Who is cutting wood?

[glademaster]

Ease of splitting has to come into play. White oak is a bitch. So is some maple. Personally my fave wood for burning is madrone. No ash and burns long and hot- but I don't think it grows anyplace aside from n. Cali and Oregon?

Your White Oak must be different than what grows in the east and midwest, as White Oak is widely considered to be one of the easiest to split woods. Very straight grained. I have heard wonderful things about madrone, looks like it is exclusive to your area. I am excited to have some Osage Orange in my stacks for next winter.

DougW, firewood takes much longer to season than most people realize, and does not begin to dry appreciably until it is split. I own a moisture meter and try to only burn wood that is below 20% MC, ideally below 16%. Wood needs at least 1 year, in most cases 2 after it has been split and stacked to get that dry, and it doesn't burn worth a damn in new, EPA approved stoves unless it is that dry. Oak is notorious for taking 3 or in many cases 4 summers split to get that dry. Pines, box elder and soft maple can be good to go in 6-8 months split, but most wood you're looking at 18-30 months split to season fully.

Well worth the time and effort. If it weren't for the stacks of wood in my yard, my neighbors wouldn't know I burn because seasoned wood burns so cleanly. A wood stove chimney should not produce smoke. I burned close to 6 cords this past winter and when I swept my chimney I only got about a quart of fly ash.

Caveat: Beetle-killed pine can often dry to 20% moisture content while still standing and intact, but that is one of the few exceptions to the rule that wood does not begin to dry until CSS.

[DougW]

But is that 3 years from standing green? and is that aging all under cover?

I see what you posted on standing dead pine. I cut down a couple and they where split 1/2 way to center. I just finished next winters wood and the newest would have been cut down last spring. Lot of it has been on ground for 4 years. Though I only split if over 6" or cottonwood.

[glademaster]

But is that 3 years from standing green? and is that aging all under cover?

I see what you posted on standing dead pine. I cut down a couple and they where split 1/2 way to center. I just finished next winters wood and the newest would have been cut down last spring. Lot of it has been on ground for 4 years. Though I only split if over 6" or cottonwood.

3 years regardless of condition it was in before it was split, most tree species don't season until they are split. Some pines and silver maple are a couple exceptions. Bark is remarkably waterproof, so even a tree that has been standing dead for 5 years with its bark relatively intact can be as wet as the day it died inside.

2 summers is adequate for most kinds of wood as long as you don't live in a particularly rainy or humid part of the country. The 3 year rule/plan/whatever is basically a fail safe, after three years split and stacked any wood, no matter how slow drying, will be properly seasoned.

I also split everything that is large enough to stand on end on the block (usually anything over 2 or 2.5 inches in diameter), after witnessing some rounds of that size sizzle and spit water from the ends when I was sure they would have dried.

It does sound like you're far enough ahead given a lot of the species you find up your way are fast to season.

As far as coverage goes, I only top-cover my wood. I have large racks built out of pallets and 2x6's that hold around 3 cords each, and I have sheets of corrugated plastic roofing that I have secured to the top of the racks. This keeps 90% of the rain and snow out but allows for maximum airflow through the stacks. I also have a 2, 1.333 cord racks of similar construction with clear corrugated panels on the top and sides (with 4 inch gaps for air movement) which function as solar kilns to expedite drying. It can be 72F and sunny outside, but it can be 125-130F inside the solar kiln. Build one of those bad boys in a spot with full sun, get it up on cinder blocks for enhanced airflow underneath and you can season green hardwoods in 6 months.

[Crass3000]

Man if I had to cut would I would get a hydraulic splitter the next day. Hopefully you already had a chainsaw for length.

[glademaster]

Man if I had to cut would I would get a hydraulic splitter the next day. Hopefully you already had a chainsaw for length.

I split 75-80% of what I burn with a Fiskars axe or a generic 8 pound maul. I don't spend more than 30 minutes or so working on a round though, if they're that stubborn, they get thrown in a pile to wait for my neighbor to bring his hydraulic splitter over. I scrounge for most of my wood, so I usually get it bucked to length, fortunately. I also have a large enough stove that anything under 21-22 inches long will fit. Nice to have that flexibility.

[Game Over]

We have a hydro splitter but some stuff (usually fir or alder here in w oregon) is faster to do by hand.

[~mikey b]

Fun cutting today.


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Keeping it spicy. A bunch of stuff in the air. Fun to buck. One of these bigguns tried to roll on top of me. Got most of it on the ground so I can go back and get the big stuff tomorrow.

I try to stay ahead - this stuff is now ready to go. I When I find big stashes, I get as much as I can. Worth it for me because last year I was not able to cut as much as I might have because of the Rim Fire. I have not been out cutting yet this season due to an injury, but I'm still probably good for the next 2-3 seasons. I'm a scrounge. I take advantage of everything I can get my hands on. Got a free truckload of green lodgepole in Jan on a trip to Tahoe. Came home from dumping slash at the green waste drop-off yesterday with another truckload of green oak and cedar branches scrounged from the piles people left. Cost me $7 to drop off a truckload of slash and come home with a truckload of wood that I won't even have to split.

[grrrr]

Ease of splitting has to come into play. White oak is a bitch. So is some maple. Personally my fave wood for burning is madrone. No ash and burns long and hot- but I don't think it grows anyplace aside from n. Cali and Oregon?

