2022/23 VC Owner thread

[Woodsplitter67]

hahaha.... that thought crossed my mind too.... Pressure treated is so expensive right now though.... at least it was when I built the sheds. You have a low cost method for a more permanent structure?

Last thing I want is to have the wood rot in place.....

P.S. you might wonder why I built two sheds instead of one bigger one.... Boneheads in town decided any structure > 100 ft^2 requires a permit.... So being a libertarian, I made mine slightly less than that....each. 10x8 on the inside.... The center roof is simply supported by the other two, I can take it down easy if I have too. I should put wood in there but then I need to move my Kubota implements....

I got 4 Rome wasn't built in a day

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

Move It Once!

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I am envious of all this. Easily my biggest mistake this season was not having my wood set up properly. I must have moved and restacked wood 4-5 times. This won't happen next year. I have been mapping out a plan to have this all set up to move smoothly. Some trees coming down in the next couple months and start processing some more. First one up is some Cherry that fell on my neighbors property. Then every single Beech tree so I don't have to clean up the leaves next fall.

City kid from NY I am determined to get this dialed in go as smooth as possible. Every day it gets a little bit better. Found the best way to figure it out fast was committing to heating the house with wood and having no choice but to make it warm. I have used 1/3 tank of oil so far this winter so I would say midterm report is a success.

@arnermd still have those cad plans? Seems like a shed I can build in my yard that would work great. My floor of pallets with a tarp over it doesn't work so great

 

[Willcgt77]

I am envious of all this. Easily my biggest mistake this season was not having my wood set up properly. I must have moved and restacked wood 4-5 times. This won't happen next year. I have been mapping out a plan to have this all set up to move smoothly. Some trees coming down in the next couple months and start processing some more. First one up is some Cherry that fell on my neighbors property. Then every single Beech tree so I don't have to clean up the leaves next fall.

City kid from NY I am determined to get this dialed in go as smooth as possible. Every day it gets a little bit better. Found the best way to figure it out fast was committing to heating the house with wood and having no choice but to make it warm. I have used 1/3 tank of oil so far this winter so I would say midterm report is a success.

@arnermd still have those cad plans? Seems like a shed I can build in my yard that would work great. My floor of pallets with a tarp over it doesn't work so great

The Processing being streamlined definitely takes a bit of brainstorming to map out but well worth it. I love the cages, just need a piece of equipment to move around. We are both determined to make this work. BK Ashford is the backup plan! Good Luck!

 

[arnermd]

Move It Once!

I have seen those cages on Youtube..... are they expensive? Too bad my Kubota will never lift them..... I need a bigger tractor!

 

[arnermd]

I got 4 Rome wasn't built in a day

you know..... I don't see any cross stacked ends there. You are getting lazy with all them fancy wood sheds and end braces.... Real men cross stack ends....

And really great men build them Swedish wood huts..... never tried myself. Real works of art....

I am getting pretty fed up with tarps....

 

[Willcgt77]

I have seen those cages on Youtube..... are they expensive? Too bad my Kubota will never lift them..... I need a bigger tractor!

I try to find them for free, If not free $30 to $50 each.

 

[arnermd]

I am envious of all this. Easily my biggest mistake this season was not having my wood set up properly. I must have moved and restacked wood 4-5 times. This won't happen next year. I have been mapping out a plan to have this all set up to move smoothly. Some trees coming down in the next couple months and start processing some more. First one up is some Cherry that fell on my neighbors property. Then every single Beech tree so I don't have to clean up the leaves next fall.

City kid from NY I am determined to get this dialed in go as smooth as possible. Every day it gets a little bit better. Found the best way to figure it out fast was committing to heating the house with wood and having no choice but to make it warm. I have used 1/3 tank of oil so far this winter so I would say midterm report is a success.

@arnermd still have those cad plans? Seems like a shed I can build in my yard that would work great. My floor of pallets with a tarp over it doesn't work so great

I am sure I still have them, I will dig them up. I used an open source cad package called freecad, it was a bit wonky but it worked after a fashion. I may have save the drawings, might be easier for you to work with that. I know I have a spreadsheet for materials. Looks like I can attach files here on the forum, I will give it a try.

My first year or two was a debacle too.... you figure it out. I went for 10 years without a wood shed, it is kind of a luxury.

I have oil fired hot water baseboard in my house. I used to leave the heat on set to 50, just for backup in case.... but the last 3-4 years my thermostats have literally been set to off..... This fall I fired the system up just to make sure the circ pumps still worked, they were fine.

Only oil I use is for hot water, about 200 gal per year. I have been thinking about getting a hybrid (heat pump) hot water heater so I can shut my furnace off completely.... not there yet though.

