# Birch firewood



## yodayoda (Mar 27, 2009)

I recently bought 12 cord of birch in 8' lengths, to burn next winter in my Outside wood boiler. Most of it was 8" or less diameter, I cut it all in 2' lengths but did not split most of it. I have been getting conflicting advice on splitting or not splitting birch. It's stacked up off the ground but sits outside, will the unsplit birch rot before next winter if not split? I have been told birch will rot before drying by a few people and told I would be fine as long as it sits less than a couple years by a few others. I know what I hope the answer is as I would obviously rather not unstack, split and restack 12 cord of wood


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## Tree Pig (Mar 27, 2009)

*birch*

I'm not sure why probably something with the bark retaining moisture but birch tends to rot from the inside out. You may get to the middle of your stack and pick up a log to have it break in to pieces. As to whether splitting it will help I'm not really sure but if my assumption on the bark being the cause then creating a way for the moisture to escape may be the answer. It may just be that birch is a pretty soft wood in comparison to other burning woods and doesn't have the same life expectancy (as firewood) as good hardwoods.


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## woodbooga (Mar 27, 2009)

Left in log length (unless scored) it definitely will rot for the reason given in the previous post.

I split everything 5" and under regardless of species, but the 18" lengths I don't split keep just fine from one season to the next when kept off the ground. The cut ends give the moisture an escape route.


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## Austin1 (Mar 27, 2009)

yodayoda said:


> I recently bought 12 cord of birch in 8' lengths, to burn next winter in my Outside wood boiler. Most of it was 8" or less diameter, I cut it all in 2' lengths but did not split most of it. I have been getting conflicting advice on splitting or not splitting birch. It's stacked up off the ground but sits outside, will the unsplit birch rot before next winter if not split? I have been told birch will rot before drying by a few people and told I would be fine as long as it sits less than a couple years by a few others. I know what I hope the answer is as I would obviously rather not unstack, split and restack 12 cord of wood


I think it depends on the humidity were you live. Leave it dry and out of the rain and it should be fine. Birch is considered number one firewood here but I find it no better than pine.
And if you where to pay for it hear you would be looking a $600.00 a cord!!! Pine goes for $500.00 if you had to buy it. 
If it is 8'' I would not split it until I had to use it for me 6 months of drying time and it would be ready to go I am assuming you mean paper bark birch or white birch? I know the prices here are scary because people are lazy it cost's me about $45 CDN to bring back a cord of wood from the woods, the fire wood guy's must be spending $25.00 a hour for everybody involved in getting the wood ya right!
Leave it in the round, birch does rot fast, I think it last's longer in the round and as you say 8" is small so leave it sit in the sun off the ground for 6/9 months and it will be fine.


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## yodayoda (Mar 27, 2009)

woodbooga said:


> Left in log length (unless scored) it definitely will rot for the reason given in the previous post.
> 
> I split everything 5" and under regardless of species, but the 18" lengths I don't split keep just fine from one season to the next when kept off the ground. The cut ends give the moisture an escape route.



Thanks for the fast response, do you have any experience with birch in particular season to season unsplit?


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## woodbooga (Mar 27, 2009)

yodayoda said:


> Thanks for the fast response, do you have any experience with birch in particular season to season unsplit?



I'd defer to Austin1 since birch is much more integral to his heating strategy than to mine. Birch (white) is just one of several species in the mix for me.

I find that it seasons very quickly as compared to other hardwoods we use.

Even some of the 10" rounds I had were starting to show some checking at the ends after only 2 weeks since felling. Upon splitting them, they were predictably still very moist inside. I've heard that 6 months is a reasonable amont of time for birch to season.

But again, it's only a small part of my supply and I split 90% of what I burn.


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## yodayoda (Mar 27, 2009)

Austin1 said:


> I think it depends on the humidity were you live. Leave it dry and out of the rain and it should be fine. Birch is considered number one firewood here but I find it no better than pine.
> And if you where to pay for it hear you would be looking a $600.00 a cord!!! Pine goes for $500.00 if you had to buy it.
> If it is 8'' I would not split it until I had to use it for me 6 months of drying time and it would be ready to go I am assuming you mean paper bark birch or white birch? I know the prices here are scary because people are lazy it cost's me about $45 CDN to bring back a cord of wood from the woods, the fire wood guy's must be spending $25.00 a hour for everybody involved in getting the wood ya right!
> Leave it in the round, birch does rot fast, I think it last's longer in the round and as you say 8" is small so leave it sit in the sun off the ground for 6/9 months and it will be fine.



