Judging seasoned standing/fallen wood?

[Chris-PA]

Here's classic Lehigh Valley area firewood:




First I had to push in a trail with the loader after scouting a path with not too much rock to crawl over. Then I could cut it.

I didn't have time to split it and see how dry it is but the stuff from higher up looked good. I'll check it out tomorrow if the cold I'm getting isn't too bad.

It was a 40cc day, and all ran great. That freshly ported Ryobi is becoming my favorite - it pulls an 18" bar through ash like crazy.

 

[Emt1581]

"Ash wet or ash dry a king shall warm his slippers bye". I grew up hearing a version of that.

Here is the poem:

The Firewood Poem
Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold

Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter's cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.
The firewood poem was written by Celia Congreve, is believed to be first published in THE TIMES newspaper on March 2nd 1930. © by owner. provided at no charge for educational purposes

Thanks for sharing that!! But wait....Elder smoke is toxic to humans?? Never heard of that one before.

-Emt1581

 

[Emt1581]

Here's classic Lehigh Valley area firewood:
View attachment 554470
View attachment 554467
View attachment 554469

First I had to push in a trail with the loader after scouting a path with not too much rock to crawl over. Then I could cut it.
View attachment 554471
I didn't have time to split it and see how dry it is but the stuff from higher up looked good. I'll check it out tomorrow if the cold I'm getting isn't too bad.

It was a 40cc day, and all ran great. That freshly ported Ryobi is becoming my favorite - it pulls an 18" bar through ash like crazy.
View attachment 554472

Where do you scrounge from in the valley?

Now that I'm paying attention there is a TON of wood to choose from. As soon as my saw gets here I'm going to nail a bunch of it. Hell, right at the corner near me is a small tree that got struck by lightning and the property owners have left it there for over a year. I figure I can nab 1-2 cords without even searching.

But it'd be nice to find a place where I can reliably find 2-3 cords a year. I tried calling the forestry service for Northampton County because I was told for a $20 permit you could take a cord's worth from local parks/forests. She said it's very rare that they permit anyone to because fallen trees "are good for the forest". I'm not arguing but they're good for my stove as well.

-Emt1581

 

[PSUplowboy]

Has anyone mentioned beating two splits together and listening? Sounds funny but you can get a quick idea of how wet/dry the wood is. Drumstick sounds vs dull thuds. Helpful in a pinch.

 

[rarefish383]

Dry sounds like 2 baseball bats smacking together, Joe.

 

[Chris-PA]

Has anyone mentioned beating two splits together and listening? Sounds funny but you can get a quick idea of how wet/dry the wood is. Drumstick sounds vs dull thuds. Helpful in a pinch.

Dry sounds like 2 baseball bats smacking together, Joe.

That's what I meant by bowling pins. You really can tell a lot by the sound.

 

[Chris-PA]

Where do you scrounge from in the valley?

Now that I'm paying attention there is a TON of wood to choose from. As soon as my saw gets here I'm going to nail a bunch of it. Hell, right at the corner near me is a small tree that got struck by lightning and the property owners have left it there for over a year. I figure I can nab 1-2 cords without even searching.

But it'd be nice to find a place where I can reliably find 2-3 cords a year. I tried calling the forestry service for Northampton County because I was told for a $20 permit you could take a cord's worth from local parks/forests. She said it's very rare that they permit anyone to because fallen trees "are good for the forest". I'm not arguing but they're good for my stove as well.

-Emt1581

Well, that's on my land. I probably would not heat with wood if I had to scrounge, as the increased cost in terms of time and transportation would be more than I would be willing to deal with. Hopefully you can find someone who will let you take wood near to you. Most of the woods will have a lot of dead and downed wood.

 

[olyman]

Where do you scrounge from in the valley?

Now that I'm paying attention there is a TON of wood to choose from. As soon as my saw gets here I'm going to nail a bunch of it. Hell, right at the corner near me is a small tree that got struck by lightning and the property owners have left it there for over a year. I figure I can nab 1-2 cords without even searching.

But it'd be nice to find a place where I can reliably find 2-3 cords a year. I tried calling the forestry service for Northampton County because I was told for a $20 permit you could take a cord's worth from local parks/forests. She said it's very rare that they permit anyone to because fallen trees "are good for the forest". I'm not arguing but they're good for my stove as well.

