How long will wood stay good?

[Illinibrew]

Here is a reply I got to a local email post looking to clean up fallen trees for folks.

"I have some big rounds that are left from a tree being taken down. the rounds have been lying in the woods for 3 years. please email back if you want them. There are a lot of them."

Should I take them up on this or is there a good chance the wood is rotted?

 

[Booshcat]

You really have to take it on a case by case basis.
Depending on the conditions where they are laying they could be nice and dry, or wet and rotten.
Depends mainly on the type of wood and ground conditions.

 

[savageactor7]

Depends on surface soil conditions maybe yes maybe no...take a screwdriver with you and poke around to see if the rounds are punky or not.

 

[woodbooga]

If it's birch, you're in the lurch. But if it's oak, go for broke!

Like said before, depends on species and conditions. If it's convenient, swing by and take a look.

 

[RAYINTOMBALL]

Around here three years is way to long. Depending on the diameter, say 24 inches you may have 4-6 inches on the outside that's still good. But IMO most of the times it's not worth messing with. Good Luck.

 

[Nailsbeats]

3 years is going to be borderline, for most wood and most conditions. Being that they are big rounds, you might have a chance, check it out first.

 

[Illinibrew]

Are there some rules of thumb you guys can give about what I'm looking for? When I'm poking around with a screwdriver am I just making sure that there aren't soft spots? Do you take your saw and cut into the tree when you're checking wood out? Thanks for the feedback so far.

 

[Nailsbeats]

Yes, that's your best bet. The log may have some center punk and be good on the outsides, at that point you make be able to pop it with a mall real easy and get the good outside pieces. Make sure you cut all the way down a log, it may be bad on one end and completely clear up afterwards, I have seen powdery punky logs clear right up.

Just look for the powdery fall apart center and obvious rot. You can feel it when you hit it right away with the saw. You will also see that powder or mush coming out the back of the saw.

 

[RAYINTOMBALL]

Yes, that's your best bet. The log may have some center punk and be good on the outsides, at that point you make be able to pop it with a mall real easy and get the good outside pieces. Make sure you cut all the way down a log, it may be bad on one end and completely clear up afterwards, I have seen powdery punky logs clear right up.

Just look for the powdery fall apart center and obvious rot. You can feel it when you hit it right away with the saw. You will also see that powder or mush coming out the back of the saw.

:agree2: :agree2: Yep what he said.

 

[retired redneck]

I bought some 24'' rounds that had ben in the woods for 1 1/2 yrs, was mallberry 90% OK, I split it in the woods took it home and stacked it, made the mistake of tarping it i checked under tarp about 3 or 4 days later looked like it had rained under the tarp. If you take this wood, through it in a pile and dont tarp it for about a mounth it soaks watter up from the ground in the woods.......

 

[Coldfront]

Birch don't even bother, and here is an old saying I remember about oak, red oak don't lay it down, and white oak you can stick it in the ground (fence post)

 

[Illinibrew]

Thanks a lot everyone. Since writing I purchased a Stihl 290 and took a lot of your advice. I passed on some old wood and finished cleaning up an ash tree at my in-laws. On top of that I met some lawn service guys who dropped about a 1/2 cord worth of rounds in my back lot. What a weekend so far!!! Thanks again for the responses.

 

[Wood Doctor]

If it's birch, you're in the lurch. But if it's oak, go for broke! Like said before, depends on species and conditions. If it's convenient, swing by and take a look.

Add soft maple to the list. It even dry rots in less than three years when stored off the ground and in a garage. Also, black birch will outlast brown birch two to one. Oak (especially white oak), locust, hickory, walnut, and mulberry keep going and going and going...

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

If it's birch, you're in the lurch. But if it's oak, go for broke!

I've got oak sitting in the shade which is going mushroomy on me. It's next on my splitting list so I don't lose it completely. The rounds are stacked on their sides, and are up on landscaping timbers off of the dirt.

They've been there two years.

Like said before, depends on species and conditions. If it's convenient, swing by and take a look.

Yep. In other words, there's no way to tell without looking at them yourself.

 

[Zodiac45]

If it's birch, you're in the lurch. But if it's oak, go for broke!

Like said before, depends on species and conditions. If it's convenient, swing by and take a look.

