jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,607
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Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2017 13:23:34 GMT -5
I will start. I do not have central heat. Well insulated 2 story small cabin and a basement. Wood stove in basement. Stove is 1950 Atlanta Stoveworks stove and takes 30 inch logs. Shelf on top is for drying green/wet wood. Helps when burning green wood. Entry door close by to right. 1/4 inch thick 7 inch flue pipe is concreted in ground. About 40 feet long. Cleaning access 2 feet above ground level. Hitting pipe with sledge in summer releases soot as rust layer undermines it. Basement wall is 2 feet thick hand layed(by me) out of fallen rock chimneys found in piles throughout the area. Holds ground warmth and absorbs wood heater heat for capacitance. Front of wall is completely under ground.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 8, 2017 13:36:55 GMT -5
Here's mine. I have natural gas forced air heat in the house.
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Post by Rockoonz on Jan 8, 2017 15:23:26 GMT -5
We are all electric, with a fireplace that once had an insert, so the damper was removed. If we stay long enough I will probably put a damper at the top of the flue, maybe heat activated, but for now it is sealed off with several layers of insulation to prevent the heat from escaping.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,607
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Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2017 15:34:25 GMT -5
Jugglerguy You have a spectacular back yard. How long did it take for you to build that area out ?
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 8, 2017 15:40:30 GMT -5
Jugglerguy You have a spectacular back yard. How long did it take for you to build that area out ? I like landscaping, especially with rock, so this was a project that I decided would be fun. I worked at a fun pace, which means that if I wasn't having fun, I quit and went to the lake or something. At my slow pace it took about a summer and a half. The area is on a slight slope, so I started by digging out the whole thing with a shovel and wheelbarrow and dumping it in the swamp. The garden area around was dug down about a foot and replaced with topsoil. The really slow part was picking the right rocks from farm rock piles, hauling them in my Jeep Wrangler (not too many in one trip), and placing them. Most rocks were set and reset several times. Lots of trial and error. By the way, I forgot to mention that I love the stone foundation on your house. It's really well done. I imagine that took a while too.
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Post by orrum on Jan 8, 2017 16:08:27 GMT -5
Rob I Agee with Jim, your yard is really cool!
Jim I love your Amish style stacked rock!
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Post by Pat on Jan 8, 2017 16:25:48 GMT -5
I admire both wood burners noted. Our wood burner is a cast iron hibachi about one square foot. One leg is broken off, one handle has been replaced, but it was a wedding present in 1964. We use it every summer for s'mores. We also burn logs in our two indoor fireplaces. If you keep the glass doors open just a little, the heat escapes into the room. Friend taught us this trick and it works. The wood is from trees we have had to remove --- redwood leaning on neighbor's roof, dead fruit trees and the like.
I'd go take a picture, but it is raining a lot! Finally!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jan 8, 2017 17:51:14 GMT -5
Wood boilers are all the rage in northern Michigan. You can burn anything in them including sappy wood and damp wood. The largest ones you can throw complete pallets into which is great for folks that can get free old pallets. These sit outside of the house and provide heat and hot water. Chuck
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,607
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Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2017 17:55:02 GMT -5
Jugglerguy You have a spectacular back yard. How long did it take for you to build that area out ? I like landscaping, especially with rock, so this was a project that I decided would be fun. I worked at a fun pace, which means that if I wasn't having fun, I quit and went to the lake or something. At my slow pace it took about a summer and a half. The area is on a slight slope, so I started by digging out the whole thing with a shovel and wheelbarrow and dumping it in the swamp. The garden area around was dug down about a foot and replaced with topsoil. The really slow part was picking the right rocks from farm rock piles, hauling them in my Jeep Wrangler (not too many in one trip), and placing them. Most rocks were set and reset several times. Lots of trial and error. By the way, I forgot to mention that I love the stone foundation on your house. It's really well done. I imagine that took a while too. Some of those rocks are huge. Both in the floor and wall. The wall stones look as if they have been shaped. Is that so ? Then to have access to flat rocks, is not often the case. Flat rocks look as if some are 4 feet across. Maybe best to figure the best spot so they don' have to be moved again(easier said than done eh) But the biggest chore seems digging and moving soil from that slope. Projects like that need infinite supply of rock. We bought that land and built that wall weekends for 6 months. Did not set a house on it for another 6 months. All I remember was hauling rocks in a beat up Ford P/U. Forever.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,607
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Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2017 17:59:27 GMT -5
Rob I Agee with Jim, your yard is really cool! Jim I love your Amish style stacked rock! Fun to collect the rocks Bill. Hated moving and dumping them. Loved laying them. Denise mixed the mortar, about 100 bags. She was glad when it was finished. Thanks Bill.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,607
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Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2017 18:03:57 GMT -5
I admire both wood burners noted. Our wood burner is a cast iron hibachi about one square foot. One leg is broken off, one handle has been replaced, but it was a wedding present in 1964. We use it every summer for s'mores. We also burn logs in our two indoor fireplaces. If you keep the glass doors open just a little, the heat escapes into the room. Friend taught us this trick and it works. The wood is from trees we have had to remove --- redwood leaning on neighbor's roof, dead fruit trees and the like. I'd go take a picture, but it is raining a lot! Finally! Gosh Pat, does it ever get cold in SJ ? It does get hot remembering the Sarracenia's.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,607