-Emt1581

good for the forest..........liars..what eats them?? bugs!!! if the forest had a ground fire every year,,youd have new grasses and other food growing..dont believe noting those zeros with farrr too much edumaacaation say....

 

[Chris-PA]

good for the forest..........liars..what eats them?? bugs!!! if the forest had a ground fire every year,,youd have new grasses and other food growing..dont believe noting those zeros with farrr too much edumaacaation say....

Fires are what the woods here need desperately.

 

[olyman]

Fires are what the woods here need desperately.

yeah,,and there wouldn't be the out of control forest fires out west..or elsewhere............"natures" way, of keeping things in check......

 

[olyman]

and to add,,we'd not see wildlife populations decimated.........overeduuumacated dolts....like nearly ALL gov employees...............

 

[Fireaxman]

Fireaxman,
Out of curiosity have you ever had termites get into your wood stacks? I don't go past a two year plan for fear of termites. My dad once had wood stacked for three years. Come winter time it had been hollowed out from within.

Yessir. Especially the pine. But I learned to separate my heart wood from my sapwood when I stack my wood. The sapwood, with the bark on it, is particularly bad to culture wood boring insects and fungus. I have to burn my sapwood the year after I cut it or it starts turning punkey and insect infested. The heartwood, however, as long as it is stacked separate from the sapwood, will last several years if covered by tin or tarp or stored under a shed. So, I very deliberately split the sapwood off of the heartwood, and then burn the sapwood first every year. That way if I have any wood remaining at the end of winter it is heartwood, and I have some Red Oak heartwood that is now 3 years old with No Wood Boring Bugs (just a few roaches).

I also stack my pine separately from my hardwood. Just about no way to keep the bugs out of the pine, plus I like to at least Start my fires with the hard wood, so that the chimney is nice and warm before I put pine on the fire. Just a precaution, and I can afford it because we have plenty of hard wood available down here.

 

[Marine5068]

I am in a similar situation. I harvest all of my own firewood and I am currently into my second year burning. All the wood comes from my property and here is some of the stuff I have learned so far.

1. Get ahead. The best thing for firewood is to be split and stacked for a while. Log form or rounds will dry a bit, but if you want good heat output and minimal chimney buildup, you need to get ahead.

2. Anything will burn, but how well depends on time. I started harvesting when i was building my house. I went after standing dead trees to help minimize my time. Most of it was ash, with some dead and down red oak thrown in. My first year I burnt about a cord, and it made heat.... but not great. This year i am into two year old stuff, hickory, ash, oak, etc. The difference is amazing. Heat output, longevity, starts from dead and the amount of air i need to give the stove has all changed.

3. Just because its dead, doesnt mean its dry. A tree in log form will retain moisture, no two ways about it. A lot of the red oak i was cutting was fallen over, debarked and missing its sapwood. Stuff looked ready to go. after splitting, I found moisture contents as high as 40% on fresh splits. that same wood stacked and split for two years is now burning like a charm, no sizzling and putting out great heat.

4: efficiency. dry wood burns better and hotter, that is just science. The less energy you have to put into boiling off water, the more heat the wood will put out. I am guessing if you get ahead, that 4-6 cords a year will drop while still keeping you warm.

Overall, welcome to the fun and get working! optimize your space, and get ahead. If that isnt going to be possible due to space constraints, then get the wood split and stacked ASAP. dont wait for the fall, you should be collecting next years wood now so it will have plenty of time to get as close to optimal as you can.


Good Luck

Very well said

 

[cedarhollow]

Another newby here. in winter figuring out what is dead I have stuck to first going after downed stuff but needing heat right away im going after the dead standing ash where I can see bark peeling, once I get fire going I dry the moist stuff on top and around base of stove. Once I get done moving hopefully I can get firewood stocked up. Last summer I was tricked by vines on dead standing made them look as if they were growing.

 

[Chris-PA]

In spite of the head cold I did get back up there and split some of that ash up yesterday. Brought a loader bucket down, and this is a split from about half way up, after sitting next to the stove for about 6hrs. Threw a load of it in on some hot coals, it lit right off and is burning great, with no hissing at all.