Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[farmer steve]

View attachment 622990 The colors were like this. Was neat looking wood whatever it is.

save a piece of that wood with the bark on if you can James. has me "stumped".

I've not seen anything like that before.

i might have but that was back in the 70's.

 

[James Miller]

I asked about this stuff last year because it was throwing bright red chips and was told box elder leave it where you found it not worth the time as firewood. Didn't have all the red you see in some Google images but also wasn't that big.

 

[95custmz]

Kind of looks like Box Elder. A dead giveaway is if the wood smells "punky".

 

[Jakers]

I ran into a good one the other day. Friend of mine brought her car over for a quick headlight change. It's been brutally cold out lately and I keep my 40x60 shop at 45-50 degrees all the time. Ran the car in, BS'ed for a few minutes with the hood open to let the plastic things warm up a bit. Walked over to the passengers side light and started looking.... Apparently on an '08-'12 Chevy Malibu the whole front bumper has to come off to replace the headlights or marker lights. Started reading online and it said expect the first time to take 45 minutes to an hour.... I was short on time so I told her to come back the next day and we'd get it done then. Who comes up with this crap!?!? I mean seriously, take the whole plastic front bumper off just to replace a .35 cent turn signal bulb or headlight? Come on guys.......

 

[Cowboy254]

Good thing my day ended well, cause it did not start well!!!

The wife's BMW needed a battery, at first I think no problem, till the parts store tells me I can not install it. A trip to the local BMW (and I get a discount, I know someone) and the battery is $250, labor over $200, so almost $500 with sales tax... for a F'in Battery!!!

This is why you should have bought her one of these.



Back in the day, you could fix most things in these cars with a coat hanger and the wife's pantyhose. Not so much these days, but you can get a new battery and stick it in yourself for 100 Oz pesos which is about 12 of your American dollars.

 

[LondonNeil]

Are you sure cowboy? I'm guessing, if it's like most modern cars in Europe, your car may have start/stop tech. If that's the case..... It's dealer for a battery.

 

[nomad_archer]

View attachment 623037 I asked about this stuff last year because it was throwing bright red chips and was told box elder leave it where you found it not worth the time as firewood. Didn't have all the red you see in some Google images but also wasn't that big.

BTU's are BTU's the only stuff I leave is poplar because it burns really fast and weighs 1/2 ton when wet. Not worth the work for me.

 

[nighthunter]

I bought and sold a audi q7 that was automatic. I thought it was slow going through gears so i decided to change the gearbox filter and oil (no problem right). A censor failed damaging two others in the process, the censors where ranging in prices from €450-600 . To get the dealer to fix it was €1500. That was all caused by me servicing the gearbox. Leason learned

 

[H-Ranch]

View attachment 622990 The colors were like this. Was neat looking wood whatever it is.

To me that looks like black walnut that sat in rounds outside for awhile. It may turn a more uniform brown color over time if so.

 

[nomad_archer]

@James Miller I agree with everyone else that's a box elder. I have one in my back yard and when I cut a big limb off of it I was shocked at the red in the wood.

 

[Jeffkrib]

You think modern cars are bad. My latest push bike a titanium road bike and has electronic gear shifting. I’ve had it for a year and a half and it has been flawless, I love it. But I’ve heard a mate tell me he updated the firmware just before a 100 mile road race. Anyway The night before the start and nothing’s working. Turns out he has to update the firmware for each of the shifters and derailures. In the end he worked he had a iffy contact in a plug and it corrupted the update.

I now have second thoughts on this wonderful technology.

 

[rarefish383]

I had a VW Golf Diesel. Part of the package I got with the car was the first 6 oil changes free. My friends son had a diesel VW too with the same oil change package. When he had to start paying for the changes he decided to do them himself. No big deal to change the oil right? He noticed that the oil plug was hard to get out. Then he couldn't get it started back in the pan, so he put some force on it. Then it leaked. Turns out VW puts new plugs in with every change. He wound up screwing up the pan and it cost him $1200 for the dealer to put on a new pan. After he told me this, I checked my bill and sure enough, there was a charge of about $2 for a new plug, Joe.

As it turned out that VW was probably the best car I ever owned. I payed $23,000 for it new, drove it for four years and put 85K miles on it. In the Diesel fiasco and by back, they gave $21,000 to get it back.

 

[JustJeff]

I burn a fair bit of box elder. First batch I came across, I sold for campfire wood because people told me it was no good. That winter I had some left, mostly odd shapes that had been on top of my stacks so in the stove it went and I was pleasantly surprised. It burns good for me and right down to nothing. I don’t think I’d want to try to heat solely with it but I mix it in with ash and elm and maple. Free is free and if it’s close and easy pickings, I don’t turn my nose up at it.

 

[James Miller]

@James Miller I agree with everyone else that's a box elder. I have one in my back yard and when I cut a big limb off of it I was shocked at the red in the wood.

So your rifle stock is standing in your back yard?

 

[j_d]

View attachment 622990 The colors were like this. Was neat looking wood whatever it is.

Poplar but the colors will fade significantly as it dries.

 

[svk]

View attachment 623037 I asked about this stuff last year because it was throwing bright red chips and was told box elder leave it where you found it not worth the time as firewood. Didn't have all the red you see in some Google images but also wasn't that big.

BE has a BTU rating of 17.9 which isn't too shabby compared to softwoods and matches black ash and above silver maple. The bark stinks when burned even when dry but if it's in a closed stove it doesn't really matter.

If your woodlot is full of oak and ask then yeah toss it but otherwise I certainly wouldn't.

 

[nomad_archer]

So your rifle stock is standing in your back yard?

Not big enough yet. Your second picture was box elder. The first one you had with the crazy red/blue/purple. I have no idea what that is but it looks cool.

 

[54bogger]

Ya the snow didn't make it this far west in North Carolina. The east side of the state is getting it all.

Your lucky, I can live without SNOW!

 

[Toy4xchris]

Your lucky, I can live without SNOW!

The 1st day or so fun since I have small kids but then the fun wears off and I am done with it.

 

[MustangMike]

View attachment 623037 I asked about this stuff last year because it was throwing bright red chips and was told box elder leave it where you found it not worth the time as firewood. Didn't have all the red you see in some Google images but also wasn't that big.

How hard is that wood Jim??? I could be wrong, but kinda looks like Norway Maple to me, which is a pretty hard Maple, and tough to split.