Yeah now you pointing that out to me, seeing things clearer now. Looks to me like you'll have some gooder BTU's plus the rest you got down. You often give your low end stuff away?
TBH, I usually don't even bother with Tulip or Cottonwood. I have plenty of gooder other wood for heat. I'm clearing that area so that some dirt work can be done. Got a drainage issue back there and need to remedy before house construction can begin. Initially I was just going to cull the leaners and non-healthy stuff, but I discovered that the runoff goes underground to the left and reappears 60 feet further down the hill. Footers will be ~30-40' from that woodline and I plan to have a basement.
The work will pay off! Sounds like a fun thing to do honestly, clearing the yard for a project! My question is if you're having drainage issues, are there trees back there to take care of the standing water or is it too much for those to handle? Usually I never do too with those kinds of woods but doing some reading these may come in handy later when its weather that isn't too cold. I know pallets are a better source for this because the wood is already small and dried. I just didnt like how long it takes for it to dry from the round! Cottonwood has its place here but I've always said this wood is becoming the bane of anyones existence. Its very heavy when fresh but it is about 90 percent water anyways. Most of the work is the lifting. I started collecting wood that would be great for those "super cold" times but thats much different here than your area perhaps. The norway maple I got will probably run me out of my house among the oak and locust. Shoulder season sticks around a lot here, but I think I'll need to make sure I have softwoods for each end. Even if it is kinda chitty.
I'm leaving the sycamore as a water sucker. It's not standing water. There is a valley to the left that is out of the picture. It drains around 10 acres. The water should be flowing on top in that little section of trees before the hill starts in pics. There is a trail (main trailhead) to the left that curves up behind that little hill. The water flows down the valley, and then through a culvert under the trail, then proceeds to go underground basically the length of the width of the pictures, then resurfaces as runoff further downhill. I'm not comfortable with that. The whole area is mooshy where I'm working. I want to dig everything out and put in a swail and some more culverting so I can make the water flow where I want it to. (down the hill, to the right in pics to a crick) In it's natural state, the valley would've been draining right out into the "yard" area. It was modified many years ago (before me), but not well enough for a home site to be so close. My main burning is of red oak. Mixed in is white oak, ash, hickory, beech, hard maple, red elm, black and honey locust. I typically rely on natural gas until temps get around 40*. The size of woodburner (oops, too big) and nature of my HVAC system doesn't work very well for shoulder wood burning. This will be remedied in the new house setup (which will have free nat gas to use). Planning for a stove in the garage and in the basement of new house (well is forty years old).
Curious .. what is your wood burner? Apparently 1.9 cu ft fire box is a "smaller one" according to folks here...
Well, used to have a nice Suburban brand, but the firebox was compromised by rust (still have and plan to have new firebox fabricated eventually for it). I replaced it with a TSC Hot Blast (hurriedly in the middle of winter) . My main floor is only ~900 sq ft. Bonehead move, but it was a quick, cheap and easy solution at the time. I have since adapted to it and make it work for my situation for now. It needs to be *cold for me to start a fire. Burn time is most important characteristic of wood for me. I could throw a load of balsa wood in there and still would get run out of the house unless it's down near freezing.
It's definitely a walnut variety - looks like the leaves are opening up, if you can wait a week or two you might be able to make a more accurate call. Around here, black locust and black walnut both have very similar bark. But black locust tends to have a very compact crown, while black walnut likes to spread way out like that tree is. If that tree was on my property id be pretty sure its black walnut.
Yep, the 2500sq ft one, that's it! LOL Build quality isn't that great, but I'm here to tell you they will make some heat! I have some black walnut in close proximity. I'll post a pic up this weekend sometime. Much tighter bark.
For 2,500 sq feet it's gotta be a bit too much sometimes if your main room is only around 900 square feet. Mine is rated for 800 to 2000 so im more than likely to keep my fires small. My home is only 726 square feet and if you include the garage it makes it an even 1000! I have collected a lot of hemlock cutoffs. Lower btus but just factoring in how those could be loaded, they can be my source of heat for quite a while. I have at least 2 rain barrels full and a bunch of boxes full. This is where I get a little out of hand with the freebies, but you wont ever hear me complain about the sources. Now just hoping to get a good balance of heat, circulation and ventilation. You seem to have good burners despite the size of the house. Dont worry about your wood, seems like it works for you regardless of heat output. Sometimes you realize its better having it too warm and turn it down than too cold anyways. Bet you spend time in shorts in your house a bit!
Well, part of my problem lies in the fact that the Hotblast has been EPAed. Impossible to have a low fire without creosote buildup due to the reburn design. I have tried a "small hot fire". Either it's not enough to kick on the blower limit switch (and you'll never know there is a fire), or it's too much on a mild day if fire is hot enough to trigger limit switch. It's just too danged "big" for what I need. Not just a main room that is 900sqft...that is the entire floor plan of my house not including the basement, where the Beast lives.
Hmm - I'm pretty sure it's the other way around. Black walnut bark is thick, dark, and deeply furrowed; while butternut is "tighter" and lighter in color with silvery flat topped ridges. If you can find any nuts, that can provide a clue as well - black walnuts are nearly perfectly round, while butternuts are egg shaped.
Hopefully you could find something that someone might be willing to trade you for s something smaller and same value and hook up.
This is what my black walnut bark looks like. Perhaps I used the term "tight" wrongly. I meant not as wide of "furrows". The tree in question has much wider furrows and the "ridges" are flatter. google stock photo What is odd is that I cannot remember any mast off of the tree in question and it overhangs a mowed area. The black walnuts are around one of my processing areas and I have to remember to park the truck back far enough in the fall to keep it from being pelted with walnuts.
Once the Suburban is refurbished, it will likely reside in the new basement. Likely, a regular stove instead of a furnace will be put in the garage. I have been looking for Brunco stuff occasionally. I will buy used. Hot blast is going to stay right where it is when I go.
On the ground. Been finding excuses not to cut this in the hot weather. It was hot Saturday, but I found motivation somehow and finally laid this one down.
