New guy and really like the layout and the members in this community. I also believe the only stupid question is the one that doesn't get asked. We are new to wood heat (have LP backup) but absolutely love the warmth of wood. We bought 10 pulp cord of wood 2 years past and processed only about 1/3 of it at this time. We had 3 cord of already cut/ split/ seasoned wood that was used last season. I assume cutting, splitting and stacking IS the best thing to do and leaving 8' long logs stacked by the barn is less than ideal...? As we are processing the wood there are some pieces that have dry rot... spongy/ soft areas. These pieces have no payback on btu's correct? They are dry, but very light. Some are rotted on half the log, using the dry/ solid side is ok? What should a fella do with dry rotted wood? Start a large compost area? Bark? Is there a benefit/ downfall to leaving it attached to splits?
Welcome stump, I'm pretty new here myself, your definitely right about a good group of people. As far as burning rotted wood if you have a burn pit outdoors it's great for that, you can definitely burn that in your wood stove but your right you won't get much btu's out of it. My daughter has a camp and I take all my junk wood for the fire pit. Also my elbow wood, crotches, something with a limb and usually a good bend it. Also if it's dry it will be good to getting a fire going. Merry Christmas to you and your family
stumplifter I leave bark on the wood. It' too much of pain to take it off multiple cord. When I stack top rows are bark up, helps with rain etc until top covered. Also wood does not dry much until split and stacked. So yeah process those logs and get some more!
If the "rot" scrapes off easy the BTU are pretty much gone. If it is punk, it's pretty much compost or close to it already. If it's a bit harder or maybe just a little spalting from laying on the ground it still has at least likely some BTUs. Problem with punky is it is like a sponge and can be a PITA when/if it gets wet and freezes and doesn't burn well without some drying out time . So some of us try to keep it dry while the rest of the good part seasons. Some scrape it off if, for no other reason, it can be a bit messy. Tumbling it in the dryer might work, to remove the junk, at least until you are no longer allowed in the house. I don't mind sweeping up the little bit of mess ( I do try often for before anyone sees it ) .
Welcome to the site - Take some time to red this sage advice - Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage There's other primers and helpful documents under "resources"
Great article, thanks for the link. What about fungus growth? Obviously it indicates moisture and besides mushrooms growing on ends and bark some of the splits have mycelium strands running their full length. Does this indicate a need for longer seasoning? Which plays well into my need for a moisture reading device.... suggestions on brand/ models? Final question which I will cross post into my Woodstock thread... properly seasoned wood either split or round, what would be considered too large of a diameter/ square dimension to burn or does it matter?
Hello, welcome! Yeah take a seat and hear the lore around here. It’s quite sound. Getting the wood split is the best way to get things stable. If you’re really worried about rot it would be a real mess bringing it in the house. Minimal stuff isn’t bad but we have our ways of culling for this and that. You ultimately decide Enjoy your time here and have a safe holiday!
I'll get fungi on the ends of logs, splits not usually although some bigger splits might. It's usually pretty darn humid here when they become pervasive. They freeze and die/dry up in Winter. Helps a lot when top covered here. This kinda fungi means the tree is losing the battle for whatever reason(s). Red maple that had leaves until Fall: I've got a bunch of 'em and haven't cut any yet to see how soft they are or aren't. As soon as hunting season is over or the guy who I've let hunt here says he's done for the year. In the past when I've come across these they've been pretty much worthless but these happened awful quick. Or so it seems.
stumplifter yeah, you'll find this is a great place to pull up a chair and sit by the fire to. Fungus, there's BTUs in that. Don't sweat that. Punk, if dry will make btu's as well, but to what degree? Pun intended. Bark, if it falls off outside, let that happen. It's said that bark makes a lot of ash. Bare minimum, it's messy.
Bigger splits, and large rounds just big enough to fit in the stove/insert are nice for long burns when you can't reload (at work or at night) and the stove/insert is already hot. You will not get as much heat out, or muck flame, but it should stay hot til morning. My splits are very random in size, partially for burn times, but mostly due to the time that I split them. Early in the day small splits, later in the day large splits.
Welcome stumplifter , glad to meet ya. I would still find a way to burn up those dry rot pieces, toss a few in during the warm part of the day to just keep the fire going while you're doing others chores and such. That will save your better wood for cold nights and overnight burns. Every piece of the poor quality ( we call that shoulder season wood) log you burn is one less chunk of the good stuff you are using, especially when you are just getting going and don't have much wood. If one is blessed with tons of good wood, burn the dry rot outside with friends and food & drink.
Funny how that happens! LOL I used to be critical of myself the next day I would go out to split, now I've learned all of those different sized spits serve a purpose. Welcome stumplifter !
Welcome to the forum stumplifter WE love to see new people on here especially when they ask the right questions. The 10 pulp cord from 2 years past should still have lots of burning in it. Some will have started to rot and you can judge when the wood has gone too far to burn but it might help to do some experimenting yourself just to see how well or how poor the punky stuff will burn. It might surprise you. For sure you will want to burn that during daytime when someone is there to tend the fire and/or during the spring and fall months when you don't need a lot of heat like we do now. By all means, cutting, splitting and stacking is the way to go. However, you must realize what you are doing when stacking the wood. You no doubt already know one of the big keys to stacking wood is to get it off the ground. Some use pallets but I simply do not like them and they make things look messy. We simply cut some small logs or saplings in the woods (or use limbs); lay those down (2 of them) and stack on top. We like to do the stacking in the spring then just leave the stacks as is until late fall or early winter. Then we top cover and the best we've found for doing that is to use old roofing material. We usually throw some uglies on top to weight down the roofing. As for the bark, we've heard of some who debark their wood but it is difficult to believe there is enough payback for all that labor. Besides, the bark will burn just fine.
At ease disease, there is a fungus among us. We don't worry about the stuff but if it is too thick, usually the wood is pretty punky. As for the moisture meter, they can be okay if used correctly but many don't know how to use them right. I've said it before and will again that the best MM is that 3 year wood supply you have stacked up in your yard. Get yourself 3 years ahead (you will hear this many times) and you will never have to be concerned whether your wood is dry enough. Many of us have well over a 3 years supply and the benefits of this are fantastic. While speaking of benefits I have to mention one that has hit several members here including myself. I ask the question of folks; What happens if some year you can not physically put up wood? Well, if you are 3 years ahead, you have no worries. btw, I am in this situation right now in that I can not handle the wood. Thankfully though, to show we have some great members on this forum, several folks came over and moved a lot of wood close to the house because I can't and my wife is a whimp. They also did some other work to help us out. Great guys indeed! What is too large diameter? That depends upon your stove but I definlitely would not want a log to take up more than perhaps a third of the firebox. One thing we have found works great is to use a large split or a round in the bottom rear of the firebox then fill in with other wood. This, of course is for night time burning.
Welcome! I'm pretty new here as well. Great bunch of guys and gals here. As you've probably already read the 3 year plan is the ticket if you have the room. It makes heating with wood more like a hobby (cough, obsession) than a chore. As far as bark I prefer it off but won't work hard to remove it. To get the stuff into the stove you have to touch it a lot so eliminating touches is the name of the game in my opinion. As far as seasoning sun and airflow are your friend. I season both rounds (16") and splits. One thing I would mention is pay extra attention during the bucking process. The more consistent the lengths the better it stacks and burns in your stove.
Once you get that dry rot wood dried out throw it in the stove on the not so cold days. Welcome to FHC