 

[GrumpyDad]

you know..... I don't see any cross stacked ends there. You are getting lazy with all them fancy wood sheds and end braces.... Real men cross stack ends....

And really great men build them Swedish wood huts..... never tried myself. Real works of art....

I am getting pretty fed up with tarps....

View attachment 308521

Some guy in you tube testing using a rack with overhead cover and these, and the rack won hands down to season faster. I cant see how you could pull wood off this without getting wet wood. Looks good though. I do like it. And it seems you have a great place for all the little nugs and uglies. Right in the center.

 

[arnermd]

@arnermd still have those cad plans? Seems like a shed I can build in my yard that would work great. My floor of pallets with a tarp over it doesn't work so great

Trying to post files here.... if it does not work message me your email and I will send.

Looks like it will not let me post the cad or excel files. The PDF's are drawings I made, not sure if it is a complete set.

 

[arnermd]

Some guy in you tube testing using a rack with overhead cover and these, and the rack won hands down to season faster. I cant see how you could pull wood off this without getting wet wood. Looks good though. I do like it. And it seems you have a great place for all the little nugs and uglies. Right in the center.

Yeah but this looks super cool..... You can only pull wood off on dry days....

I often wondered.... if you left wood uncovered how dry would it get.... What did they do in the days before poly tarps and metal roofing?

I guess water proofed canvas tarps have been around since the pharoahs.... or earlier...

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Yeah but this looks super cool..... You can only pull wood off on dry days....

I often wondered.... if you left wood uncovered how dry would it get.... What did they do in the days before poly tarps and metal roofing?

I guess water proofed canvas tarps have been around since the pharoahs.... or earlier...

there's a reason you dont see alot of old cabins.. many burned due to chimney fires

 

[GrumpyDad]

Trying to post files here.... if it does not work message me your email and I will send.

Looks like it will not let me post the cad or excel files. The PDF's are drawings I made, not sure if it is a complete set.

Just post them to google docs, and share them with anyone. Then post the links.

 

[GrumpyDad]

Yeah but this looks super cool..... You can only pull wood off on dry days....

I often wondered.... if you left wood uncovered how dry would it get.... What did they do in the days before poly tarps and metal roofing?

I guess water proofed canvas tarps have been around since the pharoahs.... or earlier...

Ive burned very wet wood before in my fireplace without much of an issue aside from some sizzling. That usually dries out quickly and then burns fine. It's when a piece of wood is subjected to constant saturation that it starts to take in that water and then weighs 10x what it should. By the time it dries, it falls apart usually. Those are pieces that fall to the ground and arent found until the spring thaw.

 

[Eman85]

Yeah but this looks super cool..... You can only pull wood off on dry days....

I often wondered.... if you left wood uncovered how dry would it get.... What did they do in the days before poly tarps and metal roofing?

I guess water proofed canvas tarps have been around since the pharoahs.... or earlier...

They used wood shingles on houses, wood will shed water. I've had uncovered stacks that I don't cover until it's fire season. The only problem with open stacks is leaves, they hold the water and cause problems.

 

[Eman85]

so basically a pellet stove that takes 22" long pellets haha

That's why home heating went from open fireplaces to bluetooth controlled HVAC systems. Granted cat stoves are finicky but burning wood isn't easy unless you have a computer controlled automatic feed pellet stove, all fun and games until the power goes out.
I'm still working on a woodburning air conditioner myself.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Move It Once!

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were you in a tree taking the one picture looking down at the totes

 

[arnermd]

That's why home heating went from open fireplaces to bluetooth controlled HVAC systems. Granted cat stoves are finicky but burning wood isn't easy unless you have a computer controlled automatic feed pellet stove, all fun and games until the power goes out.
I'm still working on a woodburning air conditioner myself.

Certainly inconsistent fuel is a big driver in burn quality.... Inexperienced people think wood is wood and it just all burns the same. We here know better.... With consistent fuel controls get a lot simpler.

Loss of power is definitely a factor for me, yet another thing I love about owning a wood stove. That and I do not have any trees that grow pellets on my property..... hahaha

Not sure if you were joking or not, but chilling water with heat is a real thing, look up absorption chillers. We have the technology and it can be done with low grade heat, the question is.... is it cost effective?

 

[Willcgt77]

were you in a tree taking the one picture looking down at the totes

Ha ha, kind of. I was in my lift.

