Splitting and Burning

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We are now officially into winter. It's cold outside...the snow is getting deeper...and the wood is burning up faster. I never would have guessed how much I would use my new Collins Splitting maul when I first purchased it. Before the snow hit I decided to pull out a lot of the larger rounds from the wood pile and split them. It's nice to have some split wood around when I am loading the stove. The split pieces seem to lay well in the firebox and help my larger rounds burn. Plus, my wife appreciates the split wood as they are easier for her to toss into the Hardy. It's always wise to keep the wife in good spirits! Before I had this maul, I would never split a log unless it was too big to fit in the firebox door. The maul has added a new dimension to my Hardy experience and has made me realize that their is value in split wood.
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Below is a picture of some quick work of mine with the Collins Maul. I split up some large cherry rounds and, despite the cherry being in the wood shed over a year, I could smell the aroma of fresh cut black cherry when the log split open. It's a great smell. Try putting your nose close to your screen and maybe you too can catch a whiff. Sometimes I think the wood is just too pretty to burn. Just like this black cherry you see below. It has a great color and grain. Oh well...in ya go!

Last night the temperature dipped to 12 degrees (f) but the Hardy went easy on the wood. The firebox was about 1/3 full after an 11 hour burn. I haven't done a scientific study on wood usage but I am pretty sure round logs will burn longer than if they were split. There is probably a trade off where the split wood burns hotter but the rounds last longer...but honestly I have too much wood right now to worry about it. Of course, this won't always be the case. I already see my woodpile getting smaller and it won't be long until the snow is gone and I am back in the woods cutting up next winter's stash.
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OWB

My Hardy H2 and Woodshed

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I wanted to post a couple pictures of my Hardy H2, the woodshed, and the surrounding woodpile. If you are thinking of installing an outdoor wood furnace maybe these pictures will help you with your planning. Again...as I have continued to confess, my woodshed is WAY too small for keeping enough wood under roof for a burning season. My woodshed measures 8'x16' and I can stack the wood about 6 foot high. This yields 6 cords of wood under the roof. In reality my shed should have been double this size as I think I average about 12 cords of wood a year in my Hardy.
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This picture is of my Hardy as it sets by the woodshed. You are looking at the path I walk to get to the firebox door, which is on the other side of the furnace from this view. I set the furnace this way so I can conveniently grab a log from under the roof and toss it into the firebox. Also note the extra 4 foot piece of smoke stack. I installed this to keep the embers from shooting into the shed. The extra length helped a lot in directing any errant embers away from the seasoned wood. Finally you can see to the left of the picture how I stack the wood along the Hardy to serve as a wind break. This keeps the snow from drifting as I sit in the middle of a cornfield and the wind tends to really whip out here.

This next picture shows the other side of my Hardy. From this vantage point I am standing under the roof of my woodshed looking at the door to the firebox. I can keep out of the rain or snow while I am dealing with the furnace by standing inside the woodshed. This really is a nice convenience during very cold winter days as I can stay out of the wind and be close to the firebox and ash bin. If you are not familiar with the Hardy, the ash bin is the smaller door on the bottom. I have a shovel I slide into this door to dig out the ashes when they start to build up. The firebox is the larger door. I have learned the hard way that you never open the firebox door without first opening the ash bin. If you value your hair and eyebrows you will open the ash bin door first!

This angle is also from under the roof of my woodshed and it shows the Hardy in relation to the house. My Hardy sits about 50 feet from the house and I placed it to the northeast corner of the lot. This, for the most part, places my house out of the prevailing wind as the smoke usually blows the other way from the house. If you are interested you can see one of my ham radio antennas on the right side of the upper roof. It is a copper J-Pole for my 2 meter UHF rig. But I digress...

Lastly...what would any picture of a Hardy H2...or any outdoor wood furnace...be without the "business end" in action. This is not a big fire when I snapped this shot but I was getting cold and took what was available to me. You really have to be careful when you open the firebox as the Hardy H2 will spit fire at you if you aren't careful. My firebox takes about 2 fillings a day, during freezing temperatures, to keep the house warm. This is a beautiful sight to me. All the work I did this summer to find, cut, haul, split, and stack wood begins to pay me back. My gas bill is still sitting at $0. Just the way I like it!

Merry Christmas from OWB!

Cold, Nasty, Weather

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We had an interesting week with our weather here in Northeast Ohio. Wow did it get cold...and windy...which made the cold seem much more cold than what it really was. This morning I woke up to a hard, driving rain. Outside it wasn't just rain, but ice and freezing rain. The roads were slippery and I saw three cars in ditches on our way for morning coffee.
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This year the wood I am burning in the Hardy H2 has been seasoned for 1 to 2 years. This is the first year I have used "seasoned" wood...that is, having dried out for over 1 year. Until this year I have burned wood that was cut earlier in the spring. It dried over the summer and then went into the Hardy that winter. Last year, however I had a very productive year harvesting firewood which allowed me to stash some wood for next year...which is the case THIS year in that I have a large pile of seasoned wood to burn. What I have noticed immediately is how much nicer, and hotter, the seasoned stuff burns compared to what I had fed into the Hardy in previous years. Don't let anyone tell you different about firewood...seasoned wood makes a HUGE difference in the amount of heat it gives off, and its worth to the user as a resource to heat a house.
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This current cold snap we are dealing with had tested my Hardy and my woodpile but both came thru with flying colors. Two years ago Ohio had some minus teens temperatures and my Hardy never even strained in its role of heat provider. The weather we experienced recently was low-teens temps but with 50 MPH winds. It was awful going out to feed the furnace as the wind just cut right through me. I keep reminding myself that nothing is free in life...even free heat is not free. Consider the cost of chainsaws, splitters, trucks, trailers, gas, oil, chains etc...but also consider leaving the comfort of your house to trudge out to your furnace, in a blizzard, to fill it with logs until you get to do it again before you leave to work the next morning....Who am I kidding, I loved every minute of it. God bless the Hardy H2!
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OWB

Organizing the Wood Pile

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My woodpile for this season isn't that pretty to look at. Don't think it is because I'm lazy...because I'm not...but this year I got my wood in huge spurts and when I was cutting so much, I didn't have the time to stack when I was unloading my truck. Result...the pile got away from me this year. This picture was taken from my upstairs bathroom and you can compare it to earlier photos I took of my Hardy and the wood shed. Of course the wood shed is too small...one of my planning miscalculations when I installed this OWB. You can see the Hardy in the center of the pile. I stack wood around it to serve as a wind break and snow fence.

I am sorry for the shadow as it makes the pile a little hard to see. My pile goes farther to the left of this picture. All the wood to the left is ash, and the small split pile in the center too is ash. In an earlier post I wrote about a big score this fall with a farmer's field, mostly ash, and this is the result. The split stuff was with my new Collins Maul. That was a lot of fun.

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Here is another photo of my wood pile. Here my house is to my right and I am looking east. In the foreground is ash. Against the woodshed is maple. Everything else is black cherry and a little oak.

