Don't really agree with how you define "old school" as dry wood has been preached long before the first EPA stove hit the market. I think old school came from many people not having the time to cut wood until the weather changed for the year. Cutting wood in July or August is no picnic and I gave that up years ago. Having wood dry for one long summer will get the moisture content lower then many give it credit for.
I was cutting in January in a tee shirt last winter, all great maple, some of it will be on the menu for March this year
There are people around here too that will burn green wood. When they see my stacks I just tell them it is the 3 year plan. If they ask I will explain but other wise I leave them alone.
Here's a pic of a "nearby" OWB, right in the middle of town near a local shopping area...burning green wood that was cut down that very day.... Gives woodburners a bad name.....
"Old skool" meaning these people that cut down green trees in August, split them in September, and burn it in October...
you mean it was an excuse to just get the wood set up only a few months prior to the season? I believe I was covering that in my post. My intention was to say that old school didnt really give a crap and procrastinated on this dry wood business as it was said to me “it’ll burn”. Boy only a couple months on here proves to me that’s too disproved as an efficient way to burn and staying warm. But I also had been burning in a fire place. So I sorta grew up on old school. “It’ll do” I asked often “when will this be ready to burn “few months maybe?” I was only a kid I knew what dry wood looked like and often found it at our ocean lot as it often would stay there for years and burn very easily. Once the wood that was stacked around the house, I always took notice that the wood that was already past the year point stacked, burned very well. (Doug Fir) ignited quickly and went on its way. I just know we didnt burn enough in the year to really burn wet wood but it was always better the next year. Oh
That kind of stuff makes my blood boil. Like with everything, they "take care of the problem" by wanting blanket bans and restrictions instead of taking care of the abusers. I get so sick of this not singling out the low lifes and just dealing with them. I can forgive someone in a pinch but to do it every year or as a practice, crosses the line.
Have you tried this...”Neighbor Dude...I can only cut wood with you in Feb/March....are ya in or out?” Because, you tell him, “I’ll be spending the rest of the time gathering wood ahead of time so that I can heat my home safely.” No positive response, no help. But I know, being a member of FHC, it’s hard to not help folks, even if they act/say things that fly in the face of common sense...
He's a friend of about 20 years. Thought his scrounging in sub freezing weather 2 years ago might have helped him to see the light....nope. Glad that I actually enjoy most of what wood gathering entails. Makes the chore less of a chore.
It is hard for people to understand, that’s for sure. I mean about the “work” it takes to burn for heat if you don’t enjoy it. I love a good 20f day to css a coupe cords during the winter. A friend of mine built a new house and had a “fireplace” (his words) installed. It’s a cheap insert, but I haven’t gotten close enough to determine what it is actually. Many have a “cozy heat” brand insert here. Anyways, he was just bragging to me that he got a whole bunch of wood for the whole winter after I’ve suggested he try and get two years worth this year and next so it’d dry better. I drove by his place and he maybe has a couple face cord of wood. I’m sure it was cut and split this year also.... I’ve even offered to help cut and split with him. Heck, even have him a prized wild thing saw I’d had for 15years. I’d bet money that he’ll be asking for help in early January again. Thankfully, he has a new home with a forced air furnace and the insert is just a supplement and ambience thing. Here’s to enjoying warm, wood heated homes this year Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I’m pretty confident I burned some unseasoned wood my first year burning, but I also assumed the wood I paid for would actually be seasoned. I was lucky enough to actually find one guy who did end up delivering two cords of seasoned wood. But the other two I bought from other places weren’t. The only unseasoned wood I burn now is if I’m splitting in cold weather. I set up my washer drum fire pit right next to the splitter, get a nice hot fire going with some seasoned wood, and then throw the easily accessible splitter “scraps” into the fire pit as I work. It keeps me nice and warm and makes for less cleanup when I’m done splitting. washer drum fire pit - Google Search Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I should not say that no one has wood years in advance ahead here, but for 90% of the people, the wood they buy in the year is burned the following winter. Some people buy firewood as late as September, but most in the Spring (May) and then start burning in October. The old duffers had a belief that if you felled the trees in the Spring, the leaves would "suck out the moisture"; a notion my father believes to this day. The only thing I believe is that it makes a mess in the wood lot. I like to fell, and get my wood out as I fell the trees. Like with my tractor, it can only pull 3 trees so I fell, limb and top 3 trees and go out, my bulldozer can handle 6, and my skidder can handle 7...but to leave a snarled up, unlimbed mess of trees on the ground is pretty silly. I have yet to see any wood dry in log length. The kids camp that buys 80 cord off me every year, they buy it in the winter, then split in June, and stack it up and burn it in the winter, but it is stupid. Their stacks are 12 feet deep and 10 feet high, so tell me, how much drying is really going on 12 feet in? Since it takes 15 people to stack this wood I told them they would be better to just pile it in a huge stack and dig into it. They struggle every year to get enough people to get the job done, and I can see why: it is a lot of work for nothing. The wood is not dry even after all that work.
Actually probably not. The big thing is I always keep 3 piles going: One that has been drying for 2-3 weeks One that is drying One that I just split and brought in At some point, the cold weather means I consume more wood than dries, but that is what my woodshed is for. For me, any that is left over in the woodshed around March I can sell off for a premium price. Dry seasoned wood, finely split is a rare, valuable commodity for people that have run out of wood. tell them it is sitting in your woodshed and they really want it. Not only a cord truly measurable, if it was good enough for me to burn but do not need it, then they want it...bad! Another thing to keep in mind is that I have a pot bellied stove, so the "firewood" is not much bigger then hand sized. A few weeks in an ultra dry house next to the wood stove puts a lot of cracks throughout the wood. The wood can be pretty heavy when it first comes in, but it is ultra light when it goes in the stove. How much, I am not sure, but since it is "right off the stump" I refer to it as green. The reality is, it is getting 3 weeks of kiln drying. Probably a bit of confusion on that, but not meant to be...
I have to agree with you about this in the U.P. As soon as the OWBs started appearing the terrible haze of bad wood burning was hanging over most of the smaller communities. It's also been my experience that the same guys that do this are also the same folks warning you about the government and the EPA coming to steal your stove.
Well in a way they are coming to steal their stoves, but everyone else with a stove is getting lumped into it as well.
They were going to pass a lot of regulations here on outdoor wood boilers but I don't think they ever did, or if they did, no one is enforcing them. This is Maine, everyone heats with wood. My father had one for awhile and the only one who complained was a chain smoking neighbor down the road. The biggest problem I have found with wood burning stoves is that they take a big chunk of wood, so the people just cut enough wood to feed the thing every day, or every few days. Most of the time they do not allow the wood to dry, in block length which is better, or split which is best, but I have never seen wood dry well in tree length. In some ways my father's outdoor wood boiler was the worst thing he ever bought, and the best thing. I will say he got a brand new house out of it since the darn thing burned his old one down. I am not a big fan of them that is for sure. A lot of homes have been lost from them here, but again, there is a lot of them too.
I cut all winter long I don't get stuck with the ATV with chains on the back and a sled to haul behind the quad. I hate sweating, so winter cutting is great for me. But then again, I'm not burning what I cut that year, unless I have a dead standing elm that I want in my stacks. But yes, unfortunately there's a lot of people around here that have the same issues. Not enough wood to last the season, and a lot of it is green.
