Does anybody band brush and burn
- Thread starter Brian in Michigan
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I save all the small 1" and less for kindling - sure, it's a pain, but I do it during nice fall days and it's surprising how much you can gather in a short time. Plus, stinks to be out of kindling and doing this gives me a nice supply of bone dry starters. Never thought about bundling the 1" pieces together - sure would burn hot and fast! Cheers!
Not here. That just goes on a brush pile. I'll cut down to maybe 3-4" but stop at that. I suppose if I were really needy for wood I might cut it but I'd have to be pretty hard up. It takes a long time to buzz up much in quantity and it burns fast. I just find that it is better to put the time into sawing larger stuff. Sometimes I'll even leave 5" stuff in the woods. If it is hard to get at or too much work, I just leave it.
I sometimes cut small stuff if it is straight, easy to get to, and I have some extra time. I have never bundled any of it up. Bundles of kindling might be convenient, but seem like a lot of work.
I tend to cut pretty small . . . smaller than most folks I know since I hate to waste wood . . . even if it's free . . . but I generally limit myself to 2-3 inch wood or larger. This small stuff is nice for the shoulder season fires (fast and hot) and to "fill" in the firebox on those wicked cold overnight burns.
I cut up all that brush, wrap in fiber twine, and burn it in my kiln in big bundles. I wouldn't do it in my stove unless it was pretty small bunches.
I have been cutting most stuff down to 1". I bundle it up for moving purposes but it goes in the stove one stick at a time. It takes forever to dry with bark on though. I have some stuff that has been cut for two years and some of the pieces still sizzle in the stove! I may be a little more selective in the future and only take stuff big enough to split if it has bark on it. It takes a lot of cuts, a lot of pieces, and a lot of arm-work to get a stove-full of these pieces however.
I have seen a machine advertised for short rotation woody crops (poplar) that will cut the stuff and bundle it in 6' long bales. It would be neat but probably not efficient to have 8" diameter mini-bales of brush for starting the stove.
I have seen a machine advertised for short rotation woody crops (poplar) that will cut the stuff and bundle it in 6' long bales. It would be neat but probably not efficient to have 8" diameter mini-bales of brush for starting the stove.
Since we start the stove every day (only one overnight burn so far), 1" rounds are really handy. I load the stove with a bunch of them and they heat it up pretty quickly. By the time they burn down the stove is nice and warm and I can put in some real wood.
I have an Outdoor Wood Boiler. I also have a root grapple (claw) for my Bobcat. The grapple takes a large pile of brush and crushes it down into a somewhat (too) large of a bundle. But it gave me the idea of how slick it would be to have an attachment that would compact brush into a bundle of say 12 - 16 inches in diameter that could then be bound with twine and cut to a length of say 36 inches.
We waste so much wood, in the form of brush, when we cut. There are a lot of BTUs in that brush and I hate leaving it out in the woods. I may have to build something....
I read about one fellow who made something similar to a chipper but which "chunked" the brush into 6 - 8 inch lengths. I suppose the chunks could be stored in a trash can and then shoveled into the boiler. I have days where I burn coals -- which basically means I put very little wood in the boiler and therefore the damper stays open much of the day and feeds enough air to burn the coals down to nothing but ash. On those days, I could shovel the "chunks" into the boiler just to keep some flames going throughout the day when I'm burning coals and don't need much heat.
We waste so much wood, in the form of brush, when we cut. There are a lot of BTUs in that brush and I hate leaving it out in the woods. I may have to build something....
I read about one fellow who made something similar to a chipper but which "chunked" the brush into 6 - 8 inch lengths. I suppose the chunks could be stored in a trash can and then shoveled into the boiler. I have days where I burn coals -- which basically means I put very little wood in the boiler and therefore the damper stays open much of the day and feeds enough air to burn the coals down to nothing but ash. On those days, I could shovel the "chunks" into the boiler just to keep some flames going throughout the day when I'm burning coals and don't need much heat.
I use the small branches for a cold star but never bundled them. I just make a small pile and crush them down so kind of a bundle.
I can't imagine trying to 'band' together my oak and cherry nappy-headed branches.
I've twined together some pine branches kindling, though. But, that was to give them away because I'd NEVER get my baskets back. The twine I have burns faster than the wood and it all falls apart anyway. (threw a couple in the fire pit once)
I've twined together some pine branches kindling, though. But, that was to give them away because I'd NEVER get my baskets back. The twine I have burns faster than the wood and it all falls apart anyway. (threw a couple in the fire pit once)
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