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[MarkP]

I've had my stove burning for just over a month.  I cut a little over 7 cord of good hardwood, and have it split and stacked in my shed.  As I was using it the first week or so, I got to thinking about all the pine and sasafrass that fell in Feb. 2003 in a bad icestorm we had here in west/central WV, and then I took the Stihl and went to the woods. 

I cut a couple cord of "junk wood" that was down in a twisted mess, and found that even though the pine was getting pretty soft, I could load the stove full and get easy 24 hour burns.  Best part, I save all my good wood til bad weather hits, and I get the chance to clean up the farm without having the risk of wildfire by burning wood/brush piles.  The pine that fell onto other trees is still pretty hard, but the ones on the ground are soft enough that I can poke my finger in it, AND IT STILL BURNS.  I'm gonna keep cutting the pines and might not have to use my good wood til things get bitter.

[Jason]

I'm doing the same thing, Mark.  I have some great big logs in the yard that I just kind of worked around for the last couple years because they are too big to work with conviently.  Well, now they are starting to get pretty soft and rotten so if I don't use them I'm going to lose them.  I got them cut into chunks earlier this summer and I kind of just split them as I need them.  Sometimes I'll just hand split them with a wedge and sledge hammer and just sort of chunk off what I need.  I'd never drag that kind of falling apart, bug riddled wood into the house, but it's just fine for the outdoor furnace.  As you said, it lets you keep the good stuff until the real cold weather hits. 


 

[bruey]

how does that almost rotten wood burn? i have tons of it all over my farm but was afraid it would burn way to fast and be a waste of time, a little help please.

[Jason]

Not as badly as you'd think, Bruey.  I burn some pretty ragtag stuff and haven't had a bit of trouble with it.  Some I have to leave in bigger chunks because if I tried to split it more it'd just crumble.  This is the time of year to burn that stuff-before it gets bitter cold.  Even when the nights actually are cold, I mix some of the old junky stuff in with some of my good wood and there's still plenty left when I fill the furnace the next morning.  If it's relatively warm or for the daytime run while I'm at work I sometimes use all old wood and it's no problem at all.  If you're sceptical, start throwing in a little at a time until you hit a level you're comfortable with.

[mikenc]

Same here been burning half rotton pine, wood chips, bark just what ever to clean up wood yard. Have noticed pine smokes bad but don't have any close neighbors to complain. Warm days wheel bar load of bark and chips last about all day.Sure saves on good wood.

[dmorris]

Same here, try to burn junk wood the first part of the heating season. OWB has no trouble burning rotten wood!!

[MarkP]

I haven't found any of the pine rotten enough that it WON'T burn.  I brought it in, and stacked it in the shed to keep it dry, and it seems to dry out really quicker than I thought for spongy, rotten wood.  I haven't used 6 sticks of "GOOD WOOD" in the past month.  Our temp last night was around 31 degrees, and the old stuff held well,  heating my 1680 sq. ft. house, and 1000 sq. ft. of my garage.  Aquastat temp is set at 135 degrees as of right now.  I wil be turning it up a bit soon.

As for being worth the time, I can cut a full size truckload of pine and sasafrass in about 20-30 minutes, and it is light enough that I can load a huge piece withtout splitting it.  Easy to lift into the truck too. Not like a 12" round  X 24" piece of white oak. 

I have no neighbors close by, as my house is kinda' secluded, so smoke isn't an issue.  I don't burn garbage in mine, but I'm a contractor, so I go through ALOT of scrap wood and materials, so it all goes in the OWB as well.  Cardboard makes alot of ashes, and I do my best to recycle it if possible. 

Heats the house,,,,,,, cleans up the farm.   2 birds,,,, one stone. 

I LOVE MY OWB.