Lots of neighbors getting into the act this year...

After the winter we had last year, I'm seeing a lot more wood piles at my neighbor's houses. For the most part, I have a haughty laugh at their puny little stacks. But there's a few of them that are starting to get piles rivaling the size of mine. Especially the guy around the corner with the tree service, and his neighbor. Of course, none of them even got started until the beginning of this month; while I've been done with this year's firewood since mid-June. Everything I'm splitting now is going towards The Three Year Plan.

You guys seeing the same thing?

 

Every year.

 

Not seeing a lot of it, just one new guy that I've noticed. Has a pile of small rounds (small enough to fit directly into a stove) out back his garage. I always assumed it was bonfire wood. But then about two months ago he dumped a pickup load of bigger ash on his lawn, where it still sits. It's clear out by the curb so I stopped in to ask about it and a teenager told me that his dad is going to use it to heat his house this winter. Won't get far with a little over a truckload of green wood.

 

I'll take a pic of the pile at one of my neighbor's if she gets another load this year.
Last year it got dumped at the side of her house and stayed there for several months. There might still be some left.

 

The same up in Northern NY. Some people that were promised wood for this years heating season still don't have it, others just received theirs, more chimney fires, we'll see.

 

The huge mountain of split wood just showed up at the local mulch yard. I'll see the trucks moving and piles appearing in driveways starting after labor day and really picking a couple around Columbus day...

Around the same time I expect the "where can I buy wood from" phone calls from local friends to start rolling in.

 

That's part of the problem Grizz, some people just don't know any better. They think a truckload of wood delivered to them is wood ready to go into the stove as is. He will probably burn his wood green and get his first taste of the wood burners learning curve.

 

"the wood burners learning curve"... those that have... and those that will.

 

I stopped by the Stihl shop.
They said this year was a good year for selling saws,
a steady stream of saws out the door all Summer.

More folks cutting & buying.
I figure next year there will be several saws for sale when they see how much work is involved.
Wonder what percentage get hooked like us here ? ?
We must be in "rare air" & partially nuts LOL

 

My wife considers me completely nuts...and Im not nearly as deep as many of you.

Good company to be in I say

 

You just hope nothing bad happens while the learning curve happens. Ie: chimney fire, over burning the stove to compensate for wet wood

 

Well said.... There are plenty of wood freaks in here.
I've taken things to another level years ago by sniffing
Fresh splits. I've been caught by wife many times
With black cherry splits in my hand.

 

The saws don't fire up until early October for most firewood cutters around here.

 

Maybe some good deals on lightly used stoves as well. I try to talk about dry wood to people when I get a chance, but hard to say how many take it to heart. It's not really all that much work when you dive in and start doing it. We got my wife's cousin almost a cord of dead, dry stuff out of his woods yesterday, in one afternoon. He's splitting it today. My thinking is, the more people I can get on the bandwagon, the cleaner they will be burning, and the less the anti-wood know-nothings will notice us.

 

Oh, man, yesterday me and a neighbor cut a 7" White Oak that was dead standing, and it had that sweet vanilla scent. He musta thought I was nuts, the way I was huffing that stuff. Best-smelling wood when it's right, hands down, IMHO.

 

Any black birch growing in your neighborhood?

 

I have a few on my property. Culled a bunch of them last year though; had a whole stand of them dead or diseased - one healthy tree in the bunch. There's a couple bigger singletons elsewhere in the woods though.

Wish I had more. Good BTUs, and I love the wintergreen smell. I've heard you can tap them and make birch syrup as well.

 

I haven't seen a lot of new stacks, however, the guy down the rd who is selling wood "green" is having a lot of activity.