[TheForge] cutting wood

[Bruce Freeman]

Well, what about  wood chip "briquettes"?  Use some simple,
semiautomatic press or screw auger to compress chips into lumps
(fist-sized or so) and simple feed a wood fire with those?

Anyone have any thoughts?

On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 4:20 PM, Jerry Frost <akfrosty at mtaonline.net> wrote:
> NOt efficiently nor properly Bruce, no. A pellet stove literally hovers the
> pellets in a terminal velocity air stream and thus achieves a very efficient
> burn. Using chips will introduce a bunch of different size and shape pieces
> into a specialized air stream which won't hover them properly. What happens
> is some of the larger chips end up plugging the air stream while the small
> pieces just go up the flue, on fire.
>
> On the other hand there are a number of chip stoves available, many are
> stokers so all you have to do is load the chip bin outside and let the auger
> feed the stove controlled by the thermostat.
>
> The engineering of the two types of stove are very different but neither is
> beyond a competent fabricator as a home build.
>
> Last year I kept track (sort of) and I spent about $8.00 on fuel to cut,
> buck and split some 8 cords of wood. The splitter cost under $100 in rental.
> Pellets here are hard to come by and more expensive than fuel oil.
>
> Next season I plan on renting a Cat 315 excavator with thumb and pushing em
> over, picking em up, shaking the dirt out of the roots and hauling them back
> and stacking em in the yard to buck and split. Can you say, fast, easy, SAFE
> and economical? An excavator cab is one of the most heavily armored in the
> heavy equipment world, it's pretty easy to let something get away from you
> and have it come back. They are very VERY tough but better yet, they usually
> have complete air systems and good sound systems. I love excavators.
>
> Good thing my retirement job last summer was delivering equipment for a
> local rental outfit eh? Gollygosh I LOVE diesel burning power tools! <VBG>
>
> Frosty the Lucky
> -------------------------
> If it ain't forged
> It ain't real
> wrought iron is
> The Frostworks
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bruce Freeman" <freemab222 at gmail.com>
> To: "Bob Ehrenberger" <eforge at centurytel.net>; "Blacksmithing List Sponsored
> by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 11:50 AM
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] cutting wood
>
>
>> Can pellet stoves burn (dried) chipped wood?  Municipalities around
>> here chip wood (wet) for disposal of prunings, etc., and some make it
>> available free as mulch.  Come up with a way to dry the "mulch" and
>> you might have cheap fuel.
>>
>> On Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 10:50 AM, Bob Ehrenberger <eforge at centurytel.net>
>> wrote:
>>> Mark,
>>>
>>> I'm kind of a do it myself sort of guy and have been cutting wood since I
>>> was in Jr High, some 45 years now. I have always enjoyed the wood cutting
>>> process, it makes a nice change from blacksmithing.
>>>
>>> The gas to cut wood runs about 1/2 gal for a 2 or 3 week supply. I cut
>>> wood
>>> on my own farm so it is just a couple hundred yards from the house, not
>>> much
>>> truck gas there. The splitter uses less gas than the chain saw. When
>>> growing up we did all the splitting by hand, dad didn't get a splitter
>>> until
>>> my brother and I moved away. Actually my brother and I got the splitter
>>> for
>>> him, we were concerned that it was too much work for him.
>>>
>>> Some of the pellet stoves can also burn corn, which would solve some of
>>> the
>>> supply problem. Though I don't like the idea of using food for fuel, the
>>> ethanol thing has really driven up the cost of corn for annimal feed.
>>>
>
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-- 
Bruce
NJ