Wood Stoves

[thollandpe]

Re: cleaning out the stove - I bought an ash vacuum. Basically a metal canister shop vac with a metal hose and motor sealed inside a fabric filter bag. There is a temp sensor in the motor that shuts it off if the temps get too high, either from ash choking the motor or a fire inside the canister. So far so good. Cleaning the stove is pretty easy because the Morso turns everything to powder. But emptying the vac canister is inevitably a mess. So that gets done outside sway from the house. Our gardener friend cautioned us not to dump directly into the woods as it is not great for plants (gets too alkaline if it accumulated,) but she said adding it to compost actually works well, as long as we aren’t burning cords per week. The ash helps balance ph and adds a few important nutrients. So that’s where it goes and gets turned under the rotting fruits and vegetables periodically. Potatoes seem to like it. We have two potato plants growing in there right now, but the deer keep pruning them.

+1 for adding ash to compost (plus any nuggets not fully burned, that’s biochar). Our compost pile is a thriving worm rave, year round. Wrigglemania.

Now if I could just figure out what to add to take care of avocado pits, peach stones, and THOSE FUCKING PLASTIC PRODUCE LABELS. Because wood stove ash and kleenex (we’re allergy sufferers) balance the moisture nicely and disappear in short order.

[j44ke]

+1 for adding ash to compost (plus any nuggets not fully burned, that’s biochar). Our compost pile is a thriving worm rave, year round. Wrigglemania.

Now if I could just figure out what to add to take care of avocado pits, peach stones, and THOSE FUCKING PLASTIC PRODUCE LABELS. Because wood stove ash and kleenex (we’re allergy sufferers) balance the moisture nicely and disappear in short order.

The squirrel here carries off the avocado pits. I don't know what he/she does with them, because I was under the impression that avocados could only be digested by apes and humans but maybe the pit is different. Put out the compost and 5 minutes later there goes the squirrel carrying off a pit in its mouth. I keep expecting to turn a corner in the forest and find a lovely avocado grove.

[72gmc]

Memories of a delightful, impish tour guide stopping our horse-drawn wagon in the Waipi’o Valley so that she could pluck a ripe avocado from a tree. I hope this becomes possible in your paradise, Jorn!

[caleb]

Today's below zero start was a bit too brisk for skiing, but just right for cutting wood.

[j44ke]

I like that sled. I have a small pile of maple that would be easier to retrieve if I could slide it along. We'd need some snow too though.

[caleb]

I like that sled. I have a small pile of maple that would be easier to retrieve if I could slide it along. We'd need some snow too though.

That's just a common Otter sled, and you're right that it's super useful. You could probably find all sorts of uses for it around your homestead. It's basically a wheelbarrow and garden cart for the wintertime.

Slightly less common, these are supposed to be the Super Record of cargo sleds: https://www.airframesalaska.com/Pulks-s/2160.htm

[Too Tall]

Caleb, rounds like that prove to me you'z a real strong dewd ;) Nice work bub.

[j44ke]

That's just a common Otter sled, and you're right that it's super useful. You could probably find all sorts of uses for it around your homestead. It's basically a wheelbarrow and garden cart for the wintertime.

Slightly less common, these are supposed to be the Super Record of cargo sleds: https://www.airframesalaska.com/Pulks-s/2160.htm

Thanks. Their trailers look interesting also. I'd need something to pull one though.

My current sled with the top bits of a black cherry that tied itself in knots during a wind storm a while ago. Trunk took several trips with the wheel barrow to get it out of the woods and then several trips uphill in the back of the Volvo to get it to the garage.



Maple tomorrow. I'm going to split the big stuff where it is. Just too many trips otherwise.

[ides1056]

The squirrel here carries off the avocado pits. I don't know what he/she does with them, because I was under the impression that avocados could only be digested by apes and humans but maybe the pit is different. Put out the compost and 5 minutes later there goes the squirrel carrying off a pit in its mouth. I keep expecting to turn a corner in the forest and find a lovely avocado grove.

