I split 2/3 of the oak that I currently have cut and managed to get it stacked between last night and today. I also started moving some oak and hickory to a different location. I had a 4 cord mix of oak and hickory stacked between a river birch and a red maple. Over the last few weeks I've noticed that the hickory was getting eaten up like crazy! Today I decided to move these sacks to a different location and I realized it was far worse than I thought This is my first adventure with hickory, what Exactly is doing this? What am I doing wrong? I have it stacked on 4x4's. I have approx 5 cord of shagbark total, some split some still in rounds. If this is how it's going to be, I'm not even gong to work on anymore of it. Even ifn it is high btu's, homie don't do that kinda mess.
Not sure on the wood but probably mostly powder post beetles but may be another bug like the hickory in there too. I would not worry about it though as the wood will still be fine. We get lots of the PPB, especially when we cut a lot of elm. No harm done. I would recommend you redo some of the top covering you have because if you look how it is, rain will just run off the covering and right down into the wood. Being concentrated into some small spots, this can do bad things to the wood. Remember to use top covering the same as you would shingles on a roof so that the water runs off and not in to the wood stack.
Thanks for the info, Dennis! The top covering you see is isn't actually a top cover. It's just random pieces of osb And plywood that I hauled away from a job and I just threw them up there for the time being to get them out of the way. I was planning on using them to slope the stack this winter while using a tarp on top of em.
It will also affect the wood. I had a leak in one of my coverings a few years back. The wood turned black and even after leaving it stacked another year, it did not burn worth a hoot.
They drill into the wood and hence the sawdust but you won't lose much. You'll never notice the difference. Just have to be sure to get that sawdust off before taking into the house! It can make a mess.
I've noticed some of that going on in Oak. Pretty much every year, and it really doesn't matter much. Like Dennis said, get the dust off before going in the house and it'll burn just fine. The bugs add BTUs.
I decided to grab another load today, these cooler temps are putting me in the wood cutting mood more than usual. Grabbed a load of white and red oak. I really need to worry about getting everything I have split and stacked, but I just can't help myself, I'm a full blown junky at this point!! :stacke:
Oh yeah, hickory is ALWAYS like that. In fact, yours seems like a pretty mild case - it gets MUCH WORSE!! (trust me I'm not lying) But, I'm always willing to help a friend and a fellow FHC'er in need... Feel free to bring that nasty messy stuff over to my place, and I will be happy to dispose of it in my woodstove. Free of charge! Nice work!
I restacked some shagbark yesterday , didn't see any new powder , I think they got full and left , the first year they were muchin on it pretty good
Did a job today.. A standing dead tulip poplar, and 2 Norway maples and also hauled away a pile of sugar maple rounds as well... I'm beat!
