I'm on a three year rotation plan. That's about all I comfortably have room for without spilling beyond the rear of my pole shed concealing the stacks. Every spring I put the three year old stuff into the pole shed to "finish" before the start of the burning season.
Careful with that hedge. It can literally warp a stove with the heat it throws. Like burning Magnesium almost
We have an Old Timer brand stove, and have been burning hedge when I can get it for over 35 years. The stove is in still great condition, need to change some firebrick before winter.
Rules were made to be broken. I've only had a couple little fires so far this year, and I'm burning the stuff I only fell, bucked and split a couple weeks ago. I have the same stuff in the woodshed 1- 3 years old, but it's not significantly drier. Gota love that Beetle kill Lodgepole pine. Mind you the kindling we're using is pretty old. I did some renovating the spring and tore a sauna in our house apart, saved some Fir and cedar paneling board and made them into kindling. So our kindling is 40 years old. Old stuff on the left, week old stuff on the right.
Yup good ole beetle kill! I dropped a few trees almost two weeks ago that were nice and dry. 2 rounds up from the stump and split in the field measured 9.5% mc. Granted thats pretty low for what I find but most of my beetle kill will be under 20% unless buried in the dark woods. That stuff Ive been burning since it came home. This year Im burning larch, lodgepole and fir that was standing dead when I did most of my processing in the spring so any that were a bit wet say 24% is good to go now. Im also going to be burning some fir and birch that were c,s,s green late fall last year. Its around 18-21% now depending on the size of the split.
I've got about half a seasons worth of 2 year old pine and sweet gum. After that it will be year old pine and tree of heaven. Now that I've got the amount I need dialed in I'm putting enough away that I'll be burning older stuff each year till I reach equilibrium probably at 4 years if I'm judging my storage area correctly. The good news is that in my climate pine is good to go after a year so I'm in good shape.
My ash is about 4 years old but I am still splitting it. I had a yard tree removed and told the guy to leave me the wood at around 2 foot lengths. Now that I actually own a stove and it only takes 12 or 16 inch wood I am cutting everything in half and splitting. So far the ash is testing at near 20% even though it was not split for all of that time. Time will tell but so far the stove is not completely installed. The chimney is in and the hearth has been put in place but I still need to grout the hearth then roll the stove in and install the stove pipe. If I even burn this year it will be because I lost power. By next year I will have about 2 cords of nice ash, apple and cherry ready to burn.
Oldman47 , I wouldn't put too much into the wood not being firewood length, and split previously. Trust the moisture meter. I've got dead standing, and down wood in my stacks for this year that were in tree form just last winter and they were under 20% upon splitting this spring. I'll have 2 year downed sugar maple, probably a cord of that; 3 yr blocked, then split this spring beech; a good amount of downed hickory that was blocked last winter, and split in spring; dead standing elm that was cut down and blocked last winter and split this spring; and for shoulder season, 3 yrs ago cut then split this spring pine, and box elder cut this winter and split in spring. I've got at least 3 cords already set for this winter. I'm just putting all my effort in to getting an efficient insert into my fireplace this fall, sooner rather than later. This winter I'll get ahead at least for the next 2 winters. It's hard to know exactly how much will be leftover after this year until I know how much I'll burn in something more efficient than an open fireplace.
What kind of tree is this Bert? Ive never heard of it. Thanks Where abouts are you located? Im in the BC Rockies and can have green pine ready as well but with all the crown land around we have lots of blow downs and a few beetle kill pine so its usually not needed.
If your wood tests there right now, just give it a month or two split. I would think that by December, you'd be ok. I've burn less than perfect wood more likely higher than 20%. It does burn. And ash in my experience throws heat regardless. Give it 2 months and have a test fire. You'll be happier than you think. I'm burning ash I split 4 months ago in the stove as I write this. As a I glance over at it, the secondaries are nice. No visible smoke from the chimney. Once your stove gets hot, the ash will burn with little if any creosote worries. Ash is unique in my experience in it's ability to heat after a short seasoning period. And you're already at 20%, so you are well on the way. If you want to wait, that is your choice obviously, but I wouldn't have any reservation for December burning. I find that wood split early in the summer is good to go by winter depending on the variety. Not advisable for white oak, but cherry, ash, silver maple, locust, and red oak have performed for me in the past. Smaller splits season faster no doubt. Trust your judgment and how easily it lights, whether it hisses, your secondaries, and the chimney smoke visible. Nothing wrong in waiting either...I'm not that patient though especially when the furnace kicks on.
2 years and some 3 yr. It was all dead standing and sitting in woods dead so it's prob more lIke 4 years. No bark.. can't wait.. :stacke:
Tree of heaven is Ailanthus, a Chinese invasive species that smells like rotting peanut butter when first cut. Tree of Heaven is Ailanthus, a Chinese invasive species that often smells like rotten peanut butter when cut. I am trying to eradicate it. Lightweight wood that dries fast- not considered a primo firewood, but it burns. I'm in NC. The pines are all in good health here. I store my firewood in my barn which has open sides, so it stays dry. With our hot summers, it is good to go after a year; two years will only be better!
