Every year the neighbor across the street has wood dumped around the beginning of Sept., splits it by the end of Sept. I watch the smoke billowing out of the chimney on them cold Jan. mornings and wonder how the house hasn't burnt down yet.
It pains me to watch...
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Golden Child
Saws Built by EHP
The only season on frog legs is salt and pepper. The only season on wood is Winter.
AIM
Addicted to ArboristSite
The green wood police strikes again...
Hey gang guess what. I have plenty of time to get ahead and still don't do it. Why?? Because I just don't. I love to do summer things in the summer. (lake, pond, drink some beer, etc) in the winter I like to hunt, hunt, hunt, and drink some beer. (I just don't dedicate myself to cutting wood)
I love to cut wood but honestly don't make a job out of it. I don't like burning anything green and with all the dead ash and elm around I GENERALLY don't have to but I have done it and I am sure I will again. The one thing that kinda gets my goat though is when some people just whine like little girls about anybody that burns anything green. Oh the world is gonna end!!! Joe Shmoe burned less than perfectly seasoned wood, he must be stupid or lazy. "RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!"
Joe Shmoe might not be a LAZY ASS like many like to say. He might just not give a damn if his wood isn't PERFECT..
Just wanted to say. We're not all stupid. We're not all lazy. Some of us just aren't that damn picky about the wood we burn.
Hey gang guess what. I have plenty of time to get ahead and still don't do it. Why?? Because I just don't. I love to do summer things in the summer. (lake, pond, drink some beer, etc) in the winter I like to hunt, hunt, hunt, and drink some beer. (I just don't dedicate myself to cutting wood)
I love to cut wood but honestly don't make a job out of it. I don't like burning anything green and with all the dead ash and elm around I GENERALLY don't have to but I have done it and I am sure I will again. The one thing that kinda gets my goat though is when some people just whine like little girls about anybody that burns anything green. Oh the world is gonna end!!! Joe Shmoe burned less than perfectly seasoned wood, he must be stupid or lazy. "RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!"
Joe Shmoe might not be a LAZY ASS like many like to say. He might just not give a damn if his wood isn't PERFECT..
Just wanted to say. We're not all stupid. We're not all lazy. Some of us just aren't that damn picky about the wood we burn.
Ironworker
Addicted to ArboristSite
And apparently a few people take this topic too seriously. 
benp
Addicted to ArboristSite
And apparently a few people take this topic too seriously.
I agree to a certain extent.
For those of us that consume 5-6 years worth of wood for some people in one winter, it gets pretty old hearing the yapping of be 1 year ahead and only burn seasoned wood.
Don't you think I would LOVE to have 25-30 cords c/s/s waiting to go in March/April for the upcoming winter. For me, well seasoned means the ends are cracked, good enough.
You do what you can, you know what works, what doesn't, and what you can get away with.
Those that have an indoor stove that burns bubkas for wood. Yeah well, you should be ahead.
ETA -
In hindsight I realize my "Do what you can........." statement only applies to those individuals who are in tune with the characteristics of "If I do this to my stove, it will behave this way." They are not the ones you have to worry about. They understand the constant game you play of "As soon as you think you have your stove figured out, it kicks you in the nuts,"
It's the f*cktards that don't understand squat except wood and fire. They are not hard to pick out, they don't blend in. I can guarantee they have never caught themselves on fire and they dont have stove clothes. A little neighborly education goes a long way for those of you that have them in close proximity.
And by education, I mean suggestions. That goes much further than being harped on.
In my situation, if Bertha starts belching smoke, the neighbors show up with guns out the vehicle window thinking the chair is against the wall.
Just my after thought .02.
Yeah I should have revised my first post. Not necessary to be a year ahead but should be caught up meaning having enough seasoned to make it through a "normal" winter.
As many have commented, ship happens so sometimes you do what you have to do to get through. Just like life in many circumstances.
As many have commented, ship happens so sometimes you do what you have to do to get through. Just like life in many circumstances.
blacklocst
ArboristSite Guru
Your post can be taken both ways.
zogger
Tree Freak
I thought about, just as a test and hoot, starting with nothing one winter and just scrounging dead and dry as I burn. Not this year though, this winter main stack is just sitting on old pine and I want it used up. Want that area done with railroad ties and pallets, so, just gonna burn that this year. Not into rebuilding stacks....
I would bet I could stay ahead every day, maybe just using the battery saw! Plenty of small standing dead and branches around the woods. Just go get a wheelbarrow at a time.
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
Might now have had juice pouring off, but the 2 year logs I've been running are still fairly wet. Wood isn't going to really season in log form, especially birch and other "sealed bark" woods.
Insulation and closing off rooms. That helps.
Huh?? Now I'm totally confused.
How does insulation and closing off rooms "help" (or, for that matter, have anything to do) with burning green wood??
*
Obviously, one wouldn't need to burn as much green wood. If you guys have another winter like last winter, I'll bet there will be quite a few McMansions up for sale.
