There's a couple FHCers that burn a lot of it. Old cliche here is that it burns better than snowballs. Experience has taught you well.
Yeah, that looks like sugar maple, in the first post. It's great firewood, definitely a lot better than basswood or cottonwood. Lol
Maybe I'll buck a few rounds, like Brad said, and try it. Does anyone know if basswood dries real fast being a soft wood?
It does dry super fast. Like Brad said, split it now it'll probably be dry for this fall yet. I've burned enough of it. It lights quickly, but it doesn't last a long time once you light it. It all helps though, and if it's mixed in with other wood you'll appreciate it, especially for burning coal beds down.
The first time i encountered basswood was the first Winter i was a member of FHC. I didn't know what it was and they IDed it. I CSS and the following Winter it was so light I almost tossed it as I wasn't selling bundles at the time. I ended up giving it to my stepdaughter and BF for their fireplace. She said it was the nicest burning wood they ever had. I later saw what they were trying to burn and it was wet red oak! They were casual burners at the time so were content with a nice flame.
I tried replying a couple of times yesterday morning, but the website kept crashing. I used to store my firewood in face cord racks with side supports. Then a few years ago I rebuilt the racks and just made a 12' long frame and decided to crib the ends. I have been trying hard to make a true 1/2 cord rack. This stack of red oak is 48-49" tall. I am going to see after a couple years how much it shrinks. My front stack is all silver maple that has been drying 2-1/2 years. Been top covered for over a year. I swear it shrank a lot! But it is just a guess because I never measured it. I do like the looks of these stacks much better than the old way. Below is a before and after. I know you guys never get tired of seeing firewood pictures!
Those are some sweet stacks and yes we never tire of looking at pictures of them. Im really surprised you went from end supported racks to cribbing. I did the opposite. Im too fussy when I crib stack! I made my half cord racks to fit two 4x6' stacks. 36" wide for 16" splits. With end supports they work out well.
Some of the older rack supports were starting to get loose and bow out. Instead of fixing them, I just removed the screws and went from 8' to 12'. I see what you mean, it does take a little longer to stack with cribbing. But I like the outcome better. Some of this pressure treated wood is starting to deteriorate. It has been on the ground for up to 15 years, but it is still holding up!
I switched to totes because I got the bobcat. We were stacking in rows and then dragging the cart/dolly through mud/snow back to the house. It was a pain and made a mess in the house. Now I can set ‘em right on the deck and take cart loads right into the house without the mess/effort/shoveling. It works much better for us like this. It’s also nice if someone wants to buy wood, because I can put a tote right on the truck/trailer or dump it in/on theirs.
