Fire Wood

[Chalky White]

Hi as it starts to get colder due to the time of year, so that makes it winter need any advice, is there any law that stops you from cutting collecting wood from the towpath. I take it you not able to just go round cutting down trees.

[Mac of Cygnet]

Hi as it starts to get colder due to the time of year, so that makes it winter need any advice, is there any law that stops you from cutting collecting wood from the towpath. I take it you not able to just go round cutting down trees.

 

Strictly speaking, there is no legal right to collect firewood without the permission of the owner of the land - no, not even from the towpath. See http://www.naturenet.net/blogs/2009/02/is-there-a-legal-right-to-collect-firewood/ But having said that..................

[junior]

Where are you? Down here on the Paddington arm there is loads of free fire wood available. We had quite a few trees down in the storm a few weeks ago and whoever cleared them from the canal and chopped them up has left it all stacked up neatly on the tow path in several places. There must be a lifetime's worth of wood going free.

[Lady Muck]

Yes, help yourself, I had it confirmed by CRT that any towpath wood left like that on the towpath (not the offside) is for boaters use.

[J R ALSOP]

Anyone seen any diesel lying around?.

[Grace and Favour]

Hi as it starts to get colder due to the time of year, so that makes it winter need any advice, is there any law that stops you from cutting collecting wood from the towpath. I take it you not able to just go round cutting down trees.

Just note that freshly cut wood (AKA green wood) really doesn't burn too well, (although Ash will), and all such timber will put (much) more cack and tar in your flue and chimney than properly seasoned timber.

 

In my experience I've found that if one absolutely has to burn wood (as opposed to smokeless fuels), then discussions with local timber yards/manufacturers buying offcuts has resulted in much better quality burning

[Paul C]

Hi as it starts to get colder due to the time of year, so that makes it winter need any advice, is there any law that stops you from cutting collecting wood from the towpath. I take it you not able to just go round cutting down trees.

 

 

Just note that freshly cut wood (AKA green wood) really doesn't burn too well, (although Ash will), and all such timber will put (much) more cack and tar in your flue and chimney than properly seasoned timber.

 

In my experience I've found that if one absolutely has to burn wood (as opposed to smokeless fuels), then discussions with local timber yards/manufacturers buying offcuts has resulted in much better quality burning

 

As above, really. No point in collecting wood now, in the hope that it would burn - it won't. It needs to be seasoned, and I've always personally doubted that a narrowboat has enough storage/laying out space to properly season a reasonable quantity of green wood. Its a different case if you have a mooring with a bit of space bankside, or a house, etc

[alan_fincher]

Anyone seen any diesel lying around?.

Yes, regularly around where we moor, but unfortunately it is only usually a thin film on the surface of the cut, and so far I have not come up with a way of getting it from there back into a Jerry can.

[BlueStringPudding]

Yes, regularly around where we moor, but unfortunately it is only usually a thin film on the surface of the cut, and so far I have not come up with a way of getting it from there back into a Jerry can.

 

[Mac of Cygnet]

 

 

 

As above, really. No point in collecting wood now, in the hope that it would burn - it won't.

 

Not so. Any wood which has been dead long enough (usually at least a year) and is clear of the ground ie still standing or lying at an angle, will usually be fine, even now and after having been rained on. I would except birch, whose impermeable bark doesn't allow it to dry before it rots.

[The Lockie]

I must have been really lucky!!

 

Never had a problem burning oak,ash,beech,blackthorn or hawthorn on the little wenlock on my boat, are you guys trying to talk it down so there is more wood for you:-) :-)

[Rod a mod from Tod]

Just what I thought. Never seem to have a problem either in getting it to burn no matter how fresh it is.

[The Lockie]

Just what I thought. Never seem to have a problem either in getting it to burn no matter how fresh it is.

Indeed!!

 

Our 1st winter out we went through nearly 30 bags of coal!!

 

Our 2nd winter out bought 5 bags and had 2 left going into spring!

 

Get a decent chainsaw it pays for itself really quickly

[Grace and Favour]

I must have been really lucky!!

 

Never had a problem burning oak,ash,beech,blackthorn or hawthorn on the little wenlock on my boat, are you guys trying to talk it down so there is more wood for you:-) :-)

No - - I use smokeless fuel

[BlueBelle1]

Does wood create Tar deposits in your flue?

[Barry]

Yes - especially pine

 

Which is why, if burning wood, The fire service recommends having your chimney swept four times a year

[Black Ibis]

High moisture content wood will burn but it will produce much lower flame temperatures, and much of the heat will be lost in moisture evaporation. Burning at this lower temperature produces more tar and creosote which can block up your flue.

[Black Ibis]

Official CRT line on taking felled logs from the towpath: "not only is it acceptable, it is to be encouraged" (providing the trees had already fallen or been cut down.) See Neil (towpath ranger)'s blog http://nbherbie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/best-gadget-award-announced-plus-ranger.html

[Mac of Cygnet]

Official CRT line on taking felled logs from the towpath: "not only is it acceptable, it is to be encouraged" (providing the trees had already fallen or been cut down.) See Neil (towpath ranger)'s blog http://nbherbie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/best-gadget-award-announced-plus-ranger.html

 

Yes indeed. But this summer I came across a CRT notice warning against collecting even dead wood, calling it theft and saying it decreases the biodiversity of the woodland. This on the Macc by the aqueduct 1/2 mile north of Congleton. TBH, I think this is over the top, given there are several hundred acres of woodland in the vicinity for the beasties to live in.

[Neil2]

Yes - especially pine

 

Which is why, if burning wood, The fire service recommends having your chimney swept four times a year

If that's true then the Fire Service should be thinking about giving people proper advice. If you have to have your chimney swept four times a year you are a) doing something seriously wrong, b ) wasting money.