We're a hardy breed out here in fly-over-country...
It's been cold here before, it'll be cold here again...
If weather of any sort drove the real estate market 'round here... every house would be standing empty and for sale.
There's much worse than cold weather here; twisters, straight-line winds, floods, softball sized hail, lightening, and a malady of other weather related events destroy homes/buildings/property (or even whole towns) quite regular here... they always get rebuilt... giving-up, quitting, or running away just ain't in our make-up.
Naw... another cold winter ain't gonna' increase the number of "McMansions" for sale... likely it will reduce the number.
That sort'a stuff just increases our stubbornness...
*
Be sure and reread this in February. Perhaps I should save it for that time?
opcorn:
Well heck girl... save anything ya' like.
Talkin' the talk... ain't anything near walkin' the walk.
Will I complain about the cold?? Sure I will.
Will I threaten to sell the place off and move south?? Sure I will.
Will I actually do it?? Not a friggin' chance in hell.
Talkin' the talk... ain't anything near walkin' the walk... take the time to learn the difference.
*
Talkin' the talk... ain't anything near walkin' the walk.
Will I complain about the cold?? Sure I will.
Will I threaten to sell the place off and move south?? Sure I will.
Will I actually do it?? Not a friggin' chance in hell.
Talkin' the talk... ain't anything near walkin' the walk... take the time to learn the difference.
*
Chris-PA
Where the Wild Things Are
Well, I'm behind - or at least I was. Last year's winter along with weather and other projects and work and obligations on my time prevent me from spending as much time as I would like splitting and stacking wood. That's life. I've actually got lots and lots of wood bucked up, mostly oak, but not enough got split. There's quite a few stacks scattered about the property, some of that from last winter's work, and I'll be bringing it down soon.
I've spent a lot of time the last few weeks dropping & splitting standing dead ash, and now I expect we'll be fine. It is tough to tell when I drop that stuff how dry it will be - the ash yellows kills them slowly, and one of the trees I dropped looked stone dead, but when I got it on the ground I saw it was pushing out a few tiny twigs with leaves here and there. It's not very wet by any means, but not as dry as some of the others. I'll have see how long it takes the splits to dry check on the ends.
If possible I hope to get a lot split over the winter and get ahead, but then again it's dark most of the time when I'm home, except for weekends. The wood I have to process is out in the woods, not near the house where I can work with lights.
I've spent a lot of time the last few weeks dropping & splitting standing dead ash, and now I expect we'll be fine. It is tough to tell when I drop that stuff how dry it will be - the ash yellows kills them slowly, and one of the trees I dropped looked stone dead, but when I got it on the ground I saw it was pushing out a few tiny twigs with leaves here and there. It's not very wet by any means, but not as dry as some of the others. I'll have see how long it takes the splits to dry check on the ends.
If possible I hope to get a lot split over the winter and get ahead, but then again it's dark most of the time when I'm home, except for weekends. The wood I have to process is out in the woods, not near the house where I can work with lights.
CRThomas
ArboristSite Guru
Ash wood in my kiln iFor some of us, getting a year ahead is a dream that is easier said than done, espically if one is severely limited space-wise. But I'm not as bad as described above.
I'll start around mid to end of October with about 3/4 cord mix of oak & ash that's been s&s for the last 2 summers.
Starter wood
After that, it's on to about 3 cord of ash & oak that's been down and bucked since hurricane IRENE, but split and stacked this past March. The back end is about 2 cord of the same ash & oak, but s&s from August to present. For end of season emergency, I've got a cord + of fresh downed red maple and white birch that I'm s&s now.
Most of the ash & oak is reading around 26% (give or take) when fresh split. It ain't perfect, but it's the best I can do.
Wish I had the room to stockpile...
1project2many
ArboristSite Guru
I've got a some out in the woods to collect, too. If I don't get it during the day light this month then I probably won't get it until next year. I run a 100' extension cord out to the processing area for power but I think I'm going to try permanently wiring power out there next summer. Of course, that's just another project in a growing list.
I'm actually hoping I'll get enough CS&S in the outside piles this fall that next year I can just transfer it to the woodshed for the following year. Of course that means the following year, two years from now, I'll have to work late into the night again when fall comes around to get one shed filled and another year's worth stacked outside.
066blaster
Addicted to ArboristSite
I think alot of guys with owb's use huge pieces that may never be fully dried. And They rarely get stacked off the ground. But I guess there is a difference between green wood and wet seasoned wood.
I dropped some big green hickory rounds for my brother in law last fall , in spring I noticed they were gone already. This spring i set aside at least a cords worth of big nasty rounds for him. They will be a nice Christmas present for him, I noodled them up so they should be dry.
I dropped some big green hickory rounds for my brother in law last fall , in spring I noticed they were gone already. This spring i set aside at least a cords worth of big nasty rounds for him. They will be a nice Christmas present for him, I noodled them up so they should be dry.
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