Aging time for Ash

[alan93]

My brother and I got into a discussion (more like an argument) of the best way to get my mother firewood.
Years past I have gotten her wood on our property (dead trees) that was cut in Sept. or Oct. and he is suggesting that that is the cause of her creosote build up in her chimney. She has a wood burning stove but the pipe in chimney is attached in the fireplace not to the stove or something like that. He suggests her only using wood cut in spring.
I burn 5-6" pieces on top of kindling followed by large 10" by 6" pieces for my high efficiency RSF fireplace and never have much creosote build up. I cut all my 5-6" pieces in spring and summer and split the bigger ones in the fall.

Is there a recommendation for avoiding creosote and getting the best hot coals with Ash in terms of aging?

 

[Marine5068]

Recommended seasoning times after splitting and stacking firewoods are usually one year for hardwoods such as Ash, Maple, Cherry and Hickory..... and two years or more for Oaks and Elms.
Moisture inside a freshly split round should read below 20% before burning ( most of us usually shoot for around 8-12% though).
After the one or two years seasoning and when moisture gets to 20% or less, move some of the wood inside near the stove to dry more before burning. That usually does the trick.
Good luck and burn dry seasoned wood for low creosote inside chimneys.

 

[alan93]

move some of the wood inside near the stove to dry more before burning. That usually

I thought your answer sounded reasonable until i read this.
Past experience tells me that if you move "inside near the stove" you are opening the quite likely possibility of roaches and or other home destroying pests to escape from the wood as they begin to warm up. That tends to make me wonder if you are even correct about the other statements. Unless you mean hours before burning. If that is the case, it doesn't need to dry for a year, you just warm it up in a dry heat winter home before you burn it.

In regards to 1 year of seasoning, what benefit specifically does that offer? Burning hotter? Burning faster? Burning slower? Reducing to ash faster?

I read one post on here that said if wood is overly dry , it results in the wood burning to ash faster providing short lived hot coals which can warm an area for a long period of time.

 

[Deleted member 135597]

Wet wood and low flu temps. Gotta run the stove hotter

 

[stihly dan]

Never heard of roaches in firewood. I would say there are 2 problems. You are burning wet wood, at least a good portion of it. 2nd with the flue not connected to the chimney you are mixing cool room air with the flue gas cooling it down and condensing in the chimney. Causing creosote to form faster.

 

[brenndatomu]

Howdy alan, welcome to AS.
Well, you asked specifically about Ash, and then mentioned they are dead, so I will address that first. If the tree was still standing, and has been dead for some time, it could very well be that you could burn the upper limb wood right away. Once you get into the trunk, the upper part may be OK to burn if it is cut/split/stacked (CSS) all summer long in a sunny/breezy spot. It's been my experience that the lower part of the trunk needs a full year CSS, unless it was standing dead for a long time, but then it usually starts to go punky if it is there too long before you cut it, so there's that issue. One thing to keep in mind is that drying time can vary alot depending on the weather in your locality.
But most types of wood need at least a year and very often two to three years to really dry right, especially slow dryers like Oak. Doubly so if the tree was cut down while live in the summertime (leafed out)
So you and your brother are both right, kinda...my personal opinion is that he is a lil more right though. It is VERY difficult, if not impossible to burn wet wood cleanly, it WILL crap the chimney up. Dry wood burns hotter and longer, so you will need less of it too.
Think about this, wood that is 20% moisture content (which is considered good) still has over a gallon of water in a 50 lb. load of wood. It takes alot of heat to boil that off, and then it condenses on the cold walls of that crappy chimney setup in the form of highly flammable black goop. Wetter wood is much worse.
@stihly dan gives good advice here ^ ^ ^, that chimney setup is terrible (and illegal now) and will result in your local firemen "staying in practice", first thing I'd look into is fixin mamas stovepipe/chimney up...now!
Oh, and a lil pointer, @Marine5068 gave you solid advice too, if you wanna be ignored here when you ask questions, keep dissin the natives, in only the second post, of your first day...moral, be nice

 

[woodchipper95]

I have heated with white ash that was killed by the emerald ash borer for 3 years this will be the third. Little oak and hickory mixed in... Some of the trees had no leaves at all, while some very little at the top. I live in Pennsylvania. My wood is cut, and stacked for a minimum of 10 months 80% sun with slight breeze. It burns well at 10 months but I've found that to be the shortest to 20% with my set up. When I test moisture content I use a moisture meter and split a large piece of already split wood and test the INSIDE of the split. I have had it where the outside reads 12% and the inside 30%. Time is your friend when it comes to firewood. Good Luck.

 

[zogger]

All the wood I burn is two to three years old split and stacked. I used to keep just one year ahead, but now I stack longer. It's drier, burns better, and is heat insurance for me. Thin dead branchwood can be dry enough as is to burn any time.

