# New Perspective on Punky Wood



## Coog (Jan 15, 2017)

So I have long avoided the white or lightened color of "punky" wood until recently.  In my area there is a lot of dead elm and when you stumble upon them, fallin' or standing, it is a role of the dice.  Some of it has been dead for so long that it has started to age beyond just dry.  Usually I just stay away from it but got to thinking this time and decided to give it a go and found I was getting decent burnt times when mixed with good dry hard woods.

1) I split very large pieces because, after all, they are dried all the way through.
2) Some of it is not punky but a mixture dry wood.
3) I can let it set in the house for 6-8 our next to fire and burn without allowing a year or 2 of dry time. 

It was the first time I split and burned the next day and it burned clean and relatively slow because I split large.  A larger firebox is a must though.  I will say, it cannot be really really punky wood.  Curious on some of your opinions about this. It was a revelation for me.


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## English BoB (Jan 15, 2017)

Punk burns. If the wood has enough heart left use it for shoulder season, keep it covered and dry because the punk will suck water - fast.

bob


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## Hogwildz (Jan 15, 2017)

As Bob said.
If that punk is wet, your in for a grouling few hours of smoldering mess.


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## jetsam (Jan 15, 2017)

I burn punky wood, but I don't store it in the stacks with my regular firewood- it goes on a little junkwood pile and I burn it on my days off, when long burn times aren't needed.


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## Coog (Jan 15, 2017)

Its been pretty dry here.  Probably why it burned so well. It also helps that it sets to the left of the stove while it is its hottest to dry before it goes in.  Surprisingly it burned fairly slow being larger splits. I don't have a bunch of it.  If it was my primary source for the winter I may feel differently.


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## Jeffm1 (Jan 15, 2017)

Coog said:


> So I have long avoided the white or lightened color of "punky" wood until recently.  In my area there is a lot of dead elm and when you stumble upon them, fallin' or standing, it is a role of the dice.  Some of it has been dead for so long that it has started to age beyond just dry.  Usually I just stay away from it but got to thinking this time and decided to give it a go and found I was getting decent burnt times when mixed with good dry hard woods.
> 
> 1) I split very large pieces because, after all, they are dried all the way through.
> 2) Some of it is not punky but a mixture dry wood.
> ...


Makes good kindling when dry. But depending on the degree of "punkiness" it sometimes stinks when burned, at least with the wood I have. Nothing overpowering but just how it is.


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## FaithfulWoodsman (Jan 15, 2017)

I cut a lot of dead cherry with some punk. Keep it dry and it burns great.


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## Rockey (Jan 15, 2017)

Dry punky wood can be very good for burning down the coal pile while maintaining heat


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## xman23 (Jan 16, 2017)

It's wood, dry it out and burn it in the shoulder season, I keep it out of the normal stacks. If it gets wet it soaks up water like a sponge.


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## Destructor (Jan 17, 2017)

Maple and ash often seem to only lose density before it begins to get spongy, it gets lighter, feels like pine but still coals some. It’s a good wood to burn between the kindling stage and the larger harder wood stage. Once it begins to get spongy I won’t burn it in my open fireplace but it burns fine when dry in my father’s Jodul.


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## Karl Hungus (Jan 17, 2017)

Just my preference but I don't burn punky wood.
I cut all my own firewood from my property so I can afford to be picky about what I burn.
I don't ever cut dead trees or fallen trees.
I cut trees to manage my forest the way I want and so I cut living trees that I want gone and I cut way more than I burn.

I have burned punky stuff in the past, it doesn't burn as good as "good" wood so I leave it lay now.


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## maple1 (Jan 18, 2017)

If it split cleanly, it likely wasn't that punky. Straight to the wood pile.

If it was more like breaking it into pieces/chunks when the axe hit it - ya, that's punky. I definitely leave that stuff in the woods.

Windfalls are my preferred target for firewood, as long as I can get to them before they start getting punky - having felling out of the equation usually makes things quicker & easier & safer. I rarely cut down a live tree for burning. I'm usually in areas that have had some silviculturing already done, so the management thing has already been taken or being taken care of. More or less.


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## bboulier (Jan 18, 2017)

I usually chip out the really damp stuff and then store it covered.  Otherwise, works fine.


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## Coog (Jan 20, 2017)

maple1 said:


> If it split cleanly, it likely wasn't that punky. Straight to the wood pile.
> 
> If it was more like breaking it into pieces/chunks when the axe hit it - ya, that's punky. I definitely leave that stuff in the woods.
> 
> Windfalls are my preferred target for firewood, as long as I can get to them before they start getting punky - having felling out of the equation usually makes things quicker & easier & safer. I rarely cut down a live tree for burning. I'm usually in areas that have had some silviculturing already done, so the management thing has already been taken or being taken care of. More or less.



Yah, it split pretty clean but I would still consider it punk. It was rock elm which usually splits a dark red.  This was whitish yellow halfway through or throughout.  When it breaks apart when you split it, I just call that rotten and it gets left in the woods. No real definition to punky so we are probably dealing a little with semantics. 

Either way, glad to see it is not just me that still use it. Like everyone else has said, don't get it wet or you are done with it until next heating season. Couple pieces got wet with these recent unusual January rains and they are like picking up concrete blocks.


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