Buddy of mine moved but still has the house on the market. No stove in the new place, so he gave me about 1/3 cord of wood he left behind that was in an open-sided shed for two years (now in my barn). When I was picking up the last of it, he mentioned he had some large rounds of cherry in the back that had been down on the ground for a few years. I was psyched when I saw it! Looks like I should get about a cord out of it. Will certainly help me get through the first year burning. I have Dennis to thank for the sapling method of getting the wood up off the ground. Good to hear cherry dries pretty quick.
Please, I'd just like to think of firewood, football and beer when I think of this guy. Just realized I put this in the EPA stove section when it belonged in the firewood neighborhood too. I had such high hopes for this posting too.
Cherry is da bomb! Heh-heh. It holds up surprisingly well, lying around. I got one for my SIL that was down, in the woods behind her house. All the sapwood was rotted off but the heart is still in great shape. Cherry is one of those woods that may not be primo stuff but I still have a fondness for, like Red Elm...for the way the wood looks as much as anything.
Very nice, I love cherry as well. Not the greatest burning buts it's a pleasure to cut split and burn. Looks great, and smells really good too.
Your stacks are coming along nicely! Lots of wood already and stacked nicely too. I also use the sapling method for runners, but now I put some small logs or cut saplings perpendicular under the main runners to raise it even higher by a couple inches. I found that with the weight of the wood and sitting in dirt the main runners, over time, will sink down too much for my liking and the wood gets too close to the ground. The 2" logs under the main runners hold them up more. How was the quality of the Cherry that was sitting in the woods for a while. No rot?
Thanks for the compliment on the stacks. I was very pleasantly surprised about how little rot there was. On a few of the bigger rounds some of the core of the tree was rotted out, with evidence of carpenter ants. But most of it's very solid. I'm assuming the rot may have been what took the tree down in the first place. Most of the rounds were in an area where there was some good drainage away from them, but a lot of the wood was just lying on the floor of some woods up behind his house, and it was still in great shape! I left nary a stick behind. Loving splitting it for the reasons listed above by others. Great smell, love the look and feel of the splits, and a lot of it my maul cuts through like a knife through butter. I'm really embracing this new lifestyle change, and wish I had years ago! This is a great forum to go to when you've got the bug.
Cherry is good stuff..its great stuff to help you get ahead...that and silver maple when cut and split dry very quickly...i have quite a bit of it for this year...nice score
Welcome to the forum burndatwood. You have a fine start there! Great that you got that wood from your buddy too. As for the cherry and ants, they seem to go together a lot. Many, many times when we cut cherry it is loaded with carpentar ants. It's okay. Buck it up and the ants leave.
Thanks Dennis! You and others have got me working on the three year plan. I did get a delivery of five cords already cut/split you can see in the pic (with more on the way), but the cord I scrounged and am splitting on my own feels special.
Cherry is fine. What it lacks in BTU value it more than makes up for in smell. About the best aroma there is.