 

[cuinrearview]

Howdy alan, welcome to AS.
Well, you asked specifically about Ash, and then mentioned they are dead, so I will address that first. If the tree was still standing, and has been dead for some time, it could very well be that you could burn the upper limb wood right away. Once you get into the trunk, the upper part may be OK to burn if it is cut/split/stacked (CSS) all summer long in a sunny/breezy spot. It's been my experience that the lower part of the trunk needs a full year CSS, unless it was standing dead for a long time, but then it usually starts to go punky if it is there too long before you cut it, so there's that issue. One thing to keep in mind is that drying time can vary alot depending on the weather in your locality.
But most types of wood need at least a year and very often two to three years to really dry right, especially slow dryers like Oak. Doubly so if the tree was cut down while live in the summertime (leafed out)
So you and your brother are both right, kinda...my personal opinion is that he is a lil more right though. It is VERY difficult, if not impossible to burn wet wood cleanly, it WILL crap the chimney up. Dry wood burns hotter and longer, so you will need less of it too.
Think about this, wood that is 20% moisture content (which is considered good) still has over a gallon of water in a 50 lb. load of wood. It takes alot of heat to boil that off, and then it condenses on the cold walls of that crappy chimney setup in the form of highly flammable black goop. Wetter wood is much worse.
@stihly dan gives good advice here ^ ^ ^, that chimney setup is terrible (and illegal now) and will result in your local firemen "staying in practice", first thing I'd look into is fixin mamas stovepipe/chimney up...now!
Oh, and a lil pointer, @Marine5068 gave you solid advice too, if you wanna be ignored here when you ask questions, keep dissin the natives, in only the second post, of your first day...moral, be nice

My opinion on your question, to the letter.

 

[cantoo]

alan93, you are right.


There argument settled.


I'm also from Ontario so disregard my advice.

 

[haveawoody]

Marine5068,

So about 5 years here in Ontario.
That should be about right for the next summer here LOL
Do you even remember what summer was?

 

[sb47]

It all depends on location, climate air temp, air flow and how and where you stack the wood.
Not all environments season wood at the same rate.

 

[svk]

Normally ash is a dry wood. If you cut a dead ash it's probably close to being seasoned.

However,...I cut a black ash from a wet clay soil swamp last fall. Wood was heavy as heck. Split right away and stacked in full sun. When I resplit one the other day (a full year later), it was still wet inside. Guess that stuff is going to sit another year.

 

[Ferguson system]

Quick tip for reducing sot buildup in the chimney: Throw potatoe peel on the fire.

 

[alan93]

Thanks great advice from all.
As for roaches in firewood. I cut dead Ashes whose initial occupiers were Ash borers. After they move out. The wood roaches move in. Maybe wood roaches like Ash more than other species as well, not sure.

 

[mga]

I thought your answer sounded reasonable until i read this.
Past experience tells me that if you move "inside near the stove" you are opening the quite likely possibility of roaches and or other home destroying pests to escape from the wood as they begin to warm up. That tends to make me wonder if you are even correct about the other statements. Unless you mean hours before burning. If that is the case, it doesn't need to dry for a year, you just warm it up in a dry heat winter home before you burn it.

In regards to 1 year of seasoning, what benefit specifically does that offer? Burning hotter? Burning faster? Burning slower? Reducing to ash faster?

I read one post on here that said if wood is overly dry , it results in the wood burning to ash faster providing short lived hot coals which can warm an area for a long period of time.

bugs are a given if you burn with wood, but I've never seen a roach come crawling out. about the only bug I've gotten in the house was a sleeping hornet.

I've burned ash cut 6 months ago and I've burned ash cut 2 years ago.

what's the problem? you asked for advice, the guy gave you some and then you doubted him?

 

[cantoo]

I burn standing dead as much as I can. This has been dead a long time. It was still pretty wet.

 

[Wood Doctor]

It all depends on location, climate air temp, air flow and how and where you stack the wood.
Not all environments season wood at the same rate.

Very good analysis. Annual rainfall and average wind velocity have a lot to do with it. Nebraska is dry and often windy. So is Kansas and several other midland states. Drying conditions are excellent except for this past El Nino summer. Luckily, the past 30 days have been excellent for drying firewood. Split elm and ash that rested for six months in the round is drying very rapidly now and can be burned almost immediately. A random pile will dry it faster than a stack unless the stack is criss crossed throughout.

 

[alan93]

bugs are a given if you burn with wood, but I've never seen a roach come crawling out. about the only bug I've gotten in the house was a sleeping hornet.

I've burned ash cut 6 months ago and I've burned ash cut 2 years ago.

what's the problem? you asked for advice, the guy gave you some and then you doubted him?

Sorry , didn't know that accepting all advice blindly on here without dispute was a pre-requisite for using this site. Sheesh, lighten up people, you have splinters in your butt or what?

As for never seeing a roach. We have tons of wood roaches in this area. If you never seen them coming out of dead wood, I would venture you have never seen them at all.

 

[KenJax Tree]

You asked for advice, you got it....take it or leave it, your choice[emoji4]