That's great info Manny. It's so interesting isn't it? I read about folks who are having smoke back issues with new builds, and often wonder about the fuel and top covering habits more than anything else. I and my neighbor have access to kiln dried Aspen. It's amazing kindling, and there are some decent size chunks that we get as well. If you burn a load of that, it will spike the barrel instantly, but only burn for about 15 minutes. It's also almost impossible to keep from smoking back up the feed, since it pyrolizes almost instantly, and it also seems to have something to do with the cellular structure. I swear it spits smoke out the ends of the wood.
So Manny, you are saying that the Elm was just burning hot and fast right up the feed, no system problems?