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I have a wood bruning stove which works fine on the face of it. But I
seem to get through masses of wood !
I would like to put a few logs in and let them kind of simmer over
night, but I have to pack it to the gunnells for it to survive. I have
the unit fully damped down with just a glow near the bottom, but it
burns all the contents overnight. It's a10Kw stove with a damper in
the flue and two low and two high air control valves.

Some basic questions.
How do I make the wood last longer? I have read about people drying
out wood for 12 months and splitting to aid the drying but this seems
to be done for wood to burn cleaner and hotter - whereas I just want
it to burn longer to make my stock last.

Do I need to protect the base of the stove? I have put some fire
bricks in the bottom - was this misguided? I always maintain a bed of
ash for the logs to sit in, but perhaps the ash is too high up and
nearer the vents? I was concered because the side walls and the back
have fire bricks hanging in place for protection, but there'e nothing
for the bottom. A full on grate is supplied if ever I wanted to use
coal, but nothing for log burning on an ash bed. the bottom of the
stove has ribs so it's not a completely flat base, I am thinking up
using the ash pan that is supplied with the grate. It could sit on the
ribs to provide a bit or protection - I don't to scorch this area.

Where can I buy a new handle for the door? It's a wooden handle and a
brassh square section that starts at 15mm square and tapers back to
20mm - I am struggling to find this kind of replacement item on the
internet.

I cleaned the flue 9th September 08 I have run the cooker / stove 24/7
ever since. Today 12th Jan 09 - we have blocked flue - I presume it's
because of the build up clinker on the sides of the flue and at the
pot - because of the volume of wood that we have got through and the
damped overnight burn - I am presuming that when running with flames
and full heat/draught then no build up can occur.

Any advice would be greately appreciated.

Length of burn Dependent on type of wood used and air flow.
Some very good advise here
http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/wood_for_burning.html

The handle could be made by a local friendly small machine shop or
alternatively use a file handle, readily available from any good engineering
stores. Alternatively look for a large pull cord switch knob, the one that
dangles on the end of the string on the bathroom lightswitch.