Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[svk]

Seriously. Go to Hearth and read about seasoning. Also read about wood stove installation. I know a proper setup is paramount and the consequences of shoddy installations can be catastrophic but they will make you think the northern lights can be seen in every town/city because of all the homes burning to the ground. If most "seasoned firewood" people try to sell is above 20% mc, majority of people have no clue how to properly operate a wood stove, and a lot of installations are not exactly up to code I would think whole streets would be going up in flames every year.



Will do, thanks. I may have some ash mixed in with the maple. So far I've learned I really need a super dry storage area for splits I'm about to throw into the stove. Sooo, from reading about wood drying methods from an Alaskan experiment, I'm going to top cover my splits with plywood and stack them somewhere that receives the full force of winds/sun. I'll convert my current little shed to a wood shed for splits about to come into the house to burn (probably keep a cord in there that's fully seasoned) and keep about 3 days supply of splits in the house near the stove (I converted a portion of a attached book case structure to a firewood holder).

Thanks but I'll pass. Most of those guys are probably posers.

Think of the biggest know it alls on this site....Limited knowledge with unlimited ego.

 

[zogger]

Find some Ash, it is about the easiest Hardwood to dry, and will light about everything else. Up at the cabin, we depend on it when you get up there in the freezing cold and need to get a fire going. It is also very humid up there, and most wood just does not dry until you bring it in the cabin and leave it near the fire. We always leave a supply inside, for starting the next fire, along with some birch bark. It is also easy to split Ash thin when you need to.

We only use the Cherry & Hard Maple after the fire is really rolling, and often we only burn Ash.

Ash or pallet wood that isn't useful for anything else.

That tulip poplar, even punky, should dry fast in the wind and sun and making an effort to keep the rain off of it.

 

[Ambull01]

@MustangMike , totally off-topic. Have you seen/heard of this new car coming out?

http://jalopnik.com/2016-ford-focus...m_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=tuesdayAM

That thing is going to be a beast! Light weight and able to get power down to all four wheels. Kind of fugly though

 

[macattack_ga]

@MustangMike , totally off-topic. Have you seen/heard of this new car coming out?

http://jalopnik.com/2016-ford-focus...m_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=tuesdayAM

That thing is going to be a beast! Light weight and able to get power down to all four wheels. Kind of fugly though

Have an ST as a dd. FUN car. RS should be a wild ride.

 

[MountainHigh]

Re White Oak - how long to dry?

We have no WO out west here, but fastest drying methods in my neck of the woods are:

~ Sun baked - rotated for full sun and wind exposure all summer and then covered before Fall rains - with some effort and regular rotation to make sure each piece gets maximum sun, any of my wood, soft or hard, can be dry enough to burn nicely in 3 months. (ya it's not always practical to do this for larger amounts - and definitely don't tell the wood Natzis - lol)

~ Freeze Dried during low moisture winter cold snaps - a rare occurrence around here as we get lots of moisture, but it's always a treat to head out to the wood pile after an unusually cold, dry period, to see previously green wood, now cracked on the ends and the moisture sucked out almost overnight.

That said, if I simply stack and store wood in my covered shed, it likes 2 years to season nicely and even then, if the rows were placed tightly next to each other, some wood is still 18%+ moisture, which is higher than I like to burn.

-

 

[svk]

Ambull,

IIRC you have been cutting and splitting all fall and into winter. Provided that stuff is stacked in the sun you should have no issues burning any of it next season. There is even a noticeable difference between rounds cut in October that sit through the winter versus stuff cut in the spring.

I had large/long red oak splits stacked in 3/4 sun and on July 1 they measured 35%MC. On December 1 they measured 22% MC in the middle of a fresh split. Not perfect but certainly burnable if needed. I don't know how some guys have water sizzling from their splits after 2 years drying unless they receive absolutely no wind/sun at all. And we have a much milder summer with high humidity compared to most places in the US.

 

[Ambull01]

Have an ST as a dd. FUN car. RS should be a wild ride.

Yeah I wouldn't mind driving the RS everyday. I would make it into a low key rocket ship. Put some winter tires on that sucker and have some fun all year round.

Re White Oak - how long to dry?

We have no WO out west here, but fastest drying methods in my neck of the woods are:

~ Sun baked - rotated for full sun and wind exposure all summer and then covered before Fall rains - with some effort and regular rotation to make sure each piece gets maximum sun, any of my wood, soft or hard, can be dry enough to burn nicely in 3 months. (ya it's not always practical to do this for larger amounts - and definitely don't tell the wood Natzis - lol)

~ Freeze Dried during low moisture winter cold snaps - a rare occurrence around here as we get lots of moisture, but it's always a treat to head out to the wood pile after an unusually cold, dry period, to see previously green wood, now cracked on the ends and the moisture sucked out almost overnight.

That said, if I simply stack and store wood in my covered shed, it likes 2 years to season nicely and even then, if the rows were placed tightly next to each other, some wood is still 18%+ moisture, which is higher than I like to burn.

-

Yeah I read wood will dry the most during the summer. I'll settle for 18% if it means my wife will actually start a daggone fire so it's not 50 degrees in the house when I come home around 9 p.m. By then it's too late so I just eat dinner with a blanket draped over my shoulders and my coat.

