That old adage about wood is seasoned when checked on ends and darkened is a bit annoying to me as a gross oversimplification. A lot of what I scrounge is dead dry wood. Take elm for instance which I often score and is often bone dry with no bark. When I buck it up it is already seasoned or at most needs another month finishing. When it sits in the stacks It holds its pale color longer and barely checks just like dry lumber you buy at Home Depot. No one thinks they're using green fresh cut studs when they buy pale white or pinkish lumber that has no checks. Pressure treated lumber is another story. So darkened and checked firewood at most means wood "may" be fully seasoned. Further investigation is still required because it is just one visual sign. There are exceptions where no graying, darkening or checking is fine.
It's like pine.....Pine is far less dense and burns fast giving off all its heating power quickly. This 'explosion' of heating energy is why folks think pine starts chimney fires. Oak is more dense than most maple or pine so it burns slower and takes longer for it to release the same ammount of heat energy. I don't have suger maple I can cut so I can't speak to the density and burn time. But based on the weight of sugar maple and red oak I would guess they are very close to density and burn time. So for the weekend evening burner I can sort of understand what the guy is trying saying but, as Colonel Potter would say, the artical is mostly "Meadow Muffins!
He’s a typical firewood dealer in Maine IME. Buy some processing equipment and you’re an instant expert. Everything you know you learned from the guy you used to work for part time. They all claim 6 months in log length is seasoned. I’ve yet to meet one that knows the difference. Sad thing is most stove dealers seem to be the same. You’re fighting an uphill battle trying to set someone straight when all the “experts” say different.
The first OWB I bought was back in 93. The dealer let it be known back then that burning green wood, although possible, was not wise. He said let it sit for awhile...a year or two and you'll see the difference. He advised against burning green wood. He was a good dealer.
Nobody (customer) wants to hear "you have to season/dry the wood for 2-3 years" as that is a big investment and a PIA, and turns most people off to wood burning immediately, so it is no wonder that the stove and firewood dealers don't advise this whether they know it or not.
In other news.... Fugly women are easier on the eyes than beautiful women. Dogs that are unpredictable are actually the best pets to own. Engines with a spin bearing are actually more reliable than a fresh rebuild.
Especially if she can skin a Grizz. I like a mountain gal. My wife keeps the home fire going 24/7 for 6 months or so.
Me thinks Jake might come from a longggggggggggggg line of used car salesmen. Not implying he's dishonest but,has sold used cars for a long time.
I just remembered. We cut a white oak a few years ago and within 30 days it was checked on the ends. In some fools eyes, it should be ready to burn. However, it is still in the stack and will be for another year or three.
Was that a Central Boiler? If so he didn't listen to the manufacturers advice, which is a good thing. I recall seeing their brochures in the early 2000's and they specifically said to burn green, unseasoned wood. . I worked for my dad's plumbing and boiler shop and we had so many service calls to people's owb's because a lot of places just sell them, and don't do installs or maintenance. We would work on any non steam boiler. Obviously we all know that properly seasoned wood burns much better and makes more BTU'S than green wood.
Wow, I cant believe they advised that! I have seen people on here and even in many youtube videos saying that their OWB's aren't too picky, however encouraging the burning of green wood exclusively sounds so ridicules! Only thing I can think of as a reason for this claim and some have mentioned it here on this thread already is it was a selling point to mislead customers into thinking no more need to store and shelter cords of wood. Maybe they figured people would figure it out on their own eventually, but the point was to focus on the bottom line and sell units. The scam was probably dreamed up due to the stove not being placed in the home so less risk of house fires and who cares if a short chimney stack gets creosote build up? I can only imagine the loss of potential heat energy, the constant acrid smoke, and the gooey tar like creosote gumming up the burn chambers. Must've looked like an asphalt tar kettle in there!
I've stated it before that my stove does not know or care about pedigrees, the best wood is the dry type that heats my house. But, all kidding aside oak and maple both have their places just like poplar and dogwood. Oak, when properly seasoned, burns long and hot and makes great coals while maple when dry burns long and hot and makes great coals too. There are pieces of maple from the center of a 75 foot tall tree that are so dense they burn for days and there is oak sapwood that hasn't earned its heat output yet. The heat output charts are useful guides but there are always exceptions to them.