My plan this year is to burn everything in the shed and then replace that with what is on the grass. Most of my wood in the shed is a year old and I am not pleased with my older maple logs as they are starting to turn punky. I split an old maple log yesterday and it had a mushroom growing inside it. Not a good sign. Each day the weather is nice I am outside organizing the pile. If I took a picture today I think you would notice my progress. So far this season we haven't had snow and that has made managing my wood pile nice. It's satisfying to me to know that my hands have touched every single log you see in this picture. That's a lot of work for "free" heat!
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Smokin

My new Collins Splitting Maul

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I added a new weapon to my arsenal of firewood making tools. It is the Collins 6 pound maul with a fiberglass handle. I was at Ace Hardware and stumbled upon a one-day-only 50% off sale. I went to the sledge hammer rack looking for a good axe and decided to try a maul. I had never used one as I don't make a habit of splitting the wood I burn. I only split a log if it won't fit in the door of my Hardy H2. Here is a picture of my new toy.

I must say that the maul is a great invention. Before the purchase of this Collins Maul I mostly used a wedge and sledge, which works well but nothing like the speed of this maul. If you have a good group of logs, without knots or crotches, a maul just may be your answer. You can have a nice pile of split wood in no time with a maul. This works great. If you do run across a stubborn log you have to spend some more time with it by nibbling around the edges, peeling it like an onion. Be advised that you can forget trying to split elm with a maul but as for the ash logs you see in the picture I knocked these out fast. I was physically spent after splitting two face cords of wood but it was the most fun I have had since running a Dolmar chainsaw! I can see how splitting wood can be a better alternative to a gym membership but anytime you are swinging a six pound steel chisel, the risk of injury has be recognized. I would keep your spectators back at a safe distance too as some of the wood can fly long distances when whacked with the maul.

I have been contemplating the purchase of a hydraulic splitter but to be honest, the maul is a lot faster...assuming you have the right kind of wood and you have the physical shape to trudge through the task. But, of course, not all wood is easy to split. There are elms, sycamores, apple and the like out there...and the ubiquitous stubborn log that just don't seem to split. I ran across a few of those with my new maul and tossed them off to the side until I someday buy my splitter, or borrow my friends. A splitter would be a MAJOR investment and I would only buy one if I knew I could make money with it...enough to justify its expense...selling firewood. I have noticed I am slowly becoming ensnared in the grip of woodcutting addiction. With chainsaws, wedges, mauls, splitters, my Hardy H2...my daily thoughts usually revolve around these. Some of my favorite things!

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Smokin

Happy Thanksgiving from Ohio Woodburner!

Today I give thanks to my 455 Rancher! Happy Thanksgiving from OWB!

The Dolmar 7900...Holy Cow!

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I mentioned in an earlier post that I have this slight addiction to chainsaws. An online forum I frequent, Aboristsite.com has a name for this problem and they call it CAD...or Chainsaw Addiction Disorder. I have it bad. I have noticed that my "wants" and "needs" are becoming blurred and that the world is only populated with saws that I need...desperately. Case in point...please direct your eyes to the picture below and notice the giant red beast on my tailgate. This saw is none other than the vaunted Dolmar 7900. Dolmar is a German word which means "Mean SOB" in English. This saw is 80 cc's of attitude and brute cutting force. I have never heard a German scream before... but if I did, it would probably sound like what blasts from the muffler of this monster.

The bad news is the Dolmar does not belong to me. I am "testing" it for my local Husqvarna dealer who is being heavily courted by Dolmar to sell their saws. I have long heard great things of Dolmars and until now, to me have been almost like the infamous "Sasquatch." Much talked about...but never seen. Anyhow...I am a frequent visitor to my local Husky dealer and I am certain they refer to me as a "pest." But I do spend money there and send them a lot of business. I must be appreciated however as they let me take this bad boy home for a couple days to test drive. For all the wood I cut I could use something like this saw as it would absolutely stomp a mud hole in my 455 Rancher. But I have to face reality and wonder if I REALLY NEED something like this...well...after thinking about it, I do NEED this saw. I figure I could hang onto the Rancher too. You never know when I will need it for backup service. Can someone lend me $700?
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I took the Dolmar and my trusty Husqvarna 346XP out to a very large downed maple today and quickly dispatched the trunk into very usable rounds. The Dolmar 7900 is a screaming monster. It has gobs of torque and has incredible RPM's. The anti-vibration is excellent. I am not sure if the anti-vibe is equal to the Husqvarna 372 XP but it is darn close. It was a true joy to run. I wish I had more wood to cut. My saw had the 20 inch bar but I think the 20 incher leaves too much on the table for the amount of power the saw has. If you NEED a saw this big I would recommend nothing shorter than a 24 inch bar. After I had the logs loaded in my truck I drove over to my friends house where he and his brother awaited my arrival. They had a 16 inch ash log waiting to try out the Dolmar. They too were equally impressed with its power and speed. Funny...however...the big winner of this chainsaw get together was my Husky 346XP. Both my friends marveled over this little beast. It was almost as fast as the 80cc saw and totally creamed their Stihl 360 and 290 Farmboss. They are both now interested in buying a 346XP and the Dolmar 7900. Here is a picture of my Husqvarna sitting next to the Dolmar on my tailgate. Hey, that's over $1200 dollars in chainsaws in the bed of my truck. This is a nice way to increase the value of my old Ford!

Also, for you chainsaw junkies...notice the Pro HD Filter installation on the Dolmar! Very nice isn't it?

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In my opinion...I can't think of a better 1-2 punch than the Husqvarna 346XP and the Dolmar 7900. The 346XP limbs like a laser beam...you point it at a limb and the limb falls off. Once the limbs are off and the tops cut up, bring out the big gun and let the 7900 buck the trunk. Holy cow! What a day! Too bad I have to give the Dolmar back.
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Smokin

Another Day...Another Free Load of Wood

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The Hardy has been burning for 5 full days and so far, so good. I have the house thermostat set at 72 degrees and my morning showers have been noticeably hotter. My Hardy has no trouble heating my house and domestic hot water. The weather in Northeast Ohio is still unseasonably mild, mid 50's during the day...low 40's at night so I have taken advantage of these temperatures to burn up a lot of my small 3 -4 inch rounders in the OWB. When I am cutting up a load of wood I can't get myself to leave all these smaller logs behind so I load them up in the truck along with the larger logs. After 10-20-30 truckloads of wood I notice that I get quite a nice pile of these small logs that I keep in a convenient pile close to the furnace. I like having these smaller rounds as my wife can easily throw them in the furnace and they burn nicely in this type of weather. I will save my big wood for colder weather. Despite how large this pile of small logs is...trust me...it goes fast! You may think you have a lot of wood in that pile but in no time at all, that pile will have disappeared. Sacrificed to the Hardy Gods.
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Today I had a small victory as I got two pickup truck loads of free, already-cut firewood. It was elm...but fear not...it didn't need split. Please see my previous posts about my experiences with elm. When you heat your house with wood...and you have your name out in the community that you are always looking for wood, its funny how many people find out and call you offering you up free stuff. Today, a friend of a friend called me...and said he cut up a tree that had broken in half during a wind storm and would be grateful if I would haul it away. I was all excited until he said that it was elm. I told him that I don't like bringing elm onto my land so that I don't infest my own 60 foot elm but he claimed it wasn't diseased and the largest logs were about 14 inches and wouldn't need split. I decided to jump on it...thinking if the wood looked sick I would give it to my other buddy who heats with a Hardy. (Us Hardy guys stick together you know...) In the back of my head I was worried about the wood as he said the Elm had broke in half...and if you know your trees like I do...you know that a healthy elm doesn't just break in half in a wind storm...they are a very tough and hardy tree. Regardless, I showed up at his house and found some very nice looking logs and tops that were neatly cut to firewood length so, I loaded it up and drove away happy...two loads and life is good.
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I think that if you get a call for free wood...even if the load is lame...you should probably jump on it because it could lead to other opportunities if you network properly. I made my own super lame business cards claiming my "woodmonger" status and I hand them out to people I deal with. It's amazing how effective they work. I get a lot of calls...more than you would think. When you heat with wood and you are committed to NEVER paying a dime for your firewood, you need all the help you can get.
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Smokin

Let Burning Season Begin!

