Oak logs not burning

[Justme]

You cant really go from kindling to oak in one go. You need to build the fire up to get some coals glowing first.

[Rich Rule]

As has been said, I put harder woods in the stove once there is a nice bed of embers.  Pine usually gets it going and once there is a nice bed, in goes the Ash/Oak/Beech or whatever it is I have stored and seasoned.

 

The fixation the UK has on not burning softwoods amazes me.

 

I am based in Norway and as Andy mentioned Birch is very popular here.  We get our flue cleaned by the Kommune every two years.  I have burnt a lot of pine and spruce in the 4 years I have lived in this house.  Barely any soot comes out when the flue is cleaned.

[Pacemaker1000]

As someone has mentioned, yes it’s a multi stove so bottom is a grate and embers fall through.

a friend says he puts a bed of coal down first?

but I’ve read not to mix fuel?

[GarethM]

When you've been splitting, you are using a full sized axe and not one of those camping type ones ?.

 

I've split my fair share by hand and even freshly felled oak does split. Hardwood needs either a decent fire bed or at the least making smaller chunks to increase the surface area.

[neiln]

I happen to live in a bit of South London with copious oak trees and generally get loads.  My stacks are probably 70-80% oak currently. I'd prefer a bit more softwood but you take what comes.  It is however IME, the most reliably very easy splitting wood and easiest green.  It does burn hot if well seasoned though, it needs several logs on at once. 3 smaller pieces will burn easier than 2 bigger pieces.

[trigger_andy]

6 hours ago, GarethM said:

If you can't split it, I would definitely think it's still wet in the middle.

 

Usually the only wood you can't split by hand when dry is eucalyptus, that's stuff when dry is like granite.

I’ve found the exact opposite with oak. Pops open like a dream when wet and going like iron when dry. I’ve found this for both splitting for firewood and milling.

[trigger_andy]

5 hours ago, Pacemaker1000 said:

As someone has mentioned, yes it’s a multi stove so bottom is a grate and embers fall through.

a friend says he puts a bed of coal down first?

but I’ve read not to mix fuel?

Don’t clean the ash out from underneath then. Let it fall through and build up til it can’t fall through anymore. Both my Stoves are multi-fuel and I can’t say I have an issue with the ash falling through even when fully cleaned out. 

[Woodworks]

9 hours ago, Pacemaker1000 said:

As someone has mentioned, yes it’s a multi stove so bottom is a grate and embers fall through.

a friend says he puts a bed of coal down first?

but I’ve read not to mix fuel?

As Andy says leave a bed of ash when running on wood. 

[coppice cutter]

10 hours ago, Pacemaker1000 said:

As someone has mentioned, yes it’s a multi stove so bottom is a grate and embers fall through.

 

That's your problem right there, you'll never get the best out of wood in a multi-fuel, especially hard wood in big lumps.

 

You'll need to split the wood down further to have any success, even when it's dry, as that'll keep the grate covered better.

 

The coal in the bottom will help if you do it right, but it's not without it's foibles either. Ordinary bitumen coal will be smokey, and anthracite is very prone to shattering and disappearing through the grate if you don't time it right.

 

If you were getting on OK with softwood probably best to get back on to it asap.

 

 

[Puffingbilly413]

11 hours ago, Pacemaker1000 said:

As someone has mentioned, yes it’s a multi stove so bottom is a grate and embers fall through.

a friend says he puts a bed of coal down first?

but I’ve read not to mix fuel?

Check your stove manual. If you're not burning anything but wood you might be able to dispense with the grate. Emphasis on might.