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Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2017 18:08:20 GMT -5
Wood boilers are all the rage in northern Michigan. You can burn anything in them including sappy wood and damp wood. The largest ones you can throw complete pallets into which is great for folks that can get free old pallets. These sit outside of the house and provide heat and hot water. Chuck After hearing the temperatures and winds of the Northerly RTH members those monsters sound like the heater for the job. Looks like it heats water for radiators in the house Chuck. Feeding pallets ? Imaging that, what a giant wood heater. I have seen your photos of your property. Looks like plenty of trees up your way.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 8, 2017 18:41:36 GMT -5
I like landscaping, especially with rock, so this was a project that I decided would be fun. I worked at a fun pace, which means that if I wasn't having fun, I quit and went to the lake or something. At my slow pace it took about a summer and a half. The area is on a slight slope, so I started by digging out the whole thing with a shovel and wheelbarrow and dumping it in the swamp. The garden area around was dug down about a foot and replaced with topsoil. The really slow part was picking the right rocks from farm rock piles, hauling them in my Jeep Wrangler (not too many in one trip), and placing them. Most rocks were set and reset several times. Lots of trial and error. By the way, I forgot to mention that I love the stone foundation on your house. It's really well done. I imagine that took a while too. Some of those rocks are huge. Both in the floor and wall. The wall stones look as if they have been shaped. Is that so ? Then to have access to flat rocks, is not often the case. Flat rocks look as if some are 4 feet across. Maybe best to figure the best spot so they don' have to be moved again(easier said than done eh) But the biggest chore seems digging and moving soil from that slope. Projects like that need infinite supply of rock. We bought that land and built that wall weekends for 6 months. Did not set a house on it for another 6 months. All I remember was hauling rocks in a beat up Ford P/U. Forever. None of the wall rocks were shaped. I did cut or break a few for the patio. The top rocks on the fire pit were all cut. The flagstone is called Onaway Stone, since it comes from a town called Onaway. It is a limestone that breaks into nice layers. I added in a few round fieldstones to tie it into the wall. Many of the rocks in the wall are what I call "rollers". I rolled them from the field up a 2x12 into my Jeep, then rolled them into a wagon at my house, then rolled them to the top of the wall. If one didn't fit, it had to be rolled around the end of the wall to the high side to be tried again. I started the wall in the middle and worked in both directions so I'd have twice as many places to fit the rocks in. When I got stuck, I'd go get more rocks to choose from. I've posted pictures here before, but in case you missed them, here are pictures of the construction process.. There are captions with each picture to explain what you're looking at.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,607
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Post by jamesp on Jan 8, 2017 18:57:41 GMT -5
Jugglerguy Dude you are an animal. That spot is much bigger than first imagined. As are the rocks, I mean rollers. Cool the way you used the center post for an axle to rotate the leveling board. And it looks like you did a progressive spiral: Have you ever thought about putting an enclose-able gazebo room over your pit for these cold azz winters ? Just because you have a long cold season. Or do you even burn fires in fall/winter ? Lots of digging and wheel barrow work here. Arguments with roots.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 8, 2017 19:08:47 GMT -5
I hardly ever use the fire pit. I knew it wouldn't get much use when I built it, I just wanted to build it. There is a swamp very close to the fire pit. Our whole yard is very buggy for most of the summer. It's ok in the sun, but the shady areas are miserable. It's worse at night. I do have a fogger that works really well if you spray the area before you use it. Probably the biggest reason it doesn't get used is because I have mostly jack pine to burn and you need a shower and a change of clothes after sitting by the fire. I do you it to burn branches and stuff from around the yard.
It's a circle, not a spiral. I just didn't make the wall go all the way around the circle, os the picture above has just enough excavated for where the wall will go. Later I dug out another six feet or so outside the whole wall for gardens. That sucked because I also had to haul replacement topsoil back to fill in what I had previously dug out. I need a Bobcat.
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Post by toiv0 on Jan 8, 2017 19:53:16 GMT -5
Here is some cooking done at my rail car cabin in New Mexico Amish air tight wood cook stove in the rail car Rocket stove in my garage in MN.
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Jan 8, 2017 20:19:52 GMT -5
I no longer have a wood stove, but when I was a kid we had a neat down-drafting stove. The idea was to suck more heat out of the burning gas by making it go further via a baffle system(check out the patent date) . When you first started the fire you used it regular way until you got a good draw, then you flip a gate and the gas went around the horn. It was strange to carefully crack the door in downdraft mode and see the flames going down instead of up. That stove was super efficient and could heat the house well. A lot of iron though and it took a while to get it warm.
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spiritstone
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2014
Posts: 2,061
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Post by spiritstone on Jan 8, 2017 20:27:58 GMT -5
I have one in my shop not used much anymore. By the time it takes to fire it up and warm the area. I find it quicker just to use a old NG single burner stove. Quick to produce heat and I dont have to keep stoking the fire.
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Post by toiv0 on Jan 8, 2017 20:45:11 GMT -5
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2017 22:26:25 GMT -5
Keeping my eye here
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