Firewood for next year

[wmthrower]

I'm a newbie here so I thought I would ask some advice. I'm about to fall some trees for firewood pretty soon. How do you guys leave your trees? Do you cut the tops off and block up the trunk so that the smaller pieces will dry faster? Or do you leave the tops on to draw the moisture from the trunk? I've heard, seen and used both methods.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Crofter]

I find it easier to split when its green and definitely easier to saw green. Around here if you cut a tree down and dont cut it up people will do it for you figuring you dont want it.

Frank

 

[glens]

I leave my firewood cut, split and stacked in the open so that it can properly begin to season.&nbsp; If you leave the tree lay <i>with green leaves on</i> until the leaves dry out you'll pull some of the moisture out of the sapwood, but that moisture isn't likely to be very present this time of year in the northern climes anyway.&nbsp; If, as is the case right now, it would prove to be undependable to stack it on the ground since the ground is frozen, I'd split it and leave it in a pile until the ground thaws on the surface.&nbsp; If you've got permanent fixtures to stack it on then now's good.

In my experience the wood stays wet until it's split.&nbsp; If enough time passes, it usually goes bad.&nbsp; Split it now, since it's usually easier to split wood when it's green, and especially so when it's frozen.

Glen

 

[WOLF_RIVER_MIKE]

Welcome to the list wmthrower. I personally cut dead trees off my place for firewood and whatever else use I have for the timber. I try and get my firewood out before the woods green up. I block it out and stack it in racks. It keeps kinda semi green like this until I start splitting in August. Wierd I have found green wood quite difficult to split. I split mostly hickory and, I think, post oak. The oak has internal knots that are not visible from the out side. Takes 3 or 4 whacks sometimes to split these. As far as the hickory goes, someone in a previous post described it quite well. The bark is thick and hangs on until the block dries. It will seperate in one piece. If you try and split a hickory block before the bark seperates, you will have to split the bark and the wood, almost in independently. If the hickory has any kind of swirl to the grain, you have to beat it all the way to the ground. My favorite firewood though. My observations. -Mike

 

[woodsjunkie]

I cut mine how ever I can get it, mostly tops
As far as splitting I do very little my out side stove will take a bigger chunk than I care to load in it, If I do have to spit I do it with a saw.

 

[WOLF_RIVER_MIKE]

Eric, that's cheating ain't it ? I think Gypo said he split "hard to splits" with his chainsaw too. Do you guys use 72LG or do you use a milling chain? I bust maybe 10 cord a year so I'm still looking at that 3 pt corkscrew splitter you hook onto your tractor.

 

[woodsjunkie]

Call it what you will , I call it back saving LOL
All I use is sharp 72 LG
I think I am around 200 cord this year already It has been a good year so far ,ground has stayed frozen

 

[buckwheat]

Screw type splitter

Mike,
Don't know if this would fit your Ford, but it might be worth a look..http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2306585133&category=3186

 

[Tony Snyder]

We mostly cut it while the ground is froze. get it small enough to load, then split it when we unload. It won't dry for crap letting the whole tree lay. We cut a season ahead.

We get a lot of tops left by loggers.

 

[Bill G]

If you buy a "screw" type splitter there are several items that are essential. Buy excellent health insurance. You will also need disability insurance and a large life insurance policy.

My experience with firewood is exactly the same as Tony. I cut primarily Locust and it will not dry in the log. If you cut split and rank it it will dry great. I am currently burning some Red Oak I cut last summer from a dead standing treee. It will not burn for crap.


Bill

 

[TonyM]

I've had an oportunity to burn wood of different levels of seasoning this year, and it's been quite a learning experience. I've burnt wood stored in my well ventilated old barn for 2 years plus, wood thats been cut 1-1/2 years ago and stored in an outdoor pile (tops cut in the summer from timber taken in May), as well as dead standing trees that were just cut. There is just no comparison to the wood that's been stored in the barn. It lights easier, burns cleaner and hotter, and holds fires better than any of the other wood. When you actually run through the calculations of the BTU's required to boil away moisture content, it is amazing how much heat value can be lost by burning green or even partially seasoned wood. Green wood can consume 1/2 it's heat value just in boiling away moisture! Therefore, I think the only way to season wood is to cut, split and store it in a dry well ventilated area (outside under a tarp would probably work). Stacked rows with space for ventilation will season the quickest, but even a pile will season with time.

