaded in the OWB.  My indoor furnace kicked on this morning around 6:15.  I looked at the indoor supply line thermometer and it was showing 145 degrees, so I went outside and my OWB was at 151 with just a few embers. 

[Ridgekid]

Stump was gone too? You must get serious burn times!

I put 4 pieces in yesterday morning at 6AM and went out at 10Am this morning and I was down to pretty much ambers. Temps have been dropping all morning so I put 12 pieces of wood in. We'll see how long that carries us.

[MTJAG]

Nothing but ash and a few nails from the pallet...when it's 7 degrees, that OWB is puffing.  Looks like you're in for it tonight with snow moving in.  You might want to stoke it up a bit more than you've been doing for the past couple of weeks.

BTW, are you getting a lot of smoke out of the door on yours?  Mine smokes alot...to the point that I am getting smoke residue on the panels above my door.  I just wonder if this is common or does it have a relationship with the restrictor I have in the exhaust pipe?

[Ridgekid]

Nothing is coming from the door on ours. Her whispers of smoke are larger now that its down to 34F. (You can tell it's running in the camera now) I don't think it will all burn up overnight (or at least I hope not) but I want to see how long 12 pieces carry me. I'll be up around 6am to check it out.

If you have smoke coming out door, my prediction is the small pine pieces get so hot that the restrictor plate can't get the smoke out fast enough.  I think I would stick with lager pieces. That should be good news. No more splitting.

[MTJAG]

Does yours smoke out the door before a burn?  For instance, if your are in temp range and you open the door, do you have smoke coming out of the door while you are loading?

[Ridgekid]

Oh yes...it smokes when the door is open. I try to open the door right before a burn, less smoke. In fact no matter when I open it, I step back and let the smoke clear before sticking my face anywhere near the opening.

[dirtryder]

Nothing but ash and a few nails from the pallet...when it's 7 degrees, that OWB is puffing.  Looks like you're in for it tonight with snow moving in.  You might want to stoke it up a bit more than you've been doing for the past couple of weeks.

BTW, are you getting a lot of smoke out of the door on yours?  Mine smokes alot...to the point that I am getting smoke residue on the panels above my door.  I just wonder if this is common or does it have a relationship with the restrictor I have in the exhaust pipe?

Isn't it great to be able to burn wood the size "that fits through the door"! It makes my wood prep so much easier.  All the uglies, y's, stump ends.......all easily burnt!
As far as the smoke and smoke stain, and I'm guessing you mean it smokes out the door....when you open it ....that is absolutely normal. I have 3 friends and family members with CB's and there are several around my area and ALL of them that have been in service for a year or longer all have the "smokey" stain above the door. I agree with Ridge, if you can fill just before a burn cycle, you get much less when you open the door.