Long story short, my father in law quit burning back in 2011 but saved his stack which he gave to me. It was all mid teens ash, oak, and the mystery wood turned out to be sugar maple. The stuff was unreal. I tore through it so I started using some oak and ash that was between 19 and 25% which stinks compared to what I was using - burn time stinks, smoke stinks, and the heat output stinks compared to the the good stuff. I'm amazed at the difference between 14 and 22%.. Night and day.. Question..... I get good drying times here with the sun and wind I'm able to stack in.. What species should I be looking for now to burn next winter? I'm guessing ash, silver maple, and probably red maple? Any others? Should mention I currently have a little shy of 2 cords that I'm confident in for next winter - ash, silver maple, and bradford pear. The oak and sugar maple I stacked this summer is now out till the 16/17 winter at the earliest so I need to make up for that wood..
This might get some boos and hisses, but go for some Poplar/Aspen. It'll dry quick. Good stuff for Oct/early Nov., and April/May when you don't need the gooder stuff. Can you tell how much you'll burn this winter? Plan for that goal and add some,...... then go get more.
I'd still look for the oak if I could get my hands on it. Despite the downside of the drying times it's definitely worth the wait when this time of the year comes rolling around. Same with the maples and ash, especially the ash...such a quick turnaround
Good call on the poplar.. Didn't think of that and it's readily available. I didn't think I'd burn nearly what I have so far so I'm gonna double it..lol.. Thanks papadave
Standing dead or dead and down oak... If it's been dead for a few years, the outside might be punky but the inside will be good. As long as you top cover it, it'll put out a ton of BTU's. Punky oak that is not top covered can pose a challenge...
I don't necessarily disagree with poplar, I've just always wondered if it's worth the effort of getting it. I actually cut a load about a month ago, just because it was right by the road. I was too embarassed to post pics here! I'll just stack it with next year's wood and burn it in October. EARLY October.
Yep. I've got some large Poplar at my SIL's that I'd like to get ASAP this year. The longer I can use that, Maple, and Pine, the less Oak I'll use and can save for real cold days/nights. I used Oak exclusively when we first moved here. I've become more educated and now use all types of wood. They all have a time for use. I don't need the long burns and coaling of Oak in late Sept. through Oct. I use mostly Pine/Maple/Poplar then. Very easy to cut, split, and get dry. It's worth the effort if you need dry wood fairly quick. I think we Easterners are a bit spoiled with all the hardwoods we have available.
Been getting a lot of that the last 2 years. Dries quicker than live cut trees. Heck, a lot of it doesn't even need to be dropped.
Just an FYI too, I'm retired, so my situation will be a little different than those who need a long burn while at work.
Swamp (red) maple dries pretty darned fast here. I think it dries faster than pine and has better heat. I don't have a binder full of excel data and scientific experimentation to support my subjective observations though. I c/s/s a bigtooth aspen that did NOT dry in a year and I'm still not impressed with it 15 months on. I've put some in the stove and come back 45 minutes later thinking the fire went out cuz the stovetop was cold and it was gone. I've gotten more heat from a rolled up Sunday New York Times.
That's what I'm burning.. Somewhat punky chestnut oak.. I top covered it from day one and it's in the low 20's..
This just points out that different conditions can have a drastic effect on firewood. I've really become a big fan of Red Maple, although here, it won't dry quite as quick as Pine. I'm shocked at your experience with the Aspen. I've not used a huge amount of Poplar/BT Aspen, but what I have used has been pretty good as long as I don't expect nice long overnight burns when it's 0 outside. I'll get more this year, and see how it goes.
Alway's burn lodge pole pine here. Going to try some quakie aspen next year. Have half a cord in the stack. Early season. I figured out to get an all night burn with my pine. Just have to reload at 2:00am.
I usually cut in the Winter , especially pine and if I have to cut one down/out of the way I usually strip it of branches (easier green) and then push the log to the side and c/s/s it when cold. The Aspen was cut and c/s/s in August/Sep. It was stacked in the yard, kinda highly visible, in the open, lots of light, etc and I keep getting comments like : "I thought you said that would be gone in a year" and " Would that be hard to move so it couldn't be seen from the street" ? Helpful things like that.
Some neighbors great others not. Most think I'm crazy to be working on a three year plan. Burning lodge pole pine. It's going to rot. We will see. Most just don't realize how sexy stacks are.
Cherry is another good one, if you split it now on the small side and give it a good location it'll be good to go for winter.
Thanks Dave, couldn't have said it better myself. I think everyone agrees that dry wood is the answer. Aspen or Poplar are great for the fall weather and they cut and split easily. When winter arrives I move to the hardwoods... Cherry, Ash, Oak, Hickory and Locust for they are plentiful