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My wife paid me a compliment today. "You smell like smoke," she said. Of course that can only mean one thing. It's burning season!
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Yes, that's right. I fired up the Hardy H2 this weekend signifying the start of a long awaited part of our year. Now I can put my summer's labor into action. All that wood in and around the wood shed is poised...ready to have its turn to provide heat to the house and family. Northeast Ohio has had unbelievable weather of late. We have been in the mid 60's (f) during the days and the high 40's at night. I don't ever remember the date being this close to Thanksgiving and being able to sit outside for a birthday party...as we did on Saturday. Wow...I guess this is what people do in Memphis in November. The past three years I have averaged my first firing at Halloween but this year I almost made it to Thanksgiving. I was in shorts and a T-shirt when I lit the fire this weekend. The water temperature read 50 degrees when I struck the first match and it was up to operating temperature in about 1 hour...that's 170 degrees. So after I finished up outside I came in to tell my wife the good news. It turns out I didn't need to as she could tell by the distinctive odor of woodsmoke on me that free heat awaits!
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The Hardy is designed to kick on the firebox blower when the water temp drops below 150 degrees. During this initial firing, I unplugged the blower and simply left the ash bin door open and let the natural draft feed the fire. Once the water temp got up to 150 degrees I plugged the blower in and let it do its thing. I wanted to be sure the Hardy was working properly after sitting dormant all summer. Once the temp got to 170 degrees, the blower shut off, the flap closed and all was well. Next, I went into the house and opened the valves that run the domestic water out to the Hardy. I keep the valves closed in the summer. Once I opened the valves, the feed to my domestic hot water heat was routed thru the heat exchanger inside the Hardy and then back into my domestic hot water tank. Voila, free hot water. You gotta love it. Last, I went upstairs and turned off the thermostat for my forced air (propane) furnace and turned on the Hardy's thermostat. I dialed up the heat until I heard the Hardy relay kick on and listened as my blower from the forced air furnace begin to run. I walked over to the closest furnace register and felt the hot air roaring out of it. Let their be heat! After being shut down and dormant since March, the Hardy awoke from its slumber and took off without missing a beat.
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I fed the firebox with small rounds to help build up a nice ash level for this warm weather. I like to run with more ash in the ash bin when the weather is warm as this helps stoke the flames when the Hardy needs more heat. So all I did this weekend was heat my house for free, and entertain compliments from my wife.
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Smokin

The Husqvarna 346XP...and My Sore Back

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Here is a picture of my new saw. It may be recognizable for some...for others you may want to remove your hat in reverence to the one of the most righteous of all chainsaws...the Husqvarna 346XP. I snapped this picture in front of my fireplace the day I brought the saw home. You can still see the dealer tag on the handle. The tag reads "Bad Dude!"

I love chainsaws...and there is so much that I want to write about them that the writing is difficult for me. I don't know where to begin. I figure this new saw, the 346XP, would be a good place to start. Let me tell you something...this saw absolutely screams. I still struggle in fully understanding how fast this saw runs. It is a professional grade saw and I had the dealer set me up with a 16 inch Oregon Micro Lite bar and a .325 Oregon VP chain. I honestly don't know what I am going to do with my 455 Rancher now that I am running this. This saw puts my Rancher to shame. After running two tanks of gas thru this saw I decided to run my Rancher some and I thought I was cutting with a dull chain. I wasn't...the Rancher was just that much slower than the 346XP. If I can offer you some advice...if you are in the market for a new saw and are considering a 455 or 460 Rancher...or the Stihl 290 Farmboss...spend an extra $60 dollars and buy the 346XP. You will thank me when you do. Good gravy is this thing wicked!!

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I cut up a heaping truckload of wood today. A huge silver maple had fallen a couple weeks back and landed on a two-lane state road out here in farmland. ODOT had pushed it into the ditch and there it lay. It turned out that I knew the owner of the tree and he told me I could have it. I used the 346XP for the limbing and tops and I used the 455 Rancher for the big wood. I had to deal with the ditch on the side of the road and that made lugging the wood into my truck a challenge. I had my truck heaped with wood...probably the largest single load I hauled this year. Boy, let me tell you...I am feeling it now. I am really sore and drained from today and I have been laying on an ice pack during the Buckeye's game. Tomorrow I plan to cut again and it may be my last load of the year. I have a surprisingly big apple tree to cut up and some huge ash trunks that will need split before I can lug them into the truck. They are 24 inches round. Ash, as they say, is the firewood for kings. Right now I don't feel like a king...I feel like a beat down king.

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I still haven't fired up the Hardy. The weather this weekend is in the 60's (f) and we are going to stay warm until Wednesday. I am waiting until Wednesday when I can light it around 3 pm and have it up to temp by nightfall. Night comes real early here since the time change. It is totally dark at 6 pm. Tomorrow I will take some pictures of the woodshed. I am real proud of my work this year.

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Smokin

Web Sites and Other Ramblings

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It is getting cold again tonight...25 (f) degrees. The chickens' water had ice on it this morning. I have still put off the initial firing of the Hardy for the season. The weather man is predicting 70's this week so I am electing to save my wood and get as close to November as possible.
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Here is a site I frequent and I want to share with you. It is Arboristsite.com

I am on it daily and I have really learned a lot and further developed my interests with my hobbies of OWB's, chainsaws, and firewood. Check it out. I am usually in the Firewood forum and the Chainsaw forum. I have also purchased things from the site sponsors and I have had only good experiences with them. Give it a visit.
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I caught a little bit of the sniffles this weekend and that, along with the rain kept me from cutting any wood. I have at least three more ash trees to get before I mothball the truck for the winter. I also have a small pile of logs by my wood shed that need cut. I am saving those for last so I can run all the gas out of my saws before I mothball them. I don't cut wood in the winter as my truck is not one to take into the woods on anything but dry ground. With the supercab and the 8 ft. bed, it is notorious for poor traction.
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I promise to start posting more pics in my future postings. I have to take a bunch of pictures of my wood shed and of "Woodpile 2009." Have a great week. I also want to share with you some product reviews of my new saw and personal protection equipment (PPE).
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Smokin

