Best wood or fuel for wall tent stove

Midas06

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 30, 2019
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197
Location
Reno Nevada
Hi all I’m looking for options for the best wood/fuel source for stoking the fire before bed so it’s nice and cozy in the morning in case we sleep though out the night without adding any wood. I realize it won’t be as hot as when going to bed but maybe something that burns slower to make it more comfortable in the morning. Thanks
 
Softwoods? Doug Fir.

Search “Doug Fir firewood” and you will find it rated favorably against Lodgepole and Ponderosa.
 
Stick with seasoned Red Fir (Douglas Fir) or Western Larch. Realistically, the only way it will still be hot in the tent when you wake up is if you go to bed 3hrs before you plan on waking up or have a giant wood stove.

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I've had good luck with oak through the night. It won't be hot but you can still have some ambers in the morning. Use a saw so you can get max size pieces. Sticks you break with your hands don't last too long.

Also don't use pine. It makes a mess with pitch in the chimney. Probably common sense but I learned the hard way.
 
If you want coals, you need to make sure you have a good bed of ash, otherwise it will burn out. Find the biggest piece of wood that will fit in your stove, jamb it in and damper it down.
 
I know this post is about a year old, but I am trying BioBlocks when we go out. Since I can’t bring good hardwood w me from Ohio, these fuel blocks or a pellet adapter seems to be a great option. And I can’t get the pellet adapter. Anyone ever try BioBlocks? Mine are actually a different brand, but same thing.
 
Better late than never.
If you push all your coals all the way to the back, then load up your stove it'll help extend the burn time. The wood then burns from the back of the stove to the front towards the door, rather than the entire bottom burning straight up.
 
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The only answer to having even heat in a tent with a wood stove is to invite an over 50 friend with a growing prostrate. He will be up every 2-3 hours to stoke the stove and releave the pressure. Otherwise the stove will fluctuate between too hot and out.

We got a hold of a fifties vintage wheeling stove with coal grates and packable. It broke down well and was easy to pack on horses. However it required lump coal (Which went away in the early 90s), was too much heat early in the evening and closing the damper plugged the pipe with a fuzzy lite ash.

We went back to fir with a handy pile presplit near the stove for the old guy.

Another handy addition was a pair of one size fits all "piss" slippers near the door to facilitate the trip.
 
I use hunks of hard wood. The best being locust, walnut or cherry. I cut and split small pieces of 4" to 6" diameter logs, season them, and store them in onion sacks. Then I bring a few sacks of hard wood with me on each trip. If I stuff the woodstove with these chunks at bed time and turn the dampers way back I'll get 4 to 5 hours of burn. Nothing like the dry heat of wood stove!

Disclaimer - I live on the east coast where hardwoods are readily available.
 
You wouldn't (shouldn't) have a choice here. Pine, because you can't bring in wood from outside sources. (invasive species, pine beetles)
 
The only answer to having even heat in a tent with a wood stove is to invite an over 50 friend with a growing prostrate. He will be up every 2-3 hours to stoke the stove and releave the pressure. Otherwise the stove will fluctuate between too hot and out.

We got a hold of a fifties vintage wheeling stove with coal grates and packable. It broke down well and was easy to pack on horses. However it required lump coal (Which went away in the early 90s), was too much heat early in the evening and closing the damper plugged the pipe with a fuzzy lite ash.

We went back to fir with a handy pile presplit near the stove for the old guy.

Another handy addition was a pair of one size fits all "piss" slippers near the door to facilitate the trip.
Very good advise and very true about getting up to take a leak and reload the stove
 
Hard to beat Oak. Not sure where you'll be hunting/burning... but if out west, Black Locust is about as close to an eastern hardwood that's local.
 
Do westerners know about hedge / osage orange? I'm sure there are some laws against it but I swear I could make a business trucking it out west for y'all to burn.

 
I use red fir or lodgepole. Here is a question for others: Who has used coal in theirs? I've been thinking about ordering a sack of it and giving it a try.
 
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