Clayton 1600 Firing Issues
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brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
I already starting splitting some so there isn't as much in the back.
Just remember that getting ahead is a one time effort. After that you can just restock what you burned one winter. Generally that is doable in late winter and the cooler spring.
Good.job!
Good.job!
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
The same way you eat an elephant, one bite at a time...just work on it a bit here n there, as you have the time/energy, it all adds up after a while! And to be honest, almost nobody would feel like doing much more than that in this weather, and most people wouldn't even do what you did there!
When I decided to get 3 years ahead on my firewood (just so I never have to worry about less than dry wood ever again) it was a daunting task, but the right score came along, and I kept at it on n off all summer, next thing you know, goal met, and now I only have to makeup for what I use each winter (4 cords +/-, since the Kuuma install in 2017) now 10 years later I am at least 5 years ahead and have to sell some off once in a while to make room for what I cut each year, more or less just for fun.
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For fun
What in the heck is a matter with you Na just messin around, I like doing firewood but man it's hard on me. I go load up the trailer and once I get it home I then split and stack. I might just quit trying to do it all the same day. The ash I got was dead proped off the ground for 2 years. The MC was anywhere from 48% to 20%. I think its not right cause ash is suppose to be drier than than. I thinks it's just residual moisture in the wood not in the cells. I had a soaking wet log last year that was so heavy you couldn't even lift it. It measured 68% MC however it was laying on the ground. A few months later it was dry and checked. That's not the first time I've seen that happen. These ash trees were knocked over by a dozer and we're laid over but they were a few feet off the ground. Most of the bark was missing aswell and some of the wood was gray and checked already. I still have to burn it regardless cause it all I got.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
When you're not under the gun, firewoodin is therapeutic...nothing like a nice September day in the woods, getting good exercise, and "free" heat...For fun
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
yep!
That's because you are doing it in the middle of summer and you are feeling you HAVE to. It's a job to you right now.
All my cutting is typically done between December and February and splitting is done in March or April. Although this year I actually cut a fair amount outside of those months because I was playing with a 10-10S I recently got going in spring and then more recently we had some storm damage I needed to deal with. I'd much rather be out cutting in 10° temps vs 80°.
Yea I agree it's much easier in the winter. Sucks the place I'm cutting at now is inaccessible in the winter. Plus to be 3 years ahead I would need 18 cords of wood on hand. I will never fit that much on this property unless I stack it in the front yard which I will not do.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Boy those are real nice!
Your splitter will pop those like a balloon, heck those would even split fine by hand I'm betting...
I hope your right.... there's still the whole top 2/3 of the tree left too. Plus there's another 1 right behind it also about the same size. Atleast I can officially say my log splitter is paid for after I split this load. I am going back tomorrow for the rest of it. I'll take a pic after I get all the rounds stacked. I want to wait to split until i get the whole tree here.
Myself...
I want to handle wood as little as possible, once my firewood truck is full i head home and back up to my splitter table.From the truck the big stuff goes to the table then when the table is full i start to split.
As i am splitting, when the piece splits one will be in my hand already. so i grab the second piece and stack them on the row of wood.My wood never falls off the splitter on to the ground.
If i have a big chunk that has 4 splits in it, the same applys, i split it in half holding one split the other returns to the table and the first half is split and stacked.
![[Hearth.com] Clayton 1600 Firing Issues](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/load-10-webp.328706/ "[Hearth.com] Clayton 1600 Firing Issues")
I want to handle wood as little as possible, once my firewood truck is full i head home and back up to my splitter table.From the truck the big stuff goes to the table then when the table is full i start to split.
As i am splitting, when the piece splits one will be in my hand already. so i grab the second piece and stack them on the row of wood.My wood never falls off the splitter on to the ground.
If i have a big chunk that has 4 splits in it, the same applys, i split it in half holding one split the other returns to the table and the first half is split and stacked.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
If your splitter doesnt have the log tables on it, get them, they save a ton of time/work from chasing fallen splits...I kinda think the CL splitters come with them (or at least one) though...