Not Yet

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The weather in Northeast Ohio has been awful. Cold, wet, rainy, cloudy...with a little snow mixed in. I still have yet to fire up my Hardy H2 for the first time this season. Last night and tonight the temps are dipping into the mid-30's and I normally would have fired my Hardy up but the weatherman is predicting 60's this week and...if this is true...I would probably let my fire go out and save my wood anyway. So I wait, and wait for the perfect time to start the Burning Season.
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One thing you must consider when you buy an OWB is that if you are the type of family that goes on a lot of vacations during the winter an OWB may not be for you. If it is the middle of winter, you just can't pack up and leave the home for a few days R&R without considering the OWB and keeping the fire going. Of course if the temperature outside is really cold, and you're gone for a long time, the furnace could freeze up and start breaking pipes but this probably is a worst case scenario. If you let the fire go out in winter for a couple days the OWB may be able to hold in enough heat to avoid freezing...they are insulated pretty good but I don't see how you could do this without worrying while away. We don't go on vacation in the winter so this is not a problem for us. Both my wife and I do our fair share to make sure the Hardy is well cared for. I fill it in the mornings and evenings and my wife checks it during the day. If you have a job that keeps you away from home for the majority of the day this could also be a problem as it is helpful to have a spouse or friend to throw a couple logs on and check the thing out during the day. Your OWB needs attention and if you don't give it...your OWB will let you down.
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Smokin

Getting Ready

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The weather here in Northeast Ohio has been cold and wet since the last week in September. We have yet to get a frost but we have been flirting with the 30's at night for about two weeks. I have yet to fire up the Hardy for the season but I have started to take steps today. My wood pile is good to go. No issues there. I can do a little more stacking to make things neat but I don't have to ration my wood this year. I took the rear panel off and checked the wiring and insulation to ensure the mice haven't messed anything up. I checked the water level and it seems fine. The grates are set up how I want them. and my ash is about 4 inches from the grates.
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As of now I am heating my house with propane. My propane company will charge me $300 to keep their 500 gallon tank in my yard if I don't burn at least $300 in gas each year. I thought of going solo and have them take the tank away but after breaking my ankle last year I kinda woke up to the prudence of having a backup system in case I cannot fulfill my duties of furnace feeder this winter. So...I burn propane in the fall and the spring just enough to keep the "man" happy with me. I don't like spending that much money since I could spend it on something better...like a chainsaw...but I look at it as insurance and quit stressing over it.
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I was hoping to fire up Smoky (my daughters named the Hardy that) once November hits but the way the weather has been I may have to start earlier this year. One problem I have noticed when I heat with propane when the Hardy is cold is that condensation tends to form on the heat exchanger sitting inside my duct work and the water sometimes drips down inside my forced air furnace. The water in my Hardy right now is as 50 (f) degrees so the temperature difference, when the propane is burning, causes the condensation problems. If I could do my installation over again I would add a valve on both the supply and return lines going to the heat exchanger to keep the cold water from carrying away my heat when I am burning propane.
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Smokin

The Wood Game

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I have been slowly amassing a VERY large pile of firewood for this season. I estimate that what I had left over from last winter, combined with what I have added this year, that I have about a 2 year stash of firewood. If you look at the old pictures of my wood shed from a previous post, all the wood to the right of the picture was burned up last year. What is in the shed and the logs to the left are all still there...so I have started off the year in the "black" so to speak.
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I really paced myself this year with acquiring wood. I never once got burned out or over worked. I also came across a lot of wood that was already cut...the owner called me up and asked if I would take it off his hands. I got seven full pickup loads of wood this year that was already cut. Funny to me about wood that is already cut...is I still have to lug it, haul it, and stack it...which is all work. All the fun...the cutting...was done by somebody else!
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Most of the wood I cut came from local farmers who bulldozed down trees. They know I am always looking...and pretty efficient...so they call me and I go cut it up and haul it off. The farmers around here just seem to despise trees. Trees do nothing good for them. Trees shade their fields and take up valuable space that could otherwise be used for corn or soy beans. Also, the farmers around here have no use for firewood as most of them have gas wells on their land and get free gas at their house. It is nothing for a farmer to bulldoze all the trees into a city sized pile and torch it. So when they call me about a row of trees just knocked down, I am on it like a hobo on a hotdog. I get it while its gettable. Another benefit from getting trees from farmers is that I can usually drive my truck across their field and back right up to the tree I am cutting to load. That saves my back and saves me time.
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If you are considering purchasing an OWB...I hope a Hardy H2...you have to be ready for the work in finding wood. It is a never ending game. To me, the "Wood Game" was the most pleasant surprise...other than the warm house...in buying the OWB. The Wood Game was the one thing I failed to recognize when deciding to go with an OWB for heating my house. It is A LOT of work. Don't be fooled. Even if you buy your wood...which I would tell you to NEVER buy wood...you still have work to do. It will never go away. To some, The Wood Game is the reason they hate their OWB or have given up on it. At least for me, I get a lot of satisfaction looking out at the enormous pile of wood by my Hardy and know that my hands have touched EVERY single log out there. The Wood Game is my favorite hobby now. To find people who have the wood I need...then working out a deal for me to get it...then me working my schedule to cut, haul and stack is a great sense of pride.
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Smokin

Ash Time

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I made a major score this week with wood. A farmer...less than 1 mile from my house just bulldozed down about 40 trees that separated his two fields. The majority of them are ash...some cherry, some oak...but mostly ash. The are laid out in a hay field, no mud, no rocks. All the trees are lined up in a row...all waiting for me to cut them up. I have been hauling out load after load for the entire week. This has been the most fun I have had since I can remember.
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I have been cutting the tops and the big wood. I probably won't have to split much but I am sure I will have some that will need split. Ash, I hear, is an excellent firewood...it burns hot and splits easy. Honestly, from all the wood I have ever burned up in my Hardy, I have never dealt with Ash. My wood pile is getting pretty big these days. I haven't stacked it yet...its just a big unmanaged pile in and around my shed. I won't organize it until the weather cools. I don't see the need to overheat myself...I did that enough this summer cutting and hauling logs.
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Smokin

Ugh

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I have been a bit under the weather and haven't had the energy to sit at the computer and write. Even though I appreciate everyone's support with this blog...I still find writing difficult when my eyes and nose are burning and my throat scratchy.
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This current cold I have reminds me of another reality with an OWB. My Hardy doesn't seem to care how I am feeling, if I am confined to the bed with the flu, have two broken legs...whatever...the OWB needs fed wood or he will simply quit working for me. If you heat with gas, all you have to do is pay your monthly bill, lay in bed, and suffer. With an OWB, you have to drag your sorry behind out of bed, trudge out to the woodshed, and fill the Hardy with logs. Sometimes I wonder if all the work I do to heat my house is worth it. Maybe this is the wrong question to ask when I am in the dumps...but still I go out there and toss in the logs. Of course my wife is here to help...but everyone's situation is different. We all worry about catastrophic injury that would keep us from earning a paycheck and paying the bills...but with an OWB, you have to realize that a minor illness or a major catastrophe (broken leg etc) can really crimp your ability to have a warm house.
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I hope to be back on my feet here in a couple days and back to my old, happy and motivated self...and by then I hope to get back up to speed with my posts. Of course you are all welcome to come over and toss in some logs for me...or if you prefer you can write a post for this blog. I never turn away free help!
Smokin

Where Did the Snow Go?