Wow $600 a cord! I think I would burn my furniture before I paid $600 a cord for firewood. Thanks for the fast reply


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## Austin1 (Mar 27, 2009)

yodayoda said:


> Wow $600 a cord! I think I would burn my furniture before I paid $600 a cord for firewood. Thanks for the fast reply


Well I just checked the biggest firewood dealer I know of in Southern Alberta 586.00 for a cord of dry pine! plus delivery plus stacking! I will cut my own for a $5.00 permit it will cost me $ 30.00 in gas to bring it back. Say $3.00 bucks in premium for the saw's and lunch a good lunch too $ 45.00 at the most if you do it your self. 
But if I am going to be out that way anyway say hunting or fishing I count that as a hour or hour and a half of my time and no gas expense because I was out that way hunting or fishing.
And time spent in the Woods/ Mountains is priceless.


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## husky455rancher (Mar 27, 2009)

586 bucks for a cord of pine??? thats insane for any hardwood let alone pine. you can buy cords of pine down here all day long for 75 bucks.


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## woodbooga (Mar 27, 2009)

husky455rancher said:


> 586 bucks for a cord of pine??? thats insane for any hardwood let alone pine. you can buy cords of pine down here all day long for 75 bucks.



That's Canadian money. But still at .81 on the USD, Austin's still looking at a high price tag - over $425/cord in USD by my quick math.


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## savageactor7 (Mar 27, 2009)

Are we talking about 'white birch'...around here it's pretty pathetic. It's probably one of the few woods I wont waste my time with. 

Looks pretty sitting there in a static display though.


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## mtfallsmikey (Mar 27, 2009)

Yah, I'd go back to burning #2 fuel oil full time before I paid those kinda prices!


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## yodayoda (Mar 27, 2009)

savageactor7 said:


> Are we talking about 'white birch'...around here it's pretty pathetic. It's probably one of the few woods I wont waste my time with.
> 
> Looks pretty sitting there in a static display though.



I think it's white birch, same as paper birch isn't it? Whats so bad about white birch? I burned some this winter and thought it was ok. Smells really good when burning . The BtU rating per cord isn't too bad. I'm a newb to wood burning though, this is my first year.So I am open to any input, preferred wood, reasons why, and such.


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## Austin1 (Mar 27, 2009)

yodayoda said:


> I think it's white birch, same as paper birch isn't it? Whats so bad about white birch? I burned some this winter and thought it was ok. Smells really good when burning . The BtU rating per cord isn't too bad. I'm a newb to wood burning though, this is my first year.So I am open to any input, preferred wood, reasons why, and such.


White birch is a tiny bit better than Pine if it is not too dry. But it's harder to get here and not worth the effort but wood is wood I burn Poplar as it is easy to get no fuel in getting it means you can burn it with no cost to you.
If Birch sit's too long it becomes very dry and almost has a dry rot thing and thus burns very fast. That's at least the best way I can explain it lol.
Wood is wood 10 lbs of Oak is the same as 10 lbs of Pine except the oak is only a 4''x4'' x 18'' long piece of wood were the pine has to be twice the size but don't forget pine will still hold some hot burning resin in it.


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## flewism (Mar 27, 2009)

I ended up with a cord of birch , paper, white, whatever. Seasons fast, and burns very fast. I will not go out of my way for birch. It will go in the kids bonfire pile if some gets drop off.


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## Zodiac45 (Mar 27, 2009)

yodayoda said:


> I think it's white birch, same as paper birch isn't it? Whats so bad about white birch? I burned some this winter and thought it was ok. Smells really good when burning . The BtU rating per cord isn't too bad. I'm a newb to wood burning though, this is my first year.So I am open to any input, preferred wood, reasons why, and such.



It's good firewood Yoda. Not the best but certainly not the worst either. I put it in the middle of the spectrum. Yellow birch (looks a bit like white but with goldenish bark and much denser) on the other hand is great firewood right up in the top echelon. The problem with white birch comes from the waterproof bark it has. If not split, it has a hard time drying/seasoning and tens too punk up and rot because the moisture cannot escape. You'll see it starting too grow fungus out the ends. My rule of thumb is too split white birch as soon as I cut it or close too it. I known thats not what you wanted too hear but you need to get it split or it won't season.


