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[Forever24]

I bought a big, old, beautiful farmhouse this summer. It has Johnson Wood Burner that is outside that can be used to assist the boiler. I did some research  before I bought the house and figured I would do more later, once I needed to know more. Well, life happens, and now it is -23 degrees (wind chill) here in Illinois and I really would like to utilize my burner to help offset the cost of propane. I just bought a pick-up for hauling wood and stuff, which I guess is a good start. I'm a girl, so I'm not real up on the whole chain saw, and wood burner thing. My boyfriend checked over the burner and said it looks like it is in good condition, and ordered a manual for the burner. I did not get to discuss the burner with the former owners, although the neighbors said the owners used it every year. I guess I need some help from y'all if you are willing to share some tips and instructions! I have been scouring the county for 'wood' and posting up on fb and other areas. Obviously I don't need split and seasoned wood, but chunks. Right? I'm actually going to read the manual tonight and hope that it gives me a clue. I'm also going to check some of the threads that I see here on this forum, for information and ideas. In the mean time, please feel free to enlighten me with your knowledge. Thanks! 

[Wood Nutt]

My first suggestion is that it might be a good idea for you to buy a truck load or cord of wood to get you started and see how the outdoor boiler works and if you want to take it on.  I kind of equate my outdoor furnace to my 3rd child since it needs some periodic attention and daily feeding!  Buying your first load of wood should give you an idea of whether you want to invest in a chainsaw and spend all of that quality time with the boyfriend in the woods cutting firewood too.  Chainsaws are great tools, but you should find someone who has run one and get some pointers on what to do and not to do. 

My grandpa told me firewood warms you at least 5 times, 1 when you cut is, 2 when you load it, 3 when you split it, 4 when you stack it, and 5 when you burn it.  He was pretty much right on (which he was on most things) and about the only steps I have cut out with my stove is the splitting time and to some extent the stacking time (I park the trailer next to the stove).  We all have different stoves and different systems (and opinions) on how to run them and this site is a wealth of knowledge and will give you plenty of ideas and good advice on how to go about getting yours started up.

Welcome aboard!!!

[muffin]

You can't read the manual.  Isn't that against the law or something!  Anyways, I too would recommend you get a cord or two delivered to get you started.  The wood typically doesn't need any special preparation.  Just in sizes that you are comfortable loading into the boiler.  Mine seem to do better with larger logs so I try to keep em big.  Make sure you check the water level and test it.  Check the pumps and make sure they are all working.  Then fire it up and enjoy the warmth.  It is good to check the temp at the boiler versus where it comes into the house to make sure your main lines are not loosing a lot of heat.

Couple cautions.  When opening the door, crack it a bit and give it ~30 sec to stabilize.  Especially if it just finished a burn cycle (at max temp).  In this condition when the door is opened it can flash out the door and you might loose some hair.  Also, hair lose condition, wear gloves and don't lean in to fast when tossing the logs in.  Gets real hot in there.  Easy to singe the eyebrows.

 

[Forever24]

Thank you so much Wood Nutt!  You are right. I SHOULD check this thing out before I invest my time and money into it. I recently resigned from my job in order to be more of a caretaker for my adult disabled daughter and my twin grandsons (whom all live with me now). I think that a lot of the 'work' you mentioned will be done with the help of the 6 year old 'shysters' as we affectionately call them, and their mother. Her disabilities are cognitive (brain injury from a car wreck) so she will at least be able to help with some of the physical part. I moved us all to the country for a better quality of life, and I believe that hard work never hurt anyone. Your grandpa and I would probably get along great!
There is a wood shed in close proximity of the burner, so I will be using that to my advantage. I have had many well intentioned people tell me polar opposite things about wood. One man down the street has some old, nasty logs and such in his yard. His wife said I should come get them, but he said they are too old and dried out to burn. I thought wood needed to be dried to burn well. I'm so confused with so much to learn! 

Muffin~ just saw your post! I will make sure to check those things....ok, fine,. I'll have the BF check those things. I don't have a clue. lol

[Forever24]

LOL at 'can't read the manual'. That is such a man thing. 

[Wood Nutt]

Muffin, not reading the manual only applies to the male of the species, come on now.    All of the things that were pointed out are true, my eyebrows and lashes were reminded of that last week.  Did you know if you singe your eyelashes, afterwards when the bottom and top lashes meet when blinking, they act like velcro?  Its a really annoying feeling.

As far as the free wood being too dry, with the lower moisture content, it will just burn a little faster but should burn just fine unless it is rotted.  You will know that when you pick it up, if its really light and falls apart, its rotten.  Green wood would probably be worse since it has to drive off the excess moisture and wastes a bunch of energy doing so and that wasted energy never makes it into your house as heat.

