Read this : Once wood gets over 4-5 years old, it does start to deteriorate, so the best wood is 2-3 years seasoned. If you find good dry wood of any kind, you will really enjoy your fireplace! But, if you get stuck with green wood, you will be one very frustrated wood burner. Most wood for sale is "this years" wood. If you get serious about wood burning, you must always think one full year ahead! You should always buy this years wood for for NEXT year. Good buys of seasoned wood do come along, but they are often not advertised, because the serious wood burners already know where to go. If you are a first time wood burner, either buy dry, split fir, or hunt down really dry, cracking hardwood. You won't be sorry if you spend a little more money - just to make sure that you get trouble free firewood. http://www.mastersweep.com/wood.htm Is wood just like other fuels & it looses it's Oomph after it gets old? Stored outside , even if dry, does it loose BTU? Does firewood go stale ? Can't find any testing done with 5 or 10 year old firewood. Stale firewood, makes me wonder how far ahead is to far ?
I might guess the local climate would affect this. Humidity, rains etc. Then again I only know about ponderosa/lodgepole pine...... Other states have burn hardwoods. I have seen pictures here at FHC of rotted wood in different states in front yards that blows my mind. I have never seen that in the Colorado Rockies except for the deep forest which is a long trek, and most will never get there. We had a narrow leaf cottonwood (native) on my property @5700 ft taken down by heavy wet snow, it took 3 years to get processed and there was not a bit of rot anywere. Grain of salt, I am 150 miles from where I was born and raised lol.
He ain't talkin' about oak I have oak that I'm burning and it's been stacked for 5 years and I'm plenty warm, unscientific results but hey, it's all I got to go with here. I've burned locust that I dug up that was buried before 1960 and it threw some real nice heat, stuff was hard as iron.
I would think covered stacks of primo wood like oak, locust, hedge etc would last a long, long time...
I always think of it like the wood your house or barn is made of, keep it dry and it will last hundreds of years. Might be a bit to dry I guess if you live in a low humidity clime like the desert and it might burn a bit to fast.
This article doesn't go into nearly enough depth for what they are attempting to convey. I have seen wood stacked and not top covered that was useless inside of 3 years from rot due to moisture I have also cut dead standing oak that looked great even on the inside but when you hefted a piece you could tell it was detiorating by the reduced weight of the round and when burnt you could tell it burned quickly. However on the other hand I really don't think that wood stored inside or top covered is going to deteriorate in 5 years. Heck I have 5 year old Hickory and it has been covered it's whole life and is still as hard and as heavy as rock. In my opinion this is a poorly written blurb that doesn't cover all the bases or scenarios and totally depends on the situation.
I found a stack of old fence posts that I am going to cut and stack. Should burn for a year as they are rock solid!
We have had wood rot: At our hunting camp in the great northern state, Michigan's upper peninsula, we heat with wood. They had a load of logs dropped off in '86. Every year we would cut to size and split (when we did enough for the next year, it would get stolen). We covered the logs loosely with plastic before we left. But, it would still get moisture and be out in the elements. One year, around 2005 or so, I spent hours trying to keep the fire going (most everyone else went to the casino that night). The next morning, it was 37* F in the cabin. The wood was punky and would not burn. We had to find a dealer and buy some that day. So, after 20 years or so it can rot. But if kept from moisture like in a barn I suppose it would last much longer. If it was stacked and covered I think it would last longer than 5 years, but not infinitely.
I've seen my share of firewood deteriorate and I've seen my share of building materials deteriorate and I've seen my share of building starts run out of money, buildings not get finished and the unfinished hulk deteriorate weathered to the elements. Sun, rain, humid/dry environment changes all take a toll eventually. Oak most certainly stands up to weathering better than pine. I've have a pine dump that is about 40 years old. Except for the huge logs at the bottom of the pile well protected from the elements all are compost and long gone. (was bulldozed aside to bury rocks uncrushed )
Species and climate play a big factor in this debate for sure....BUT, as many of us have repeatedly proven here, top covering the wood certainly helps alleviate that problem. Certain woods (for instance poplar, white birch, even sapwood on white and red oak), after repeatedly going through the "wet/dry" cycle over and over and over again begin to break down. That's what rot is......it's nature's way of composting matter. As a test you can take two coffee cans packed full of leaves, don't put a lid on them AND make sure there are holes in the bottom of the cans. Sit one outside in the weather and sit one inside your shop (or anywhere out of the weather), see which one breaks down faster. The one stored indoors won't break down at all. Just a simple test to show what repeated soaks in water do can do to organic matter...... I've got wood in my stacks (that are top covered after their first year of being C/S/S), the stuff burns like a dream.....glass stays clean on the stoves, flues are clean of creosote. For me, this case is CLOSED.....
I've seen bridges,interior framing & timbers from castles & cathedrals in several European countries that were anywhere from 400 to 900+ years old.In my stash I have a few smaller walnut,white oak & douglas fir timbers from some local barns that date to the 1870's.Have seen fence posts cut from local Osage Orange (hedge) in NW Missouri not far from grandparents farm that were set in the 1920's. And recently found several chunks of random split & round leftover Mulberry,Red Elm & White Oak from 4-5 years back at the bottom of one of my mixed stacks..... Keep it clean,dry (or where it can shed water & dry out quickly) & wood can last indefinitely.Even certain species that aren't decay/insect resistant.
Wood kept dry will last almost indefinitely. I remember a thread somewhere a couple years ago about a member getting 18 year old CSS wood from a neighbor across the street. It had been in a barn since her husband died or something like that, and it was bone dry. And still looked fresh cut since it had been inside the whole time, not exposed to the elements. I don't think "too dry" is the issue, it's rot. If you stack up wood in a moist area with no cover for 5 years, it'll likely be punky when you get to it. Being so far ahead does require some extra precautions to ensure your wood is dry, like a shed or some covering of some sort. Another thing to consider is the wood species. Some wood like cedar, Osage, oak, etc will last much longer than others. I get a lot of sweetgum, and left uncovered it'll start to rot within a year
Well, if I could talk my lovely wife into it.....yes, yes I "wood"!! But I "wood" put shingles on it (most likely cedar ones!!)
Well I can tell you what they are talking about but I will let you guys debate the issue. There are 2 types of moisture in wood, free water and bound water, the free water is the one that quickly drys out depending on the wood, the bound water is the resins in the wood. After a long period of time the resins dry out and the wood loses some of its heat value.
Part of a 10 foot long White Oak limb I found while out for a walk in mid November.It had to be on the ground 15 years easily,cant believe I missed it when working nearby in June.Threw it up on my shoulder (probably 80-100 lbs) & walked up the hill 150 feet over to the processing area.Quite dense,close to Hickory,though Hickory will barely last 2-3 yrs on the ground before its compost.Cut it up & burned it one day 2 weeks back when the morning low was 5 & afternoon high was lo 20's. At least a couple times a year I get lucky & still find a truckload or two of this quality.Not much anymore since after 4 1/2 years now finally caught up with getting everything that's either close by/easily accessible & still sound.Lots of snags/deadfall on south 1/3rd of property,just need to get with neighbor about going through his gate & parking along my south fence.Only way other than access by walking/climbing down across the ravine to the top of those steep slopes...screw that lol.
