Quadra fire needs feeding every three hours!

[bholler]

Ok never run an IR so I wouldn't know I just have never seen a stove that you run with all the controls closed in my mind that is pore design that means you really have no control over the fire if the normal setting is closed. I could be wrong but that is my thinking.

 

[begreen]

I do split pretty small which definatly makes it dry faster. If I needed to dry three years worth I could not burn wood I just don't have enough room.

That explains it then. If I burned just small splits in the big belly of the T6 I would be fighting runaways. I season hardwood for 2 years and softwood for one. That seems to work out pretty well for us.

 

[bholler]

And I am not telling anyone they are wrong for seasoning longer I just have never seen the need and I tell people to check their wood after a year in my experience unless they are really large splits lots of times it is dry. That being said I will sometimes have a tree that does not want to dry like others and that needs more time for what ever reason. I have never had a problem with runaways with my cawley

 

[begreen]

The Cawley was a good stove, but it is a different design than modern stoves. Like my 602, the air supply can be closed off.

 

[bholler]

yeah I know I work on modern stoves all the time and as I said earlier my father has an older quad 3100. He generally doesn't have issues with runaway either but it has happened to him before

 

[Bobbin]

Thanks for answering my "wicked dumb" question about whether "size matters"! We have a lot of red oak rounds in need of splitting and I know from experience that red oak takes its own sweet time drying. I will insist that it be split "small" and we'll employ the single row, full sun/wind exposure to hasten things along.

 

[ArsenalDon]

I could be wrong

Could be.

 

[Colorado Boy]

With 8-900 flue temps this could end up being a non-event. But a


Some folks like to burn large thick splits for the longer burn time. They take longer to season. What size splits are you reducing the oak rounds to?

Hey begreen when you load you're stove do you put medium splits on the bottom and bigger splits or rounds on top close to the burn tubes or the opposite of that? Just wondering what would burn better?

 

[bholler]

I am sorry don but a stove which basically only has one burn setting by your description of having the controls shut all the way to burn normally is poorly designed. The only time I have seen anyone having to run their stove that far shut down they had excessive draft due to a really high stack and they had trouble controlling it. I don't know your situation and I am not saying that is what you have I just think it is strange to run a stove shut down the whole way.

 

[northwinds]

I am sorry don but a stove which basically only has one burn setting by your description of having the controls shut all the way to burn normally is poorly designed. The only time I have seen anyone having to run their stove that far shut down they had excessive draft due to a really high stack and they had trouble controlling it. I don't know your situation and I am not saying that is what you have I just think it is strange to run a stove shut down the whole way.

It really isn't strange at all. Many of us run our secondary tube stoves with the air shut or nearly shut. The variable is in when you start turning the air down. If you start shutting down the air at 400 or 500, everything turns out just fine. Even with the air control shut off all the way, there is still air getting through to the stove on a modern secondary burn tube stove. Each stove/chimney system has its own sweet spot. Mine is about 90% closed for most burns. I burn big splits on reloads. 3 or 4 splits can fill my 3.0 cubic foot firebox.

 

[begreen]

Hey begreen when you load you're stove do you put medium splits on the bottom and bigger splits or rounds on top close to the burn tubes or the opposite of that? Just wondering what would burn better?

If starting a fire from scratch I will usually start off with 3-4" splits, laid N/S with a 2" gap between them. Then larger splits on the side and some kindling criss-crossed over the gap. Light the kindling by either putting balled newspaper under it or a part of a SuperCedar. Once the fire is going well add medium sized splits. On reload I rake the coal forward center and load the same way but with large dry splits on both sides of the center hot coal pile. I almost never cut or load rounds unless they are under 3" diam..

 

[Colorado Boy]

If starting a fire from scratch I will usually start off with 3-4" splits, laid N/S with a 2" gap between them. Then larger splits on the side and some kindling criss-crossed over the gap. Light the kindling by either putting balled newspaper under it or a part of a SuperCedar. Once the fire is going well add medium sized splits. On reload I rake the coal forward center and load the same way but with large dry splits on both sides of the center hot coal pile. I almost never cut or load rounds unless they are under 3" diam..

Ok thanks Begreen. Just wondering if the big splits or big rounds would burn better close to the burn tubes or on the bottom of the pile if loading east west? I have a bunch of 6 to 8 inch rounds that should help with overnight burns.

 

[BrotherBart]

With the 5700 those larger rounds are primo for N/S overnight burns. Drag the coal bed across the front and load the rounds N/S with the front ends on the coals and with an inch between them. Place small rounds in the valleys between them. Get a front to back "cigar burn" rolling shutting down in steps to maintain the fire. Things will burn at six hundred forever coming down to 500 for a long time. Little trickey to do the turn down to a steady burn but worth it.

My favorite overnight load in the 30-NC when it is real cold.

 

[ArsenalDon]

Each stove/chimney system has its own sweet spot

is poorly designed.

AGAIN.....every setup and stove is different....not that hard to understand that we all have different setups.