Sam Del Vecchio

Thanks, that's helpful. They can be 24" to the withers, so maybe they can't reach above 4 feet?

I think I'll just wrap chicken wire around the trunks, unless someone thinks that won't work. Or I could make a cylinder of stouter wire.

Hi Everybody, I'm wanting to bring goats into my Nikita's Gift Persimmon orchard and I'm wondering 2 things:

1. How low can the lowest branches be and still be safe?

2. Do I need to protect the trunk/bark?

Thanks!

I'm super interested in pollarding black locust because my guinea pigs love to eat the leaves and especially the bark. So far, I'm not having any success making a head/fist- the locust just doesn't seem to respond that way. Any experience/ideas?

Here's my main specific question:

Does anyone know what it's actually like to be in a thatch roofed space with an open fire? Does the smoke pool in the ceiling and then slowly filter up through it without smoking up the space? And, while we're at it, how do those Japanese irori work? I mean, how is it that there aren't sparks popping out onto the tatami mats?

Hi Everybody, I'm designing a little tea house/office, maybe 70 square feet. I love the idea of a thatch roof- no need for a stove/fireplace/chimney; open fire in the center of the space, Japanese iroristyle.
Only trouble is it requires tremendous skill and the right materials, SO...

How about a clerestory metal roof, only open (no window), with an attic. I'm talking an ordinary metal, purlins, rafters kinda roof, then ceiling joists (what the attic floor would be built onto) with hardware cloth laid on them, and then...

just fill the attic with straw bales! Tons of insulation, smoke keeps out the critters, smoke meats...

What do y'all think?

Hi Everybody,  I'm installing a 4" Dragon Heater Barrel Build in my little wooden house. The standard clearances for the single-wall stovepipe seem excessive for a rocket heater; and I need to save space. I'm imagining the usual clearances are based on pipes running 500 degrees or more, and that mine will be closer to 200 or less. Can anyone point me toward some information to help me work this out?

I'd also really love to vent it out the back wall at a 45 degree angle; but I've been told that would be asking for trouble.

Thanks for your time,
Sam

Hi everyone,longtime lurker, first post.
I have yet to see any mention of expanded cork panels in a thread. Carbon negative, r-4/inch, exterior grade, vapor permeable, bug-proof...Why not? Well, they're expensive, though (in my opinion) not prohibitively so. I'm designing a tiny timber framed home wrapped in cork. Any thoughts?