Birch wood drying question

[Erik B]

I have heard it is best to score the bark on a paper birch trunk to aid in drying if it can't be split right away. I will be having a paper birch dropped and I plan to get it blocked up after scoring the bark with my chainsaw. Should the blocks be stacked with the scored area up or down? I hope to be able to get it all split next spring/summer and the wood will be stacked outside and off the ground.
Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[Johnny Yooper]

I wouldn't bother scoring. Cut the tree into chunks of desired length, and stack off the ground as you've mentioned; also cover the top with any kind of metal - roof panels, etc.; don't use tarps. It will probably be easier to split sooner rather than later, but doesn't matter if you have a hydro splitter. Getting the end grain exposed will expedite the drying process, and having it split won't hurt either. I scored on some paper birch trees last year, some of it 16 inch diameter, nice stuff, not the highest on the Btu scale, but it was handy and free; dried faster than a lot of other hardwoods once it was chunked up and split.

 

[svk]

It won't hurt but once split, birch dries quite quickly so if it's getting done up next summer it probably won't make much of a difference.

 

[Brushwacker]

The Birch we have will rot in the middle if u leave the bark all the way on in about 6 months time. Good wood when split and dried right. I believe the more you open the bark up the better if not splitting within a couple months, perhaps longer through the freezing winter months.

 

[mohick]

It ain't worth spending much time-energy on!!!!!!!

 

[NSMaple1]

If you can't get it split right away, I would definitely score/unzip. Maybe two sides if you can. I would stack with the score down so the score will stay drier and won't be exposed to falling moisture - plus the intact bark on top will shed water.

Scoring is pretty easy if you do it when the wood is in log form, just a walk down the log dragging your saw - more or less.

But I would get it split ASAP - birch is really bad for rotting quick when not split. Also not sure how effective the scoring really is on large stuff. It should help, just not sure how much. I only do it on smaller stuff that won't get split - works pretty good for that though.

 

[Erik B]

Thanks guys, I appreciate all of the suggestions. If it does go a bit punky before I get to next spring, it would OK for shoulder wood.

 

[peakbagger]

I process quite a bit of white birch. White birch gets a bad rep for two reasons. The first reason is that it rots standing up. Even if there is green in the crown just a bit of die off and the tree has already started rotting. Most people wait too long to cut it, if it looks unhealthy its probably too late. I also score the logs lengthwise, if the log is over about 8" I usually score both sides. If its up off the ground I have cut scored birch logs 2 years old in good condition. Leave the bark on and its toast in less than a year especially if the tree had already rotting before cutting. If at all possible split it in half and do the rest of the splitting when you have time. I usually stack bark up. I also keep a couple of cardboard boxes around as when I am splitting the scored logs I usually end up with lots of sheets of white birch which I save for fire starter. Once split the white birch last as long as any other wood.

 

[svk]

To add to what peak said: If you have a birch that's dead halfway up, everything above the highest live branch will be rotten and everything below will normally be solid unless there's core rot. Once they start to get dead branches up top, cut em down.

 

[treesmith]

Save the bark, it's a brilliant natural firelighter

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk

 

[alleyyooper]

back in the late 1950's to the mid 1960's when a fire place was all the rage in a home my dad made a whole bunch of money cutting birch and selling to to those who liked the look of that white bark log stacked beside their fire place. We also burnt in our stove after it had dried in the wood shed a co0uple 4 months.

Al

 

[Ted Jenkins]

Every now and then I come across a distressed pine log. Meaning that for one reason or another while it was dying or it faced a physical trauma such as lightning consequently the pitch settled into part of the tree and saturated it with pitch. I came across a tree that had been in the ground for at least 10 to 15 years. My helper asked me what kind of wood is that since it was so heavy and my answer Pine. He said of course it is no good. So I cut it up and saved the sawdust for Christmas gifts. A hand full of sawdust in the house will turn the house into a pine forest. The split pieces will only be needed to be lit with and ordinary match for a quick fire starter. Birch is something that is quite rare in S Cal, but the sooner it gets split the better and never let it stand up. Thanks

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

What's up with the "spruce" scent candles and sprays for fake Christmas trees. I smelled one yesterday at the store (yup, already have all the Christmas crap out!!). Whoever made that stuff has NEVER been in the woods. It smelled like a mix of cheap stripper perfume and rotten *******. It sent me into a coughing fit, damn near blacked out!

 

[Marine5068]

Block/Stack/Cover

 

[NSMaple1]

^ Think I would throw split in there.