 

[Jumper]

I used to get my wood from relatives. They always but it in Jan/Feb for the next year, mainly for drying time, and ease of access to the bush when the ground was frozen hard. I always split mine with a 8 lb maul on a real cold day, which was like cutting butter with q hot knife. Then once the snow was gone, it all was staked in rows, using old lumber and branches to keep the bottom pieces off the ground, and stacked in long rows to a height of about four feet. Once stacked I would get some old sheets of metal roofing and put them on top of the rows to keep the rain from soaking from the top, and weigh them down with more wood. This stuff always was dry by Sep, when it was time to throw it into the cellar, stacked and ready for burning. My
aunt used to burn five plus full (4x4x8) cords in the furnace, plus all the limb wood got burned in the kitcen stove. I thnk the key to it drying quickly is to ensure it is cut and split asap after falling, and then stack it so that there is air circulation between however many rows you end up with.

 

[Chainsaw_Maniac]

The key, in my opion, is having the wood piled and drying somewhere where the wind can get at it over the hot summer months. Also keeping it off the ground is important. I use either pallets or a concrete drying area. You don't nessicaritly need it to be seasoned. Wood cut in the spring can be as dry as it's going to get by fall if you go at it right. And abviously cut and split wood dries faster than wood that hasn't been split. A whole tree that is all in one piece lying on the ground dries very slowly.

If the wood is not fully dried when you burn it, not only do you waste heat boiling out the moisture in the wood, but even worse, the fumes coming from improperly dried wood will stick to your chimmney as carosite and make you have to pay for a chimney cleaning, and/or have a chimney fire.

 

[wmthrower]

I was thinking that cutting and splitting would be the best way. The only problem is trying to get the chunks out of the woods with 3 feet of snow on the ground. But that's another story all together. Thanks for the feedback.
Be safe and have fun.

wmthrower

 

[Fish]

Personally I just cut it up, split it whenever, and burn it when it
is cold, I never studied the underlying theories involved. I would
burn buffalo dung if it would heat the house and I had a good
supply of it.

 

[Bill G]

Fish.

If you burn green wood when it's cold outside you will be cold inside.

Bill

 

[che]

I cut some osage orange last year but I didn't want to load it up. Well...turns out I had to pick it up anyway...here's a before and after picture. (I know...I lead an exciting life)

I also cut some full sized trees down....they were laying horizontal into the fields, but as with all hedge...if there's ANY root attached...it keeps on ticking. I then cut it into firewood this year.

It burned fine.

 

[Whistler]

Around here we have the 'hot lunch program' for turkeys and geese but we don't eat them during the 'off' season as they would taste like Fishs' chimney smoke would smell.

 

[Newfie]

The only problem is trying to get the chunks out of the woods with 3 feet of snow on the ground

Just leave it for now. Concentrate on the felling and blocking and leave it til the snow goes. Even if you get it out of the woods and split today, it isn't gonna start drying until the temperatures are consistently above freezing. Then you can spend April splitting and stacking.

Top cover is good for a stack but not essential as the top row or two will keep surface moisture from migrating down through the stack. I have my wood stacked by end of April and covered with tarps by end of October to keep the snow and ice from turning the stack into a firewood popsicle. leave the sides opened and well ventilated while its warm.

Splitting is to facilitate drying, not to make sure it fits in the woodstove.

 

[Whistler]

Years ago I used to drive by one particular farmers' place and his woodpile ,for sale, would be different looking than most others I would see, the ends of the wood would be very dark , almost black. This was red and white oak and according to what my Mom would say , his wood was most in demand . When was it cut ? Jon