Ok, I knew that would get your attention. I am out of usable firewood... I had about 3 cords total in my basement, and it's all gone. One thing that I know is that I had a lot of low quality firewood. A lot of Silver Maple, and Box Elder. So for the next month or so while we still have freezing temperatures we will be running on Propane
SD Steve, I am in a similar situation over near Casper, WY. One thing I started doing was bringing in Ash splits that still need to season more. Moisture content is around 22-25%. Next to my wood stove, I stacked them and I have a fan that blows air towards the stove. Within 5-7 days, they are dry enough to burn well. Kind of speeding up the process to avoid buying.
I brought in some ash about a month ago because I ran out in of wood in the basement. But I quickly realized that it wasn't ready.....took awhile to catch fire and hissing coming from the ends. I'm just going to leave it until the snow melts. It's gotta be 3 feet deep in both front and backyards. I'm going to put it back outside for spring and summer, it should be ready by then.
Is your propane heat fairly quiet so you don't hear every time it turns on ? If you're on the plains, I'm guessing finding dead standing nearby is pretty much not an option.
It is, you just have to ask the land owner. Some people say take all you want, some say no (mostly just because they don't know me). But this spring summer and early fall my sons and I are looking into maybe selling some by the pickup load. It seems we have quite a few places to harvest wood from this coming year, and good wood too. One shelter belt is nothing but dead Green Ash (species name). And there is already 2 piles on either end on the belt, ready to go
Have you checked your city landfill? I've been getting some backless Cottonwood and Elm that's ready to burn.
Yes, I actually have a friend (he lives on my block) that works for the city. And he sets aside decent wood that he thinks I might want. He just says "go on in under fence. Take whatever you want." There's actually several people/ families that burn wood here. Hecla SD, pop.about 150-170 in town 300 or so in the whole township.
Tough boat to be in with winter not over yet. If I were in that situation I'd be tempted to find clean hardwood pallets to cut up and burn, even if it's just on the colder days. Around me anyway there are several companies that either advertise free pallets or leave them out to the road for the taking. Beyond that, some dead tree tops might be a viable option.
I was in a similar situation a few years back.i searched on Craigslist and saw a post from a pallet rebuilding company.they fix old pallets with new wood where necessary. I took my trailer to his shop and got 4 pallets with 4 pallets fir sides naked on to make a box full of the broken slats and skids for free.dragged them homeland set up my chop saw on the back porch and spent a few hours cutting them so they would fit in my kitchen stove.itc was a mix of soft and hard wood .it burns great but obviously burns fast even when damped.it kept us warm when we were out.i would do it again if I had to
I know the feeling! Thankfully, I was able to link up with a member here who had some dry splits to sell. All the best and certainly get creative! Pallets are a good idea in a pinch.
Knock on wood, I have never run out. That’s is always my debate when mixing in low quality wood and small stuff. Bust your ash splits into half the size and a set them next to the stove, mix with pallet wood or the tractor supply bricks. Just know you will be sweeping the chimney for sure, but easy enough once you do it a couple of times.
Sorry to hear that SD Steve . I'm pretty much out as well as I don't want to dip in to my extra dry locust stash when it's not all that cold out. Maybe a third of a cord (locust, mulberry & ash) left at the house.
Looks like there's a TSC in Aberdeen. I'd buy the bricks or logs there. Supplement the fire bricks with ash that has been drying out by the stove. Do a moisture meter test to see where the wood you cut last summer is at MC wise.
That sucks SD Steve ! And no end in sight for winter around here! Usually we are getting into some night burns only around here, but the long turn forecast calls for all day burns the next couple of weeks! I’d “loan” you a load, but can’t get a truck to my stacks because of all the snow!
