Firewood Gathering With A Power Trac

[MossRoad]

One more thing.... duct booster fans...
Some duct booster fans are made with plastic parts and will not withstand higher temperatures. I bought one that is rated for 266 degrees from here...

Aero-Flo™ Booster Fan

I chose the 6" model. It was $36.00.
It draws about 2/3 of an AMP and is wired for 110V

I also stuck a meat thermometer into the center of the duct work directly before the fan to monitor the air temperature inside the duct work. I was worried about overheating it and causing a fire. By playing with the distance of the duct work over the stove, I came up with a distance that when the stove is at maximum temperature (500-600 degrees on the stove top) the air entering the duct is 135 degrees. It never gets higher than that. Well withing the ratings of the fan and I can put my hand on the duct work and leave it there for a minute without getting burned.

I mounted the portable thermostat om the ceiling between the floor joists in the center of the room, too.

 

[johara1]

boy do i miss that,i heated my house for about 14 years with a barrel. well it was a double barrel kit. now i have a heat pump......jim

 

[MossRoad]

We are thinking of getting one of those Napoleons in the next year, probably the same model as yours. Any regrets or tips?

I missed this post last March. Sorry about that.

The unit works great. It is a little slow to heat up but once it is hot it stays hot a very long time. Simple control on the front. I like it.

One thing to note... the literature says it will hold 20 something inch logs. That is very misleading. That is the diagonal measure of the firebox. The directions tell you to load wood horizontally, not diagonally. Horizontally, it is more like 18". I cut my wood about 14 to 16 inches and that works well.

Again, very sorry for missing this post last March.

 

[MossRoad]

My Holz Hausen!
First pic is the ring 10' in diameter.
Second pic is paint mark at 8'.
Third pic is first course of split wood at an angle inward.
Fourth pic is several courses of split wood angled inward and internal area of circle with wood both split and small unsplit pieces stacked vertically.
After it was about 3' high I put another course of shims around the outside ring to keep the wood angled in and continued. I am up to about 5' high now. I split a 10' diameter by 5' high in about 10 hours. That's about 3 cords, according to the Holz Hausen instructions.

 

[wasabi]

ausgezeichnet!

 

[MossRoad]

ausgezeichnet!

Thanks!

 

[SpringHollow]

I was going to build a Holz Hausen this Spring but decided not to after seeing peoples' comments on the web. Basically, they said more work and most said it did not dry any better. I also thought 10' high? I would need to use a ladder. On the plus side, you get a lot of wood in a small area.

Ken

 

[MossRoad]

I don't see how it can be any more work. In fact, I think it is easier as you don't have any ends to brace up and don't have to worry about it falling over. And it does seem to take up a lot less room. 6 cords stacked conventionally would be 4'x4'x48' and take up 192 square feet of ground. This method takes less than 80 square feet. You don't have to haul the wood as far, either.

However, you are correct about the height. I am currently at 5 feet. I can toss it to 8'. But after that will require a ladder.

Perhaps I should have taken the author's advice and made a few 7 footers.

 

[SpringHollow]

Lots of the ones on the web fell over. Some were not on level ground. Don't remember if it was in this link or not but one person used a rope looped around the post - may have been attached to a disk or something - and used that to keep a good cylinder. Another wrapped his in chicken wire to keep it together after rebuilding it a couple of times.

I stack my wood on plastic pallets and use T-posts vertical pallets on one end. Stack 6'+ high, double row on each pallet. Tried 6' at the T-fence end but the double high vertical pallet is not stable - the top one bends back over time and then that end of the pile collapses. The plastic pallets i have can also crush or settle unevenly. So works best to start at 4' tall then taper to 6' +.

Still thinking about one of those wooden cylinders for next year's wood - do it for fun. Couldn't try it this year because the only spot for it meant it would hit some valuable things if it toppled.

Ken

 

[MossRoad]

I'm trying to keep mine fairly level and tapering slightly in. I'm also putting the shims in every few layers to keep the outside ring of wood tapered inwards. It's 6' high right now.

It is kind of weird how as you build up the outside ring how fast it becomes level again. You'd think it would stay tapered inwards from the first row of shims, but it does not.