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## Tree Pig (Mar 27, 2009)

Zodiac45 said:


> It's good firewood Yoda. Not the best but certainly not the worst either. I put it in the middle of the spectrum. Yellow birch (looks a bit like white but with goldenish bark and much denser) on the other hand is great firewood right up in the top echelon. The problem with white birch comes from the waterproof bark it has. If not split, it has a hard time drying/seasoning and tens too punk up and rot because the moisture cannot escape. You'll see it starting too grow fungus out the ends. My rule of thumb is too split white birch as soon as I cut it or close too it. I known thats not what you wanted too hear but you need to get it split or it won't season.



agreed

oh yeah Zodiac get rid of that avatar man its creeping me out worse then that burger king dude on TV


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## AKDoug (Mar 28, 2009)

In log length I can let birch sit for three years without rot if it's off the ground. It's all we have for hardwoods up here so it's the firewood of choice. It burns just fine in my opinion. Ours is Paper birch, much the same as found in N. Alberta. I split all my birch above 8"...mostly just to be able to handle it better. It works great in my OWB and it's BTU's work out that one cord will equal 100 gallons of heating fuel.


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## xcr440 (Mar 28, 2009)

We mainly burn birch in northern wi. I usually bring home 3-4 cords down home from the wood lot. It burns down to a nice powder. The burn time is nowhere near oak or hickory but it does put out some good heat and burn time. We stack our birch on a poured concrete slap in the wood shed. None of it rots, main thing is to get it dry with proper air flow.


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## aktaylors (Mar 28, 2009)

Here in Alaska birch is our only hardwood choice. I burn about 5 cords of it a year. The main problem is the bark. There is a reason they build canoes out of it. So you have a couple of options at two foot lengths.
1) split it. Anything over say 8 inchs and keep it off the ground and covered.
2) Score it. JUst run a saw line down your logs through the bark layer. This will allow the water an avenue to escape.
Log length birch will not dry very well at all. Remember wood dries through the ends mostly. And with the bark on birch, it really needs a way to releasethe water.
I've seen down birch be totally rotten in year laying on the ground


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## LumberjkChamp (Mar 28, 2009)

This is a tough one. I say that because you have 12 cords all stacked already, and who wants to undo and redo all of that.
This past fall I recently bucked and split some paper birch logs that I had decked up- in a fairly moist area I might add- since April. The logs had been cut in the winter of '07-'08. Some of them were even on the ground. I was not at all disapointed with the quality of the wood and I'm pretty picky. I will burn them this coming heating season. 
The main issue is to keep the top of the pile covered but leave the sides of the pile open. You could, as a precautionary measure, do as others have suggusted and "score" or "kerf" the wood. This would obviously involve taking the pile down and at that point you may as well just split it .
However, because you are burning in an OWB I would think you shouldn't have a problem leaving it the way it is. I would. I have only had a problem with unsplit birch really rotting at about 1 1/2 or more years old. 
Anyway, I hope I could help.


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## JAM (Mar 29, 2009)

*Birch*

I burn inside so I split it and mix with Maple and Ash. Alot of the people around here with OWB's block and stack with out splitting in the spring and use it the next winter. Perfer a bit more drying time myself. Birch has a rep for creating lots of creosote espically when not dry.


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## woodbooga (Mar 29, 2009)

Stihl-O-Matic said:


> agreed
> 
> oh yeah Zodiac get rid of that avatar man its creeping me out worse then that burger king dude on TV



LOL. Sounds like someone should start a poll.


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## AKKAMAAN (Mar 29, 2009)

Brich bark (näver in swedish) is the best moisture barrier you can imagine. It have been used as roof "shingels" for 1000nd years in scandinavia. It lasts for ever even in wet conditions. I would compare it with cedar shingles.

About fire wood birch, it is crucial to split ALL pieces even if bark is off. Otherwise the wood immediatley starts the rottening process. Half wood density can get lost in 1-2 years if stored outdoors. An alternativ is the make 2-4 rips with the chainsaw along the full lenght of the birch log.

Felling the birch trees just when the mouse ears are developing, and let them lay there for a couple of months, speeds up the drying process.

Birch bark is also the best natural fire starter you can get.

It is also very popular to handcraft birch bark. Here is some samples...http://www.lmgprodukter.se/

Long time ago, natives also extracted "tar" from birch bark.

My family used to own 220 acres of forest land in Sweden. When I was a kid, I captured a lot of birch bark ("näver" in swedish),and my parents let me sell it to a local artist that made relief pictures from it. 20 years later those trees were still living a good life, and had established some new bark aswell. The bark was easy to peel of in the spring, just before the birch trees were setting mouse ears. I used a knife, reached as high up as possible, and made a vertical cut through the bark all the way down. Then I could peel of 1-2 ft sheets of bark. A big birch 12" diameter gave about 15-20 sq ft of bark.
The inside of the bark contains some natural moist, so the best is to let it dry over the summer. A sheet a birch bark is less 1/16" thich.