Ambull,

IIRC you have been cutting and splitting all fall and into winter. Provided that stuff is stacked in the sun you should have no issues burning any of it next season. There is even a noticeable difference between rounds cut in October that sit through the winter versus stuff cut in the spring.

I had large/long red oak splits stacked in 3/4 sun and on July 1 they measured 35%MC. On December 1 they measured 22% MC in the middle of a fresh split. Not perfect but certainly burnable if needed. I don't know how some guys have water sizzling from their splits after 2 years drying unless they receive absolutely no wind/sun at all. And we have a much milder summer with high humidity compared to most places in the US.

I've wondered about this so finally looked it up. What do you mean by IIRC? According to Acronym Finder it has various meanings. The only two that make sense in this situation is "If I Recall/Remember Correctly" or "If I Really Cared." I'm hoping you mean the former lol.

Anyway, yep that's exactly what I read on that Alaskan firewood drying study. The guys with water sizzling after 2 years sound exactly like the wood Nazi mafia on Hearth.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Has anyone noticed that if you fall, block and split a green rock maple below minus 5F that it burns as good as though it was seasoned?

 

[svk]

The only two that make sense in this situation is "If I Recall/Remember Correctly" or "If I Really Cared." I'm hoping you mean the former lol.

Anyway, yep that's exactly what I read on that Alaskan firewood drying study. The guys with water sizzling after 2 years sound exactly like the wood Nazi mafia on Hearth.

Yes, the former. Didn't even know there was a second meaning LOL

I'm sure if you threw green red oak into a shed with a dirt floor that the splits would still sizzle after two years. Otherwise not really.

 

[dancan]

Has anyone noticed that if you fall, block and split a green rock maple below minus 5F that it burns as good as though it was seasoned?

I've burnt red maple cut and split small on the same day last year in my furnace but I know some of the btu's were used to steam off the moisture .
I've tried to get most of the cutting done this winter before the sap starts to run so that the mc is at it's lowest for faster drying .

I hope this ice gets me a few more trees to scrounge up .

 

[olyman]

Thanks but I'll pass. Most of those guys are probably posers.

Think of the biggest know it alls on this site....Limited knowledge with unlimited ego.

out of the park..........................

 

[olyman]

@MustangMike , totally off-topic. Have you seen/heard of this new car coming out?

http://jalopnik.com/2016-ford-focus...m_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=tuesdayAM

That thing is going to be a beast! Light weight and able to get power down to all four wheels. Kind of fugly though

there is a vid somewhere,,of a guy in England,,that has one really hopped up,,and 4x..its in a race stadium of some type,,and man can he drive!!!!!!! one set of rubber,,for one run!!!!!!!! guys a animal!!!

 

[Ambull01]

I've burnt red maple cut and split small on the same day last year in my furnace but I know some of the btu's were used to steam off the moisture .
I've tried to get most of the cutting done this winter before the sap starts to run so that the mc is at it's lowest for faster drying .

I hope this ice gets me a few more trees to scrounge up .

You always take the prettiest pics.

 

[olyman]

Have an ST as a dd. FUN car. RS should be a wild ride.

guy bought the first one in colo,,and smashed it into a tree the same day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dancan]

You always take the prettiest pics.

Thanks Ambull but it's not even close to what all the ice covered trees look like in real life when the sun is out , you just have to see it .
Olyman , you mean this guy ?

 

[macattack_ga]

guy bought the first one in colo,,and smashed it into a tree the same day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I plan to keep this one 'til the wheels fall off. Installed 16" all-season wheels/tires and a trailer hitch so I can micro-scrounge.

 

[Ambull01]

Thanks Ambull but it's not even close to what all the ice covered trees look like in real life when the sun is out , you just have to see it .
Olyman , you mean this guy ?

Damn that's the best freaking driving skills I've ever seen! If it's true, 0-60 in 1.9 seconds!!! Of course that thing is seriously modded. Nice 6 spd paddle shifters.

 

[MountainHigh]

Has anyone noticed that if you fall, block and split a green rock maple below minus 5F that it burns as good as though it was seasoned?

Sounds like freeze dried wood . . . so what they say is true, it does get dry cold in the Yukon !

 

[MuskokaSplitter]

I was burning red maple i c/s/s in early june on the weekend. Burns pretty good but can hear the water sizzling so i know i losing some btu's.

Im cutting it close this year for burnable wood but ill make it i hope.

I cut some red oak early this year and tried a piece a couple weeks ago...it smoldered more than anything....ill keep that stack for another year.

And we got snow up here in cottage country.Im going to try snowmobiling over the next few weekends. Never done it before. Must be 50 sleds a day for sure passing my place.

Got a line on a older polaris 440 apparently in good shape......another scrounging tool for winter

 

[Ambull01]

Finally decided to swallow my pride and contact the guy about the Leyland Cypress trees that fell in his yard. I initially contacted him back in October lol. He was really cool about it. Said there's a total of about 12 trees I can take! Woop woop! That will put me over the 1 year supply along with the white oak I'm getting. I think it's just about time to upgrade the Makita to 84cc to keep up.