Well like I said it sat in log form a bit too long. Neither of those woods appreciate that, lost some caloric value. Type of wood I wouldn’t sell but I’ll burn it up myself. Down here in Ct I have no problems with coaling,,,,,,,anymore. My problem is having to let the stove go out to keep the house coolish. go through a lot of firestarters I have t even burned two cords of wood yet this year. Darn catalytic soapstone sucks every drop of energy out of a split. On the bright side lessor woods work just fine.
It's excellent firewood and it smells great too when lit. Like a toasty caramel smell. Grab it all Jonathan Y !
Not much in the way of beech from this spot today, just these 4 heavy noodled quarters. I did grab all the black birch that was cut nearby, which will also make premium firewood.
I've never cut any that was dead, dying, or down. But now that you mention it, I do remember bugs liking the sap last time I cut a live one and split it immediately. I'm talking about bees, flies, and stuff like that. It must have sweet sap. After seasoning for two years, however, I don't remember any boring insects or under-the-bark worms. I recall it looking super clean after two years uncovered. I'm used to oak / hickory / elm where there are always a bunch of worms feeding under the bark. It seems like the beach bark is attached so strongly to the wood that the critters can't get in.
Yeah, classic hoarder mentality: "I'm sure I'll have a good use for that someday." I used to even save a few garbage bags full of noodles thinking I would use them as fire starters. THey do burn great once dry, but they also make a big mess in the house. My wife vetoed the idea.
I see. I've got a medium size insert that I use to heat a 3700 square foot house. The house is well insulated, at least, and I close off a few bedrooms. Regardless, I run the stove hard almost all winter long. I've also got a 38 foot chimney in the house, so the draft is strong even though I downsized to a 5" chimney liner to help tame the drat. I modified the stove so I can pretty much shut off the primary combustion air entirely, but the secondary air is uncontrolled on that stove. So when its very cold or very windy, the secondaries burn like blow torches and I end up gasifying the logs -- hence the stove being full of coals. It's funny how ever stove in every chimney burns a little different, and it takes at least a few months with a new stove and/or chimney to figure out the best way to manage it.
Is that black birch in the back of the bed? Looks a whole lot like beech, both both the bark and the grain / color.
Those poor VT beeches must be suffering badly from beech bark disease. I’ve only seen patches of it here in CT.
Got me some beech today. Big ol’ stem been standing there with the top broke out. Middle rotted out but good wood around the outside. Fell and cut to rounds this morning. Then had to go meet friend for lunch. Back out this afternoon to quarter the rounds and momma came flying out of the end of a round as I was cutting. Kept cutting, and then I saw the little ones. One ended up dying cause I must’ve touched his leg with the chain before I noticed them. That one ended up dying, but I took the other one to a buddy who has some squirrels. He sent me some pics tonight. Anyways, ended up with some nice beech firewood and buddy ended up with a squirrel!
One of the things I like about beech is the bark. About as close to dead bark less firewood as you can get
Agree with many, beech is smooth bark here. I love blended burns. My favorite burn is beech and ash, followed closely by red oak and cherry. If I could have an unlimited supply of one wood, it would be red oak, love the smell. And I could, with little effort, burn nothing but, it’s plentiful here. I’ll watch the ash in the meantime…Thaz my yob!