The squirrel thinks its an acorn from the Mother Tree.

A stone boat came with the farm we bought: a sheet of pretty thick sheet steel with a cable to tow it that hooks onto a hitch. You can haul major weight with it.

Nice to see a Volvo being put through its paces.

[caleb]

My current sled with the top bits of a black cherry that tied itself in knots during a wind storm a while ago. Trunk took several trips with the wheel barrow to get it out of the woods and then several trips uphill in the back of the Volvo to get it to the garage.

Nice work. Maybe a little utility trailer soon?

[j44ke]

Nice work. Maybe a little utility trailer soon?

Yeah. Need to get a hitch. Would make life easier definitely.

[caleb]

Caleb, rounds like that prove to me you'z a real strong dewd ;) Nice work bub.

Thanks. Sometimes I need to wake up sore to convince myself I'm not dreaming.

[Too Tall]

Thanks. Sometimes I need to wake up sore to convince myself I'm not dreaming.

That's a tee shirt.

[Too Tall]

What does the hive like for fireplace insert woodstoves? Our insert is 15 yrs. old and getting long in the tooth.

We have about 12" of ledge infront of the fireplace which the woodstove can be exposed.

[jmgorman]

I the last house, we had a Vermont Castings Montpelier from Acme stove in Rockville. I was very happy with the stove and Acme's installation and support. It heated a too-large house through several days lost power without any trouble. Looking back (now that we have a really crappy fireplace) I'm astounded at how efficiently it burnt wood. It was slow and hot and always had a bed of embers still burnin

What does the hive like for fireplace insert woodstoves? Our insert is 15 yrs. old and getting long in the tooth.

We have about 12" of ledge infront of the fireplace which the woodstove can be exposed.

[j44ke]

What does the hive like for fireplace insert woodstoves? Our insert is 15 yrs. old and getting long in the tooth.

We have about 12" of ledge infront of the fireplace which the woodstove can be exposed.

We have sample size of one - a Morso 5660 B insert. But it heats the house and burns wood down to a fine powder with only a few marble-sized chunks. It likes fire starters, which the instructions recommend. Using them, I can get the fire going pretty quickly and keep the glass pretty clean. Helps that we have a ready supply of vertically-aged ash to burn. Last night I put in a big piece of red maple after heating things up with the ash and it was still glowing when I went to bed. The sliding damper lever is key. We decided not to get the blower attachment when installed, but that might have been a nice option to spread the heat around a bit more actively.

[ides1056]

We put a Jotul insert in a rental house with a fireplace. Lined the chimney with SS. It's a bit hard to clean at the bend- pushing down from the roof. There's a baffle/heat exchanger that has to be removed to do this. Not a huge pain but not a snap. The blower works well as long as the mice haven't nested in it. So far so good with a number of different tenants who are not always the best about maintaining appliances...
The wood has to be 16" on the nose, and the firebox is not very big, but its a good source of supplemental heat.

[Too Tall]

Thanks gents.
J.G. Acme installed ours as well and the SS flue.

[72gmc]

We have sample size of one - a Morso 5660 B insert. But it heats the house and burns wood down to a fine powder with only a few marble-sized chunks. It likes fire starters, which the instructions recommend. Using them, I can get the fire going pretty quickly and keep the glass pretty clean. Helps that we have a ready supply of vertically-aged ash to burn. Last night I put in a big piece of red maple after heating things up with the ash and it was still glowing when I went to bed. The sliding damper lever is key. We decided not to get the blower attachment when installed, but that might have been a nice option to spread the heat around a bit more actively.

Dad had an insert with the blower in his last house. There were things about the insert that I didn’t like—the sliding damper was neither solid nor smooth feeling, and the door handles absorbed too much heat. But the blower was brilliant at distributing warmth from embers all night long.

[j44ke]

you may ask yourself well, how did I get here?