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We finally had a couple warm days. The cold snap has broke. Yesterday the mercury broke 50 and we are expecting the same today. Most of the snow is gone except for the large piles on either side of the driveway and small patches here and there in the yard. Now I am back to dealing with the mud. The yard is squishy and mucky but all my wood is dry. I am going to take this break from the cold and snow to rearrange my wood pile. During the cold snap and deep snow I only took wood from one area of my pile. Today I am going to restack my wood by moving the logs from the back of the woodshed and placing them on the stones that surround my furnace. This way I won't have to walk thru the mud to get my wood each day. I am also going to work on those large elm logs behind my shed. If I can get a couple more of those split I will be in good shape.
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Yesterday I let the wood in the firebox burn down to the grates so I took that opportunity to flip and rotate my grates. I moved the center grate to the front and front grate to the rear. I put the rear grate, alas, in the middle. When I was moving them I flipped the front and rear grates since I noticed they were sagging a little. When I flipped the grates, all the coals that rested on them fell into the ash bin. I dug out these coals and dumped them back on top of the grates...then I put in some small round logs to help build up my fire again. Finally, I threw in a paper grocery bag of old bills and personal papers that normal people would have shred. My paper shredder is a little different than most...It is a Hardy H2.
Smokin

Warm worms

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I must make a confession...I am heating the ground and keeping the worms warm this winter. Without my Hardy H2, all the worms deep in my yard would have pneumonia and would be wearing little scarves to keep themselves warm this winter. Despite my best intentions, my superior planning and executing the perfect plan, my attempt to save $1000 in making my own underground-super insulated water lines hasn't payed off like I had calculated.

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For those of you still learning about OWB's, these smokers are nothing but a big hot-water tank that pumps hot water into a heat exchanger in your house. The water lines in my case are four 3/4 inch Pex lines that carry water to and from the furnace, heat exchanger and domestic hot water tank. When you buy your OWB the salesperson will ask if you want to buy the pre-made, super insulated water lines that are all encased in insulation and wrapped by a hard plastic outer shell...very convenient but very expensive. This purchase is something you should consider and do your homework on. Buying the pre-made stuff is a huge investment and can raise the price of your OWB to where your return on investment will be negatively affected. When I bought my Hardy H2 the pre-made stuff was going for $11 a foot...and needing about 60 foot, I quickly figured I could do better by making my own. I bought a spool of the 4 inch corrugated black pipe and sections of 4 inch pipe insulation and assembled my own underground "system." I first laid out my Pex (you can see these pipes in some of the pictures to the left of this article) and slid the insulation sections over the pipes. I duct taped the insulation sections together. Then I duct taped the grey #14 electrical wire and thermostat wire to the outside of the insulation. Finally I, along with about three other helpers, slid this assembly into the black corrugated pipe. I buried this assembly in a three foot trench and back filled first with sand...for more insulation...and then topped it off with soil. So far so good.

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Here is what I did wrong and what I recommend to you. If I had to do this all over again...I would reconsider the extra money for the pre-made stuff but I still don't know if I would really buy it...it is too expensive for what you are getting...in my opinion. DO NOT...however...use the black corrugated pipe. Instead use the solid white or green 4 inch pipe and glue the joints together. By the second year my black corrugated stuff started leaking in ground water...probably because it was crushed under the weight of three foot of fill. What a bummer. I have to keep a bucket under the opening of the pipe as it comes into my basement to catch the water that is forced out when outside conditions are soggy. What a bummer. To fix this I will have to re-dig, and redo...no small task. Now the $1000 doesn't seem so bad.

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As for the heat loss that my worms love so much, I end up melting the snow over the trench because of the heat loss thru my assembly. In fairness to my buried pipes, I have seen installations with the pre-made stuff that also melts snow so I am not too sure how much better the pre-made stuff is. One way to be sure is to measure the temperature drop in your lines from the furnace to what is inside the house. I can't help but think the pre-made stuff is'nt that much better in keeping the heat in because there isn't that much more insulation as compared to what I made. Regardless, I am faced with a big repair. I don't want to do it either. In the summer all I want to do is cut wood...and that is enough for me to mess with my Hardy.

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Here are some pictures demonstrating my heat loss. Let me know your feelings about my situation or some of your experiences. I would love to post them on the blog.

This is my wood shed and Hardy as seen from the house. Note the nice warm grass.

This picture was taken with the woodshed to my back showing the trench going into the house.

Smokin

The Ash Bin

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I took a good picture of my ash bin. This is what I see when I get down on my hands and knees and peek up into the ash bin door. The top of the picture are the grates. The bottom of the picture is the ash. For you Hardy owners, this is about as high as you want your ash to get. I keep the ash at this level when the temperature is warmer and there is a longer time between burns. This will help keep your fire from going out in warmer spring/fall weather. When the outside temperature is much colder...32 degrees and below, you would most likely want your ash lower than this...about 2 to 3 inches lower. This will keep the extra heat off your grates and prevent them from failing. Please see my earlier post on Hardy Ash Maintenance where I go into more detail on this most important topic. If you look close at this picture you can see the center grate sitting a little lower than the other two. I have noticed the fire in a Hardy firebox seems to concentrate on the center grate and all the heat and weight of the logs can make the center grate sag over time. What I did to combat this was simply flip the center grate over...just like rotating your tires. Each time I go out to my Hardy to add wood, I also open the ash bin and shove a stick inside to knock down the ash and move it away from the grates. Keeping the ash down also helps the blower maintain the firebox's draft. The blower inlet is in the back-right of this picture...although it is just out of site in this photo just below the ash-horizon.

Below is what the ash bin looked like when I first opened the door this morning. You can see how the coals are sitting real close to the grates. This can be bad if you don't do anything about it...but usually what you get after a long 12 hour burn. All I do to fix this is I shove in a long stick and mash the ashes down. The first photo is what my ashes look like after I use the long stick. When the bin gets too full, I shovel out about a bucket full.

I hope this helps. Pictures are worth a thousand words.
Smokin

Life's Precious Moments

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Like most of the eastern United States, northeast Ohio was pounded by a significant snowfall from Tuesday evening all the way into today. We have about a foot of new snow on top of what was already on the ground. I was just becoming able to see most of my woodpile from the previous snow until this most recent storm. Now all my wood is covered in white again. Last night I was able to select the type and size wood I will be needing this week and stacked it under the roof of the woodshed. This makes my mornings go a lot easier on me when I want to get my furnace filled and get my day started. I installed a light in my woodshed to help me see in the dark but still the early morning fill-ups are my most problematic. Usually, my firebox is in good order, the burning logs are nicely positioned on the grates, and all I have to do is toss in some big stuff, along with some smaller logs, and off I go to work. Other times I have to fiddle around with an arch, or crooked log...but eventually, I get on my way. My wife usually takes a trip out to the Hardy in the afternoon when she gives the chickens fresh water.
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So today I had one of those "life's precious moments" things that you hear about on evening radio or on Oprah. Because of the large snowfall, all the schools in the county were closed...and me being "semi-retired" decided to hang out at home and dig out the driveway. Anyhow, while I was digging, my two daughters came outside and built a snow fort. They got their little shovels and dug out a hole and piled the snow around the sides for the walls. A miniature Fort Sumter...if you will. When I finished up on the driveway I went around back to check on their progress. They both were excited to show me the house they built, their beds, the dining room and...to my glee...they showed me where they put their "furnace" so they can keep their house warm!! They went as far as to make a path in the snow out to their miniature Hardy, and collected a pile of icicles for their wood. I tell ya...two girls after my heart. Of all the things that make up a young girl's world...Hanna Montana, roller skates, Webkinz...you know how it goes...my two daughters made a Hardy H2 out of snow...Tell me that an OWB doesn't become a part of your family!
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I wrote in an earlier post of how an OWB is more than a furnace, but rather it becomes a lifestyle. For me, having my Hardy helped me develop a love for wood cutting, chainsaws, trees...alive and dead...woodpiles, woodsheds, trucks, you name it. I guess until today that I had never realized how much of a positive influence an OWB has not just on me but on the whole family. The kids are growing up with memories of dad wearing a path in the snow to the Hardy, the smell of cut wood, wood smoke, ash...everything associated with the OWB.
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I figure that if we lived in the city, my girls would have made a snow apartment complete with a bicycle rack and bus stop...instead they made a house with an OWB. My wife and I must be doing something right. I hope that if you have an OWB that with it you too experience the simple joys of life that I do. I will be the first to admit that OWB's aren't for everyone and every "neighborhood situation" but there is something undeniably special about heating with wood. Tell me what you think.
Smokin

