So, I'm coming across the uglies now and then...a lot more these days. Next year, I'm cutting these smaller. If they're too big, the irregular shape makes them difficult to accommodate in a well packed stove.
I'm a wood snob now, uglies don't stack good in the stove or stack so they never see the inside of the stove. Last year I probably put 3 pick up truck loads of uglies at the street for people to take. This was mostly free tree service wood, if I cut it myself those types of pieces would've got left in the woods.
THats one of the reasons I went with the BK. I can throw pretty much any ugly, mis shaped , twisted, gnarly mess in there and not have to worry about packing it full for a long burn time.
I had the same problem with the Heritage. Don't have that problem with the 30 or the Defiant. It's funny that I consider the Encore my "small" stove.
The King has a large, wider firebox than the lopi had but the door opening is significantly shorter than the Lopi. Makes fitting some of the pieces left bigger for the smaller stove a pain to get into the big one!
I got 2 kinds of uglies. If they are "Butt ugly " they get stacked to burn in the fire pit. Just ugly, ie; a little twisted , bowed or bent , I use them for shoulder season and day fires & coal burn down. I semi "wood snob" when stacking from the seasoning stack to the shed. Stacking tall rows in the shed, it helps to have fairly straight splits. I make a pile of culls, that go to the fire pit stack or the front of the shed for shoulder season.
I imagine the Princess is very much like the 30 when it comes to door opening and working space for splits.
My uglies sometimes get set aside and I reprocess them if I don't feel like dealing with jamming them in. With all the snow covered wood I have right now, I'm making do getting the uglies in there.
You have no love for the Heritage. I still love the Heritage although at times the Mansfield would be easier to work with. I also owned a Miata at one time and hauled a large flat panel tv home from Costco in it.
Not true. It is a great looking stove. It looks fantastic. I also love the redesigned Mansfield. My comments were more about the frustration I had working a firebox that was too small for my needs. I would probably have the same opinion if I was previously running a Jotul Castine, Englander 13NC. So, this wasn't a dig against the stove, but more about the frustration I had running a stove that was too small. If I were only running one stove, a Mansfield would be great, though I would probably get greedy and seek out the Equinox.
Aw man, any of you guys that happen by my area with truckloads of uglies, let me know, you can dump 'em at my place I take mine and put 'em in big plastic 55 gal. drums, then wheel 'em into the garage in late summer, and have 'em all burned up before cold weather hits. I have all sort and manner of firewood that is diagnosed 'oppositional defiant', and there ain't nothin more satisfying to me than stuffin' it in the stove
I don't pass up uglies. I use them for day time burning since I am not trying to pack the stove tight.
Been there and done that with chunks and uglies...... It's even more fun when you are running across the house with a burning log after you had to pull it out of the stove cause the door wouldn't shut.
LOL! If I ran an Equinox in 1545 sq feet of well insulated office...I'd die of heat stroke. I know you weren't talking about me and you have much more square footage and different insulation issues..
I tried that before. I just leave 'em in with the door open and push them all way in after a half hour. I have had too many accidents and don't want the smoke issue.
I like uglies better at daytime too. At night, not so much of an option when trying to get the long burns and every cubic inch needs to be occupied with wood.
