Nice cool morning over here in the Berkshires. Got a bit of shoulder season wood processed in the form of pine that I've been sitting on for a year and a half or so. This was delivered free from a local logger who rolled up the driveway one day while I was changing the oil in my roller skate (a little honda I use on my long commute to work) and asked if I wanted a few dump trucks full of pine that was clogging up his landing. Three loads later, I had a nice pile to process! I've been pecking away at it a bit at a time, and despite the crotches and knots it is easy going. Easy to cut, easy to lift, and mostly easy to split with the hydros. =) Pics or it didn't happen, right?
Nice. I took a walk out back yesterday and thought I should take down a few pine and spruce. Probably won't happen this year.
The way things are looking, I may be into this stuff pretty soon! Had a nice frozen windshield this morning at 5:30 and the house didn't pick up to much heat during the day. Thinking the boiler may just get fired this weekend!
BigPapi that pine will heat you up for sure. Im curious, did you stick it with a moisture meter? With it being so lite it must be quite dry! Enjoy. Theres certainly many people who could benefit from a few truck loads of dry pine due to being behind the eight ball this season.
Sean, I haven't used a meter on anything so far in my wood burning career, but I do have a volt meter around here in the garage that I'll try out one of these days. Some of these rounds "bleed" on the splitter despite having sat out with no bark for years, so I'm curious to see what it is - moisture wise - that I'm burning. Some are just so light and dry they must be all the way seasoned. We are in year three with the outdoor boiler - the first year was rough, starting with nothing and splitting enough wood on Sunday (by hand, no less) to last the week all season. Last year was easier - I had everything we needed put up by November. This year I'm starting to get ahead and think I'll have all of '17-'18 put up by the time winter is over. The dryer wood does make a difference in efficiency; even though the boiler will burn whatever I put in it, I noticed a big uptick in burn length and temperature gain with even slightly seasoned wood to feed it. With a baby on the way I'm not sure how much wood I'll get time to process in spring, so being even a third of the way on the road to the three year plan is going to feel great. =)
First off, congrats on the new life thats going to be entering the family! Im sure it will be an amazing time for you and your wife! Many of us dont use moisture meters especially if youre able to get ahead by 2-3 years but they are a fun cheap gauge. (FYI I use mine as a useful tool) I wonder why those rounds bled when you were splitting? I guess light is subjective. Im used to the weight of a round of soft wood but have never compared it to a -20% mc oak or iron wood. I burned a bit of poplar once and thought a split was dry because of its weight in my hands only to find it was 24% mc!! Sounds like youre getting it dialed in though. Like you said its getting easier each year.
I have split Pine that "bled" as well when it appeared dry after being barkless and on the ground for years. I never did MM it, and water seems to be in the center, once split and stacked it dries real fast. So it shows that no matter how old wood it never dries all the unless split.
