My Five Year Plan - A Few Questions - Suggestions Welcome

Hello Everyone,

First post, been here some time reading and sending a few PMs to regulars regarding the stove I have on order.

I have a Woodstock Fireview on order and would like to get five years ahead so that I am always burning properly seasoned wood. With my old Hearthstone Harvest I used about 3.5 cord each year. The Fv has about the same firebox size as the old Harvest, but I am pretty sure the Fv will be a bit easier on the wood. However, for my planning purposes I am going to assume I will need 3.5 cord each year for the new stove.

I have two properties I can cut wood on (one only downed trees, the other anything dead). I also have a tree service that will provide me rounds < 18 inches at about $100 for 1.75 cords when split. When I first thought of getting 5 years ahead, I only thought about the quantity needed. After starting, my main concern is the first 2 years of wood supply. I have approximately 8 cords of wood currently, however, most of this wood is at the 20 - 24% MC and I am a bit concerned it may not be dry enough by next burning season. Most of my wood is red/white oak with a bit of black cherry and walnut.

Hoping some experience can help me with a few questions:

1) I started splitting some of my 20-24% wood down to 2-3 inch splits hoping to speed the drying process. Is this a reasonable strategy or a fools errand?

2) I have access to dead standing elm and cherry. Should I try to load up on this now and get it css and plan on using this for the upcoming season?

3) Got tons of OLD dead and down white oak that I am currently working on; much of this is < 25%. Is it reasonable to expect any of it to be ready by next burning season if css in the next month?

Here are some pictures of what I currently have and some stuff still in the woods.

Last picture is some red oak from the tree service - not going to be ready for quite a while - will be re-stacking shortly as this was stacked close only to know cords in load.

Thanks

 

Backwoods Savage would have some very good info for you on that stove as he's had one for several years now.
Dennis, where ya at?
My initial thought would be that splitting that small might not be your best option, as the wood will burn more quickly. In the Fireview, that might not be the case, so.....I'll defer to Dennis or anyone else with that stove.
Nice stash so far. Lived in SE Mi most of my life, until a few years ago.

 

Welcome HarvestMan
You showed up with a great plan in motion. My first year with the Keystone, I burned Red Oak at ~25% and didn't have any problems. But its gotten better year by year. Splitting the wood down to a smaller size will speed drying. The dead standing cherry should be in good shape by next winter if you css (cut,split,stack) it soon. You're gonna love the FV.

 

Welcome to FHC!


I'm working on my multi year plan too. I've been cutting dead standing elm, cherry, hickory, and sugar maple this fall and winter to get my hoard at least 2 years out this year. I've also cut some live, but needing to be taken down beech, hickory, and other trees like box elder and cherry that dry in a a summer.

If you have 8 cords at 20-24% already, you'll be fine. A summer of heat and air will get the ones at the high end under 20%. Of you can, save the oak for 2016/17 or later, that stuff takes a long time to dry.

Dead, standing cherry, and elm will be ready easily for next year if css'd this spring. , fresh cut maple, box elder, ash would all be ready for next year.

I'd say you'll be fine. A lot of you oak will be ready too if it's at 25% now. A summer will go a long way to season that.

Resplitting stuff at 20-24% is a waste of time. You've got a long time to get it to drop even more. It's already a long way into seasoning if it was oak.

If you want to expedite the process, a solar kiln apparently will get the Mc much lower than air drying alone. I'll be trying at least 1 Augie style kiln and a control stack from the same tree for scientific purposes.

 

I think you are going to be just fine with the 20-24% wood after another summer. (If you are targeting 20% at the wettest.) Keep the rain off it and you'll be there or beyond without issue.

 

Yep, I'm going to load up on the elm and cherry. I have a real love/hate relationship going with elm - love that it is usually ready to burn but hate when I need to split it with my x27. I'm going to plan to burn the dead standing and hope for a good summer for drying with the rest.

 

I have never tried the solar kiln setup for wood drying, but I think I will give it a shot on at least one of my stacks to see how it works out. Normally, I have all my stacks covered - I did take off the tarps the last couple days as we were not scheduled to have any rain. Looking to establish a better cover than tarps in the near future.

