Standing dead ash straight to the stove?

[Mustang71]

Anyone else go from standing ash right to the stove? I have ash trees that did not leaf this year and were cut down about August. Ive been cutting the tops with the 20v dewalt chainsaw to throw right in the stove. They go in an epa furnace and burn fine with no smoke and lots of secondary burn. I split one and in the middle my meter said 17% moisture. I tried the same with a few years clearly dead maple and it was over 40% moisture. I have tons of seasoned ash to burn when its actually cold but this ash heats real well. Im going to miss the ash wood when its gone.

 

[svk]

One of the benefits of ash, it’s ready to burn or at least close to it if it’s dead.

 

[U&A]

I can but most of mine have been dead standing for at LEAST 7 years. They are hard as rock (chains dull SUPER fast) and dry as a bone. Did it year for the final 2 months of the burning season.



Here is some

Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]

 

[Mustang71]

I can but most of mine have been dead standing for at LEAST 7 years. They are hard as rock (chains dull SUPER fast) and dry as a bone. Did it year for the final 2 months of the burning season.



Here is some

Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]

Really rock hard? Ive been stacking 10'+ logs of the stuff all summer to burn years from now. Ive never noticed it to be hard to cut or split. Ive been cutting a lot of ash for a few years. I have a few live hickory trees that came down in the process and those were very hard. I think its interesting that you cut the ash down and a few hours later its already showing cracks in the center of the trunk.

 

[rancher2]

Years ago I would end up selling my seasoned firewood that I had for myself for the winter so I would go to the timber and cut a dead ash and split it and go right into the stove with it. Those dead ash keep me warm for many a winter.

 

[Marine5068]

Really rock hard? Ive been stacking 10'+ logs of the stuff all summer to burn years from now. Ive never noticed it to be hard to cut or split. Ive been cutting a lot of ash for a few years. I have a few live hickory trees that came down in the process and those were very hard. I think its interesting that you cut the ash down and a few hours later its already showing cracks in the center of the trunk.

Ya, I have no problem cutting Ash. It cuts like butter with my Stihl MS291 and Stihl 044.
I'd say check your chain to see if it's sharpened correctly and staying sharp.
I noticed the end cracks too.
If I had to guess, I'd say that wood is days, weeks, or months sitting there.
Not that seasoned wood is a bad thing, but water doesn't care if the wood is live or dead, it still penetrates the wood fibers.
I ALWAYS season my firewood for a year to three before burning. Being proud of burning wet wood makes no sense.

 

[Mustang71]

Ya, I have no problem cutting Ash. It cuts like butter with my Stihl MS291 and Stihl 044.
I'd say check your chain to see if it's sharpened correctly and staying sharp.
I noticed the end cracks too.
If I had to guess, I'd say that wood is days, weeks, or months sitting there.
Not that seasoned wood is a bad thing, but water doesn't care if the wood is live or dead, it still penetrates the wood fibers.
I ALWAYS season my firewood for a year to three before burning. Being proud of burning wet wood makes no sense.

I wouldnt say I'm proud to burn wood right off the tree. I have a wood shed full of wood thats aged 2 years ready to heat my house. I was amazed at how dry the wood is after losing its leaves last year and being cut down late summer. With our humidity around here its hard to achieve less than 15 percent moisture in wood.

 

[soloz2]

I still need to get a wood stove, but I've been burning Ash in my campfire that's been down just a couple months and it burns nicely.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

If ash splits stringy it's still wet is my experience and should be set aside, for at least awhile. Dead ash fresh cut to 16" long, anything bigger around than a softball-cantaloupe was hit or miss. Softball and below was ready to burn. The stringy stuff that was split would season in around 3 months.

 

[clint53]

I can but most of mine have been dead standing for at LEAST 7 years. They are hard as rock (chains dull SUPER fast) and dry as a bone. Did it year for the final 2 months of the burning season.



Here is some

Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]

Hard???? I'm confused. I've cut and burned tons of Ash.
I'd rather cut ash than any other because it's so easy to cut.
Popular is easier to cut, but not worth putting in the stove.

