Those who have been at one of our gtg here have seen my old redneck garage that I use for storing a trailer. Originally it was to house the atv. Well, I tore it down the other day so it is no more. But while tearing it down, I found something strange and that I had forgotten about. What we have here is a pair of birch logs. Small, but still birch. If my memory is somewhere near right, those were put in there back sometime around the year 2002. So 16 years ago....and they have not rotted nor are they punky in any way. They are light weight but solid. Strange, but true.
Not sure what kind of black magic you are practicing in that shed but it seems to work When we bought our farm we were cleaning out a shed attached to the house that used to keep wood for the cook stove. Found a lot of birch bark tubes with no wood left inside them
Keeping your wood covered, dry, and protected, should keep rot, fungus, and various critters at bay. I had some black birch saplings about wrist thick, with bark on, get punky in two years, while supporating splits on parallel saplings. Had I known then what I know now, I'd have zipped a cut lengthwise on them, cut and stacked them on some pine saplings that I'd care less about.
Hey look on the bright side Dennis. That's almost as dry as the rest of your firewood. Should be ready by next year. I've never seen Birch last like that in the round either. I made mantle pieces/candle holders from Birch logs years back. 3 holes drilled for the candles & some evergreen branches. Stored inside in the attic, & by the next Christmas they had rotted away.
Looks good.. I have personally seen birch logs last for years in fireplaces that were never lit. Stored inside OK. Outside not so much..
I have a peice about 3 feet long that I have a black squirrel mounted on. Its 20 years old n still in great shape...
I have 3 big birch rounds that I didn't split. They're cut 16" long and are about 15" in diameter. One I've been using as a coffee table beside my easy chair for over a year. The other 2 I use as chopping blocks. They're in my shed and were cut 2 years ago. No signs of rot. There's plenty of small cracks on the ends, indicating they're drying. If the one beside my chair was rotting, I'm pretty sure I'd be smelling it by now. I'm sure that uncut logs laying on the ground are a whole different story.
Yep spotted some in my birch pile I was moving and rounds still intact. I’m wondering if the rounds that are smaller, by about finger width to 15 or so might be less likely to punk? I had some big rounds I didn’t split and they got punky but still got them split with good burnable wood after a few months sans the punk stuff.