 

Wood burners are all the rage these days but most people haven't a clue how to use them.

 

Forget "seasoning" all that matters is the moisture content. Put simply don't burn wet wood. Moisture in the wood stops the fire getting up to the temperature needed to vapourise the various substances it contains. For this reason you shouldn't allow the fire to "smoulder". A proper wood stove, correctly used, should emit hardly any smoke when burning, only when first lit or when refuelled. Smoke is unburned fuel, so it's wasteful and polluting, but it also indicates that there are gasses condensing inside the chimney which is what clogs them up.

 

If you burn dry wood, and keep the stove burning properly with a constant flame, sweeping once a year should be sufficient.

[Athy]

Ah, I hear the sound of a voice of common sense. Have a green(wood)o, Neil.

[Barry]

If that's true then the Fire Service should be thinking about giving people proper advice. If you have to have your chimney swept four times a year you are a) doing something seriously wrong, b ) wasting money.

 

Wood burners are all the rage these days but most people haven't a clue how to use them.

 

Forget "seasoning" all that matters is the moisture content. Put simply don't burn wet wood. Moisture in the wood stops the fire getting up to the temperature needed to vapourise the various substances it contains. For this reason you shouldn't allow the fire to "smoulder". A proper wood stove, correctly used, should emit hardly any smoke when burning, only when first lit or when refuelled. Smoke is unburned fuel, so it's wasteful and polluting, but it also indicates that there are gasses condensing inside the chimney which is what clogs them up.

 

If you burn dry wood, and keep the stove burning properly with a constant flame, sweeping once a year should be sufficient.

 

I can only repeat what the people in the relevant department say and who am I to tell them they are wrong.

 

Come to that who are you to tell them they are wrong. Taking your last sentence, please tell me where your theory that cleaning chimneys on a wood burning stove once a year is sufficient, comes from.

 

Given that the fire service used to spend a huge amount of time extinguishing chimney fires from just coal fires and the advice for them (based on well earned experience gained over many years plus speaking to the people who really know what they are doing, chimney sweeps) was to sweep twice a year.

 

Then wood burning stoves began to become the in thing. Their experience showed an inordinate build up of soot/resin mixture building up inside the flues of wood burning stoves. Research showed that burning wood, particularly resinous ones like pine, released resins in the smoke that condense in the flue far more than coal. A flammable build up just inviting chimney fires which did happen. Hence their advice to sweep more often than if just burning coal.

 

Your last sentence then is just theory because it is dependant upon burning wood in ideal conditions every time. Looking back on this thread people are quite happy to burn anything at any time. Just as the majority of stove owners do so this is the reality - not the perfect theory,

 

Therefore your theory is seriously flawed because it takes no account of what people actually do. Fire service advice is based on what people actually do.

 

So stick that in your pipe and smoke it

[tree monkey]

 

I can only repeat what the people in the relevant department say and who am I to tell them they are wrong.

 

Come to that who are you to tell them they are wrong. Taking your last sentence, please tell me where your theory that cleaning chimneys on a wood burning stove once a year is sufficient, comes from.

 

Given that the fire service used to spend a huge amount of time extinguishing chimney fires from just coal fires and the advice for them (based on well earned experience gained over many years plus speaking to the people who really know what they are doing, chimney sweeps) was to sweep twice a year.

 

Then wood burning stoves began to become the in thing. Their experience showed an inordinate build up of soot/resin mixture building up inside the flues of wood burning stoves. Research showed that burning wood, particularly resinous ones like pine, released resins in the smoke that condense in the flue far more than coal. A flammable build up just inviting chimney fires which did happen. Hence their advice to sweep more often than if just burning coal.

 

Your last sentence then is just theory because it is dependant upon burning wood in ideal conditions every time. Looking back on this thread people are quite happy to burn anything at any time. Just as the majority of stove owners do so this is the reality - not the perfect theory,

 

Therefore your theory is seriously flawed because it takes no account of what people actually do. Fire service advice is based on what people actually do.

 

So stick that in your pipe and smoke it

i am so glad you answered that, i tried but started to get very very arsey

 

its about real world stove use, i sweep my small boat flue once a week, its a simple and quick job that i can do while the fire is smoldering, doing it once a week means it IS an easy and quick job.

 

i burn wood 90% of the time and most of that time the fire never shows flame, this is what my boat needs to keep it at a comfy temperature

 

yes it is important to burn properly seasoned wood but most people don't, including me, fresh Ash is my fuel of choice and i am happy to accept the "issues" because for me its free and i have to kit to turn all that timber into free fuel.

 

'ang on i just need to take me jumper off its like an oven in here

[The Lockie]

Why only sweep a narrowboat flue twice a year! They are a piece of pxxs to clean, I used to clip my Armco chain to a bit of rope and rattle it down the flue, takes literally 2 minutes to do . If you can't spare that then time to join the real world where all the slaves rush about:-)

[Neil2]

What I was attempting to explain is not "theory". If the wood in your stove is smoking/smouldering all you are doing is creating charcoal. The useful combustible gasses are just disappearing up the chimney unburnt and either polluting the atmosphere or gumming up your chimney. It's just not good practice.

 

As for "real world" use, you would think for example the Fire Service would prioritise prevention rather than cure, and maybe have some regard for the amount of pollution caused by incorrect use of wood stoves.

 

No need to take my word for it, anyone who knows anything about burning wood will concur, if you care to do a little research.

 

I take the point that NB flues are a doddle to clean regularly compared to a domestic stove, but think about what you are doing - all that stuff that comes out of a wood stove flue is the product of incomplete combustion. You are not extracting all the calorific value in the wood.

 

As Athy says, it's common sense really.