and then there is the cat that eats the tinsel. I remember one year when my cat ate it and then we had to,,,, oh never mind
Well I actually left some rounds out, didnt zip them but they weren't from this batch. Picked them up last June. I finally split them sometime in May, I couldn't say they were the best condition but they weren't the worst! They were big though.18+ diameter..The middle started to turn but the outside was actually ok. Depending on when you cut them could be a big factor as spring allows more water to be drawn into the tree. Having this new batch be cut in April when it would often downpours before. So I was hauling a bunch of water no doubt. So this just made me want to get it split and stacked ASAP. I think that people around me are less likely to burn this as it is so pretty in the round but it doesn't work if it rots from the inside out. I did keep a few small diameter rounds to test this out and wait until I get to the level in the stack to see what its like in the middle.
If you cut it and stack it + keep it dry youll be fine. leave it in logs/rounds and it will rott in no time - the bark seals it well. Thats at least my expierence. Nice catch anyhow, i love to burn birch as it smells just wonderfull. And for softwood its verrry nicceeee.
Its very good wood but what my stove tends to do is it flares up fast. The oils in the bark seems to really bring up the temp so I need to work on just letting the bark burn down a bit more instead of just throwing it in on a coal bed and shut it down. It tends to go mid to high 600’s even 700+. I love the smell of it too.cherry like! Birch is actually a hardwood but in places because it tends to rot quickly, the wood is regarded as “soft” I think this may be hinting at me to not fill my stove with this stuff alone. It’s great in a cat stove as the temps are easily reached but the burn isn’t able to be controlled in my stove and sends me in a panic. I have same kind of birch wood has been seasoned for two summers. But maybe I just need to learn how to trust my stove a bit more... I pulled the trigger on a splitter, it helped immensely. The rounds were so knot-bound that a wedge would have been beaten to death and then wood was actually spitting the wedge out.
I use birch splits to start a fire, or to throw on hot coals to get a fire going again. Never very much at a time. But I don't have a lot of it. We should ask the birch master, bogydave , how he controls an all-birch burn.
Yeah different stoves produce different results though so if it’s a wood issue then the expert may be needed but stove wise, I don’t believe im doing anything different than others here as far as burning goes but perhaps I need to change a mode of what to do when I start a new load. IE open the air a bit for this stage and maybe crack the door.
I had to enlighten myself here. Hardwood for you, is Laubbäume (deciduous trees) for us. If i say softwood it actually refers to the wood density - next time ill know better. Anyway, i think we're on the same page here.
No I stand corrected graciously that’s a great point you bring up! I would have to bring some comparison to this but Red Alder burns a lot like this stuff. It’s very solid heat, full but it doesn’t cook me out of the house!
Its the same family (Betulaceace, Birkengewächse in german which sounds a little less fancy), overhere black alder comes to my mind even though it has only 1500 and birch goes with a 1900.
