Wildstoves Wood Gas Stove MkIIt

[Oodle-Bear]

Hi guys,

As you are probably aware, i'm new here and i haven't actually bought the stove yet but, I have a question/theory that perhaps you more experienced guys could help me with?

Anyway, I have decided to get the above stove for camping with my little boy next year, we will be using this for drinks and cooking on, with a fire-pit for heat and snacks (marshmallows) of an evening.

I was looking at various articles (Youtube and web pages) with regards to fueling and although you can use cat-litter pellets I was thinking about twigs/wood fueling.

My question/curiosity is to do with bundling...

The inner 'fuel chamber' is a fixed size and the general consents seems to be fill the chamber with fuel and light from the top for a longer burning time.

With this in mind I was wondering if cutting and filling the chamber with sticks, placed lengthways and totally filling the circle, with all the ends facing upwards and lighting a small fire on-top to get it going

If it did I was thinking about creating some pre-bundled set's for using, tied with dry grass or paper, for easy use...?

I don't know if this has been tried before or even if it would work but...

Thanks

OB

 

[Quixoticgeek]

You could make a faggot[1] of sticks, maybe with some tinder card mixed in etc... and to start the stove off it would work. But once you have the stove lit you do need to keep it feeding it. Feeding it is done stick by stick. Feed it too fast and you smother it and it goes out, feed it too slow and it doesn't have enough heat to ignite what you feed in and then goes out... It takes practice to master it. On my recent trip out I had to relight the stove after about 30 minutes as I smothered it.

You want to feed it with sticks thinner than your finger, ideally pencil thin, and they want to be about 70mm-100mm erring more to the 70 than the 100. Processing a lump of dead standing into this is an activity in it's own right...

HTH

J

[1] no giggling at the back, that is the proper use of the term.

 

[Oodle-Bear]

Thanks for the reply Quix,

You're advice/knowledge is gratefully understood (",)

I was thinking more along the line of the cat-litter pellets, according to the Wild Stoves website, one 'dose' will last approximately 1.5 hours, I was wondering if a pre-bundles faggot would perform in a similar way. Perhaps even include a birthday candle or vaseline cotton wool at the centre for easy lighting?

I was thinking that the wood collecting for the camp would be a fun exercise for a 5 year old (",)

I want him to learn about fire and not be afraid, while being careful at the same time...

I guess you could say i'm a camp prepper at the moment...

OB

 

[Robmc]

The cat litter pellets do perform well, but they do take some lighting. I think your idea is good, especially the vaseline/cotton wool as a starter.

Experiment at home before you go. I use an old Fray Bentos pie tin to catch any falling embers on mine.

 

[Macaroon]

Your idea about pre-bundling will work very well if you take the time to make the bundles the right size; I've done it in my home made gasifier with great success. However, as J says above, you will need to start her up on a bundle but then refuel with loose stuff for the reasons she states. I also tried the cat pellet thing out of interest but an hour and a half is very optimistic to say the least. The problem with those for me is the stink of whatever it is they use to bind the sawdust with, I tried lots of different makes but they all gave off an acrid stench that I don't want near me or my food. And anyway, they offered no advantage over collected on site fuel and one of the big advantages of these stoves is that you don't need to carry fuel and so are independant on that score; I've never once had the slightest problem fuelling mine in any weather. It's a learning curve to cook on these, as they tend to be on/off, either very cool or very hot, until you get the feel of them. It's worth persevering as they are great once you do learn them though. Enjoy it

 

[Robmc]

Your idea about pre-bundling will work very well if you take the time to make the bundles the right size; I've done it in my home made gasifier with great success. However, as J says above, you will need to start her up on a bundle but then refuel with loose stuff for the reasons she states. I also tried the cat pellet thing out of interest but an hour and a half is very optimistic to say the least. The problem with those for me is the stink of whatever it is they use to bind the sawdust with, I tried lots of different makes but they all gave off an acrid stench that I don't want near me or my food. And anyway, they offered no advantage over collected on site fuel and one of the big advantages of these stoves is that you don't need to carry fuel and so are independant on that score; I've never once had the slightest problem fuelling mine in any weather. It's a learning curve to cook on these, as they tend to be on/off, either very cool or very hot, until you get the feel of them. It's worth persevering as they are great once you do learn them though. Enjoy it

Strangely, I have not experienced the acrid smell, and mine did burn for over an hour. I'm not doubting what you say, just relating my own experience. (I used Tesco own brand litter).

I do agree though, that the big advantage is using fuel you don't have to carry, and if using just for cooking, you don't need a particularly long burn.

 

[Macaroon]

I'll give the Tesco one a try, it's always good to know what'll work in emergency, eh?

 

[Robmc]

I'll give the Tesco one a try, it's always good to know what'll work in emergency, eh?

Indeed. I only use the litter, if in the canoe as you can carry more stuff, if hiking, a few twigs picked up nearby is the better option.

Hold fire on buying the Tesco one for a few days, I will give mine another burn and report back, just in case I'm wrong!

 

[Macaroon]

Okey Dokey, thanks.

 

[Robmc]

Indeed. I only use the litter, if in the canoe as you can carry more stuff, if hiking, a few twigs picked up nearby is the better option.

Hold fire on buying the Tesco one for a few days, I will give mine another burn and report back, just in case I'm wrong!

Ok, tried it again at the weekend. I did notice some slight acridity? - but only if I leaned over very close to the stove. It was a windy day. The stove burned for about an hour.

It is quite hard to light, I used Birch bark and some dry twigs on top of the litter to get it going. Once my bag of litter is used up, I will probably go back to using twigs. Most of my cooking takes under half an hour.

 

[Harvestman]

I've not tried the cat litter thing. Must give it a go. The thing I find with woodgas stoves when fueled with small bits of wood is that it is best to treat them like a woman: give them lots of attention and they stay hot and cook your food. Ignore them, even briefly, and they go cold on you.



(With apologies to any females reading. Those are not my real attitudes towards women)

 

[Willcurrie]

I'm sure the cat litter pellets probably have added chemicals to reduce odour. Normal wood pellets for biomass appliances have no added chemicals. When the sawdust is pressed the heat generated by the process releases the lignum in the wood that acts as the binding agent in the pellet.