Except for some smaller limb wood this is the whole tree. Everything but the big rounds was gathered today. I gotta take a break for a few day.
I do have a question aswell. This Clayton has shaker grates if a person wanted to burn coal however I seen most dedicated wood burners just have a flat bottom. With these big shaker grates you can't rake the coals forward like you would in a normal woodstove or furnace. I was thinking about getting a piece of plate steel and drilling holes in it so I would be able to rake the coals to the front for a reload instead of just throwing wood in overtop a full bed of coals, do you think this would work? Even though the manual states to put the wood directly onto the grates and not to use another plates or stands for the wood.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
You could line the bottom with firebrick too, cheaper than steel (unless you have some already) and won't warp over time like steel will...those coals are HOT! I'd maybe leave a gap at the front for the ash to fall...or you could close it up and just dig ashes out, done that before on old models. Air under fire (grates) doesn't leave much for coals, and tends to burn dirtier too, not that it will improve immensely on a Clayton.
Well I had my first fire today, just a warming fire. I went ahead and closed the grates off with firebrick. That seemed to choke the air off too much, it didn't want to light good. So I removed 1 brick and that seemed to work better. I got good coals left over to restart after the initial burn. The second load started off ok after I loaded in 4 splits I had to turn the spin damper out 1 spin cause it wasn't burning as hot as the first load. After getting my flue to 280 degrees surface temp I decided to let it go and went upstairs. 30 minutes later I went down and yep, soon as I opened the basement door I knew it was trying to take off. Flue was over 400 degrees surface temp so I turned the air down a full spin. Wood was reduced to skinny wood shaped black coals. Durning this test I covered the barometric damper with foil to see how it went. Thru most of the test the water column maintained a wc of .08. However when it tried to take off it was .1 when I came down the stairs. Next thing is to take the baro off and get a key damper in and try it again. Yes the wood was dry, it was what I had over from last year. It was maple, locust, cherry, oak and tested and 15%mc.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
As I mentioned on the first page, go ahead and add a manual damper in before the baro, but leave the baro there (just foil over the baro) because if you were pulling a .1" draft in warm weather like this, then you will very likely need both dampers to fully control that chimney in cold weather! Holy cow!
How tall is that chimney again?
How tall is that chimney again?
25ft 6" double wall, the furnace is in the basement. That's the problem, I don't think i have enough room for both dampers. I was down there today looking at that. I'd would have to put the baro right beside where the flue enters the double wall chimney. It would be one heck of a squeeze and I don't like clutter so idk what to do. I tell you what your advise for the firebrick was spot on, I put 4 splits in at 340 yes the heater burn up all the wood by 520 however there was still enough hot coals I could have got it going again clear till 9pm. Before I could not let it go more than 3-4hrs or I would have almost nothing left. Remember though the baro was completely sealed off so no air could get through.
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brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Yup, that is part of it, but with weather this warm, you are wasting a ton of heat up the chimney to have that kind of draft...draft is simply a product of temperature differential between the chimney flue gasses and outside air....not much you can do about it with this unit though, well, as long as any bypasses are closed, and baffles are in place
I went down today and took the foil off the damper to look in the pipe and is was clean still. Running the baro there would been a glaze already. What leftover cresote from last year that was stuck on the baro started to popcorn and cook. I checked the door seals and the ash pan door on the back side I could pull a dollar bill thru although it was at the point of ripping the dollar bill. The load door had a similar spot but I only could move the bill 1/16th of an inch so that one is prob ok. I will tighten up the door latches, hopefully it takes care of that. Do you think the fire brick lining the bottom would decrease the performance of the furnace? Seems like it was having a hard time getting enough air unless I just didn't have a good enough draft established before I closed the door. Last year I was getting secondaries also, I didn't see any of that yesterday. Sorry for all the question and such, I'm just trying to take advise of more experienced guys to get myself into a better position this year and without so much of a headache durning burning season.
