Locus Burning Too Hot for CAT Stove ?

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smokeyCityTeacher
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Post by smokeyCityTeacher » Sat. Mar. 12, 2011 12:23 am

I just talked to a guy who has some black locust he wants to sell me. The reason it sounds good is that he says this wood is very dry and Ive heard great things about locust. I have a lot of free firewood in my driveway right now but its fresh green sumac and its over a year from being seasoned enough for my preference - and I need some to finish out the month of March.

I told him about my wanting to get a Blaze King and he said that Locust burns too hot for CATS and could damage my stove ?

Coming from a guy who is trying to sell me wood - I figure he has no reason to lie but Ive not read this anywhere.

Anybody know anything about woods that burn too hot for a CAT stove ?


 
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Post by smokeyCityTeacher » Wed. Mar. 16, 2011 11:58 pm

just got my load of Black locust and im burning some in the 30NC It burns so hot I have to crank on the back fan to take some of the heat away.
This stuff is really well seasoned - produces no smoke- and a blue flame. What a difference burning seasoned hardwood makes comparaed to burning scrap pine and old boards.

 
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Post by VigIIPeaBurner » Thu. Mar. 17, 2011 7:05 am

Turn your air feed back and you'll get less heat. No different than stepping on your vehicles gas peddle; the more fuel mixture you feed (air+fuel) the faster more energy.
  • About the logs in your driveway, we talked about this before. If it's as big as reported, it's not sumac ;)

 
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Post by rberq » Fri. Mar. 18, 2011 9:04 pm

smokeyCityTeacher wrote:This stuff is really well seasoned - produces no smoke- and a blue flame.
I sounds like it is burning so hot and clean the catalyst is not needed for now. But I don't think it will hurt the cat; they can run above 1800 degrees.

 
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Post by smokeyCityTeacher » Thu. Mar. 24, 2011 12:47 am

rberq wrote:
smokeyCityTeacher wrote:This stuff is really well seasoned - produces no smoke- and a blue flame.
I sounds like it is burning so hot and clean the catalyst is not needed for now. But I don't think it will hurt the cat; they can run above 1800 degrees.
hmm...that makes sense. The CAT only benefits you when it has some smoke to burn. If you are not producing smoke you don't get the benefit. Yep I think you are right on.

I read similar things about burning Anthracite vs Bit. Some people are putting secondary burn tubes (just like the wood stoves) in their bit burners and they are getting great 2ndary burn cause the BIt makes smoke. They don't do it in the Anthracite burners - and my guess is that its because the Anthracite doesn't smoke.

Even w/out smoke I love the way this dry locust lets me to shut the air down as far as possible and still get a clean blue flame slow burn

 
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Post by rberq » Thu. Mar. 24, 2011 6:38 pm

smokeyCityTeacher wrote:Even w/out smoke I love the way this dry locust lets me to shut the air down as far as possible and still get a clean blue flame slow burn
Locust. Coal without waiting 300 million years....

 
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Post by grumpy » Thu. Mar. 24, 2011 7:08 pm

rberq wrote:
smokeyCityTeacher wrote:Even w/out smoke I love the way this dry locust lets me to shut the air down as far as possible and still get a clean blue flame slow burn
Locust. Coal without waiting 300 million years....
Thats what I always said, it is kinda like burning coal...


 
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Post by coaledsweat » Thu. Mar. 24, 2011 10:37 pm

Coal will eat the CAT.

 
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Post by Scottscoaled » Fri. Mar. 25, 2011 1:59 pm

Seems a shame to burn such high quality wood during the shoulder season. Should find some poplar or basswood to use and save the seasoned locust for colder weather. Do you know that black locust is the wood that rates the highest on the BTU chart per cord. Much more than oak. :)

 
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Post by cArNaGe » Fri. Mar. 25, 2011 2:57 pm

Makes good fence post too.

 
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Post by smokeyCityTeacher » Mon. Mar. 28, 2011 10:35 pm

stokerscot wrote:Seems a shame to burn such high quality wood during the shoulder season. Should find some poplar or basswood to use and save the seasoned locust for colder weather. Do you know that black locust is the wood that rates the highest on the BTU chart per cord. Much more than oak. :)
That statement puzzles me because I was always taught that wood's BTU is based on its density. Locust is not the densest yet it is rated higher than many denser woods as burning the hottest ?

Why isnt simply the densest wood the most BTU producing ?

 
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Post by smokeyCityTeacher » Mon. Mar. 28, 2011 10:39 pm

coaledsweat wrote:Coal will eat the CAT.
but it seems to feed the steel tubes nicley if its makin smoke

2ndary burn does not seem to care what is making the smoke.

I still don't see why stove makers don't put the 2ndary tubes in bit burners

 
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Post by VigIIPeaBurner » Mon. Mar. 28, 2011 11:58 pm

stokerscot wrote:Seems a shame to burn such high quality wood during the shoulder season. Should find some poplar or basswood to use and save the seasoned locust for colder weather. Do you know that black locust is the wood that rates the highest on the BTU chart per cord. Much more than oak. :)
Yeh SCT, fire up a few test loads of that TOH (aka sumac :P ) this spring and save that really good stuf for the winter time. I've got some kept under cover that must be 10 -11 years old and still solid as the day I stacked it :) :D
smokeyCityTeacher wrote:Why isnt simply the densest wood the most BTU producing ?
That statement seems to assume that all wood is alike except the more density a species has, the more heat per ft^3. I'm wondering if it could be similar to coal veins yielding different BTU/Lb Influenced by % ash and % volatiles (bit vs. anthracite) among other variables. I never looked that closely when I burned wood for 20 years but I guess volatiles and ash vary the BTU content too and are not necessarily proportional to density.

 
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Post by Berlin » Tue. Mar. 29, 2011 12:53 am

a wood's density is pretty much proportional to it's BTU; there is the exception of some pine/fir species that produce so much pitch they greatly increase the BTU content of the wood. Where you'll get disagreements about hardwood is the density. some sources will claim that white oak, shagbark hickory, osage orange or black locust is the highest without a definitive answer. based on my experience I would argue that the top spot should be between osage orange and black locust, the rest just don't compare.

 
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Post by smokeyCityTeacher » Tue. Mar. 29, 2011 1:12 am

Berlin wrote:a wood's density is pretty much proportional to it's BTU; there is the exception of some pine/fir species that produce so much pitch they greatly increase the BTU content of the wood. Where you'll get disagreements about hardwood is the density. some sources will claim that white oak, shagbark hickory, osage orange or black locust is the highest without a definitive answer. based on my experience I would argue that the top spot should be between osage orange and black locust, the rest just don't compare.
Since Osage isnt local to the east coast - blocus is king eh ?


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