Long fireplace gloves that go well up the forearm are well worth it. Those hot stove burns are nasty.
I cut everything I use to 24" & split about 8"X8" for the boiler. Gives me the best burn times & less handling per load. 2-3 years & they dry quite well. I'll burn rounds up to 12" if they're dry.
Ours stove burns better with small pieces and with the hydraulic splitter it is easy enough to get them smaller. I also make some really small stuff to use for kindling. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ugh. Sorry to get this off topic a bit much First night with my stove on a real burn. I‘ll never forget it. I hadn’t had the gate around it yet, went into the kitchen for a moment and as I come back my daughter comes running in, she’s quiet but then lets it all go. She touched the hot glass. Makes me mad at myself that I just had that going on. she was barely 2. That hospital ride was awful. She remembers it a lot. I remind her what happened and she knows. Fire looks awful pretty in a glass window....but to any others who have kids, the child gate is a good investment for just about any age. Might look a little silly but it kept things out of the stove area that otherwise would be moving around.
We have a folding screen that goes in place when company with kids are visiting. Sorry to hear about your daughter. Thanks for sharing as a reminder for all.
The first little kids we had in our house when we were using the wood stove were our grandkids. I would sit in front of the stove and hold them on my lap and have them look at the fire and I would even open the door for a better look and feel. I made sure they felt the heat coming from the fire and after that teaching moment they never went near it again. Never had a child gate in front of the stove. Little education goes a long ways.
I believe I remember the post on that. Also I remember the pic's after you had the stove gated off. Ruff indeed but she will educate every person in her life that fire is not to be played with.
My stove will accept 20”, but I buck to 18”. I get the best workable size to fit the stove without fighting with the splits and the 18” are more manageable by weight than the 20’s
Same here. I'll even do 6x6 pieces for overnight. But I load for overnight. My wife just loads the fire during the day if needed. Now I make sure to have smaller pieces for her, because those big overnighters can get heavy.
This I hope but she’s still rough around the edges so I just remind her about it. A bit free spirited. At least she knows more not to touch it.
We cut mostly 18", generally 4x4 is the biggest. Mostly oak and hickory, so it's still heavy when dry.
