Last few weeks have been burning insect killed oak that the bark sloughed off while the tree was still standing or was loose enough to fall off when cutting to firewood length and or when splitting. That and solid hardwood blocks from the pallet mill. I have not had to shovel out ashes once in all that time. Amazing the difference between that and ash and oak firewood with bark on, I'd be shoveling out ashes every other day!
True that wood bark will give logs of ashes but not enough to make me want to get the bark off all the wood.
I am with you on this. Bark burns and gives heat, why would I go through the work to remove it? Of course if it is barkless due to the work of mother nature, I don't complain.
interesting observation. Cant say ive ever paid attention to that as most of the wood i cut is green.
On my larger rounds I've started popping the sap wood and bark off and tossing it aside for shoulder season. Then I have nice square blocks of oak to pack the stove with.
"No bark = no ash" = hyperbole "No bark = less ash" = reasonable to believe Some bark actually has at least slightly more BTU content than the wood itself with the trade-off of ( a little/some) more ash. Most of my oak is four years seasoned and the bark is falling/fallen off. I don't burn it. I pile it up. I don't go chopping it off though. It falls off in the stack and in the process of handling it and I toss it in a pile. In a pile on the ground near the woods the tree roots get into it surprisingly fast and this isn't surprising given that much inner bark is edible and loaded with starches, minerals, fiber, sugars - all manner of digestible nutrients for people, animals and for sure other living things like trees. Having not made a habit of eating bark I imagine that, like beans, my digestive process would have a hard time digesting these newfound fibers and end up fermenting them in the colon much to the chagrin of cohabitating partner(s) and passers-by. Plus bark is supposed to make a pretty good potting medium ground up. Some nurseries pay for large quantities of (ground up) bark.
Correct...less ash, not none. Also, I did read that some bark has a little more btu value, but on average about 10x more ash content. And there is a mulch place near here that deals strictly in bark mulch, supposed to be much better than the ground up wood mulch.
Yeah, more bark= more ash and less bark= less ash. With black walnut, the bark wants to fall off after a couple of months, so I'll remove it as I'm bringing it into the stacks to get burnt. Having nice dry bark dress help to get coals into flames though.
I remove 90+ percent of bark. Only leave that which is really stuck. More than one reason. First, I compost and shred all of it for gardening. More valuable for that, than for heat. Second, the wood is drier, faster, as the bark holds moisture in the wood. Third, eliminates most bugs. Not all, but most. Fourth, cleaner, with fewer ashes. Finally, helps smooth things out, and keep my stress level manageable. Much cheaper than a therapist, and even with splitting everything by hand, moving the wood with a wheelbarrow almost exclusively, huge garden, tons of heavy labor, lots of beer and tobacco use, the bark removal process is good medicine.
Totally agree! I don’t like burning black walnut because of the bark. It is hands down the messiest wood in my stacks and I have a no more black walnut scrounge rule now because it’s so messy and makes so much ash. Pieces without the bark are fine but I am not going to get covered in black dirt that stains to take it off.
I'm a bark remover too! As much as I can, I take thick bark off oak, maple, and black locust. Thin bark I don't bother with. I do it to stymie the borers, to speed up drying, and to save space. And it is relaxing. I agree, barkless oak makes very little ash. But barkless red maple makes double the ash the debarked oak makes. And barkless elm leaves a ton!
I certainly like my bark to come off. Easier for the wood to dry. As someone mentioned I’ll split the bark off In thinner slabs. Err, well I used too. Now that I’m years ahead I’m not worrying about it as much. Get to split bigger too.
When I'm splitting, any bark and splitter chips that are on the ground I rake up and put in milk crates that go in the splitter shed for a year to dry. I use that stuff for kindling, it works great. 4 or 5 crates get me through a season of burning.
I have started popping bark off on big rounds,18 inch diameter plus. I try to pop it off with the thumb on my excavator. Usually my logs are down for 6-12 months and it pops right off. I use it to start fires usually. Wood dries so much better without the bark. I do think hickory bark is made of steel once dry though, man it is hard.