When I was hiking in the mountains, I always kept 1 sq ft of dry birch bark in my back pack, just for emergency. If I didnt use it for firestarter, I used it to sit on if ground was wet.

Buissness opportunity for you guys that have access to birch bark harvest!!
Harvest bark before cutting down birch for firewood. 1 sq ft of bark can easy be stripped into 1"x12" stripes which each one is good enough to start a fire with out any paper. You could sell bark for a cpl bucks a sq ft, instead of burning it in the burner. 
Get your spouses started making bark handcraft, will kee them outa trouble aswell.




Please be welcome to come back with questions!!
:greenchainsaw:


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## woodbooga (Mar 29, 2009)

AKKAMAAN said:


> Brich bark (näver in swedish) is the best moisture barrier you can imagine.



I've found that even wet birch bark lights good. A handy bit of info if you find yourself in the woods needing some warmth in the rain.

In addition, the Abenaki Indians of Northern New England used birch bark as a primitive kind of vinyl siding for their hemisphere-shaped wigwams and longhouses - for just the reasons you give.


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## AKKAMAAN (Mar 29, 2009)

woodbooga said:


> I've found that even wet birch bark lights good. A handy bit of info if you find yourself in the woods needing some warmth in the rain.
> 
> In addition, the Abenaki Indians of Northern New England used birch bark as a primitive kind of vinyl siding for their hemisphere-shaped wigwams and longhouses - for just the reasons you give.



You bet....that was interesting about the indians....well all natives on northern hemisphere-taiga, have probobly figured it out over 1000's of yeras.... I just read about natives in Sibiria utilize the birch bark...


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## wkarsch (Apr 21, 2009)

I have been cutting all the fire wood for my parents for a few years because they are in their 70's. Last year I cut up 5 white birch trees that the snow had knocked over. This year my dad doesnt want to burn it in his kitchen stove because he said the bark makes too much creasote. He isn't worried about the wood, just the bark. I think he is nuts. Can any body give me a difinative answer.


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## AKKAMAAN (Apr 21, 2009)

wkarsch said:


> I have been cutting all the fire wood for my parents for a few years because they are in their 70's. Last year I cut up 5 white birch trees that the snow had knocked over. This year my dad doesnt want to burn it in his kitchen stove because he said the bark makes too much creasote. He isn't worried about the wood, just the bark. I think he is nuts. Can any body give me a difinative answer.



Birch bark DO burn with a lot of soot (creosote??)

peel a piece and let it burn and you will see.....

dad could have a point about that creosote....:jawdrop:

ps. I'm talking about white birch now.....


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## Brushwacker (Apr 21, 2009)

I say split it SAP judging from my experiance, mostly with river birch. Its not oak but if it is seasoned without having the decay in the middle (that starts soon if its not split), it throws a lot of heat. Its way better then cottonwood if seasoned properly and I give it an mark or 2 above soft maples.
I have some smaller birch I plan on skinning up with a log wizard instead of splitting. I'll see how it goes.


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## Wood Doctor (Apr 21, 2009)

savageactor7 said:


> Are we talking about 'white birch'...around here it's pretty pathetic. It's probably one of the few woods I wont waste my time with.
> 
> Looks pretty sitting there in a static display though.


+1! Finally. Somebody asked about which birch is involved in OP's post. Black and yellow birch are both hard as nails and great firewood. Brown birch, white birch, and river birch are all trash by comparison.


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## mercer_me (Apr 21, 2009)

If it's staked it will be fine for a year or two.


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## Steve NW WI (Apr 21, 2009)

I burn maybe a cord of birch every year. I'd say to split it, although if you are burning it this winter, the small stuff from 6" down will be OK without splitting. 

Birch that shows signs of dying off is pretty much the only tree I cut standing in my woods, as soon as they fall and make contact with the ground, they start to rot, so it's best to get them before they tip over.

I actually used to sell some birch to a guy that mixed it with his oak and sold it to people with fireplaces in the cities, they liked the look of birch stacked by the hearth and the free firestarter material.


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## Dan Frattinger (Oct 1, 2015)

husky455rancher said:


> 586 bucks for a cord of pine??? thats insane for any hardwood let alone pine. you can buy cords of pine down here all day long for 75 bucks.


