Too bad about the squirrels. I dropped a huge dead white oak a few years ago causing a baby squirrel masacre. Even though there is an overpopulation of squirrels around here (too many oak and hickory, not enough coyotes), I felt awful killing a bunch of babies and it took the fun out of bucking the tree. If all the raccoons and groundhogs wouldn't mind climbing to the top of a big tree, however.....
My beech is the smoothest gray bark I've ever seen on a tree. Many of the beech around here suffer from some sort of heartwood rot fungus. It doesn't affect the sapwood, however, so you end up with frankenstein trees that are completely hollowed out but very much alive and full of leaves. They aren't any good for firewood at that point so I just let them go. Some get so weak that they blow over in storms, but then the sapwood resprouts and what grows back gets even weirder.
I can’t claim to be any type of expert on these matters but as I’ve read draft is a mix of volume and velocity. EPA stoves depend on a certain velocity to function correctly. By dropping to five inch you may have increased velocity which will make the stove burn hotter/faster. Stick an epa stove into a larger flue and it won’t work correctly. There’s too much volume and not enough velocity to pull the air into the secondaries. You may have been better off with a 6 or maybe even 7 inch liner. At 38 feet it’s a little irrelevant at this point. That’s an expensive proposition to experiment with
You make an interesting point about velocity. I'll have to think more about that one. I saved a few bucks going with a 5" liner and it was easier to fit through the bottom of the masonry flue, so there were a lot of considerations. I downsized mostly for those reasons, but with confidence that I wouldn't be lacking for draft by going smaller. Fortunately there are a lot of variables to mess around with to compensate for too much or too little draft. I've tried a bunch, but mostly settled on burning huge, blocky splits packed tightly together, or the biggest rounds I can fit through the door. In other words, as little surface area as possible exposed to oxygen and heat. That tends to keep the stove temp from running away and gives me a solid 6-8 hours of good heat from a 2.5 cubic foot firebox. Seasoning splits and rounds that large takes 3-5 years for red oak and hickory, 6+ years for white oak, and 2-3 years for maple / elm / cherry / pine. So it's a true hoarder's strategy. Luckily, I'm on the 5-6 year plan. Big splits and rounds of white oak that I cut and split in the spring of 2019 still aren't ready, but ones from early 2018 are finally burning good this year.
I could install a chimney damper, I just wouldn't be able to open or close it. (The cat's not dead, just a weirdo.) The fundamental problem is the unrestricted secondary air design on my insert. The stove in my barn (Napoleon s9) restricts / controls primary and secondary air, and despite it also having a strongly drafting chimney, it behaves like it should.
Sounds like you’ve got it figured out. I imagine it was the damper that constricted your size. As a Mason that built fireplaces I’m glad you didn’t chop the damper out of the way. It’s the easiest cheapest way to do it but if you ever want to convert back to open fire,,,,,,,don’t call me LOL I lucked out, my damper is 5’ and the opening is just wide enough to sneak a flexible liner through. 6-8 hours of good heat isnt bad for a secondary burner. Keep on keepin on.
Correct. It was the damper. I removed the door or whatever you call the part that closes, but the actual frame wouldn't let a 6" stainless liner through. I had the exact thought you mention: if I cut it out with a grinder it will never be a fireplace again. It was a very nice looking double sided fireplace until I stuck an insert in it, but I could never get it to draft right as a fireplace. The double sided concept sounds good in theory, but allowing air to flow in (and unfortunately out) from such a large area on two sides was a better idea in theory than in practice. I didn't smoke the wife out of the house or anything, but until the chimney got hot a little smoke would always come out of one side or the other.
Ahh, umn because somebody cheated. This is how you build a multi opening fireplace. There’d be plenty of room for a liner with the correct damper. They used to be all the rage in the late 80’s early 90’s around these parts. Built quite a few of em. https://www.vestalmfg.com/PDF/Multi-OpeningFireplace.pdf
You're right that I don't have a dampler like that in it. The house started with architect approved plans that included a single prefabricated fireplace. Then the original homeowner and the builder decided to change some things, like adding a second fireplace in the basement, and doing a double flue masonry chimney. That sounds great in theory, but the builder didn't consider all of the consequences of his on-the-fly modifications to the original drawings. (Like how making the chimney twice as wide would create a so-called "dead valley" on the roof.) Bottom line is I'm not surprised that the damper is not the right one. Open wood-burning fireplaces are nice, but I prefer the heat of the stove. Before and after. The little insert that could -- heating a 3700 square foot house with a 2.4 cubic foot firebox (and a big, custom blower on the back).
It’s a nice cool, dry sunny day here hovering around 40 degrees with a light breeze, so I figured I’d take the opportunity to whittle away at this some more. I bucked 3 rounds and quartered them before running out of time. Plenty of straight trunk left when I’m feeling ambitious:
Why that trunk is so pretty I’m hearing banjo music on that river LOL Got a rippin chain? Make a bridge for the other wood behind it
There's a ton of wood just inside the tree line all over this backroad. The trouble is time and to a lesser extent, space at home. Too many irons in the fire right now. You want the Google maps location so you can scoop up the rest of this? You're only 8 miles away as the crow flies
That is a fine looking beech log. That would eat at me until it was whittled and in my hoard. But I know there is only so much time for gathering.
Yeah but I know crows fly over the Ct river whereas I have to drive 30 to find a bridge I’ll come yank it out of that hole for if ya want. It’s too nice to just leave it there. Make room.
