With all this talk about gas bottle burners

[Justme]

I thought I would share these pics of next years wood supply.


This is our wood store filled ready for next years use. What is left of this years is now in builders bags on pallets under a tarp.

First two bays full (about 4 cubes) of Cedar slabs (the first cut of a log when milling)

Bays three & four. More Cedar & mainly Sycamore, about 5 cubes.

Bay 5, about 8 cubes with room for a bit more yet, again mainly Sycamore but also some hairy birch & oak.

Funny how tools always seem to collect on top of the wood pile.

The back of bays one & two. The other bays have cedar sidings that allow good air flow but give better water protection.

The green trays hold all the chibbly bits for kindling. Its well worth the time it takes to pick them up so you have a good supply of kindling if you need it.


Sneak preview of the following years wood.

 

[Sam]

Envious. The trees I took down to build my house and workshop lasted for five years I have about a fortnights burning left , like how you have the pallet standing on edge to allow more air through the middle.

 

[Justme]

There are a few pallet like that, you just cant see all of them. Never full to the top for the same reason.

Also allows partial emptying & re stacking. So as each bay is emptied you can stay filling it up again.

 

[metalspanner]

Just me, a question if I may, the Cedar do you burn this on an open fire or log burner, if on an open fire do you have issues with the chimney/ flue for the want of a better description 'oiling up' and catching fire.
I only ask because I have loads of western red cedar down at the moment, and we are just burning it on an open field fire to get rid of it, because some one told us it is the worst thing to burn on a house fire.
Thanks.

 

[Justme]

ARGH

Cedar when dry is great fuel. We are burning it in a sealed stove but it does not spit much so it would be ok in an open fire. Just make sure its dry. When wet it will tar up the chimney as will all softwoods. Never burn wood that is over 20% moisture content.

How big is your cedar (lengths & widths)?

How much do you call loads?

We are looking for some to mill up for a cabin. Cant get any locally.

 

[Justme]

Been busy today. Had a good solid day with great outdoor working weather (not to hot or cold).


Made an early start at 8 ish & the mist was still around & slight frost on the ground.

Nice clean work site, dint stay like that for long lol

Using a pallet & some 4x2 to hold the bags wide open with bungee cords. If you make one make it plenty bigger than the bags as mine is. Learnt that from previous jobs when the full bag was stuck fast in the frame.

The small dumpy bags are full of stones not wood

The saw dust soon mounts up. Will have a dumpy bag full by the end of the job. Would have been loads more with a chainsaw cutting the wood.

The first 8 1m3 vented bags neatly stacked up.

The first 8 were soon followed by another 8 by the end of the day.

16 m3 bags, not a bad days work.

We are prob just over half way through the pile. If tomorrow goes as well as today it will be a good day.

 

[metalspanner]

I have just dropped around 200 of them upto 40 long from 3ft at the butt to around 6-7 inches the average is around 12 inches, but they do taper quickly, you could get 12-16ft lenghts, but there are only around fifty left now, I am sick of burning them out in the open cos they just wont burn, the ones I dropped last October, you couldnt put them out.
But this lot now cant get em to go, I think I will try and pursuade them to have some as logs to preserve my sanity, just so you dont think just another bunch of vandals, sacriledge etc, I did have several cedar dealers in to look at the trees and one had some of them but the rest really needed another 10-15 yrs to make a decent commercial crop.

 

[Omniata]

Justme, mix the saw dust with some watered down PVA and make into briquettes

If you only put enough on to hold the bits together they make great fire-lighters to get a stove or fire going...


Jim.

 

[Sam]

Justme, mix the saw dust with some watered down PVA and make into briquettes

If you only put enough on to hold the bits together they make great fire-lighters to get a stove or fire going...


Jim.

I find waste engine oil and sawdust works great!

 

[Justme]

Justme, mix the saw dust with some watered down PVA and make into briquettes

If you only put enough on to hold the bits together they make great fire-lighters to get a stove or fire going...


Jim.

Er we have another use for the saw dust.
(compost loo)

Another busy day today. Managed to another 18 1m3 bags. There is still enough left to fill about 3 more bags but the light was failing so we had to stop.

 

[pedrobedro]

I've run out of wood now and look like having to buy some I'll have to look round for some to cut up for next year, I like to leave it to dry out before it gets used.

 

[MrFluffy]

We're contemplating how much to buy to dry out in summer, Id hope 8 cord would be enough to heat our house through winter. Then we can stack it in piles like this to dry all summer, then move it into a storage building for winter. We used about 3 cord over the really cold snap this year.

Quite a lot of hedgerow's in this part of france are made up of logs seasoning for winter fuel

Found www.woodheat.org quite useful reading...