Having 2 Cottonwoods dropped in about a week or so...Keeping the wood and going to cut and split it up..Roughly what kind of seasoning time am I looking at for this?? Thanks
According to the drying chart here: Firewood BTU & Drying Chart 12 months. I got some in June last year that I misidentified at first. I just burned it in March and it was light as a feather and very dry.
Ime if you split & stack it now the Poplar would most likely be ready for fall shoulder wood. Cottonwood I'm not sure, never mess with it.
Split it ASAP. Once I cut some cottonwood in July and was going to get around to it whenever, 2 weeks later walked by and the rot stench was horrid and just under the bark was a slimy orange/white science experiment. Split it the next day and in a month it lost its stink and half its weight and burned it the following spring. Another time I cut poplar and split it right away. Water was squishing and it had a particular barnyard aroma reminiscent of a cattle feed lot. A month later just for S&Giggles I decided to try a few splits to start a fire since it had been CS&S out in the open, full sun, open to the wind---OMG popped right off no smoke or sizzle.
Same thing, no? Agree with split n stack now, probably use this winter, especially if stacked in a sunny/breezy spot.
I cut some cottonwood last spring and started burning with it in the fall and it was fully dried. I'll do the same with the one I cut a couple of weeks ago.
From what cottonwood I've burned (dead and on the ground for some time), it dried out very quickly. I think it was two months from the time I split it to the time I burned, but I only burn it for campfires and it burned without smoke.
Split about a cord of cottonwood about 2 years ago toward the end of Summer, its perfect for burning currently. So light you can just hear the tone of it if you clap splits together or split as kindling. Burns rapidly but that's kind of the point with this wood; to get a fire going quickly for the much longer burning splits.
My experience with poplar is about 6-9 months to be ready for burning. If let go too long, it gets very light, very quick.
I generally season it three ways... I chip the entire tree I burn it in the waste pile! I wad it up with my excavator for hunting blinds.
I put in a new wood furnace this year and was getting 4 to 41/2 hours burn times on cottonwood. I’ll take all of it i can get around here. Easy to cut, easy to split. Dries quick. What more could ya ask for.
I was being kind of a smart azz. Luckily we have good hardwoods here. If it works and you are happy I say enjoy.
One thing I like to do with cottonwood is stack it up in log form, keep it off the ground, for a year. Then C+S+S. Usually the bark falls off while processing and the wood seasons much faster without the bark. Plus less ashes in the stove. Side note if you need any kindling, dry cottonwood bark lights easier than paper, I've lit it with a spark and no open flame.
I'm kinda curious how bad they aged for you in log form? The rot smell and slimy under bark after a few weeks of sitting as rounds spooked me and I always split asap if cut any time other than winter because as bad as my stuff was aging I thought for sure in 6 months they would be solid punk waste rot.
Same. That's why I split mine only a day or two after. They are mostly water when you get them recently cut so that trailer I had probably weighed in excess of 3-4K lbs. Now unlikely a 1/3 of that if the wood were kept unburned.
I stack the rounds up on pallets. Leave them until i have time to process them. I have left them stacked for over a year and they split and burn fine no rot and by then the bark falls off when you pick them up.
