That's funny. I really like burning black cherry, but it usually gives me trouble not wanting to burn down all the way, unless I have something like locust in the stove to keep it company
I ran a full load this morning on a decent bed of coals. Bypass open till 550 degrees. Left air open a smidge. Burned ok like that.
Good idea. This is why having a mm is still a good idea for any wood burner, even those ahead many years. Most times you won't need it, but there will be times when you need to verify. There's no other tool that can tell you the MC of a piece of wood.
15% is great, so that's not the issue. Since you found the mm, take some readings on the oak you have. Just out of curiousity.
There’s some interesting reading on this thread. The last several days its been single digit temps here and I’ve been burning BL mixed in with other various hardwoods. BL has never been a preferred wood for me, but I always throw some in the mix each year when it gets real cold. It’s always mixed with other hardwoods. And it’s usually 10-15% moisture verified with a meter. I’ve never burned a full stove of BL. And I’ve never really had a problem burning dry BL as part of a mix.
Holy Smokes Bypass open to 550? I've never bypassed higher than 350F unless i was already loading on a super hot bed of coals. But then again I do tend to baby my stove.
I’m just the opposite. Never afraid to push anything to the limits FWIW that’s well below the record LOL
This looks like the answer. I'm running the stove much much hotter before bypassing and then with more air. The results are great. I'm surprised after burning for so many years with so many types of wood that Locust is behaving this differently with my stove but that's the one of the fun parts of heating with wood. The simple fact is Locust behaves completely differently in my stove. Thanks everyone for chiming in .
Thank you for updating- it's a good reminder for me that some of the hardwoods need a little more runway before taking off. Out of curiosity- what's your experience with the Progress been?
The Progress did exactly what it was suppose to do when I replaced the Fireview. I get solid 12 hour burn times and lots more heat for my 2300 sq ft. house. I got tired of waking up at 2 am to reload the FV and having to run it so hard to keep up. The Progress handles most of the heating needs and when it can't the Palliadian comes to life.
My last load was 1/2 oak 1/2 locust. The Stove Top Temp reached above 450F which is pretty typical. When I mix in the Locust, I need to heat the snot out of the load before engaging the cat or it just stalls and I get black smoke.
Locust burning weather is blowing into town for us this weekend fire_man! Seems like you know what you’ve got to do now to make it work in your stove I’ll be mixing plenty of it in with my loads all weekend here.
Yeah I don’t have a ton of it this year, just some dead/barkless that’s been drying for a little over a year, top covered. It was all around 20% when I cut it so it should be good now.
Above my pay grade but I’ve been wondering if BL heats a little differently in soapstone than metal stoves. I can feel it heat the bottom of the stove nicely. Good radiant heat pouring through the glass. The top of the stove doesn’t get as hot as usual tho. They say it burns like coal. Did they ever make soapstone coal stoves in any abundance?
I can't speak to Locust in Soapstone vs Steel but I can say it takes more time/air to get the stove cranked before engaging the cat. The next load should be interesting, most of my remaining stack is 100% Locust, no oak to mix in.
I burn BL by its self when the big freeze hits. It lights off easier than oak in my experience. I hope the BL works for you cause it’s a joy to burn for me.