3 years is going to be borderline, for most wood and most conditions. Being that they are big rounds, you might have a chance, check it out first.

I'm with WB and Nails. 3 years is the outside envelope (maybe with oak and really large rounds the only exception. The problem is your wood starts too lose it's "goodness" either by getting too dry or more likely punky. When this happens it begins too lose density. I was cutting off a veneering operation that had been finished 3 yrs ago. Allot was rock maple, some yellow birch and pretty big. You could look at the cut ends and see how much punk there was usually forming next too the inner bark (phloem) and working in toward the center. If it was only a couple of inches worth, I took it as there was plenty of "meat" left when you got it on the splitter.

 

[abohac]

Are there some rules of thumb you guys can give about what I'm looking for? When I'm poking around with a screwdriver am I just making sure that there aren't soft spots? Do you take your saw and cut into the tree when you're checking wood out? Thanks for the feedback so far.

Split a few. You'll know if they are alright.

 

[treemandan]

Yes, that's your best bet. The log may have some center punk and be good on the outsides, at that point you make be able to pop it with a mall real easy and get the good outside pieces. Make sure you cut all the way down a log, it may be bad on one end and completely clear up afterwards, I have seen powdery punky logs clear right up.

Just look for the powdery fall apart center and obvious rot. You can feel it when you hit it right away with the saw. You will also see that powder or mush coming out the back of the saw.

I just split some oak I had cut live about 1 and half years ago and left in 2and a half by 6 foot logs. The center was just fine, a little punky on the outside.

 

[woodbooga]

Add soft maple to the list. It even dry rots in less than three years when stored off the ground and in a garage. Also, black birch will outlast brown birch two to one. Oak (especially white oak), locust, hickory, walnut, and mulberry keep going and going and going...

As a general rule, species that rot from the inside out (maple, birch) have a shorter shelf life, especially if the bark doesn't fall off and the green moisture is retained for a longer duration.

I cut up some loglength red maple yesterday, left over from a logging operation about 4-5 years ago. Half of what I cut I tossed into the woods, it was so far gone. And for me, that's pretty gone. The rest was semi-solid with significant punking - solid enough to take a maul blow, which is my threshold. Still good for situational burning in fall/spring.

I've got oak sitting in the shade which is going mushroomy on me. It's next on my splitting list so I don't lose it completely. The rounds are stacked on their sides, and are up on landscaping timbers off of the dirt.

They've been there two years.

I don't mind the sapwood being a little feathery. The drawback is that punky oak sapwood will retain rain and environmental moisture and will be a drag temporarily on the fire. However, if bone dry, it lights real quick. My FIL calls it a "lil' jacket of kindling with every stick."

Yep. In other words, there's no way to tell without looking at them yourself.

Another FIL quote: "Hard tellin' not knowin'."

 

[eric_271]

Osage orange is the most abundant wood around here. I have burned fence post that were 30+ years old. Part of the beauty of this wood is it last so long no matter what. My dad and I will cut about every 4 or 5 years enough to last both house holds that long. If you wait that long to cut it to length bring a powerful saw. That's about 20 wheat truck loads of logs we bring home.

 

[clayman]

In the woods behind my house (my woods) and down in a hollow. a large red oak fell several years ago. It was about 75 ft down a rather steep hill, but just below my wood shed. I didn't want to let all that good wood to go to waste and so I went down there and cut about half of it up: the big limbs, and the rest into rounds. I split the rounds in two (they were pretty heavy) and over a period of two or three days I carried what I had cut up to my wood shed. I left about forty feet of big tree trunk laying there, but I never forgot about it. I know that was about three years ago, maybe four. This year i walked back down there and looked at it again. All the outer part had rotted away and all that remained was the heart redwood, still 16" or better in diameter; that part was still as solid as a rock. Now I see why the old timers used this part of a red oak for roof shingles. So I took my saw and cut off a ten foot log and using a come-a-along, and a cable, I pulled it up near my wood shed, sawed it into 16" rounds and split it up. It's a beautiful deep red in color, and very dense, but it splits wonderfully well. I'm going back for the rest of it, but I will pull it up in shorter pieces, maybe 4' sections (it's still very heavy), make it pull a little easier.

East Tennessee red oak, even limbs, will rot down to the heart wood, but the heart wood will last a long time.