The other thing is how much does it dry in the winter, does not amount to a hill of beans compared to the summer months.
Very true, it's minimal from my experience, although it does seem to crack/end check good which helps it along once it warms up. And winter in Saskatchewan is different than winter in say Virginia or Georgia! I had a look back on another forum where I tested a piece of wood, a 6.25" x 15" round split in half. The inside piece lost 1.75 lbs in 4 weeks, and the outside piece in below 0 weather lost 1.1 ounces in the same time. After 71 days elapsed time, the inside piece had lost 2.5 lbs, and the outside piece had dropped 1/4 lb. That's how quick wood seasons in our winter weather.
Great thread backwoods savage. I will throw out there that in certain areas of the country snakes are not wanted in wood piles. We have rattlesnakes here and im sure some members in the se united states got way worse than a cranky old rattler. Also its amazing how many idiots believe the pine myths. Pine accounts for at least 40% of wood burned here and there are still folks who sceam'flu fire" at the site of any pine tree.
For sure, if you look you can find good advice about it online. "While this myth has been around for ages, studies conducted by the University of Georgia found that the amount of damage wood left on the chimney was a result of low-temperature fires rather than a resin rich fuel source. While pine does contain more sap than other types of wood, this is no longer considered to be cause of creosote buildup in chimneys. Wood that does cause problems though is burning green wood or burning fires at low-temperatures. Regardless of your choice of wood, it is very important to only use dry and seasoned wood to burn in your fireplace. Always remember that properly seasoned wood takes about one year for wood to properly dry out. Dry wood is more of a concern than hard versus soft wood when choosing what to burn."
Haha. Just cut some dead White Oak, white punky on the outside inch. Will be some good stuff in 2 or 3 years. Not sour. Just old like me. Chief
I burned a whole lot of sour oak in 2013. Well...at least it smelled sour once I brought it in the house. Like stinky feet! Red oak it was.
Pine tree sap is a fuel. Red oak smell perception variation must be like cilantro offensive/delectable taste . I like the smell of fresh split red oak. I don't like the smell of red maple burning. I like the smell of an out-of-tune oil burner less.
This was my first year burning. I bought the wood off of a homeowner that had the tree cut down in his yard and he split it and stacked it for a couple years. the pieces were huge and I had to cut many to length and resplit them again. Some into 4 splits plus the cutoff. So it may have not been completely dry...but you do what you have to...
Well...thanks...but... Dad burned wood from '80-'87. About 7 cords per year, so i guess i've been around it a while. I got the Fireview in 2013 from Brian just for an alternate heat source...in case the power went out...Been burning full time since.
Nope...it was all a myth... I did a lot of cutting splitting and selling firewood also. And a lot of BBQ smoking/catering.
I have burned tons of Hedge and still have a stove. It certainly is the most dense fire wood there is, and therefore burns hot and long. Almost like coal. But managed, it will not melt your stove, just give you a long hot burn. Chief
Heating your cold fire quickly can crack it . Seams to make sense but it's all hear say and I really don't fancy finding out if it's a myth or not. Still hear the metal expand everytime I have to relight it