You are confusing a cord for a facecord. A facecord is probably $75 by you, around 225 pieces or 4x8x12. A cord is probably closer to 1000 pieces and is 3-4 times more wood than a facord. There is no way you're getting a true cord for $75, you're getting a facecord


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## Dan Frattinger (Oct 1, 2015)

People on here are talking about price and confusing facecord and a cord. They are different. A true cord is going to be several hundred dollars minimum anywhere in the U.S. A facecord, which is roughly 225 pieces, is buyable in the $75 range in some areas. A cord is around 1000 pieces


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## Wood Doctor (Oct 1, 2015)

Counting pieces is a poor measure of firewood volume because of differences in split sizes. Stack the splits and measure the size of the stack. Even that is at most an estimation because of differences in log lengths. You have to work with averages in most cases.

So, I sell by the truckload, racked up as shown in avatar. Usually this is about 2/3 of a full cord.


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## Deleted member 135597 (Oct 1, 2015)

husky455rancher said:


> 586 bucks for a cord of pine??? thats insane for any hardwood let alone pine. you can buy cords of pine down here all day long for 75 bucks.


love your avatar


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## Jeff Lary (Oct 1, 2015)

Why would you assume Husky455 does not know the difference between a face cord and a full cord of wood? I will tell you this I have about 2000 cords +/_ 500 of pine pulp standing on my wood lot right now and I will sell it to you for $50.00 a cord if you want it, it is not worth squat.
I have the district forester for central Maine coming the 8th and that is what I am hoping to get for it at the pulp mill. I am going to have my Fir ,Poplar and Pine Pulp cut if the price is right. With you just starting out on this form you need to think twice before you tell people they are confused, ...Just my opinion after all I may be confused .


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## olympyk_999 (Oct 1, 2015)

Dan Frattinger said:


> A true cord is going to be several hundred dollars minimum anywhere in the U.S. A



obviously you are on top of wood prices everywhere


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## olympyk_999 (Oct 1, 2015)

Jeff Lary said:


> Why would you assume Husky455 does not know the difference between a face cord and a full cord of wood? I will tell you this I have about 2000 cords +/_ 500 of pine pulp standing on my wood lot right now and I will sell it to you for $50.00 a cord if you want it, it is not worth squat.
> I have the district forester for central Maine coming the 8th and that is what I am hoping to get for it at the pulp mill. I am going to have my Fir ,Poplar and Pine Pulp cut if the price is right. With you just starting out on this form you need to think twice before you tell people they are confused, ...Just my opinion after all I may be confused .


$50 for softwood pulp is a good price these days...my family's logging company, we sell saw logs, bring all the firewood home to run through the processor and sold,...we pay under $25 a cord on the stump, sell for $210 (current price)green, everything else is chipped...bought by biomass power plant at around $28 per ton 

pine firewood isnt worth **** around here, most give it away free (try to anyway) , and the few that do sell split pine firewood, its around $75 a cord...atleast thats what theyre asking for it...


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## Jeff Lary (Oct 2, 2015)

Yea I am no expert on wood prices but I went this very route back in 1998 and the pine pulp market price at the mill was like 45.00 per ton or cord? But when the logger got ready to cut about a month later the price had dropped to $18.00 per. That's what happens I guess the mill say's ok starting tomorrow pine pulp will be $45 per then all the loggers that have been sitting on their pulp haul it to the mill.
2 weeks later 75 loggers have flooded the mill with pine the mill say's "hey dude we need no more pine right now". We will need some in a month or so though,.. so to slow the flow we will drop prices back to$ 18.00 that way we will still get some but not be flooded like we are now.


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## Wood Doctor (Oct 2, 2015)

Speaking of prices, the local sawmill that processes huge cottonwood trees (and a few other species) for logs has dropped their price so low that the loggers can't even break even supplying them logs in bulk. Current price has dropped below $.19 a bd ft and a typical 4-bunk flatbed load brings in only $500. Loggers claim that at that price, they can come out ahead by processing and selling firewood instead. However, that means tooling up with delivery trucks, splitters, etc.

Just or the record, a bunk adds up to between 5 and 6 pickup truckloads.


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## olympyk_999 (Oct 2, 2015)

Wood Doctor said:


> Just or the record, a bunk adds up to between 5 and 6 pickup truckloads


I want to know the average number of pieces of firewood, so I know I'm not being screwed..."Bob's firewood... hi I would like to order 7000 pieces of firewood...click...hello...are you there?...hello"


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## Jeff Lary (Oct 2, 2015)

ha ha ha yea right ,"would you like 7000 pieces 1"x 16" long or 12" x 16" long cause 7000 is after all 7000 right???