Furnace Moments

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Northeast Ohio has been blasted again with Arctic cold air. Our thermometer read 2 degrees this morning as my wife went out into the frozen tundra, fed the chickens and checked out the Hardy. She let me sleep in today...but that wasn't for long. When she opened the firebox only one log remained from my last-evening's filling. It was a large 14 inch round piece of cherry that I shoved in last, on top of all the logs. According to my wife, the cherry log wasn't burning well as it then set alone on the grates. She threw in some small logs on each side of it to help it out. The OWB's temperature was down below 150 degrees and it was having a hard time coming back to maximum temperature...so she came in to wake me up. I put on my smoking coat and hat then went out to the OWB to see what was going on.
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By the time I got out to the Hardy its temperature had risen to 160 so I knew things would be OK. Once I took a peek inside I saw what was causing the problem... it was that large cherry log as it had burnt away mostly on its middle leaving only its edges sitting on the grates. The center had burnt away. I threw in a couple extra smaller logs, about 4 inchers...and rolled the large log on top of them. This is a technique I have learned to help the fire burn hotter and allow the larger logs a chance to burn more evenly. It seems in the Hardy most of the burning is concentrated on the center grate so...when there is a big fat log sitting there...the center tends to burn away leaving only the edges touching the grates...Its not a major issue but it can make the blower work overtime to keep the temperature up. So all of this took me about 10 minutes of my morning. To some of you this may sound like a miserable way to spend my Sunday at 8:00 am but to me it is a privilege to watch my summer labor provide the family with a warm house. Remember...the woodpile is more than a woodpile...and because of all that wood in our yard, my wife and I don't have to experience the trauma of the propane truck backing up the driveway to refill our tank.
Smokin

Did the Fire Go Out?

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Since installing my Hardy H2, I have noticed that I don't sleep as well at night in the winter as I do in the summer. While I enjoy my OWB in that I don't have a gas bill, my house is much warmer than when I heated with propane, and I can buy chainsaws to cut all the wood (I love chainsaws) there is one thing that gnaws at me during the burning season. I lay in bed at night and I wonder to myself..."is it still burning? Has the fire gone out?"

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I guarantee that any OWB owner does the same thing. Maybe some worry more...some less...but I am certain that all worry about the fire going out. To be honest, the fire going out isn't that big of a deal. If it goes out...just go outside and light it again. But for me...I worry. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and notice the house feels a little cold..."did my fire go out?" I think to myself. I can go to the window in my upstairs bathroom and peek outside and I can usually tell by the smoke coming from the stack if the fire is either burning, smouldering...or out. Every OWB has a personality and the way it smokes tells you what it's doing...or not doing. If you have an OWB, you know what I mean. If you are planning to get an OWB...you will know what I mean. The smoke is telling you something.

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My Hardy H2 maintains its water temperature between 150-and 170 degrees. The aquastat works in conjunction with the blower motor which stokes the flame to keep the water temperature up. My Hardy has a temperature switch installed in the water tank and if my water temperature goes below 100 degrees because the fire isn't burning, my forced air furnace in the basement will cut off. This is my Hardy's way of telling me that the fire is out...since the furnace in the basement isn't blowing hot air into the house...and the children can see their breath when they wake up in the morning!

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So what makes the fire go out? Sometimes, in warmer weather the fire can go out because of the length of time between burns. Sometimes it can go out because the ash had been emptied and the coals are too far away from the grates. I wrote about this in earlier posts. However, specific to the Hardy since it has grates, the fire can go out because of a condition I call "Arching."

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If all logs were created equal, they would be the same size, length, type and burn at the same rate. Well, of course, that isn't the case. Logs are all different sizes, have big knots sticking out on one side, burn crooked...you name it. The fire box on the Hardy isn't as big as say...a Central Boiler...where you can put a small Volkswagen inside it. The Hardy firebox is smaller. It measures 24x32x44 inches, which is big...but not as big as you think. Anyhow, when you put your logs in, filling up the firebox, the logs at the bottom burn, turn to ash, fall thru the grates which makes the logs on top to start their descent to the bottom of the fire box for their turn to burn. Well sometimes the upper logs, on their descent to the grates can become wedged between the two walls, creating an arch. This is bad because the logs forming the arch suspends all the wood off the grates...and once all the coals from the grates burn off...your wood can't burn...its 6 to 12 inches up above the grates. This is the most common reason my fire goes out and I fill my furnace with this in mind. I try to mix big and skinny logs to avoid the Arch and I only burn goofy shaped logs during the weekend so that I can keep an eye on my fire box.

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The picture below shows the Arch although you have to really look close because there was too much heat for me to stick my camera in there any farther. The three logs at the bottom are wedged against the walls and can't fall onto the grates...hence the Arch. If you look at the bottom of the logs you can see they are about 7 inches away from the grates. If I had been at work there is a good chance my fire would have gone out. All the coals you see would have eventually burnt away leaving no more wood to fuel my Hardy.

When I am faced with this condition, all I have to do is grab my poker and punch the logs down. Each day my wife makes a trip to the Hardy to punch the logs. Every now and then I will get a text message from her telling me that "Archie had stopped by today." This is her special way of telling me she kept the fire from going out that afternoon.
Smokin

Heating the Home

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I am posting a picture of our house so that you can get to know us better and also see what you can heat with an OWB, or specifically a Hardy H2. My house is 3000 sq ft. and it sits on 6 acres in northeast Ohio...in what is known as "the Snow Belt" to us Buckeyes. I bought this house off the bank for a good price but had to put a lot of time and money into it to make it livable.
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We live in farm country and out here the houses are pretty far apart. My closest neighbor is probably 400 feet up wind from my Hardy. What made me start looking for alternative heating was the propane company. There is no natural gas line out here in the sticks and most other farmhouses heat with oil or propane. My first year with propane was interesting. When I signed the contract with Mr. Propane, I was given a 500 gallon tank they placed next to my barn and with that, I was to keep an eye on my gauge and call them when it read 20% full...easy enough. What I didn't know was whenever that bottle truck backed up my driveway, that beeping noise coming from it signified to all my neighbors that I would be $500 poorer once the truck left. Wow! Propane is expensive...and that was when we first moved in this place...when propane was $1.19 gallon. On top of the house's high propane usage, we kept the house cold...so cold we should be in jail for child abuse...well...not that cold but you get the idea. I didn't want to just grin and bear the gas bill if I could do something about it. This is what drove me to seek an alternate way to heat my house and eventually to installing a Hardy OWB. As you can tell by this blog, I have been very pleased with the results. Now, with propane going for up to $2.68 a gallon, I don't know how we could make ends meet and heat the house at the same time. With the Hardy, not only can we save money on our heating bill, there was also a major improvement in quality of life. We now live in a toasty warm house and the kids have stopped complaining about seeing their breath when they wake up in the morning...just joking. On top of the "free" heat of the OWB, we keep our house as warm as we like. We have total disregard for the thermostat setting and never worry of the monthly bill coming in the mail. What a life!
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This is a recent photo of our house...taken during this most recent cold snap. We have about a foot of snow on the ground. This picture was taken about half way down the driveway and if you look to the left of the house, you can see the woodshed and my Hardy H2 sitting proud. You can see how I stack the wood in front of the Hardy to serve as a windbreak and snow fence. I show you this to get a perspective of what I am heating and how far away from the house I installed the OWB. You are looking East in this picture.
Smokin

NOW...It Is Cold!!

