There is a verse in the bible; 2nd Timothy 2:13 that says: "if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself". And if we unpack that a bit it means that even when we as human screw up, he will still take care of us. It is a powerful verse, but for firewood procrastinators, I have always said that the lowly Ash tree is that provision manifested. I am not a huge fan of the Ash tree. It burns kind of quick, is low on BTU's, and it stinks when you cut it, split it or burn it, but it can be a lifesaver for those who have not got the firewood in soon enough, or who did not expect to burn wood, or ran out of firewood before winter was over. That is because the Ash tree is so low on moisture content that it will burn right off the stump. It is not as good as it would be if it was seasoned of course, and I am not advocating delay, but when a person needs to heat their home and they are up against it time wise, the ash tree will work in a pinch. Myself, yep my life is not perfect, and I spent one winter burning ash right off the stump. As with anything their are always consequences, and a homeowner will still have to brush their chimney a lot, but it ash will get a homeowner by.
Just be mindful of any local Gov. restrictions as to where or how much Firewood you may have on your property ( don't call them , just look up the regs via the net, no sense waving a red flag in front of a bull) Things that are mostly addressed- offset from property line, location ( as in view from street or other such ideas) and of course quantity, likely more. Things usually go along fine until some busybody in the neighborhood complains- and then the code police descend. been there done that.
If I'm not mistaken, you are reading my OP from last year. Unless I'm wrong, I don't think I'm in that bad a shape this year. I even did pretty well last year with a bunch of poplar and supplemented with some firewood purchased from a reputable local source. I also have a decent amount leftover from last year that I didn't want to burn. Since his wood was so much better than the last time I bought from someone else, I asked if he could sell me logs that I could cut and split on my time. He said he could. I had asked him about the possibility of getting a load from, like, a logger and he cautioned against that as I would get some monstrous load of who knows what. Maybe you guys would disagree. I've never done that. Anyway, he said that he could get me seasoned logs that he just hadn't split up yet. He got them to me about 2-3 weeks ago. I started splitting them (by hand) right away. Aside from one with a section rotted out from the middle, it looks like good stuff. Everything is splitting easily for the most part and it doesn't feel heavy or wet. I'm not 100% sure on the species but I would guess ash or beech based on what I'm seeing. I'll ask him. Thanks all!
There are "safer" ways to burn not so dry wood, you have to monitor flue temps and make sure you dont have a cool flue, it will reduce the creosote accumulation. "Thus, the most important and easiest way to reduce creosote buildup is to burn the fuel rather than smoke it. Smaller fuel loads and larger air settings are the key. This will require more frequent refueling, of course, but you won't burn significantly more wood to produce the same amount of heat." A moisture meter as stated in the thread will give you an idea of what you are dealing with and you could cherry pick the driest wood you have. Sunshine, wind, and time will serve you well in the future.
Yep. I got a moisture meter last year. I'll take some readings asap. The last few weekends I've been concentrating on chopping and getting that area dug up.
Never had that happen here but a key word is yet. Theoretically someone might shut me down in a set way as the amount of wood like I have in a suburbian setting. The proximity to other houses and whatnot does seem iffy. I did however check on this for my area and at a glimpse, Im not seeing anything substantial. No real law about the amount of wood here in WA but I do have more than the average burner. So I try keeping things as organized as I am able. After people heard my story and saw that I am building a stove, its the greater understanding of why I have the wood. Mainly because its literally the "you can't miss it" view so people asked, oggled and sassed from about spring to summer beginnings. The only people I think have legitimate worry is my neighbors but they have been supportive about it and I am motr than willing to give them wood for their enjoyment. That pleases me without a doubt. If someone says something I would really ask them if they were gonna make a fuss...
We've seen quite a few deliveries of wood from loggers on here. Some one loads that were pretty modest, others...their wives took pictures as the trucks dumped and dumped again all in the same day. Its remarkable how much wood can be brought in a day.
I spent one winter burning ash right off the stump... we did the same thing in 1994, when we moved to our family farm. Got lucky as all of the ash I needed was right along the edge of the fields. Had a claw I made on the front of an old Hydrocat loader. Dropped the trees... scooped all of the branches and drove em into the woodline... grabbed the half length logs and carried them all up to my block n split area behind the barn. Good memories...
I am a logger and sell tree length wood. I can do partial loads, but nothing under 8 cords. A typical load is 10-11 cords. As for quality, here in Maine anyway there is two different standards. Hardwood pulp is any ole junk and it pays as such, $70 a cord. Firewood means a little better stuff. Nothing too big, nothing too small. Good quality wood like cherry, maple, yellow birch and very little ash and white birch. Definitely no dirty wood or mud. That is $90 a cord just because the standards are higher.
Here you go. Here's what I've been splitting. There's more out of frame that my son was helping me with. I hit all sides of many logs last night with the moisture meter and most were in the 17% range. A couple 18ish and a few as low as 12, but a lot of 17s.
Boy, that's really unusual to have sub 20% on a fresh split round...good for you though...that should burn real nice if it is that dry Oh, and it looks like Ash, and maybe some soft Maple to me...I love soft Maple...burns HOT
Thanks. Like I said, dude said they were laying around for a while. I'm sure he was going to split them for sale this year.
Skip this year all together....Plan on burning wood for 2018/19...In the mean time...Cut/Split/Stack then repeat 100000 times...
This is usually something that is impossible. Wood doesn't season well in log form, but if it's been cut for a while you can get away with it.
Just to clarify here; this is a very old post and if we go back and read the original post; I believe...but could be wrong...that the guy is getting his wood now from a sawmill. What he calls a "stump pile" is actually what we would call a slab wood pile. That is why these are seasoned, but he has to still split them up. So everyone is right here; wood does not dry well in log form, but this wood has already been sliced open by a sawmill so they are dried out too. Not faulty anyone, just thought I would try and clarify some confusion.
The above picture got added, but I could not delete it for some reason. It is not mine and is a copy of the original post. Sorry.
I just came in from splitting a wheelbarrow full of white oak. Every round was hit with the MM after it was hit with the Fiskars. Most of them were in the 21-22% range, and went into the pile to stack for later this winter. The pieces that were on the ground were still reading in the 25-26% range. These were all limbs from a monster oak. Max diameter was about 18". I was pretty surprised, wish I had more of it....and wish it hadnt started raining!