Madrone grows in WA also. One of the few woods that is easier to split when green than seasoned. The white oak in Oregon is not the same as in the east. Quercus garryana. Tough wood.

[grrrr]

I split 75-80% of what I burn with a Fiskars axe or a generic 8 pound maul. I don't spend more than 30 minutes or so working on a round though, if they're that stubborn, they get thrown in a pile to wait for my neighbor to bring his hydraulic splitter over. I scrounge for most of my wood, so I usually get it bucked to length, fortunately. I also have a large enough stove that anything under 21-22 inches long will fit. Nice to have that flexibility.

30 minutes on one round? I'd give it about 4.

Bought a wood heated house in March, owner used up all but four sticks before selling. Put the first 2 cords toward next year up, going to cut 3 more this weekend.

[glademaster]

30 minutes on one round? I'd give it about 4.

I'm 25 and single, I have time and energy to spare.

What kind of stove are you running in that place grrr?

[grrrr]

It's got a quadra fire, which seems to work well. I didn't get in during the -20 weather though. Been burning the beetle kill lodgepole from the yard first, stuff lasts like 10 minutes. Putting up some bid pondo and fir rounds now, hopefully a little more lasting.

[glademaster]

It's got a quadra fire, which seems to work well. I didn't get in during the -20 weather though. Been burning the beetle kill lodgepole from the yard first, stuff lasts like 10 minutes. Putting up some bid pondo and fir rounds now, hopefully a little more lasting.

Check out this website if you want to learn how to get every last bit of heat out of your stove/firewood: http://www.hearth.com/talk/. Definitely a great resource that has helped me trouble shoot some issues.

If you need to replace any of the firebricks in that stove, Quadra-Fires use the lighter weight, slightly harder to find pumice bricks. Don't use the standard, heavier clay bricks in their place. The pumice ones are more insulated and you are more likely to damage the stove body by overfiring if you use the less insulating bricks.

I generally don't burn any rounds unless they are too small to stand on end and split. Big half splits would be more beneficial in most situations, as rounds take a long time to properly season, even if they are de-barked.

[~mikey b]

http://www.woodheat.org/

http://www.epa.gov/burnwise/

[From_the_NEK]

Almost grabbed onto this old girl while digging into my stack of rounds during a splitting session this weekend...

[DougW]

Had next winters put up in May and have modified wood shed so both bays can be used for wood. Only about 1/2 cord put in for 2016/17 so far but come fall want 2nd bay full for 2016 & 17 winters.

[Buster Highmen]

In the last week we've split another cord of crappy alder. Still have a couple of cords of mystery pine/fir/cedar/sequoia/? rounds to go. Plus looking for some good doug fir or hardwood for the all nighters.

[stfu&gbtw]

Got my eye on 2 big spruce trees that blew down a couple of years ago. They're near a neighbor's property, so I've been waiting to give him the first shot, but the statute of limitations on those trees is going to be over this weekend. Probably a cord each.

[iceman]

How you guys burn that crappy alder and spruce and whatnot is beyond me. Oak, maple, elm, hickory, ash, ftw.

[~mikey b]

Scored a "job" clearing a bunch of oak, manzanita, cedar, pine and fir 1/4 mile down the hill on my road. Mix of live, standing dead and down and dead. I'm doing the cutting in exchange for the wood. At least 2 cords of oak and another of soft wood, plus all the manzanita. I won't even have to buy wood tags and drive miles around the forest scrounging this season. I can just roll down the hill and cut at my leisure and I'll be more than a couple years ahead. I'll have wood for the house, the smoker, and the campfire. Stoked.

[jamesp]

How you guys burn that crappy alder and spruce and whatnot is beyond me. Oak, maple, elm, hickory, ash, ftw.

you going to send a few cords out this way?? That shit doesn't grow on trees..... i mean everywhere

[cat in january]

Elm???? Worst wood to split I have ever tried.

And Alders big enough to split, those must be different than what we have out East.

[~mikey b]

Alder is good for the smoker. That's about it.

[DougW]

How you guys burn that crappy alder and spruce and whatnot is beyond me. Oak, maple, elm, hickory, ash, ftw.

You burn what you got. My woods are 45% aspen, 35% lodgepole pine, 12% spruce, 45 douglas fir and 4% cotton wood. But only have burnt pine aspen and cotton wood.

here are some local prices I just ran into :
Fir $170 per cord/$250 per 1.5 cords
Pine/spruce $150 per cord/$220 per 1.5 cords
mix fir/pine $160 per cord/$230 per 1.5 cords
birch $250 per cord

[glademaster]

How you guys burn that crappy alder and spruce and whatnot is beyond me. Oak, maple, elm, hickory, ash, ftw.

Free (or close to it) mediocre quality firewood is superior to extremely expensive higher grade stuff. For what 5 cords of oak would cost here in Utah I could keep my house 75 degrees all winter using propane.

[From_the_NEK]

I have a half a cord of Balm of Gilead (hybrid of Cottonwood and Poplar) in my shed for this winter. I normally don't burn the light hard woods but the tree died right behind my house and I dropped it within 50 feet of my woodshed.
The rest of the wood in the shed this year is my typical mix of Beech, Maple (rock and soft), Black Cherry, Ash, and Yellow Birch.