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## olympyk_999 (Oct 2, 2015)

Jeff Lary said:


> ha ha ha yea right ,"would you like 7000 pieces 1"x 16" long or 12" x 16" long cause 7000 is after all 7000 right???


 umm....yes?


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## svk (Oct 2, 2015)

To say firewood will always be several hundred a cord is wrong.

You can get mixed species firewood for $65 a cord or you can get kiln dried white oak for $600 a cord in MN. Still drives me crazy that some of these CL and newspaper classified guys advertise by the cord when it is actually a face cord.

Going back to the topic of this thread, where white birch grows it is considered a mid grade hardwood. But if you truck it further south in the state to where it doesn't grow, you can actually sell it for 20-30% more than oak because people like the way it looks.


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## Jeff Lary (Oct 2, 2015)

olympyk_999 said:


> umm....yes?


Yea I know that was a kinda confusing post. I was trying to make a joke and got carried away I guess. I was just thinking if you said a cord of wood had x amount of pieces you might get 7000 pieces an inch in diameter and 16 inches long or you might get 7000 pieces a foot in diameter and 16 inches long. That's a long trip for a half fast joke I guess.


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## Dirtboy (Oct 2, 2015)

Gray birch is great shoulder wood. I have a bunch of them growing in back, and take one or two early in the year, split and stack right away. Ready burn at the end of September when I am not yet ready to burn the good stuff.


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## olympyk_999 (Oct 2, 2015)

Jeff Lary said:


> Yea I know that was a kinda confusing post. I was trying to make a joke and got carried away I guess. I was just thinking if you said a cord of wood had x amount of pieces you might get 7000 pieces an inch in diameter and 16 inches long or you might get 7000 pieces a foot in diameter and 16 inches long. That's a long trip for a half fast joke I guess.


Huh? I don't get it...i just want 7000 pieces of firewood, what's so hard to understand about that???? lol


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## bigblue12v (Oct 2, 2015)

Geez can't hardly give away soft wood here as firewood. Us boiler people burn anything but don't buy any. Here if you have a boiler you generally already have a supply. Indoor stove and fireplace people only want hardwood and only pay 150/cord usually. Pretty lame. They'll burn maple but that's about the only soft thing they'll pay for. 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk


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## cantoo (Oct 3, 2015)

1st pic is 1800 pcs of ash at 16" long. 2nd pic is 600 pcs of poplar at 32" long. Boy a pile with 7000 pcs in it would be pretty big.


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## Wood Doctor (Oct 3, 2015)

Another vote for 16" to 17" logs came in today. Customer installed a fireplace insert, and that's about all the length it will take. I cut all mine 16" to 19". The shorter ones go to guys like him and the longer ones go to the regular fireplace customers. I simply keep a stick gauge handy as I load the truck. Works every time.

He requested elm rather than birch and that also works. I have much more elm than birch. The elm bark is gone and it's splitting beautifully. Dries in a couple of days in the sun and wind.


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## olympyk_999 (Oct 3, 2015)

cantoo said:


> 1st pic is 1800 pcs of ash at 16" long. 2nd pic is 600 pcs of poplar at 32" long. Boy a pile with 7000 pcs in it would be pretty big.
> View attachment 451392
> View attachment 451393


nice to see someone else here counts their pieces...but how did you come out with such even numbers? are you sure it wasnt 1803 pieces, or 596 pieces?......... exact counting is important...how else would you know if youre getting what you payed for??


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## olympyk_999 (Oct 3, 2015)

Wood Doctor said:


> Another vote for 16" to 17" logs came in today.



you have people vote on what length you should cut your firewood?? what if they lose and the winning vote's length is too long for them to use? do they have to cut every piece down to usable length????


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## ChoppyChoppy (Oct 3, 2015)

bigblue12v said:


> Geez can't hardly give away soft wood here as firewood. Us boiler people burn anything but don't buy any. Here if you have a boiler you generally already have a supply. Indoor stove and fireplace people only want hardwood and only pay 150/cord usually. Pretty lame. They'll burn maple but that's about the only soft thing they'll pay for.
> 
> Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk



Birch isn't softwood. Neither is maple.


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## bigblue12v (Oct 3, 2015)

ValleyFirewood said:


> Birch isn't softwood. Neither is maple.


