Are you a wood snob?

[92utownxh]

Well, up until this last Sunday I used to get anything and everything that was free. That changed Sunday evening. Someone we know said they had a lot of maple to give away, easy access, take what we want. I'm thinking, nice easy haul. We get there and it's silver maple, which I burn a lot of, not the best but ok. But the kicker, The rounds are every bit of 36" inch diameter, and some were getting punky. From the looks of it they gave away all the easy stuff, and then wanted us to get the big stuff. It wasn't worth the time and effort to me. Besides, it was a Sunday evening with lots of houses around. I didn't want to start the saw to noodle anything.

Other than that one, I cut limbs down to 2" diameter. I burn anything I get generally. The tree service gets me great oak, ash, sugar maple, but with that I also get some silver maple and the occasional pine. It works out, and it's easy most of the time. All the tree service stuff is 6" diameter and up.

 

[spike60]

I'm fussy when stacking so wood that won't stack neat gets set aside. Will put what I can on top, and set whatever else aside on a pallet. And along with the shorts/chunks, like to work most of that through the stove early in the year before the snow cover. Pine or whatever I won't put in the stove is used in the firepit. Nothing gets wasted here on my property.

If I am cutting away from home I try and stick with the "nice stuff" that won't have to be messed with later. Guess most of us have a little bit of the snob in us somewhere.

 

[LondonNeil]

I scrounge all my wood and 95% comes from a tree service, he has already bucked up all the big diameter stuff so its liftable. He doesn't cut it to any fixed length and nor does he cut carefully around crotches. When I collect wood I used to be desperate/grateful for anything/not know any better and took the lot but as I've now got 2 to 3 years CSS, and I've learnt both which species burn best AND which bits of wood are too much hassle to pick up and deal with ...a half full car is better sometimes. I've learnt to be a bit more picky. I'm not snobby and sometimes want to run the bigger saw noodling some nasty bits so I'll grab the ugly crotch or 3 (if its a decent hard wood) but I'm more picky than i was....I'm smarter than i was....I'll leave the nasties for someone less knowing and more needy (or desperate). I do however pick it up if easy to split, whether its bucked to 4 inches or 14" ....both awkward when i need 12-13" for my stoves!

 

[spike60]

I've learnt to be a bit more picky. I'm not snobby and sometimes want to run the bigger saw noodling some nasty bits so I'll grab the ugly crotch or 3 (if its a decent hard wood) but I'm more picky than i was....I'm smarter than i was....

And smarter shouldn't necessarily defined as snobby either. It is fun to run the big saws to break down large and ugly rounds. Sometimes that's the only opportunity we have to run the big CC saws in wood that makes them work a little bit. And having a bigger saw opens doors to wood that others have to walk away from. But, there is often a fair amount of extra work in working big ugly stuff into firewood vs just buzzing up 10"-12" logs with a 50cc saw. Sometimes you're in the mood/have the energy, sometimes not.

These are some "in the mood" pics, courtesy of Hurricane Sandy. This was all just behind the store here. LOT of wood, and between me and our young tech Joel, we pretty much got all of it. The huge 30+" Ash tree with the little Jonsered 625 sitting on it was mostly cut up with a 2100CD with a 32" bar. Heavy even after quartering. Second pic is "the mess". Lotta wood and a lotta fun.

 

[sb47]

Knotty wood burns longer so I tend to burn that myself and sell the strait wood to the wood snobs.

 

[Deleted member 149229]

Wouldn’t say I’m a snob but if I get a call for oak or hickory that is down and also a maple or cherry, I’ll take the oak first. If the other tree needs gone immediately they will have to call someone else, usually doesn’t happen though. Having bigger saws does get you wood that many have to pass on. I’ll cut pine to help someone out but they have to dispose of it.
Pic is 42” diameter white oak.

 

[crowbuster]

not a snob. have owb, insert, fire pit. A place for every kind of wood. Rather pile than stack. So no prob. there.

 

[James Miller]

View attachment 756202 Wouldn’t say I’m a snob but if I get a call for oak or hickory that is down and also a maple or cherry, I’ll take the oak first. If the other tree needs gone immediately they will have to call someone else, usually doesn’t happen though. Having bigger saws does get you wood that many have to pass on. I’ll cut pine to help someone out but they have to dispose of it.
Pic is 42” diameter white oak.

40" oak with a 60cc saw is fun. Since I got the 7910 the big wood around here seems to have disappeared. I'm worried when I put the Jred 111s back together the big trees won't ever fall down agian.

