Sweet gum is a very wet wood. I've seen water pour out of the stump after being cut. Same with black gum but not as much.
Forecast 11-12" but I don't think we'll get that much. Time will tell though. We had lost all the snow but now we'll have to let this stuff melt again. Cuts into the time one wants to work in the woods.
Welcome Bob, glad you learned something. Hope you like it here, its a great place to hang out and shoot the breeze. I good amount of joshing here too, ill start you off..... I have never tried burning Oats but i would doubt they hold many btu-s. I would go with a good hardwood.
Don't really care if it snows here at this point but with the weather we have had I don't want to go tear up the ground. I guess I'll have to double up come August when we get a break. Almost March and mud season is already upon us. And the only gum in this area goes in your mouth or on your shoe bottom so I got no input there.
Welcome Bobrm2, to the best group of hoarders anywhere You're just a tad older than my dad- and he has NO IDEA how to even sign up on a forum, let alone put up a post So, gooder on you for coming aboard My dad however, burns a lot of sweet gum.... Like it's been said above, a year will do that gum wonders. I'd be curious to see what the (M)oisture (C)ontent of that gum at 8 months is.....just for grins and giggles. Would you consider picking up an inexpensive Moisture meter to check the MC of some splits? It would be solely labeled as "reference only"'so the precision (or lack of) isn't worth losing sleep over, but still gives you a bench mark to guide your decisions and your wood rotation.....
I was just going to ask about a meter brand, before I finished your post, I've got to build a small Kilm so the meter will come in handy.
Welcome Bob! I've only burned gum once, not sure what type, but it came down in a storm. Small tree, about 8-9" diameter. Good thing too because the maul just bounced off. I just burned the rounds but let it dry about a year. I burned it in early fall and it worked good but I don't think it put out enough heat for middle of winter. But yes leave it out stacked for a year top covered and it should do fine.
Goverment (bad word), US Forest Service has plans for small kilms, So, I don't need much lumber, so why not a box made from sheet metal painted flat black, with some sort of exhaust. Maybe, 6 deep, 4 high and 12 foot long. with a shed roof facing towards predominate track of sun (SW, in my case). Maybe a little slow. I'll try it. Let me know if anyone else does, or has better ideas?? Bob R.
I've burned plenty of sweet gum. The main issue to drying it is splitting it. If you are splitting by hand like I do, you will assuredly get your exercise. The upside is that once it splits, it is nearly self-kindling because it is so stringy. Anyway, for me in NC, I can get it dry enough in a year in my pole barn. Currently burning 2 year gum and it is good to go. I think you would be pushing your luck with 8 months outside. I hasn't been super cold recently, so I've been doing a single fire a day in the evening. I can sift out enough coals to get a new fire going the next evening, so I've got no complaints.
Well, you have a year on me but yes, I also learn a little each year. BTW there is at least one kiln thread on each of the forums I use. They seem to be a popular subject right now. Actually the most favored design seems to be more or less a greenhouse or cold frame with a bit of ventilation to remove the moisture at a high point. Black plastic seems to be the least favored after a little time experimenting because it heats the air instead of heating the wood. You want the wood to get warm to drive out the moisture and heating the air just doesn't do it efficiently. One of these days I will have the time to try my own kiln build but right now I am building a house.
You could've sent it here. We got nothing from this storm. Welcome to FHC Bobrm2! I've not burned any gum, except for a piece of old Wrigley's that made it onto the campfire. . But locust, hickory, oak and cherry are all great woods to burn, with the hickory and locust being the best of what you have available. Oak is good, but takes at least 2 years to dry, which is really twice as long of a drying time than the hickory and locust that make more btu's than oak. When you are getting ahead in your stacks, it's good to know that certain types of wood require longer time to season. Granted you'll get better burns with wood seasoned longer than less time. A moisture meter is a great tool to judge where you are at with the moisture content in particular trees you have, and will help you burn the best wood you can until you are far enough ahead wood wise that no matter what the species, it'll be dry by the time you use it.
Howdy neighbor. Welcome to the land of BTU's. Cut it split it stack it. Let dry a year or two, and enjoy the burn.