The birch we have here's definitely soft it burns like paper you could split it with a long knife probably lol. We have silver maple, Japanese maple, green maple and hard maple. It is regarded as in between wood most people will accept it fine but they don't really consider it hardwood. The hard maple is considered hard wood. 

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## ChoppyChoppy (Oct 3, 2015)

bigblue12v said:


> The birch we have here's definitely soft it burns like paper you could split it with a long knife probably lol. We have silver maple, Japanese maple, green maple and hard maple. It is regarded as in between wood most people will accept it fine but they don't really consider it hardwood. The hard maple is considered hard wood.
> 
> Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk



It may be "soft", but it's not softwood. Generally speaking if it sheds it's leaves in fall it's hardwood.


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## bigblue12v (Oct 3, 2015)

ValleyFirewood said:


> It may be "soft", but it's not softwood. Generally speaking if it sheds it's leaves in fall it's hardwood.


You can be correct, I'm not going to argue. But you still won't sell birch around here because it burns almost as fast as you can load it. 

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## Sam.coots (Oct 3, 2015)

So with the "new firewood formula". 
1000 pieces =cord
300=face cord

So at 30 pieces this trailer load is only 1/10 of a face cord. I better get to work since I need 2 cord a month. 


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## Jeff Lary (Oct 3, 2015)

wow too much math for me


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## cantoo (Oct 3, 2015)

My logs are 12' long and I counted the piles of logs before I started cutting. Used a magic marker and marked the ends. There is a short piece on the end of every 12' log that was cut into 32" long rounds, I didn't count them in the total but of course there would be one for every 12' log. I also sell a few 12' logs so I mark they for diameter to figure out how much I'm selling.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Oct 3, 2015)

bigblue12v said:


> You can be correct, I'm not going to argue. But you still won't sell birch around here because it burns almost as fast as you can load it.
> 
> Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk



Where is "around here"? You mention you have japanese maple and green maple (which I think is green japanese maple?). Neither of them are native to the US.


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## bigblue12v (Oct 3, 2015)

Southern Indiana. I'm not very educated on trees so I'm rattling off what I've always heard everyone else say. But I can identify silver maple and what they call Japanese maple which has dark red leaves and drips black spots of sap in summer. We had one of those next to the driveway's parking area at house I grew up in, not a good place to park. That tree got cut down eventually when my parents actually got nicer vehicles. Never bothered dad when he drove a beater to work lol

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## ChoppyChoppy (Oct 3, 2015)

I'm not sure what would make birch in Indianna like paper. I've never been in that area of the US.

I grew up in Maine and I had always been told that birch was junk for firewood. Seems like that the info is spread elsewhere, as it's the topic of this thread. I'm not sure why. 
The BTU values make it a pretty darn good firewood. The heat values are roughly the same as maple and oak.


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## bigblue12v (Oct 3, 2015)

When I get birch it goes in my boiler pile because as I said you can't sell it here. I haven't burned much of it and always put it in with poplar or something so it's hard to say exactly how well it burns by itself. Paper was an exaggeration but if you ask any of my customers they'd tell you it's garbage. This coming from people that occasionally burn poplar if that's all they can get. Myself I won't sell the wood they don't want even if they can't tell the difference. If I don't know it's for sure good wood someone would buy, it goes in my boiler pile. I don't split and sell a lot of extra wood but my few customers are often people I know and have complained that others have sold them crap wood and expressed they don't want that. I'm not out to take advantage of anyone or earn a bad reputation. I'd rather have 5 good customers that keep coming back than 10 new ones every year never to return. I will probably sell 10 cords this season. Just my extra wood and to help offset my equipment costs. 

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## GVS (Oct 4, 2015)

bigblue12v said:


> You can be correct, I'm not going to argue. But you still won't sell birch around here because it burns almost as fast as you can load it.
> 
> Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk


Where are you located?What kind of birch are you burning that burns that fast?I'm in NNY and there are a couple kinds of birch here.White and yellow.White is fairly good and yellow is darn good.Not the best but if all I had was yellow I'd be a happy camper!


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## Wood Doctor (Oct 4, 2015)

Yellow birch is also fabulous hardwood for making furniture. I almost hate to burn it because I know that. It's bending strength and hardness rivals white oak and hickory. It's grain is tight, closed, and gorgeous, about the same as cherry, but yellow birch is stronger and harder than cherry.


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## bigblue12v (Oct 4, 2015)

Around here we just call it river birch. I'll try to find a pic or take one. It splinters fairly easily lengthwise in other words as you are felling it, it can split on you. Pretty light wood. White bark that peels. Type river birch into Google images it'll pull up all you want. 