Right now I am in the process of "re-doing" my whole storage area so it is a bit of a mess. Will post more pictures as I get all my new pallets set up and start to fill them with wood.

I really want to get far ahead so that I don't get this "uneasy" feeling each year wondering if my wood is going to sufficiently dry ... kind of weird, go through this just about every year, but I am finally getting organized to eliminate the concern. Also, getting the new stove makes me want to make sure I only feed it the good stuff.

 

You've got a good plan and have some good advice already. All I have to add is welcome from another SE Michigander.

 

I hear you about hand splitting the elm! Red elm splits a lot easier though than American elm. Might be a good excuse to buy a splitter?

I'm sure you will find some dead standing or leaners near the ground that will be good to go this year and next. I just cut a small dead standing maple and red oak that were both under 20%. Top covering would help some also. That moisture meter will be a good tool for you while you figure out how everything is drying for you this year and next. Some of that oak might be ready a little sooner especially if it was dead standing and you keep it stacked well and dry. Sun is helpful too. Your stacking looks great by the way.

As others have said, cut the wood this year that will dry the quickest since you already have a lot of oak cut. Dead standing or leaners, cherry, ash, pine etc.. Keep your oak drying for a couple more years and cut double your yearly usage for a few years and your ready to go.

And welcome to the forum! Keep posting the pics! Your wood stacks look great by the way.

 

Same here with elm for me. I find it dulls chains faster than any other wood I've cut as well.
I don't have a splitter yet, but I get to use one sporadically. I save the elm for splitting with the hydraulics. My 6lb maul just bounces off all the american elm we have.

The dead standing elm sure allows me to get ahead, and was about half my wood this year. Love it, but hate it. It burns really well, my wife and I like how it smells. It's not pizz elm. That's red elm, and apparently it stinks. American elm is a different smell.

 

20-24% is pretty close, and with cherry and walnut you'll be ready to go next year for sure.

Check the insides of a fresh split to confirm the reading, unnecessary if they're already that dry.

Yes, yes, and yes. Too much is always enough. In spite of what some might tell you, wood wont rot if it "sits too long", if you're keeping it dry anyway.

It looks like you're off to a great start - I think you'll fit right in! Welcome to the club!

[EDIT] Standing dead elm, once it's good and dry, bark falling off, radial crack running up the trunk, is ready to split. It will give right up to the x27 when its that dry. And it's ready to burn right away too!

 

Welcome Harvestman
You've come to the right place.
I think your plan is good. The oak you might save till later, but you burn what you have. The Fireview is a great little stove. You won't be disappointed.
And of coarse...keep the pics coming

 

Hello and Welcome HarvestMan, just started here myself. Its a great place for information into the hobby. Love the pics,keep them coming.

 

Welcome Harvestman - you will really enjoy the Woodstock stove. You've got a great start on your wood supply plan!

 

Great looking stacks, and great advice.

A word of caution: if you are used to a front loader, a Fireview has a SMALL door.
16 or 18 inch lengths will work with the Fireview. Large rounds and splits will not be easy to load, too large won't go through the door. Weird shape uglies can be a challenge too. Thought it doesn't look like you have too many of those. Maybe someone else with a Fireview will measure the inside opening dimensions for you. Because I am starting seeds at the moment, I cannot get to my stove (not in use at this time) to do so.
That said, you do want decent size splits and rounds so you will get nice long overnight burns on the coldest nights. As long as it will go through the door, a large split or round in the bottom back is great for a very cold night. Then load the rest of the stove. I would not worry too much about resplitting the wood that is already at 24%. It should be fine even at that moisture content, and definitely will be OK by Autumn. Better to spend your time cutting some more wood. You could certainly cut some of the cherry into smaller splits to burn along with your already seasoned wood. The woods that dry quickly will be good and dry for the coming season if split small now.
The Fireview is an easy stove to run. Fires start pretty easily. As well as long cat burns, you get beautiful secondary displays with the Fireview.

I know you'll love your stove. Such an easy stove to run and maintain, such a terrific workhorse, such nice, gentle heat, so miserly in wood consumption, and very pretty to boot.

Congratulations, and enjoy!