Madison Wood Stove (new to wood stoves)

[spirilis]

A robust criss cross of kindling at the top of the firebox for the "top-down" fire has always been the key for me to getting the Madison to run reliably. Gotta give it a lot of time... don't turn down the draft control (pull it out) until at least 450F on the stovetop a few inches in front of the flue pipe. I've had splits that were a bit underseasoned and they tend to snuff the flame out and make the secondaries die off, darkening the firebox. Eventually I open the door carefully (letting the smoke clear out so less smoke floods the house) and add more kindling on top, leaving the door cracked a minute or 2 to catch the kindling and let that keep the stove rolling until those splits are finally dry enough to burn on their own accord.

Lumber scraps (not pressure treated) work great for this kind of thing. Having some biobricks or other wood briquettes handy can help "muscle through" some not-so-dry wood (but the steam from that wood is still going to do a number on the secondary combustion and overall vigor of your fire).

 

[Johawk]

I cut my own, but I know that's not an option for many Long Islanders. I have a couple acres which abut some public land, so I get a lot of free windfall wood.

Because almost all of my free wood is pine, I also paid a tree service to drop off a truckload of oak- I paid $300 for maybe 10 cords of wood there. (It sounds cheap because most of the price of wood is in the labor required to cut, split, and stack- if you make friends with someone who runs a tree service you can probably get as much free wood as you can haul off.)

Side note: The giant grabby-arm on those tree trucks is COOL.

Ah nice! Funny thing is I had a bunch of trees (oak) on my property 2 years ago that I had taken down and at the time, I let the tree company take most and then neighbors take the rest. The worst part is that I actually use to do tree removal (womp womp) years ago, but not so much anymore. I have a log splitter and chainsaws so I'll definitely start doing the roadside pickup. I just had a late start this year.

Side note: Hell yeah they are, I use to have a lot more fun things like that, but I got into the blue collar field and have been slowly dying every since LOL just kidding but yeah, if only I'd had known then what i'd be needing now ha.

 

[Johawk]

A robust criss cross of kindling at the top of the firebox for the "top-down" fire has always been the key for me to getting the Madison to run reliably. Gotta give it a lot of time... don't turn down the draft control (pull it out) until at least 450F on the stovetop a few inches in front of the flue pipe. I've had splits that were a bit underseasoned and they tend to snuff the flame out and make the secondaries die off, darkening the firebox. Eventually I open the door carefully (letting the smoke clear out so less smoke floods the house) and add more kindling on top, leaving the door cracked a minute or 2 to catch the kindling and let that keep the stove rolling until those splits are finally dry enough to burn on their own accord.

Lumber scraps (not pressure treated) work great for this kind of thing. Having some biobricks or other wood briquettes handy can help "muscle through" some not-so-dry wood (but the steam from that wood is still going to do a number on the secondary combustion and overall vigor of your fire).

Thanks Spirilis, that sounds a lot like what was/has happened to me. I'm glad to see i wasn't alone with the smoke issue at first too.

 

[mitchell721]

Welcome to the forum. I have the same stove to its finicky but once you get it down its a great stove. I have a stove pipe probe thermometer and magnetic type. The trick for me on a cold start is top down like you are doing leave the door cracked until she gets going a little and by cracked I mean just so the latch is inside the wall 1/2 inch gap or so then when you see wood burning and temp is around 200 on the stove I just start it on the latch ramp (I'm sure not correct terminology but you know what I mean) however don't push the handle down tight yet, you will see a difference in the flames once it's around 275/300 I push the handle down at that point. Then around 350 I start slowly turning it down (pulling air control out) pretty soon secondarys should start. I just dial it back until around 3/4 out/closed. And let her roll. Like I said there's a learning curve.

 

[Johawk]

Welcome to the forum. I have the same stove to its finicky but once you get it down its a great stove. I have a stove pipe probe thermometer and magnetic type. The trick for me on a cold start is top down like you are doing leave the door cracked until she gets going a little and by cracked I mean just so the latch is inside the wall 1/2 inch gap or so then when you see wood burning and temp is around 200 on the stove I just start it on the latch ramp (I'm sure not correct terminology but you know what I mean) however don't push the handle down tight yet, you will see a difference in the flames once it's around 275/300 I push the handle down at that point. Then around 350 I start slowly turning it down (pulling air control out) pretty soon secondarys should start. I just dial it back until around 3/4 out/closed. And let her roll. Like I said there's a learning curve.

