# How long do you season Ash?



## mdotis (May 12, 2010)

We just has some loggers take out a number of Ash trees. I have never burned it but now I have a lot of it to burn. My questions is: If I cut it and split it small will it be ready to burn by winter? I think I have enough oak and box alder cut for most of next winter but just in case what are my chances of being able to burn this yet this year? 

Thanks for your help with this. I plan on stacking this outside in the sun, I may be able to cover it but it will most likely just be stacked and uncovered.


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## smokinj (May 12, 2010)

ash can be burned green if you have to but split and stack now should be really good firewood by winter.


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## CWME (May 12, 2010)

smokinj said:


> ash can be burned green if you have to but split and stack now should be really good firewood by winter.



:agree2: My Dad says the same thing. He keeps telling me how he used to cut Ash down and drag them to the stove in the good ole days.


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## Cerran (May 12, 2010)

I'd say takes until when it's dry which varies depending on where you are. In the PNW ash seasons in a summer most of the time. In a wetter climate with more humidity I bet it takes considerably longer.


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## mdotis (May 12, 2010)

*Thanks*

That is what I thought but I just wanted to check with someone who has done it. Sounds like I will be set for the next few winters. Now maybe I will try to sell some next summer, or maybe not.


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## thombat4 (May 12, 2010)

*Nice score...........!*

I love burning and especially splitting ash.


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## woodkutter99 (May 12, 2010)

Around here pretty much all the ash has been infected. I have burned ash weeks after cutting and splitting with good results.


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## skmag357 (May 12, 2010)

I split up some ash last week and it has already started to dry out big time...I will be ready for this winter


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## CrappieKeith (May 12, 2010)

get it bucked and split and in the sun...she'll be all ready for when you need it.


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## StihlyinEly (May 12, 2010)

mdotis said:


> We just has some loggers take out a number of Ash trees. I have never burned it but now I have a lot of it to burn. My questions is: If I cut it and split it small will it be ready to burn by winter? I think I have enough oak and box alder cut for most of next winter but just in case what are my chances of being able to burn this yet this year?
> 
> Thanks for your help with this. I plan on stacking this outside in the sun, I may be able to cover it but it will most likely just be stacked and uncovered.



Korey, you don't even necessarily have to split it small. As per your plan, you could consider throwing a tarp over it when it rains, but your wood will easily be good to go by fall.


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## Blowncrewcab (May 12, 2010)

thombat4 said:


> I love burning and especially splitting ash.



Someone gave me a bunch of what they said was ash, I can't split a 4" round with my Fiskars Super Splitter, Or 8# Maul, I hit it hard and it goes in 1/2" and spits it right back out. It's Very heavy for it's size, What could it be? I Guess pics are in order......


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## StihlyinEly (May 12, 2010)

Blowncrewcab said:


> Someone gave me a bunch of what they said was ash, I can't split a 4" round with my Fiskars Super Splitter, Or 8# Maul, I hit it hard and it goes in 1/2" and spits it right back out. It's Very heavy for it's size, What could it be? I Guess pics are in order......



Yep, doesn't sound like ash, and I've split up a lot of white, green and black ash over the years. Time for pics, and another new "ID this firewood" thread!


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## Oldtimer (May 12, 2010)

White Ash (It's what we have here mostly) doesn't need to be dried at all.
It burns just fine, so long as the fire is already burning when you put it in.
In fact, green is arguably better with Ash, as it will tend to leave coals where dry ash will just burn away to powder leaving no coals. 
I have burned many many cords of fresh cut Ash. 
In fact, green soft maple burns just fine too. Not as well as the Ash, but near it. Just leave your damper open enough so the draft will keep it going.
Burned many cords of green wood in my time. When it's 10*F out, and all you happen to have is green wood, you burn green wood and _*like*_ it.


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## StihlyinEly (May 12, 2010)

Oldtimer said:


> When it's 10*F out, and all you happen to have is green wood, you burn green wood and _*like*_ it.



+1!

I know a couple guys with OWBs who lay in a bunch of green block aspen (8-16 inch diameter) each summer and burn it all winter, and it provides all the heat they need up here. Being green, it burns slowly. Granted, they have new and extremely energy efficient homes.

That being said, for my purposes I'll take seasoned hardwood over green softwood any day. But if it's a case of green wood or no wood, it's a no-brainer.


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## TreePointer (May 12, 2010)

Blowncrewcab said:


> Someone gave me a bunch of what they said was ash, I can't split a 4" round with my Fiskars Super Splitter, Or 8# Maul, I hit it hard and it goes in 1/2" and spits it right back out. It's Very heavy for it's size, What could it be? I Guess pics are in order......



I've seen people mistake elm for ash.

As far as ash goes, seasoning one summer after being split and stacked is good enough for heating. 

Burning green (just cut live) ash is possible, but I don't like to do it. Years ago I put some in the firepit to test the old ash rhyme and it did burn, but it hissed like crazy. Not for me.


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## ms310 (May 12, 2010)

I was thinking the same thing for the guy that cant split it., must be elm, In the winter when we are out of seasoned wood, we burn ash, typically in two weeks after cut dead of winter, the ash will be cracked at the ends, and lighter then when first cut, some people sell it fresh out of the woods, but, you need to consider if it is coming out of swamp land, (usually wetter) or has ash bore in it (usually dryer) Here in Michigan were I live, all the ash trees are dying, actually had two people who want me to go through there woods this winter (total 14 acres) and clear cut all the ash, This ash will come out of the woods, and go right up for sale, just because it is dead, and drying as I type.


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## skmag357 (May 12, 2010)

So I got home from work and started a fire since it is cold and damp here outside of philly. All I have is the ash that I split last weekend. The tree was taken down in Feb or Mar, dried on my patio for 2 months and right now, it is in my stove. No hissing, crackling or anything....just burning and giving off heat!


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## jerryw66 (May 12, 2010)

Guys mistaken ash for elm or elm for ash? Not gonna happen around here, ash cuts, splits, burns great, smells good all the time. Elm, none of the above, no matter what type, Siberian, American, dutch, or whatever. Ash is wood to dry a kings slippers by, as the poem goes.


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## DAN666981 (May 12, 2010)

to bad you weren't closer to me ms310 I like burning ash in the blaze king stove we have :chainsawguy:


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## wigglesworth (May 12, 2010)

TreePointer said:


> I've seen people mistake elm for ash.
> QUOTE]
> 
> They must not have split either of them....night and day difference.


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## tibikedad (May 14, 2010)

I have a Tarm Excel gasifier boiler, and it really likes dry wood. Oak, maple, and other such hard woods need to be stacked under cover for over a year to really dry out, but ash is usually dry enough after 6-8 months. I do see a difference if I let it sit for a full year, but the ash definitely dries much faster than other hard woods.

BTW, the first 2 years I had the Tarm boiler, I went through about 9 -10 cords of wood a year. Then, after I was able to get 2 years ahead, so that I was burning wood that was 1 1/2 years old, my usage dropped to about 7-8 cords a year. This shows that even though you can burn wood that isn't completely seasoned, you do lose some BTUs when burning incompletely seasoned wood. Why waste effort hauling, cutting, splitting, and stacking wood, and then use 20 to 30 percent more because it is not completely dry? It doesn't take any more effort to wait a year or 2 before burning. It just takes more space on your yard to store the wood.


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