Fireproof logs?

[Mick Dempsey]

2 minutes ago, trigger_andy said:

You really need to have a mix of firewood. Burning solely de se hardwood is always going to be a struggle. I tend to get my Stoves up to temp with Softwood, Birch, Cherry and get a nice bed of ash then start to introduce the denser hardwoods like Ash, Beech and Oak but still mix in the Softwoods and easier to burn hardwoods  

Really? I just light mine with dry kindling and burn dry oak, acacia, hornbeam all the time.

No need to mollycoddle it with a complicated menu of wood.

Get it in, give it some draw, enjoy the heat.

[trigger_andy]

2 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Really? I just light mine with dry kindling and burn dry oak, acacia, hornbeam all the time.

No need to mollycoddle it with a complicated menu of wood.

Get it in, give it some draw, enjoy the heat.

Depends on the size of the chunks really. If it’s narrower stuff I don’t bother but if I’m sliding in half meter, 4-5” diameter chunks of Oak I’ll not add them til it’s really going. 
 

I’ll imagine this is the Ops issue, treating dense hardwood like Birch, it’s chalk and cheese. 
 

Anyway, you’re in France, Oaks incredibly light in comparison to what we have here in Scotland. I imagine you could got that rubbish going with a couple of sticks and a bit of Moss. 

[devon TWiG]

I always keep a few logs next to woodburner  ( not too close !!) so they are very dry , these are the first on the fire the next time I light it , I do the same with kindling too 👍

[topchippyles]

2 hours ago, trigger_andy said:

Depends on the size of the chunks really. If it’s narrower stuff I don’t bother but if I’m sliding in half meter, 4-5” diameter chunks of Oak I’ll not add them til it’s really going. 
 

I’ll imagine this is the Ops issue, treating dense hardwood like Birch, it’s chalk and cheese. 
 

Anyway, you’re in France, Oaks incredibly light in comparison to what we have here in Scotland. I imagine you could got that rubbish going with a couple of sticks and a bit of Moss. 

Should have a thread all too yourself called talking bollocks 🤣

[ABtrees]

3 hours ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Really? I just light mine with dry kindling and burn dry oak, acacia, hornbeam all the time.

No need to mollycoddle it with a complicated menu of wood.

Get it in, give it some draw, enjoy the heat.

 

Mick, I totally agree with you. 

 

85% of what I burn is oak, 10% hornbeam the remaining 5% 'other' (alder, cherry acaica etc) but I think it's different over here.  This summer was sooooo dry.  I air-dried newly cut/split (fallen over) oak down to 10% on the ends and 12-14% in the centre and these are big logs (45+cms x 10-15 cms). 8-10 weeks of 34+ degrees, stacked in the sun with good air circulation makes all the difference Pic below.

I take pride in lighting the stove (Jotul 6) on a bit of newspaper and a single match - it just goes.  Having a Charnwood put in in the other fireplace next week so it will be interesting to compare the two.

[peatff]

I light our Hunter stove with 6 pieces of newspaper and 4 or 5 sticks. The wood is from the farm dumped there by local arb and has been drying for a few years before we cut and split it. There's a bit of everything in it, Alder, Ash, Birch you name it it goes on the fire. You can feel the different densities of the wood lifting it onto the splitter and I use the lighter stuff to start the fire then put something heavier on to keep it going. Last night I lit the fire and out of curiosity timed how long it took to start the Aldi fan on top, it was just over 15 minutes. When I light it I leave the door open a crack to get it blazing then shut it, that way it doesn't make any smoke even when starting up.

[spudulike]

I find the harder woods, especially oak, burn better with a bit of softwood present.

Some of you that have no problem burning just hardwood may have multifuel griddles that allow air to enter the fire from underneath, this really helps combustion.

The OP probably has just a bed of ash and perhaps, mostly oak in his logs.

Try splitting a few logs in to much smaller 1-2" slats, that will help get it going.

[difflock]

To beat the drum in favour of often "despised" softwood, I just lit the stove in the garden room(and I wish I had taken pics) with 1/2 rounds(and not particularily rough or splinterly ones either) split from 5 to 6" dia Sitka, only room to get 3 of them in the grate, and only got 3 in because 2 of them were only 6" long. Zero fines or kindling.

It would  looked to some like a highly unlikely set-up to kindle, at all, ever.

Anyway, plenty of rolled up corrougated cardboard stuffed in, lit, door ajar, and away to make the coffee and feed the dogs. Came back to find it had "got away" in the 2 gaps between the logs, re-arranged said logs, topped with some more corroguated cardboard and another 2 artfully placed logs, closed the door and left it.

This procedure took near as long to describe as it did to execute btw.

Job done.

[neiln]

I'd agree, softwood is much maligned but I'd happily take certain ones.  My stacks are currently about 3/4 Oak, this bit of South London has a lot and I just happened to get a lot over the past 2 years.  It can be a right pain to get it roaring.  Turkey oak seems more sulky then English but English still needs to be bone dry.  The stuff I've burnt this year is burning hot and readily so far, probably as it's been drying 2 years and this summer was really further dried it. I came across my moisture meter in a drawer so stuck batteries in and tested 4 or 5 bits.  I didn't bother to take them outside and split them so I'm assuming they are dry through but the outer face tested at 11-15% MC, pins pushed hard in.  Smaller pieces will burn better too.

Have to say though last year I was burning some very very dense pine, felled first week of covid lock down so 18-24 months dry as it went in the stove. Scotts pine I assume but don't know my pines.  I knew it was going to burn hot as it's was resinous and a lot was fat wood with waxy chunks... Stove was basically at melting point whether it was a couple of small bits, a big bit, a medium bit and a bit of oak... Basically impossible not to over fire the stove significantly!  Good stuff.. Too good!

 

[neiln]

By over firing, I mean flue temp of 450C.....I had about 5 M3 of that pine.... It was a big 🌲