the good stuff, this is the dead American Hophornbeam I cut 1.5 months ago. We'll use about 3 or 4 rounds on our coldest nights so this should last us through February.
Yes, I used it for our coldest nights. It will push the stove top temp close to 700 on the Liberty with the air shut down all the way.
Yeah, love me some ironwood. When it's dead and down, it dries all on its own. Stuff that I have this year was down and whole log length then split or left in rounds was under 20% mc when cut. I'll have at least a half cord of it for 2016-2017, and a cord at bare minimum for 2017-2018.
That makes sense. I didn't recognize the American Hophornbeam name but after a quick search I see that it is what we call Ironwood Good stuff for cold nights for sure
Nice looking Stack of the good stuff Zap. I've never burned any myself so can't comment on it. Can you notice a difference over white oak or beech etc?
There's a little difference between ironwood and beech, but noticeable enough. Over oak, yeah, big difference.
In my experience, Ironwood burns longer and hotter than beech. It also stays solid on the ground for years. Usually it will stand dead for many years, so can be cut when needed or when the roots rot and it topples.
I was blessed with a lot "ironwood" on my place, mostly of the "hophornbeam" variety. I've only ever found one small tree of the "Blue Beech - hornbeam" variety. Seen a lot of muscle wood in other places though! Some stock photos of each.
I've never burned any Oak but I have burned Beech, the Ironwood will give you more heat than the Beech plus better coals.
The blue beech is weird. Extremely hard stuff when you cut it but you better not leave it uncovered as it rots really fast.