 

[James Miller]

We burn everything we get. Theres a 4x4x10 cage all the uglies,shorts,chunks go in. That cage will get us through a good chunk of the heating season depending on how full it is and saves the straight splits for overnight or packing the stove if were going away for the day.

 

[Marine5068]

I will only burn one kind of would..........free. Actually, I won't take Poplar, anything else is fair game, including pine.

Would you burn Wood if ya could?.......lol

 

[Marine5068]

Madrone, oak and cedar, no pine thank you.

We don't have Madrone and don't usually burn cedar here in the cold north woods.
But we do use some soft woods for burning in shoulder season for a quick heat-up, as kindling or campfire wood.
Here the premium hardwood firewoods are Sugar Maple, Red and White Oak, Elm, Hickory, Ash and sometimes Cherry, Beech, Hop Hornbeam (Ironwood) and we even see some Black Locust.

 

[Marine5068]

I'm not a wood snob when it comes to shapes or knots or such, but maybe a bit of a 'species' snob I guess.

 

[Multifaceted]

I'm not a snob, but I am selective. A snob will tell you why the wood they burn is better. A selective person will tell you what is worth their time and effort to process. I have access to a lot of wood, so I can afford to be selective, but that also doesn't mean that it's better.

I don't really know why this needs to be explained. It's almost as if proudly declaring that you're not a wood snob and process everything, is basically inverse snobbery in and of itself.

The important thing we can all get behind is that we burn wood for heat and we love it.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I'm with Al, it all burns and releases BTUs (or Joules if you speak metric). I am a stacking snob, so the uglies get set aside, but those uglies will give some long burns on the coldest winter nights. With black oak being our only hardwood and hard to get (also the only thing that has crotches), nothing gets left behind. I even save the big bark plates from fir, it makes great barbecue fuel. Once it gets home, it has to be dealt with one way or another. Might as well get some benefit.

 

[spike60]

I'm not a snob, but I am selective. A snob will tell you why the wood they burn is better. A selective person will tell you what is worth their time and effort to process. I have access to a lot of wood, so I can afford to be selective, but that also doesn't mean that it's better.

I don't really know why this needs to be explained. It's almost as if proudly declaring that you're not a wood snob and process everything, is basically inverse snobbery in and of itself.

The important thing we can all get behind is that we burn wood for heat and we love it.

This is a really good post. There is a hint in some others that unless you burn anything and everything, some snobbery exists. Not true for a variety of reasons.

Having access to more wood than you can use, means you pretty much have to be selective because you can't take it all. Choosing what you want to take with you and what you want to leave behind is the normal way to handle that. Either due the size of the wood or the species. Not everyone has the saws or ability to transport, or muscles to mess with those impressive 42" white oak rounds that @Dahmer posted. What the heck must those things weigh? What did you cut them with BTW? On the species thing, not all wood burns the same in all stoves. Based on their own experiences, some people have to stay away from certain woods. Not cause they're snobs, because of results they can expect.

Having the outdoor firepit option to burn the less desirable stuff is great for most of us here who enjoy fires no matter when or where. Heck I had out door fires all Labor Day weekend! Sat and Mon at my house; Sunday up at Walt's. (weimedog). Cooked meals on all three of them too. Chicken quarters I did yesterday were great. But not everyone who burns wood for heat can do outdoor fires depending on where they live; close to neighbors or whatever.

 

[Deleted member 149229]

What the heck must those things weigh? What did you cut them with BTW?

According to the chart the rounds were a tad over 800 lbs apiece, 24” long. I used my ported 9010 to cut them. Pulled them on the trailer with a winch.

 

[Deleted member 149229]

Here’s how they were hooked up, old school but worked fantastic.

 

[alleyyooper]

I sort of forget not every one can go into their own woods to get what fire wood they want.

The creek does make it difficult to collect wood in the spring.

I cut in the winter and pretty much let lay then in the fall when th ecreek is nearly totaly dry bring it out.

The creek seems to go over the banks every spring also. I try to just cut on high ground in the winter.

Have to watch where you fall the trees too as you might just hit a deer.

Al

 

[spike60]

Great pics Al; thanks for the tour.

 

[svk]

You spoiled guys with your mature hardwood forests...LOL

Our second generation aspen forest has so much underbrush and balsam that you could put a blaze orange deer hunter a few yards back and nobody would see him. Makes carrying rounds pretty difficult!