 

[arnermd]

Last nights burn:

• Placed one large ash split (17% MC) at the smoke inlet, rest of the load was oak.
• Enagaged cat right away, temps rocketed very quickly to 1000
• Cut back air to 20% and cat crashed, reduced air to fast.
• Increase the air to recover, slowly reduced air to 10%. Cat dropped but recovered, went to bed.
• One hour later cat alarm went off at 1650, closed my key damper went back to bed.
• Woke to a big pile of coals and blackened wood, opened air up to 50% to burn it off.

Conclusions:

• Ash did not seem to keep things under control, will try again. Maybe a full load of ash, just to see....
• Want to try running all the time with my key damper closed, keep draft way low.

 

[Willcgt77]

Last nights burn:

• Placed one large ash split (17% MC) at the smoke inlet, rest of the load was oak.
• Enagaged cat right away, temps rocketed very quickly to 1000
• Cut back air to 20% and cat crashed, reduced air to fast.
• Increase the air to recover, slowly reduced air to 10%. Cat dropped but recovered, went to bed.
• One hour later cat alarm went off at 1650, closed my key damper went back to bed.
• Woke to a big pile of coals and blackened wood, opened air up to 50% to burn it off.

Conclusions:

• Ash did not seem to keep things under control, will try again. Maybe a full load of ash, just to see....
• Want to try running all the time with my key damper closed, keep draft way low.

View attachment 308551

Last nights burn:

• Placed one large ash split (17% MC) at the smoke inlet, rest of the load was oak.
• Enagaged cat right away, temps rocketed very quickly to 1000
• Cut back air to 20% and cat crashed, reduced air to fast.
• Increase the air to recover, slowly reduced air to 10%. Cat dropped but recovered, went to bed.
• One hour later cat alarm went off at 1650, closed my key damper went back to bed.
• Woke to a big pile of coals and blackened wood, opened air up to 50% to burn it off.

Conclusions:

• Ash did not seem to keep things under control, will try again. Maybe a full load of ash, just to see....
• Want to try running all the time with my key damper closed, keep draft way low.

View attachment 308551

My success. Had more Ash In the Firebox, Ash on Bottom, Oak in the Middle, Ash on top. Cat Peak temps 1336 last night. Cruising at 1000. Who Knows though! Its like the weather in New England…….Never Know what your going to get.

 

[GrumpyDad]

Last nights burn:

• Placed one large ash split (17% MC) at the smoke inlet, rest of the load was oak.
• Enagaged cat right away, temps rocketed very quickly to 1000
• Cut back air to 20% and cat crashed, reduced air to fast.
• Increase the air to recover, slowly reduced air to 10%. Cat dropped but recovered, went to bed.
• One hour later cat alarm went off at 1650, closed my key damper went back to bed.
• Woke to a big pile of coals and blackened wood, opened air up to 50% to burn it off.

Conclusions:

• Ash did not seem to keep things under control, will try again. Maybe a full load of ash, just to see....
• Want to try running all the time with my key damper closed, keep draft way low.

View attachment 308551

Do you have a picture of wood out of stove that you intend on loading into the stove the next reload? I'm curious.

What does everyone think about cherry wood? I have a ton of cherry in ready to burn pile.

 

[arnermd]

Do you have a picture of wood out of stove that you intend on loading into the stove the next reload? I'm curious.

What does everyone think about cherry wood? I have a ton of cherry in ready to burn pile.

Just missed it, I just reloaded. All oak, no ash, Key damper full closed.... Went outside to check for smoke and realized it is pretty warm today.... might have to open some windows this afternoon. Oh and not much smoke....

No comments on cherry, I have never burned it.

 

[Willcgt77]

Just missed it, I just reloaded. All oak, no ash, Key damper full closed.... Went outside to check for smoke and realized it is pretty warm today.... might have to open some windows this afternoon. Oh and not much smoke....

No comments on cherry, I have never burned it.

I really Like cherry. I save it for warmer temps. It wont roast you out, nice medium burn. Seasons really fast.

 

[Willcgt77]

My Overnight load, Ash-Oak-Ash

 

[GrumpyDad]

Just missed it, I just reloaded. All oak, no ash, Key damper full closed.... Went outside to check for smoke and realized it is pretty warm today.... might have to open some windows this afternoon. Oh and not much smoke....

No comments on cherry, I have never burned it.

Hmm. Ive never tried all oak before. Im going to have to try and burn all oak on Saturday. I have to reload my deck face cord from the main piles so surely I'll find enough oak for this experiment.

I see your last burn you got about 10.5 hours. You also seem to keep your stove alot lower than mine, having the griddle temps at ~400 degrees or lower. Ive been targeting no lower than 450, and that usually results in 4th from lowest setting once a get a load caught, but again that's mixed hardwoods not oak. Who knows what will happen with oak.