Not really a stash but this time of year Im usually switching to mostly Black locust, But I have all this oak I can go to now. Like James Miller said above, we're dipped in it around these parts.
I keep a 4X4 rack full of BL. Just used my first load off of the rack this morning. It’s nice to have it sitting there waiting.
I’m the same way. On really cold days/nights I’ll load more Osage into the mix of oak, hickory, etc. I’m about to start cutting on the property focusing on dropping more Osage. I’ll have 3-4 cords by the end of the winter CSS. We have a LOT of Osage on our get away place/hunting property.
I reserve sugar maple for only the coldest days since sugar maple burns hot/fast with low coals which makes room for more wood. Bitternut hickory is my second choice for the coldest days since it produces more coals but still burns hot. Both sugar maple and bitternut hickory are available in limited amounts, burn too hot for an average day, and so available when needed without using excess space. Red oak is the most available firewood and burns slower for good performance on the average days with white ash being very similar. Bark free dead slippery elm is my favorite firewood for startup in the morning since it ignites easily. I always have two dry 25' rows and I pick from different spots in the rows for different types of firewood.
I only have access to pretty much just oak, red/swamp maple and eastern white pine. The oak is as close to premium wood as I get and tend to save it for the colder weather. Boring, but what we've got here. I've seen a christmas tree respond to the warm temps inside the house. Mostly with a live tree in a pot we did a couple of years. The first time the fresh growth turned black and fell off when the potted tree was put back outside. After that we kept the tree inside for a very short period of time. The other time we had sprouting was a very fresh cut tree, cut right down from our own mini tree farm. (about 35 trees of which there are a couple left, now about 30- 40 feet tall )
I'm burning 12 year old red oak now, about 6 cords of that before I'd have to dip into the 11 year old stuff. 2 1/2+ cords of 10+ year old hickory.
I usually have a combination of Douglas fir, red alder, big leaf maple, and western hemlock in my supply. Under normal circumstances I try to pull maple from the shed in the coldest weather. BUT... we had an unusually harsh cold snap recently with about a foot of snow. Since I stayed home and burned non-stop for 5 days, I burned 100% fir because it leaves almost no ash.
I have a mix of red maple, red oak, white oak, cherry, white birch, black birch, yellow birch and beech. Because I bring in a whole season at once each spring (about 6.5 cords or so), I don't have time to sort and stack better wood separately. However, in the fall when I begin to burn and work my way into the pile, I will do some sorting. Whenever I come across red/white oak, black/yellow birch or beech, I set it aside for colder nights. I do this because I'm currently still working through the wood that was left when my lot was cleared and it's about 90% lesser wood (red maple and white birch). Once I start dropping trees strictly for the purpose of burning, the ratio will be completely inverted with the only softer woods being collateral damage from dropping adjacent better species....
I going to try to get it at least to 3 years. I need to get out and collect more dead wood to get through next season, then it's into my good stuff. It kinda sucks cutting splitting and stacking something that won't be touched for at least 3 years. But I know I'm preaching to the choir. LOL
Have about 4 cords of Black Locust and Osage stacked and covered. Been sitting for three years. This is my stash for unusually cold temps. Looking to add to the piles to make up what gets burned this year.
Dang York Co wood snobs. Set a bin of hickory, BL inside yesterday for the "big storm ". 10-12% MC so should burn just fine.
Like others, I don't really have a 'stash' set aside for special purposes as most splits get mixed in the stacks. I do have around four cords of red oak that are separate, but that's only because it takes so long to season. When pulling from the woodshed, I will move aside nice splits of beech that I come across to be saved for the really cold nights and pull splits of ash, birch and maple instead. Supposed to be having a stretch of below zero nights next week so some of the beech will be getting used then.
stihl kicking Your attitude will change about doing work for 3 years from now when you get to the 5-6 year out plan.That is great when you get so far ahead you can start working at your own pace and enjoy the work you are doing. Being retired helps too.