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Wow, so this is what cold is! This morning my dashboard on my car said it was minus 11 degrees. The weatherman said the temperature never got above 9 degrees throughout the day. Interesting to me...however...was my pre-work commute visit to my Hardy revealed a half-full firebox of wood...go figure. The coldest night of the year and I was still half-full well into an 8 hour burn. I'll take it. Our house has been warm as toast...by the way.
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What confuses me was that on Tuesday the temperature just began dipping into the single digits and when I opened my firebox on Wednesday morning, I was staring at nothing but grates...all the wood was gone...ashes to ashes...dust to dust. I was concerned because I knew colder weather was coming and this wood consumption was substantial. But when life deals you a lemon...make lemon aide. So I took that opportunity...the empty firebox... to rotate my grates. I grabbed my long hook and I flipped the center grate as I saw it had been sagging a little...noticeably lower than the front and back grate. Please refer to my blog entry titled "Hardy Ash Maintenance," where I go into more detail on keeping your grates healthy. How you "work" your ash has a lot to do with the lifespan of your grates. I tried taking a picture of my grates from the view I get when I peek up into the ash bin but the camera didn't like the lighting situation. I will try again tomorrow, in the daylight and if the picture comes out good I will post it. Perhaps this will give you a better perspective of what I see.
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Anyhow...the Hardy grates are symmetrical...that is they are the same for all three grates, front middle and back, upsides and down. My experience has been the center grate seems to get the most abuse from the heat and weight of the logs so I keep an eye on it by peeking up into the ash bin and checking to see if any of the grates are sitting lower than the others. This cold morning, I took the opportunity of the empty firebox to flip the center grate and put the sagging side up. Once I did that I threw in a bunch of small round logs, then a row of larger logs, and then one huge log on top, just big enough that it fit thru the door. I do this so the small logs burn down quick and make a nice bed of coals. This helps the larger logs burn and relight easier when the blower kicks back on. The huge log on top will be nice and dry (kiln dried) by the time it gets its turn to sit on the grates...which will be my bed time...by which time I will have filled the firebox up again with new wood while the huge logs burns away. Nice system...it seems to work for me.
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What confounded me thru this cold snap so far was that I burnt thru an entire loading of wood Wednesday morning when it was pretty cold, but on Thursday and Friday, when it was really, really cold I only went thru a half of load of wood. I think all the logs were about the same size...and all of it was cherry...and I never adjusted the home thermostat...so...whatever the reason, I'll take it.
Smokin

Here Comes the Cold

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A major cold snap is heading to northeast Ohio and we are expecting temperatures near or below zero for about the next three days. This isn't the first time my Hardy has faced this type of cold and probably won't be the last.
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I remember the first cold snap my OWB lived thru was in our first year of operation and we had zero degree weather for a week in early February. It was real cold. I worried about my house's demands for heat would overwhelm my Hardy H2 but, to be honest, I don't think my little Hardy even broke a sweat. Now, that's not to say it didn't burn thru a lot of wood...it did...a whole lot....but never did our house feel cold or needed supplemental heat. The Hardy passed its first test with flying colors. I remember one night during this cold spell how I stuffed my firebox as full as I could get it with round logs of cherry and maple. The next morning before I left for work, I opened the door to the firebox and my jaw dropped as I was looking at nothing but grates. My Hardy had burnt thru that entire filling of logs. Wow! I thought. It was amazing to see how all of those logs...probably about nine 8 inch logs had just disappeared to ash. But at least our house was warm. Our house is a 3000 sq foot two story but we shut down a bonus room in the winter since we never go in there except when visitors come.
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My two friends have Central Boiler (CB) brand OWB's and despite our BTU outputs being almost similar...My H2 is rated a little lower than theirs...their furnaces dwarf mine in size. Theirs are about as tall as a porta-potty and twice as wide and deep. When I hang out at their place and watch them tinker with their OWB's I lose perspective of how much smaller my Hardy is compared to theirs. When I go back home and out to my Hardy, I am taken back at how small my H2 is compared to the CB. I believe my friends' both hold 250 gallons of water compared to mine which holds 100 gallons. I know the square footage of our houses are roughly the same but I just can't get over how much smaller the Hardy is in size compared to the Central Boiler...and it heats my house just fine. I have the feeling that my Hardy will use more wood than theirs this winter...but how much more I don't know. I don't think I will be way off compared to their usage.
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One thing I know for sure...my Hardy was much cheaper than the CB's. When I was pricing OWB's prior to purchasing my Hardy, the CB's were about $5000 more than what I paid for my H2. I was told that the CB's are much more efficient than other OWB's but I don't see how that can be so. If I am honest, the OWB is not that efficient to begin with...a lot of heat is lost out your smoke stack, and into the ground as the hot water is pumped into the house. But I paid $5000 for my Hardy and I think that the $5000 savings would buy me a lot of firewood. If my Hardy is not as efficient as the others...I will take the savings on the front end and spend the savings...if I want to...on insulation, or Chainsaws...probably chainsaws...I love chainsaws.
Smokin

The Storm Rages On

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The storm hit. Here is what my Hardy and the woodshed looked like this morning. You can scroll down to yesterday's post to see what this picture looked like just before burning season. Northeast Ohio is supposed to get an inch of snow an hour today...until 1am Sunday morning. The wood I am burning today is under the roof of my shed, just out of the snow. You can also see the small dent I have put into my woodpile so far this season. Not too bad...but wood goes fast. It has been pretty cold this winter, much colder than last year.
Smokin

WInter Storm Warning

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I don't have much to say today. A big snowstorm is coming to northeast Ohio. This should be our first decent accumulation for the year. In preparation for the snow I have moved some wood into my shed that I have been ready to burn. I leave a little area in my shed for just this reason. This way I don't have to get my gloves wet digging in snow for a log to burn.

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I am hoping I can get thru this burning season with at least my wood shed still full of wood. I really did a lot of cutting in the summer and have a pretty large stash of firewood. This is the most I have ever had. If spring comes and my shed is still full, that would be a big psychological boost for me when I fire up the saws in the spring. I have been told to keep a two year supply of wood on hand at all times but I honestly don't ever see that happening...that would be a HUGE amount of logs.

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Here is a photo I took of my stash for this winter. I took this picture from my upstairs bathroom...this should also give you an idea of how far I have my OWB from the house...about 50 feet. The back of my shed is facing North. The Hardy is just about 5 foot tall and most of my woodpile is taller than the furnace. The logs on the left of the picture are facing West and I stack them to make a wind and snow break. These will be burnt in the spring when the threat of snow diminishes. The opening to the firebox is facing the woodshed...that way I can stand under the roof when admiring my Hardy. If you look closely at the woodpile, you can see the nice cherry wood I cut up this summer. It has the deep reddish tint to it. The light color wood is mostly maple, elm and beech.

