[deepinthewoods]

following a previous suggestion i thought it might be useful to have a thread for these sometimes cantankerous bits of kit!
 
currently, i am using some 10inch thick bits of rhodedendron ponticum as my overnighting logs, ive had good results with that, thick bits of laurel can work but must be well seasoned.
 
any others??

[Possum]

See SallyintNorth's reply to "Cold in the old days"!

[RUSTYME]

Nah , she's talking horse s**t again ! ;-)

[Fleecewife]

We've been using some hefty chunks of hawthorn to keep the fire in overnight.  It just seems to smoulder but is still going in the morning.  Ancient oak can work too -
 
Another trick would be to drink a large glass of water just before bed so you have to get up in the night and can put another log in the burner

[deepinthewoods]

See SallyintNorth's reply to "Cold in the old days"!

 
i did, and maks, hence this thread.,...
 
 
fw, does that work with cider???

[RUSTYME]

A bit dodgy that , i'd pee the bed !

[Possum]

Sorry about that DITW. Brain obviously not in gear!

[MAK]

I have pulled up a few loads of chestnut roots - trunks having been cut MANY years ago. Intense heat with some air flowing and long lasting overnight.
I think any root and any bits of trunk that have a large knot from a branch work if you don't have any of the wood mentioned above.
What about saw dust ? I have a mass of it but have not used any yet.
As for dung - best buy me a orse.

[deepinthewoods]

now sawdust burning is a very interesting topic, ive a friend who is building a sawdust burning 'engine' to run his bedford RL (green godess)  all i know so far is, that you need a stainless steel grid with air holes in it, in the bottom, to keep it going. i believe dick strawbridge built one and ran a car on it. it works by generating combustible fumes. this is from memory and may not be entirely accurate!!
 
i too have piles of the stuff. i hate wasting anything and need to find a use other than longterm compost for it.
 
earlier in the year during the phytoptera clearance i got my hands on half a dozen winched out oak and rhody rootballs, im saving them for properly cold weather, i suspect this winter will be as harsh as the one 2 years ago.

[RUSTYME]

There are a fair few web sites covering that subject Dave .
I made a charcoal maker out of an oil drum using the same principle , burning volatile gases .
It does work and the heat that it produces is unbelievable . The drawback was you go through oil drums like they are going out of fashion .
You can also make little cookers out of tin cans and use the same process , either with charcoal or wood chips or sawdust .  They work very well and cook perfectly . Not as much heat produced so the tins last much longer .
I have seen a transit using this system . A bit different to the norm , but it worked .
Wood gas or charcoal gas i think they call it .

[jaykay]

I think FW's technique would work even better with cider or bitter 

[colliewoman]

I use a lump of dead elm to keep my burner in overnight

[MAK]

I was keeping the saw dust for smoking food and have chucked wood chip becuase it has chainsaw oil on it. Now I have so much saw dust I'll give it a try on the log burner - last thing at night when there is nilch except cinders in the pan. 22 degrees in the house now - luxury 

[jaykay]

I wonder if you could compress the sawdust into 'bricks' to burn?

[MAK]

Compress saw dust? Good idea.
When we moved in to this house we found a metal unit to compress something - maybe newspaper, wood chip or saw dust. The old boy who lived here did lots of serious wood work so maybe saw dust from long planks he made could have been compressed.
how would I bind the wood dust together? Soak in water, compress then dry?