Splittin' wood tips.. the old fashoned way

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Oh and.... this stove has a CAT baffle built into it, burns the gasses as well. So when you open the door, it is far from violent. Interesting to watch it burn the gasses as well. You can see the gasses flame out of the baffles.
 
I never paid much attention to honey locust because I've never burned much of it .However with dry black locust it must drive off the volatable gasses and if the air intake is just right it burns with a blue flame about 2 inchs above the firewood stick .It kind of reminds me of a gas flame .

Now you have to have a good coal bed below to get that blue flame but it's neat to watch.
 
Cobleskill said:
I split some Chesnut Oak once. We don't have much of it around here. I remember the splitter building up pressure with no results. All of a sudden it would let go with a bang. Never saw any other wood do that on a regular basis.
Click to expand...

Most of the oak I split is Chestnut Oak. It's great to split by hand, get in a good hit and, the halves can fly 10' to each side ... two piles out-of-the-way ... cool ... keep on splittin' :)

Tru dat, Stig! I've read there are anywhere from 55 to 70 varieties of oak native to the US. Even saying Chestnut Oak {Quercus prinus} doesn't get it done ... there's also a Swamp Chestnut Oak {Quercus michauxii} which has leaves like a Chestnut {Castanea dentata} but bark similar to an Eastern White Oak {Quercus alba} ...

But, that could go on ad nauseum ... :lol:
 
Al Smith said:
I never paid much attention to honey locust because I've never burned much of it .However with dry black locust it must drive off the volatable gasses and if the air intake is just right it burns with a blue flame about 2 inchs above the firewood stick .It kind of reminds me of a gas flame .

Now you have to have a good coal bed below to get that blue flame but it's neat to watch.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:
 

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Exactly Al. Now it might just be my stove and the wood mayb should have been seasoned more. But it is black locust and it burns as you describe if I get the air just right. Can't shut the draft like oak or pine though until the dang stuff is about all coal. If you do, it just eventually goes out... and never quite all burns.
 
It probabley depends on the design of the stove .I never crank it down until I get it burning fairly hard .The fire never went out all last winter even once .

Mrs Smith thought it had once but I stirred the ash bed tossed in some tender dry ash and off it went again . Bless her heart,city girl .She forgot this old country bumkin has been around wood stoves since Shep was a pup ---long time .

This insert stove is not really large but if you get a good coal bed by burning something that coals up well like oak then top it clear up with hickory it will hold heat about 12 hours .As a norm though probabley closer to 6-7 on a normal burn over night .During the day add wood about every 2 hours .It'll hold the front part of the house at about 80degrees if you want .
 
Yeah I get er going good before I progressively shut the air down... I usually start out with some pine, add oak or elm, then if I need it really warm, the locust. Mostly burn oak and pine though. Pine works nice during the day shouldl the chill just need knocked off. Fact is, we probably burn more pine than oak. Just not near as cold here in the winter as where you are Al. Rarely nights below 25*.
 
I like combinations of wood for burning too. I usually want the heat fast in the morning when it is very cold in the shop, really dry stuff, but then more longer lasting slower species like Elm or Chestnut. Still somewhat green wood like Oak makes for longevity as well.
 
If I stoke this thing with all oak and let it get it on, then turn it down.. It'll run 12 hours HOT and make everyone want to get nekkie.... Best to do that when the kids are in bed ;) :lol:
 
It used to be common place for temps below zero for weeks on end but not so much the last several years .We have this big giant lake to the north of us called Erie which pretty much sets the weather patterns .At the same time the Siberian express coming down out of Canada that freezes our tail feathers off but that hasn't hit us for some time .Quite frankly I don't miss it at all .

I guess a lot of it has to do with the jet stream which is just gobbley gook to me .If it's cold it's cold is all I know .You can't do a thing about it except escape to Florida if you have the money .Then you have to deal with hurricanes .That be the case you'd just as well stay in the frozen tundra ,sit by the fire ,drink beer and pass gas .I've been doing that very thing for decades .
 
For me, the best splitting surface is a stump, left in place and cleanly cut. Not often available near the home stack, but fine in the field. It takes very well the axe's hits, saving your energy and doesn't bounce at all like bare ground.
Even you can shape it partly with a little slope to accept the uneven logs, small angled cuts or bent logs.
 
Adam_P said:
Fiona, I think he's talking about Trev from http://treetools.co.nz/
Click to expand...

No, Trev is in Melbourne. New Zealand prices are way higher than here. That looks like a good shop and carries a bit more stock but he can order stuff in for you.

Just had a quick look, Buckingham Ergovation $825 on sale v $649. A few small things are close but postage would kill it. Thanks for the link.8)

I'd have check with Butch to post a link so I'll pm it. He was on TB but I think he went to facebook. Bermy might remember him from another forum, he's no longer there.
 
You guys have too many Trev's to keep track of. :) Sorry to add any confusion.

I split some spruce yesterday for kindling. Not much fun. More knots than my kid playing with 200ft of throwline.

The cherry I got last week it's bad at all.
 
Confusion? Just don't confuse New Zealanders with Aussies.

They talk funny and work too cheap.

I bet I'm the only one here splitting cocas palms. I stopped doing them a while back because of the dump price but had to do three last week to get the whole job.

My mate told me they were up to $200 a ton so I chipped what I could and brought the rest home, thought I'd split them and mix them in later.

This afternoon I took some dead Coral Tree blocks there. That stuff is lighter than cork when dry, cost me $70 and the price for palms now is $276 a ton.:O

Splitting palms this weekend, screw that.
 
Just for shits and giggles.......

Exploding log
Sorry no embed on that one...


But......

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Kldc_R9yfmQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Something I think I will try given the right conditions and opportiunity :D
 
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