This is the same picture I have at the top of my homepage but I thought it would be easier for you to see my set up in a larger format. Enjoy. All of this wood was a lot of work...I can look at this woodpile and know that my hands have touched every single one of the logs you see. Now, I have to go out in the barn and fire up the snow blower.

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Smokin

Hardy Ash Maintenance

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I have provided a picture of one of my first "hard lessons" with owning a Hardy OWB. This mistake on my part cost me $50 to fix and I am confident I have sufficiently learned from this incident and I am capable of not letting this happen again. The problem was one of my grates getting too hot and breaking in half because of excessive heat. The excessive heat was caused by me allowing the ashes to build up too high underneath the grates.
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Not all OWB's are created the same...some have grates that the ash falls thru and collects in the ash bin...and others don't have grates where the wood simply sets on top of the ash. Either system works just fine but the bottom line is, you have to keep up with the ash and remove it every now and then. The reason this is important with the Hardy is the ash brings the coals, which sit on top of the ash, up closer to the bottom of the grates, and as your OWB burns, the fire along with the coals, put more heat into the grates than they can handle. Eventually, something has to give, and in my case, the center grate gave...breaking in two...causing me to spend my way out of this problem by laying down $50 to the Hardy store.
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Here is a picture of my broken grate. This grate is cast iron and 1 1/4 inch thick. Heavy stuff but not immune to excessive heat. If I only knew then what I know now, this would have never happened. I hope you heed my advice. I put a baseball in the picture to help you understand its size...and I can't wait for February 12th when pitchers and catchers report to the Indian's spring training. Wintertime in Ohio means burning wood and waiting for baseball season to start.

My Hardy H2 has three of these grates...all the same...in a row at the bottom of the firebox. The logs sit on these grates. What's important to know about your Hardy is the ash must be "maintained." You just can't take out too much...and you can't leave in too much. If you constantly shovel out all your ash, you run the risk of your fire going out...especially in warmer months when there is more time in between burn cycles. If you have no ash, the coals/embers that you rely on stoking your fire will be too far away from the grates to light the wood up. When the blower kicks on you run the chance of your fire petering out because the coals are nowhere near the smoldering wood. So, you may be thinking...as I did...if you leave more ash in the bottom and let the coals rest just beneath the grates, you will have all your coals right next to your wood and your fire won't risk going out late one night when you're in bed. Well...this worked for a while, until one day when I witnessed my center grate broken in two and resting down in the ash bin with most of my logs.
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I had to pull out all my logs, fish out the two pieces of grate, install the new one, put all my wood back in and start the fire up once more. I have since learned that most grate failures in Hardy's are the center grate and these failures are most always caused by allowing your ash to build up too high.
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Now, I always keep my ash at a consistent level. I shovel out about 1 1/2 buckets a week and dump the ash in my garden...wood ash kills slugs by the way. Thru trail and error I have found my ash level "sweet spot" by getting to know my furnace's personality...every OWB owner will tell you that their woodburner has its own, distinct personality... as many of you may already know. If it is cold out, I will go with less ash because there is less time between burn cycles...if the weather is warmer, I will go with more ash to help the fire relight...but not too much that my grates may heat up and melt.
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Whenever I add wood I always make a point to smooth down the ash with a long stick. This keeps the ash low enough from the grates that I can see the blower inlet. Once in a while, you have to get down on your hands and knees and take a look in your ash door and peak up underneath your grates to see if all your grates look level. If you see a grate sagging lower than the others, this is your furnace telling you that particular grate is about to fail. You have to take that grate out and flip it over and reduce your ash level. I also rotate my grates so that they all have a chance to be in the middle. The middle grate seems to take the most abuse from the heat. I give the grates all a chance to be in the middle. Its just like rotating tires...you go for even wear.
Smokin

Splitting Elm

Ok
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What do they say? Catching lighting in a bottle...riding a camel thru the eye of a needle? Didn't Hercules have 12 labors? I think they were supposed to be difficult...weren't they? I bet that Hercules didn't face the daunting task of splitting 28 inch elm logs...did he???
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Last summer, my good friend who is a retired excavator called me and asked if I would like to cut a tree down at his church...he is on the maintenance committee there...and, if so, he would help me with his backhoe and I could keep the wood. I jumped at the prospect of the extra help and "free" wood. And hey, since it was from the grounds of a church, it had to have something good going for it for firewood...I thought. I loaded up my truck and drove to the church. My heart sank when I saw my tree, a 60 foot elm...dead...no bark...with a perfectly round trunk...28 inches diameter. I had mentioned in an earlier post that I love the elm tree...I have one of the last remaining live American Elms in my front yard, and I have made a vow that I refuse to cut down a live elm forever and ever. I figure what those damn Dutch did to them is enough...an Elm doesn't need to feel the cold steel sting of "Big Orange" too. But since this one was dead...out came the saws.
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One thing I have learned from woodcutting is that elms make difficult firewood. Of course they burn nicely but you may have to work too hard to get them in your firebox. You see...elms do not split...at all...try as you might...even a log splitter will strain in its quest to open one up. I read a book on elms and found that their toughness was exploited in the construction of wagon wheel hubs and butcher blocks because of their resistence to splitting. My friend the excavator said that elms were his most dificult tree to deal with as their roots were extensive, and deep... and digging them out, even with a backhoe, was a chore. Elms are notoriously tough trees to the elements, they rarely blow down in a storm and are this country's most reverred trees for shade lined streets. But for firewood...well...lets just say they are much more useful for shade...when they are alive. I have learned my elm lessons the hard way, thru trial and error...and I now offer my three "Ohio Woodburner's Rules on Elm Trees."
Here are my "Elm Rules"...
1. Never cut down a live Elm.
2. If you don't have to split the logs, take them home.
3. If you have to split them, leave them behind.
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Well, I kinda got painted into a corner with this particular tree. Because this was helping out a friend, I still would have cut this one up even knowing its species. This particular elm must have been a beauty when it was living. It had the classic Elm shape, like a vase, and had a crown about as wide as it was tall. It is sorry to see such a wonderful tree like the elm be decimated the way they have.
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I got three F150 loads and two S10 loads of wood out of that tree but also inherited 10 perfectly round, 28 inch trunk sections of elm dumped behind my woodshed. The one log has a five inch gash on one end where I earnestly sunk my wedge into it with the faint hopes that it would miraculously split in two. It didn't...the log swallowed my wedge...and there they sit, frozen and covered in snow. My buddy with a log splitter told me to try splitting them in the winter when they freeze. He said that would make the work easier on my back. I asked to borrow his splitter and he told me to get lost. He didn't want his splitter beat to pieces on those elm logs.
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So yesterday and today, I split three of the logs...I peeled them like onions...going around the edges with small splits. I am left with a large center core that is just big enough to fit into my firebox. That is enough for me. It was quite a workout...I won't have to go to the gym now. Out of those three logs I am left with probably enough wood to heat my house for 4 to 5 days. I plan to split up one log a day until they are gone. Or until my wedge is worn out. It had already mushroomed from the previous three. God bless the Elm.
Smokin