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## GVS (Oct 4, 2015)

AKKAMAAN said:


> Birch bark DO burn with a lot of soot (creosote??)
> 
> peel a piece and let it burn and you will see.....
> 
> ...


It does burn sooty but a hot fire gets rid of it in no time.


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## AKKAMAAN (Oct 6, 2015)

GVS said:


> It does burn sooty but a hot fire gets rid of it in no time.


That's a great point. High combustion temperature is the key to low soot emissions.


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## Patvetzal (Oct 6, 2015)

From what I see, river birch has looser bark than white birch. We have both, but mostly white birch. Dad always said we could cut it today and burn it in the fireplace tomorrow. 
I prefer to split it and let it dry a bit, then its almost as good as maple, oak,etc


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## AKKAMAAN (Oct 6, 2015)

Patvetzal said:


> From what I see, river birch has looser bark than white birch. We have both, but mostly white birch. Dad always said we could cut it today and burn it in the fireplace tomorrow.
> I prefer to split it and let it dry a bit, then its almost as good as maple, oak,etc


Yepp, birch really have to be seasoned to be efficient firewood, and then it is pretty good too


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## Jon E (Oct 7, 2015)

Lot of confusing information in this thread. White birch, which I have also heard called paper birch, _*Betula papyrifera*, _is a pretty solid fast-growing hardwood species here in the Northeast USA. It tends to be a pioneer species and dies when it becomes heavily shaded. In my experience, when the trees die, they fall within a year and rot to pulp within another year. The bark is waterproof and holds in moisture. I have pulled white birch out of a stack of dry and solid mixed hardwoods that were sitting for about six years, and the birch logs, unsplit, could literally be broken in half or crushed with one's hands. No structural integrity left. However, if properly split and dried, white birch will remain viable for several years and makes an excellent firewood, BTU content roughly that of red maple or black walnut, and slightly better than cherry. I like using white birch as firewood and harvest the trees as soon as I see a fair number of dead branches - it is a good sign they are not long for life. Anything larger than 4" gets split at least in half, the smaller stuff tends to season acceptably while unsplit. 

Yellow birch and black birch behave much differently and are better species for firewood. They both have a distinct smell of wintergreen when freshly cut, black more than yellow, and are harder and heavier than white. Yellow birch has a distinct appearance, somewhat of a gold-colored shaggy bark that peels slightly. Black birch, especially when young, can be mistaken for cherry, but is obvious when cut. 

I would be perfectly satisfied if I had nothing else to burn for firewood but the various species of birch.


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## svk (Oct 7, 2015)

Jon E said:


> Lot of confusing information in this thread. White birch, which I have also heard called paper birch, _*Betula papyrifera*, _is a pretty solid fast-growing hardwood species here in the Northeast USA. It tends to be a pioneer species and dies when it becomes heavily shaded. In my experience, when the trees die, they fall within a year and rot to pulp within another year. The bark is waterproof and holds in moisture. I have pulled white birch out of a stack of dry and solid mixed hardwoods that were sitting for about six years, and the birch logs, unsplit, could literally be broken in half or crushed with one's hands. No structural integrity left. However, if properly split and dried, white birch will remain viable for several years and makes an excellent firewood, BTU content roughly that of red maple or black walnut, and slightly better than cherry. I like using white birch as firewood and harvest the trees as soon as I see a fair number of dead branches - it is a good sign they are not long for life. Anything larger than 4" gets split at least in half, the smaller stuff tends to season acceptably while unsplit.
> 
> Yellow birch and black birch behave much differently and are better species for firewood. They both have a distinct smell of wintergreen when freshly cut, black more than yellow, and are harder and heavier than white. Yellow birch has a distinct appearance, somewhat of a gold-colored shaggy bark that peels slightly. Black birch, especially when young, can be mistaken for cherry, but is obvious when cut.
> 
> I would be perfectly satisfied if I had nothing else to burn for firewood but the various species of birch.


Well put. 

Yellow birches grow much larger and usually are only scrounged when they have been uprooted in a strong wind storm. White birch succumb to leaf miner, bronze borer, and over shading as well as a relatively short life of 40-50 years. 

If you find a white birch with the top half dead the wood is usually punky once you get above the highest live branch. Only exception is borer killed trees and you still need to get them css by the end of the second year after they die.

Yellow birch output is equal to red oak and only a tad more work to split. White splits great when solid, the semi punky pieces are actually harder to split as the punk can act as a shock absorber to your axe.


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