Hi All, A newbie with a brand new BK Ashford 25 insert here. I am from NYC so dont have much space to stock wood in our backyard. I am hunting free firewoods in CL. One post just came. When I asked the poster said it is 2 years seasoned but doesnt know what wood it is. Can anyone identify it by just looking at the pics? Thanks in advance!
Welcome to FHC. The piece in the second picture with the blue tarp thread running across its face is probably oak. But overall I'd say that what is pictured is looking past its prime. Some of it looks to be older than 2 years and it has been stored under less than optimal conditions. I'd pass on this one. Come December 1 you wont be happy trying to burn that stuff. You will get better opportunities.
Yeah it’s past it’s prime. That being said seeing as your in NYC it may be a good find. How hard would it be to dispose of it if a better score came along? Somethings always better than nothing. Get it dry and remember it’s not the best if you think that’s all you’ll find this year. Other scores may be fresh cut. This is better than that. Oh and welcome to the forum.
Thanks. I see lots of fresh cut posts but not many with split and seasoned. When you say it past its prime you mean that it is over-seasoned or badly seasoned and it will not produce much?
Some of it is rotten. Appears it was rotten when they cut the tree down ( or it rotted and fell ) . Some of it on the other hand looks like it might be solid and decent, but it looks like it was just heaped on the ground and quite a bit with contact with the ground is also rotten. Picking thru it for anything burnable I'd only expect to salvage at most half, if that. If it is a take it all or nothing deal, I'd pass.
Ok so you must be close to cross island pkwy and northern Blvd, if you ever need some wood to cut your welcome to come up by me about 1 hour away but it's not seasoned, I usually go to long beach with my family been going there for years, takes me an hour and 10 minutes, I spent alot of years in the bronx
I’m of the opinion that you should grab it but only if you can cover it in a way that keeps it out of the rain. It’ll all burn. Punky wood absorbs a lot of moisture and sometimes takes a while to dry but not nearly as long as fresh cut wood. Top covering and resplitting helps a lot. This wood will help you save your best wood for the colder parts of winter. Your other challenge will be keeping the mess out of the house. I specifically ask for paper shopping bags when shopping so I can use them in conjunction with my firewood. Take a couple punky pieces, put them a bag, put the whole thing in the stove. No mess. If you come across better wood, just burn this stuff in a fire pit. I imagine that where you live, you have to be more cognizant of clean burning practices than someone who lives in a rural area. So dry wood matters more. Some of the bark looks like it could be maple. And I agree that some looks like it could be oak. You could also tell the owner that it looks rotten, but if they want to pay you to take it away, you’d consider helping. I’ve been very surprised in the past. I came across a pile I thought was rotting hemlock. When I split it, I realized it was bone dry red maple that was ready for the stove. Let us know what you decide to do.
I like the paper shopping bag idea. I have a class in the morning then I’ll go and grab the wood with my moisture reader, one of the few tools I have for the wood. I will let you all know how it looks. It is not so easy to find split and seasoned wood .
Yep, that’s where I live. But I don’t have tools nor experience or space for cutting and storing green wood. We just had our Blaze King Ashford 25 installed on Wednesday. Thanks for the offer though. I appreciate if you let me know, if you come across with seasoned wood.
First impression (and I could be wrong) is that it was stored under a tarp too long and picked up excess moisture. Tarps trap moisture in wood and then it gets punky. Firewood needs airflow to season properly. Check it with a MM first. If not below 20% give it a year more in the open or top covered.
Take a screwdriver with you and see if it'll sink in. Try several pieces and go from there. Good luck!
Grab it, split it, stack it. Off the ground, loosly in the sun and wind as much as you can. Top cover. Could uncover on the nice days and recover whenever rain is expected. I would say it’s already seasoned. May be wet but seasoned. Wet wood drys faster than unseasoned wood. Some may be punky and holding large amounts of water. I call that toilet paper because it’s not much different than soaking a roll and trying to dry it. I don’t keep toilet paper but I have tons to choose from. Your situation is a little harder, at least this year. Jump through enough hoops and you should be able to burn at least some of that this year. Blaze King is a great stove. Insert in your case. I would assume it has a steel Cat and not ceramic but that’s just an assumption. Steel is more forgiving with moisture. My first year with a cat stove I had wood stacked all around it trying to thoroughly dry PS never store rounds standing on ends like in the picture. At least not for any length of time. That’s a red flag that the owner of this wood doesn’t know what they’re doing.
Welcome chemiee! You've come to the right place! I guess whether you take the wood depends on how bad you need it. I responded to an ad like that earlier this year. The wood was all punky and rotted. I am currently using some of the rotted rounds to hold pieces of metal roofing on top of my stacks. The rest are used for firepit wood. You can say hello to everyone here.... Introduce yourself here !
The closest one are in Long Island with bad reviews that say wood is not seasoned well. They sell around $200 plus delivery. Most doesn’t even deliver to Queens. There is , I guess , not many people burning wood or having a stove in Queens. There is one company with good reviews selling Kiln Dried wood of about 20-25 % moisture content. They sell 1/8 cord for 90 and they don’t even deliver to Queens. Firewood - KILN DRIED Mix 1/8 Cord = (8) bags