 

[Mustang71]

I've got about 5 years of ash cut down and stacked in some form and more standing. I love the ash wood for fire wood. Easy to cut and split and its dry. Ill be sad when its gone and im left with maple, poplar, and box alder. I have a bunch of shag bark but no where near fire wood size.

These guys were cut down over the summer from a dead tree and I brought the branch in the other night. They are watching the show and getting some moisture out. Ive found that if I mix them in with some good seasoned stuff then there's no issues. Or throw them on a large bed of coals. It let's me keep the house warmer and load the stove more often than I would since its going to go to waste if I dont burn it.

 

[U&A]

Hard???? I'm confused. I've cut and burned tons of Ash.
I'd rather cut ash than any other because it's so easy to cut.
Popular is easier to cut, but not worth putting in the stove.

Very hard when its dried vertically. Ash is what they use for baseball bats. Its known for being hard


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]

 

[michael j]

I save my wood pile for when it’s not fit to go to the woods, the rest of the time I’ll cut ash and burn it.

 

[Jere39]

I had this Ash tree taken down because it show signs of the EAB, then cut it into 9-12' lengths to move to my processing area. The cutting was easy, especially relative to the oak I cut most of the time:



I split the first of it yesterday and measured it at 30% on the MM:



Haven't burned any yet, I'll toss a couple pieces in a firepit first to determine how it burns. This was the one and only Ash tree on my property, so my little research project will have only one tree worth of wood. to learn from.

 

[Mustang71]

I had this Ash tree taken down because it show signs of the EAB, then cut it into 9-12' lengths to move to my processing area. The cutting was easy, especially relative to the oak I cut most of the time:



I split the first of it yesterday and measured it at 30% on the MM:

View attachment 869161

Haven't burned any yet, I'll toss a couple pieces in a firepit first to determine how it burns. This was the one and only Ash tree on my property, so my little research project will have only one tree worth of wood. to learn from.

The only thing I can say is the dead maple logs that came down off a maple tree that was cut down would not measure on the meter. They were visibly dead for a few years. 30 percent moisture standing dead is amazing. I have ash cut and aged for 18 months before split and into the shed for another 6 months and you are lucky to get 12 to 15 percent moisture.

 

[H-Ranch]

I had this Ash tree taken down because it show signs of the EAB

I'm near to the epicenter of the EAB outbreak so dead standing is dead for 15+ years, no bark, no branches, no roots (that's when they fall over and most have now.) Generally the bottom 6/8/10 feet is wet, but the rest is good to go. I have a couple leaners left in my woods that I'll have to get a moisture reading from when I take them down.

Your MM pic looks very much like a live tree, though it was clearly dying by the pics of the bark earlier.

 

[Jere39]

My Ash tree was live and leaved this summer. Sorry that was not clear in my post

 

[H-Ranch]

My Ash tree was live and leaved this summer. Sorry that was not clear in my post

No apology necessary, Jere. I was just differentiating "dying/almost dead" to "standing dead" as the title suggests. It will be interesting to hear your experience as to how quickly it season and how it burns both now and later.

My OWB is more tolerant of a higher moisture content than an EPA stove, though I try to burn mostly seasoned wood to keep the smoke to a minimum and heat to a maximum. (So I'm not as sensitive to actual moisture content and could probably easily go from stump to stove with a 30% reading. )

 

[Mustang71]

Standing dead from what I see is the trees i have that haven't leafed in 2 years and you can peal the bark right off and the branches are brittle. This past weekend we got a solid wind storm and one fell over. The base was rotted out. I believe they are dead but I could be wrong.

 

[WoodChip333]

Hard???? I'm confused. I've cut and burned tons of Ash.
I'd rather cut ash than any other because it's so easy to cut.
Popular is easier to cut, but not worth putting in the stove.

It's hard but has a consistent straight grain and minimal knots so its easy to cut and split. That's why they make good axe handles and baseball bats!