Awesome, thanks Mitchell! That makes me feel better again to know I'm not alone in finding it to be a bit finicky.

 

[BradleyW]

You're expectations on burn time from a cold start might be a little high. My burn cycles are usually much shorter on a cold start than when I load on a hot bed of coals, and I get less usable heat from it. I think it is just a function of not being able to fit as much mass in the stove when there is so much space between the smaller pieces of wood. Once you get your bed of coals, you can load it full of nice sized splits and then you can see what your realistic heat time or burn time is.

 

[Johawk]

UPDATE!

After getting lots of great advice and info from you all, I think I'm in good shape now. The last few burns, I've gotten 4-5+ hours of solid heating time out of a full load, and after the initial load, I've been able to get about 3+ hours off of less than full loads (for testing purposes, but otherwise, I plan to use full loads regularly). I've gotten the temp up to 550 and kept steady at around 375-400 for a good majority of the burn time.

So, it wasn't the wood, it was definitely me just not understanding how to properly use my stove lol.

I did get a moisture meter as a few of you had suggested and tested about 7 or 8 pieces of wood and they all averaged around a 11-13%.... so that stuff well DRY! Ha

I definitely keep playing around with it and try different types of wood. I'd also like to give the envi and bio bricks a shot too, just have to decide where to get them from and how much to order.

Again I really appreciate the help you all have given!

 

[mitchell721]

Your welcome. Glad to hear that it's working out for you. There's always things to try especially as topics grow on here and members come up with thoughts and ideas. For example some guys load n/s (front to back)but I prefer e/w( left to right). The moisture meter will definitely be handy as you start collecting wood and not sure of moisture content until you far enough ahead to know your good. Your burn time sound like they are about on par, atleast for me anyway. As you may have seen that's a topic of discussion quite a bit because there no true definition of what burn times from the manufacturer mean. It seems the consensus is from start to no more glowing embers to retire stove from. mine tends to hover around 550 to 650 also (that is with blower running anyway) so that sounds good too. Also as a word of caution make sure you don't reload too hot or it will definitely cause a mini heart attack

 

[mncvy99]

You are not doing anything wrong I do not believe, I have the same stove and I cannot get a night of burn time out of it. Should have spent another 500 and gotten a better stove. I am not getting nearly close to 6 hours of heat time. If I get 3 to 4 hours of useable heat that is max. And I have to put only 2 pieces of wood at a time as I also have very poor control of the flame with this stove (least I feel). Mine runs in the 500 to 650 range even with the damper pulled out, but if I load it up for a long burn with 6 nice pieces of wood, it just eats up the wood and burns upwards of 800 to 900 degrees with the damper shut down all the way and I have no way of slowing it down. This is really a serious issue. I am using seasoned ASH, and it is 16% moisture. I am going to install a flue damper to slow it down and see what that does, no reason we cannot get a nice 6 hours out of a FULL load of wood with a slow steady burn.

 

[Mike K]

You are not doing anything wrong I do not believe, I have the same stove and I cannot get a night of burn time out of it. Should have spent another 500 and gotten a better stove. I am not getting nearly close to 6 hours of heat time. If I get 3 to 4 hours of useable heat that is max. And I have to put only 2 pieces of wood at a time as I also have very poor control of the flame with this stove (least I feel). Mine runs in the 500 to 650 range even with the damper pulled out, but if I load it up for a long burn with 6 nice pieces of wood, it just eats up the wood and burns upwards of 800 to 900 degrees with the damper shut down all the way and I have no way of slowing it down. This is really a serious issue. I am using seasoned ASH, and it is 16% moisture. I am going to install a flue damper to slow it down and see what that does, no reason we cannot get a nice 6 hours out of a FULL load of wood with a slow steady burn.

I have the same stove, installed last year and fought with it last year. This year, peace o cake. It definitely won't run wet wood, not without pulling your hair out and lots of babysitting.
Anyway, I'm concerned about your damper control not shutting down your fire (or at least slowing it down). Mine, you pull out that damper lever and the flames drop immediately. If I was you, or maybe you have already, I'd pull the rear panel off your stove and make sure your damper lever is indeed hooked to the damper control, it sounds like it's not, and I've seen dumber stuff with new products.