Reading another thread prompted me to post this. In late November 2012 we went onto a neighboring property to pick up some old oak logs. This trailer load is an example of what we got. We had to cut very little as most was already bucked. However, this woodlot was cut in the year 2000. Then after the logging someone came in to cut up the tops and whatever the loggers left. All but a very few logs were laying right on the ground and many had sunk into the ground about 3-4". Was it good enough to burn? I looked at it and thought we could indeed get some good wood out of this. I split this wood in the spring of 2013 and stacked it. Some were really good, some were partially punky and a few we ended up throwing out. So back in October I loaded part of that oak into the trailer and hauled it to the barn. A few days ago I dug out some of the marginal stuff but also some of the better wood. This is an example of what we got. And here is some of that oak in the stove. Yesterday afternoon the stove needed some wood and it was feeling cool in here so I put in 3 pieces of the oak. In very short order I was getting a bit warm. I went to the stove and found it was at 630 degrees stove top. That throws some serious heat! Of course the fire did not last as long because the 3 pieces were all partially punk.
Somehow I knew you would Dennis, by the way Happy New Years to you and Judy. Hope 15' is good to you both.
I end up with some pieces like this every year. They do burn hot. Biggest problem with wood in this condition is getting and keeping it dry. The bug larvae are already in the wood as well, many times I find them all hollowed out from large black beetles - increases the surface area
Keeping the wood dry is extremely important with all wood but especially if there is any punk in it. The picture is part of that oak we scrounged. The stack was left like this until the fall and then covered with galvanized roofing. I've put 2 rows of that into the barn and none was wet. I did learn one thing with this stack. I usually stack north/south but this one is east/west. Twice the roofing blew off so I really had to weight it down a lot more than normal.
I just want pretty firewood. That's not very pretty. It's all grey and yucky. Where's the fresh stuff?
Nice looking shoulder wood Dennis. I had some of the same stuff you are showing last year, the outsides were very punky but dry, the insides were in great condition. I ended up using the oak as shoulder wood and added only one or two pieces at a time to the rest of the load. I found in the past using punky oak during the coldest part of winter was not worth it, the punky portions of the splits took up too much space and did not give us the burn time a full piece of oak would.
Actually there is not that much shoulder season wood there. We burned the good stuff only twice so far this year. That will change for sure next week as they are forecasting a big change in temperatures starting Sunday night.
You don't need designer wood to heat your house. Dead standing is what I've been working with this year and last. Sometimes I wish I had a tumbler to knock off the punk as it gets everywhere but I have a broom and a rake and it is a pretty good soil amendment. Just ask any forest.
Our forecast is for snow saturday night and then rain into sunday and temps in the 50's. I'm ok with that
But look at what follows that rain/snow! I think ours is for a high of 32 on Sunday and a low of 6. Then not warming up much from that 6 on Monday. We are very grateful for being surrounded by the Great Lakes as it keeps us a bit warmer.
How do you think it would have fared if it hadn't been at least bucked when it was dropped? I'm amazed how fast maple goes in log form even off the ground compared to rounds that are directly on the ground.
Pretty darn cold Sunday night, then again the next 3 days, before another warmup. The one constant so far is our forecast for 4-8" of snow from Sat. morning into Sun. morning. That's not changed in about 3 days. Weird.
We did not get all that wood out that day. Then it rained, and rained and rained. Part of it we dug out of water. No doubt had it laid there until next year, we would not have gotten anything from it. And yes, maple can turn really quick, especially soft maple. I sometimes cut soft maple in winter just to feed some deer. I just drop the tree then go back the following year to cut it up. I'm always amazed at how much drying has gone on even if the log is off the ground. But, it still makes good firewood.
They had us at 3-6" but now one has us at 2-4" and another says less than an inch during the day Saturday and less than 1/2" Saturday night. I can live with that. It won't be enough to stop the wood cutting.
