Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
All-Purpose OWF Discussions => Fire Wood => Topic started by: the trailmaster on September 26, 2014, 04:45:12 PM
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My friend is trying to use all 4 foot wood in his boiler. The trouble, it so heavy that the wood , oak, maple, and beach, must be split small so he and his wife can handle. I suggest 2 foot and split into chunks. A lot easier any thoughts both over 70 years
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2 foot wood and keep it to the front of the boiler a bit.
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i tried burning 3 foot.useless.your far better to burn 20 inch wood because what
is near the door will burn the hottest.on 3 foot etc the bach 18 to 2 foot just smokes and don`t
create alot of heat.far better off to burn all your wood at full burn and reload then have
an old smoker. ;)
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My boiler can hold a 4 foot piece of wood as well....First couple of years of owning my boiler.. my wood would be 3 foot or larger....Id fill it twice a day..Well the following yr id decided to do 2 foot wood..Come to find out I get the same burning time as the larger wood length..Ever since, all my wood is 2 foot in length..Burning larger length i was wasting wood...
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:post: I'm new to this I'm glad to be able to read this on here, all my wood is 3 to 4 feet, I was going keep them long, easier to stack less cutting. After seeing these posts Im going to do some serious cutting this weekend. Thanks for this posting
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My kids decided to have long and large wood, much less cutting and splitting, I cut my portion shorter and split it a lot smaller as well, made for easier handling for myself or my wife, turns out all my short and split stuff was always gone when it came for the us older farts to load the furnace. So about came a decree, if you cut it and split it, or don't think its necessary, the wood you were in charge of cutting and handling was off limits to anyone else, after the first year, now everything is cut in that 16-20 inch length, and split small enough for anyone to handle. It makes for easier handling and being able to stuff the furnace full easier for long times between loading and there's harmony back in the ranks, every once in a while a large chunk gets through and is left for either when the furnace is empty and there's help around to load them, or the splitter gets hooked up the skid steer and someone has at it to make it more of a manageable size.
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Depends on the diameter of what I'm cutting. Larger pieces I will cut two 24" or so. Anything say around 6-8" I will cut to about 30" or so. Never had an issue with incomplete burns as long as I have a good coal bed going. Probably more noticable during the warmer weather when it is idling a lot.
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I try to cut 24" +/- 6". I use the very long pieces (36") for cold nights when I need it packed tight. 24" pieces toward the front work better and wastes less wood.
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I too was cutting the smaller stuff long, 24+ inches, and the larger ones around 16 to 20 inches. But I have found that it stacks much easier and neater if it's all the same length. I'm trying to stay around 22" now, and I know everything will still fit in the splitter.
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Whatever fits in the door should burn, but I suppose it would depend on who's loading the stove, whether the smaller wood size is worth the extra work.
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I like my stuff cut about 2' long. And I like to burn the big ones... All nighters I call em. If people are helping me split, I always tell them that if they are wondering if it should be split again or not... Then don't split it. I'd rather have it bigger than smaller.
As long as I can lift it and fit it in the stove, it's GTG.
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Mine is 20 to 22 inches and split. Just find that it seems to dry and burn better for me.
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i find that yeah,bigger round blocks do last longer, but it takes a heck of alot of heat to get those suckers burning
if our stove is natural draft,its hard to get those big ones to produce high heat.
long lasting does not mean a super hot fire
just my opinion
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:post: I'm learning that now duke! :bash:
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all my wood ..thus far..... is 36" long .... I have not /nor do I plan to ...split anything, but I do use trees from 2" to 16"........... and when I'm burning I run a mix of sizes > my boiler has a fan on each end the "flaming Tasmanian devil fire" turns trees to dust :)
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i cut all my hardwood 20 inchs long and i don,t split none of it.
when i need a long burn i split then sometimes in half at about 12 inches around.
but if i need quick heat say the stove got to cool cause of bad wood like pethy or softwoot then
i will split it small and fill her up.the fire nearly comes out the stackand the door and firebox is super clean
and the boiler is nice and hot
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"flaming Tasmanian devil fire" turns trees to dust :)
:thumbup:
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So I am a newbie with OWB's. This is my first year using one after 30+ years of heating with wood stoves. I have a lot of 16/18 inch wood stove ready wood in the shed but I have been harvesting standing dead or damaged trees to use in order to preserve the small stuff for maple syrup come spring, had a shortage of firewood last year. Since my unit has a fan which blows up from under the fire and also above the fire, I have been tossing in 36 inch pieces of Cherry and Ash unsplit on the fire then I toss some beech or maple blocks, around 16 to 20 inch on top, everything burns front to back. Poke them into place with a shovel if needed. No complaints at all. Have used little of my small wood so far. I love OWB's. So going forward I will cut and split some 20/24 inch ( splitter is max 24 " ) for the boiler and the evaporator, and any logs under say 8 inches will be cut and stacked at 36/38 length, not split.
This idea of having a fan blow from under the fire bed is available now in maple syrup evaporators, these all come with an insulated door with heavy latches, my neigbour bought one last year, the fire just roars.
Bob