It seems most of the firewood guys and most who buy log loads let the logs sit in log form for a long time and process as sold or needed. Now I'm not thinking of going to go to the dark side here but wondering if this might be at least partially true at least at the ends of the logs? I'm going to be very tight this year and finding truly dry wood hasnt gone so well. The first load i bought is Ash, Beech and Hickory with the big ones being 24-28" in diameter and 6 to 12 ft long. Its a PITA to cut the ends off, process and store them separately but maybe they will be burnable this year if I run out as expected? Maybe with a kicker of truly dry stuff on the bottom of the load with them on top? Even just taking one round off the ends of each log would add up.
I have burned not so dry stuff because I was running low. I think the key is to not burn up all of your good stuff hoping to stretch it out until the end of the winter. Mix a few loads of wet with the good, or add a piece here and there. I would start with the ash because it has the lowest moisture content when green. Plus, it may have been EAB killed years ago and standing dead. Next, I would look for standing dead you can drop and take the tops now. A standing dead ash, locust, walnut, etc. that has the bark falling off would most certainly be have the top ready to burn.
Yep, thats my game. I've got about 3 cord of truly dry stuff in the shed and trying to figure out how to stretch it out while not wasting good wood that will be exceptional when truly dry. I'll likely be on the road a lot again this winter so I am probably only 1 cord short. I'm also thinking since this will all be from a tree service as opposed to a logger that none will be vibrant forest trees. EAB is here but not in full force yet so I expect that will be a big part of how I get my stock built back up.
I pick up sticks in the yard, run em through the miter saw and fill paper shopping bags. Last year when I knew I would be short, I was burning these until mid December which allowed me to save the good stuff for the colder temps. 30 lbs of dead red oak branches contain over 190k BTUs. If it's been dry outside for over a week, I can put em right in the stove. If it's been raining or snowing I keep em in the basement for a week. I'm doing this again this year, albeit a bit less just in case it's a colder than average winter. The chunks stay in the bags and the whole thing goes in the stove. This is obviously not something that everyone has the time or patience to do.
Having been in a similar situation years back, I bought a 10 wheeler load of green 16' logs. I cut and split Wright away as I got the load in January. I just mixed with my dry wood, however I was burning in a owb so I wasn't that concerned about creosote in my chimney. I try to stay a few years ahead now. Good luck in your search
As others have said, the key is to mix it right from the start if you know you're going to be low. I have a lot of pine and ash that has been sitting as rounds for a few years, and when there's a nice heavy bed of coals and I expect some demand on the system, I will toss in one or two of those big chunks. They may be surface-wet but mostly dry inside. It minimizes the creosote buildup. Ideally, of course, you will want good dry wood for every burn.
So....why not buy a $20 moisture meter and keep cutting and splitting from the ends and using until the moisture content gets above 20%?
You will also want to split small and if you can store the wood inside in low humidity, it'll help out quite a bit depending on how long you can wait to burn it.
Yaaaa. Your particular stove will surely let you know your burning (or trying to burn) wet. Black goopy is noooo good! I second the moisture meter purchase advise. Maybe split some rounds off the ends of the driest appearing logs. Split small and stack in the stove room? Mix with your dry stuff. Dunno. Wouldn't expect a quick drying miracle.
I'm ,you know better! Life happens, as the kids get more involved in activities I haven't worked as hard gathering. I still have 3 seasons plus this years stuff put up but need to really put some time in this year to stay ahead.
I had a tall stack of 20" diameter x 3' long rounds holding up the back side of my heaphausen for 3 years. This September/October I CSS'd them and am burning them now as shoulder wood. Quite surprised how dry the splits are. As mentioned if you can get the fresh split stuff inside for a week or 2 It may make a big difference
killin me rdust...throw in a painfully slow divorce and a question of whether I was going to keep the house and its a real mess. it is pretty funny but i still have 8x8 Oak from that 2011 score while i am trying to figure out how to make it through the next couple years until I am back ahead.
This was from our first year heating with the new stove in the new house. It worked pretty well. We didn't run the stove overnight the first year due to our severe lack of seasoned wood. Some of what we ran through it was standing dead red oak that came from a neighbor's yard.... What is it?..... 20 Questions....
damm, sorry to hear about the divorce! Have a buddy going through one right now that is on the edge of ugly, I hope cooler minds prevail for their kids(both good parents). Go after all the ash you can get, that will get you back on your feet in a season. I still remember your posts about the 8x8 chunks! I'll look forward to your reviews when you torch them off.
Thanks...all is good and just about done. As for the 8x8s, they burn mint. I usually do 4 splits across the coal bed with three of them on top during the cold and blowing snaps. Set the tstat for a 12 hour burn and it puts out serious heat. Sadly, only have the ones in the background of the photo left now. Plan to make a bunch more out of these big straight logs.
If you have a dire situation, find a way to pack your wetter wood in a small rack in the house near the stove. Not optimal but your wood could be worse by not doing this. Just burn what you have dry and mix a bit. I have wood ive been placing around my stove not because my situation is dire but I had oak that was semi-ok. It would work but best for a few weeks in the stove area before I let them in.
Getting back to the original question. There is a reason firewood sellers do that but not for the same reason you or I would. Cutting the ends off the logs can indeed help! After all, that would be the driest part of the log so why not do it if you need just a little kicker to get you through? For sure those on the ash should be good. Then continue to cut and split that ash as that will be the fastest drying wood you have there. All in all, your idea to cut the ends is a good one.