[hondaracer2oo4]

You will need to find out if it has water in it as well as the lines. If it does and has no antifreeze in it then you may be looking at a big frozen ice cube this time of year. If it was either drained and the lines blown out or was run with antifreeze you will be ok. That would be my first suggestion on looking into. After that you will need some wood. My first year I was way behind and basically had a truck load of green logs delivered and cut them up and through them in. Lots of smoke for the first hour after every loading when it was burning the water out of the wood. Not the most ideal situation but if you don't have neighbors close by to complain you will be ok. Also remember green wood only gets about 70% or so of the usable btus out of the wood because of the fact that it needs to drive the moisture out first. Seasoned wood is best, not to dry but not to wet. Any specific questions many of us would be happy to answer.

[Forever24]

I sure hope I never have to experience the velcro lashes thing!  I'm learning as I am reading other threads and what is being posted here. Man, I thought I was such a country girl until I found this place. I guess my 'country' tendencies lie INSIDE the house. Maybe I need to go join a pie making forum!
Thanks for all of your help. I will be checking in as I discover how things work with my burner. I'm sure I will have a few funny stories to tell also.

[Brad]

I will 2nd the "open the door and wait 30 seconds" thing...  the other day I should have waited 35 seconds cause I singed my beard...  I smelled it right away and came into the house fully expecting to have no eyebrows and ended up the brows were fine but the hair on my chin was not...  Oh well, it was time for a beard trim anyway 

[DaveWertz]

A good chainsaw (or 2) A LOG SPLITTER, files, a good chair, your brother in law who lives with you rent free, truck, trailer, or maybe a dump truck. Im working on the dump truck now. Wood Nutt I like the 5 steps. Never thought about it like that lol. That was pretty good

[stratton]

Forever 24,
for what it is worth… have a full understanding of system before you do anything. operation of unit, pumps and most important how is the johnson tied in with your INDOOR heating appliance IE boiler-furnace. Sounds to me like you posses the grit and determination for the job. LET THE ADDICTION BEGIN!!!!!!  good luck LUKE

[Forever24]

Well, we tried to get things going with the burner this past weekend. Turns out a blower motor needs to be replaced. Dan ordered it and will be making a second attempt this weekend. We have a pickup truck load of wood stacked in the wood shed now. The guy who delivered it was very excited to see that I have an outdoor burner. He said he can bring me 'choice' chunks of wood for it. He has a tree trimming business I guess. Dan, my BFF (best friend forever and my boyfriend) was nosing around on this forum a bit to get some insight. Let's see if he ends up joining too!
Thanks for all the tips, laughs and warm welcome!

[ITO]

24, sometimes your indoor system can keep your outside system from freezing if it's setup to do that or else the lines would have to have been blown out with air or antifreeze in the lines to keep them from bursting in cold temps, this would be a thing to find out soon before putting too much time and money in this winter, if the lines are frozen at this point of the season it would be hard(expensive) to get anything going in frozen ground and pipes. That's my 2 cents, welcome to the wild world of wood boiling!

[baldwin racing]

I bought a big, old, beautiful farmhouse this summer. It has Johnson Wood Burner that is outside that can be used to assist the boiler. I did some research  before I bought the house and figured I would do more later, once I needed to know more. Well, life happens, and now it is -23 degrees (wind chill) here in Illinois and I really would like to utilize my burner to help offset the cost of propane. I just bought a pick-up for hauling wood and stuff, which I guess is a good start. I'm a girl, so I'm not real up on the whole chain saw, and wood burner thing. My boyfriend checked over the burner and said it looks like it is in good condition, and ordered a manual for the burner. I did not get to discuss the burner with the former owners, although the neighbors said the owners used it every year. I guess I need some help from y'all if you are willing to share some tips and instructions! I have been scouring the county for 'wood' and posting up on fb and other areas. Obviously I don't need split and seasoned wood, but chunks. Right? I'm actually going to read the manual tonight and hope that it gives me a clue. I'm also going to check some of the threads that I see here on this forum, for information and ideas. In the mean time, please feel free to enlighten me with your knowledge. Thanks! 

forever 24,
welcome to the site.....like mentioned have the lines checked make shure not frozen also check to see if you need to turn on any valves to circulate (not a speller) lol water from boiler to house heater? once you get everything all ready no leakes water not frozen pump working along with blower.....start a fire in it with small wood or kindleing.....as it gets hotter add larger dried wood..... like mentioned open door slowly and wait 30 sec....wait a min....why am I telling you this get your bf out there and be a man like me and do it.....lol good luck and welcome both of you.... I hope your bf joins as well....my wife don't mind putting wood in our boiler either

kelly