Would you fall trees Oak, Maple, or other this winter get split in the spring and burn it next winter 2019/20? I am cutting Dead Ash now to burn this winter. Some on other forum think I am crazy and asking for trouble. I have been doing that for over 20 years now since the EAB swept thru the area. I am nearing the end of that now how ever. Half the pile I have in the field close to the house. the stuff is seasoned very well. After I split it it just gets piled, I figure I handle it enough so don't stack except behind the furnace about two weeks worth during the worst days of winter. I am going to mix in some early seaon dead white pine also. Al
Do you bother to check MC when those get split? Does it sizzle in the fire? I find Ash to be somewhat forgiving even if it isn't well dried. Oak on the other hand, can be a real bear to burn if it hasn't been cut, split, and stacked for at least 2 years. Anything below 20% MC is dry enough to burn well. I guess we then need to talk about what is meant by "burns well". No. My experience has been that itsn't enough time to get anything other than maybe Pine or Poplar dry. Even dead standing or down Oak isn't always dry enough.
I cut, split and stack in the late fall and throughout the winter. I only go after what's fallen over or standing dead. Everything is dry and burns great the following winter. I have zero experience with oak though...maybe I'll actually get some this winter. I burn mostly black locust, hackberry, ash, boxelder, red maple, sugar maple, honey locust and cherry. I have burned persimmon but I let it sit for a few years because it's my "really cold night" wood and I don't come across it much looking for only down and dead stuff...so I cherish it.
Nothing I burn is less than 3 years c.s.s. Even then I will select a few splits in each load I plan to take to the house by resplitting and checking with moisture meter. If it's not below 20% I won't bring it up. I burn a Catalyst equipped stove and the quickest way to trash the catalyst is burn wet wood. I have had some red oak and honey locust that was c.s.s 3 years and was still showing as much as 35% moisture content.
It is the moisture content. Get a meter and check the wood. Example kiln dried wood might be only a few month down. But standing dead oak can stand dead for years and still not be seasoned. Generally wood cut split and stacked to air dry is good in three years. Some in two. Don't trust oak until you test it. It will use more BTUs to burn than it will give out in heat. There are some thread here which give a lot of sound advice. Go to the home page and look on the right side. Firewood BTU & Drying Chart
Yes I would. Im rightrthere with ya Al!I sure as Hecks wouldn't feel the need to stack beech maple or any species of ash for more than 16 months either. This "3year" stuff is a little ridiculous Imo. Every species dries differently in different locations. It all varies cut to different lengths and thickness. Even the infamous " oak " I've burned with 1.5 years on it being 18-20%.
I do not cut anything and then burn it in the same year. Even the pine I cut down every year does not get used for about 2 years. Everything else is at least 3 years out and that is after it has been split and stacked.
The last quote says it all, which makes the first quote pretty funny. The 2nd quote doesn't work here, which takes us back to the last quote. I've not had good luck with dead, down, barkless Oak being out in a field with great southern exposure and plenty of wind for 2 years burn well or be under 20%.
If you stack and wait 3yrs, you don't have to figure out what species is dry enough to burn. Takes most of the guessing out of it.
I've cut dead standing red oak that was under 18% and burned OK the same week I split it. However I also found that MC could be quite variable in different parts of the tree. That's an awful lot of work trying to keep tops, crotches and trunks separate. Picking thru the oak pile rejecting heavy splits is a pain in the neck, but I've done it when I've had to. I keep red maple separate from oak because it dries so much faster. I can use it in a year if I have to. Oak (unless dead standing for a long, long time)- no way. Three years yields no hassles. Dunno about ash. Except that it supposedly has a fairly low MC to begin with.
trail twister .. you said furnace, do you have an outside wood boiler? Got a friend with an outside wood boiler and he doesn't let anything season more than 2 years. I think an outside wood boiler and a new EPA stove with a catalytic converter would require two entirely different types of fuel.
Not much of a difference with the current crop of EPA-compliant boilers. The drier the firewood, the better the efficiency of the boiler. An OWB is perhaps more forgiving of crap wood, but not much more.
I'm glad my opinion based on my experience is funny. Very generrally yes. It's a generic answer to a complicated yet easily understandable debacle! Ive seen posts of 3 year oak still above 20%. Maybe wait 5years? What if you don't burn any oak? Is oak even the basis of the therory? To me (I'm funny) there is no guessing, maybe i get "into my stacking more than most...I use a moisture meter and the plethora of data and dry time charts. And I stack accordingly. My (funny...histarical) way of doing it requires small thought and planning. Again my experience(funny) I tried seeing how long it took me to dry northern red oak. I bruned 4? Cords of it that year and it was great. I can see merit in the "plan" if you are a cl scrounger and get bits and pieces here and there.
Good man! I like "everything" below 15%, but thats me. I just pulled the 5 year old stuff, "oak" for the winter and check it, Here's what I have. This is where it has to be "in my opinion". I get hardly any smoke at all and plenty of heat.
Thanks, it's 5 years old and the bark was falling off. I actually have some left over from last year I'll be burning this year that 6 years old. Every wood and location has a different drying time. I got my area and wood down to a stupid mans science for seasoning finally. I get "lots" of Maple, 3 years, Oak, Cherry and some Hickory, 4 to 5 years then some junk wood like Hackberry and swamp Maples are in the 3 year range. about 80% of my wood stash for years was Maple because there the first to come down during "Nor-easters" here. I've been lucky for a few years after Hurricane sandy and got some nice hard wood.
Well your post made me go out and check my 2 year old cord of oak. I'm at 17.2%. I did split the oak thinner than I usually split to help w dry time. I'm hoping to get around using the oak this winter so it'll get another summer under its belt but if I burn close to what I did last year then the worse I think I'll do is put a small dent in one of my 2yr old oak cords.
Had this conversation with an OWB owner. Told me if he doesn’t burn wet wood his boiler gets too hot. Some people just do things one way and one way only. I have cut split and tossed oak into the basement on the same day. Once. It’s rare to find standing dead dry as a bone but when I do I’m not adverse to saving myself some work.
