# First full season burning...how much do I need?



## kbrown (Jun 3, 2009)

This next winter will be our first full season to burn. Started on Jan 1 2009 (what a great way to start a new year!) as that was the day we picked up the door for the Napoleon and fired it that evening. (I think we can officially take the tax credit next year since it wasn't "in service" until 1/1/09 no?). Anyhow...we burned through what we had in the yard which was about maybe 2 face cords or so. Being our first time burning, we didn't do any overnights, but did burn about 12 hours or more on most days. So far, I have been very lucky to score some nice wood from Craigslist as well as word of mouth and such. So far this year, I have hauled about 10 loads home in the Sirrea 1500 with an almost full size bed minus a work box up front. I don't overload it, just slightly above the sides. About how much would you experts estimate this to be? In the yard, I have so far built 6 - 4'x8'x16" racks with plans for another 3. Racks are actually 5' tall but the rails are mounted 6" off the ground and the racks sit on 8" landscaping blocks I had left over from an old flower bed we tore out. I wanted to make sure no critters set up home under them and it allows the dogs to make sure of that along with good air flow to the stack. This should give me 3 cords when full correct? Once I split the wood I have hauled home so far, wouldn't that fill the 6 racks so far? I am trying to avoid buying any wood for this next season, but really don't know how much we will burn. We have a 1500 sq ft ranch but that includes basement. Stove is in dinning/living area. My gut estimate is we need 4 -5 cord. Any thoughts? I certainly plan to post some pics of the yard once everything is split and stacked. Living in what is just a normal 40 year old subdivision neighborhood, we don't have much room in the yard to store anything more than 4 cords without it looking like a lumber mill! Total lot size is only 110' x 110'. :-S  Thanks to the crappy economy, our plans on buying a 10 acre homestead will just be burned along with the wood! :coolmad: 
Oh yea, I can't help but be proud of the racks - all built from pressure treated lumber from Home Depot; best part was it was on the cull pile at 85% off!  :coolgrin:


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## Stevebass4 (Jun 3, 2009)

i would plan on 3 to 4 full cords per year  and you'll want to get at least a year ahead 

more is always better


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## mayhem (Jun 3, 2009)

Since you're dealing with limited storgae space I'd say to hell with how mich will you need for next year.  Fill your available storage space and hope it lasts you the season.


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## LLigetfa (Jun 3, 2009)

Too bad about the plans for the 10 acres going up in smoke.  I could never trade my 18 acres for city living.

Ja, more is always better.  It's like having money in the bank, only better.  Given the size of the house and location, I can't see you burning 3 cord but as mentioned, a year ahead is a good thing.


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## burntime (Jun 3, 2009)

I burn 24/7 and if had a lot of silver maple last year in Wisconsin weather.  I think I went thru 5 plus cords/  Now this year is mostly oak and some ash...my guess is 4 cords max.  I will let you know next June 1st


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## smokinj (Jun 3, 2009)

"My gut estimate is we need 4 -5 cord" In mich. Id say your in the ball park for sure!


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## Jags (Jun 3, 2009)

I'm with Mayhem.  Fill your available space and hope for the best.  If it will hold 4 cord, you will be in the ball park.  Scrounging is what it is, but if given the choice...and with limited space...you may want to be a little selective (this assumes that you are a successful scrounger ;-P ) on the species you take home.  Just food for thought, but 4 cords of silver maple DOES NOT EQUAL 4 cords of white oak, or hickory.

Edit: and if your are currently scrounging for this year, I am sure you have read all about seasoning times...12 months, burning unseasoned wood,blah, blah blah.  By the way, its all true.


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## boostnut (Jun 3, 2009)

My advise is to stop worrying about your future requirements and get what you've got split. Its already too late to many of us. Dont waste any more time, get your current supply split and stacked then worry about adding to it.


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## jj3500 (Jun 3, 2009)

IMO....forecast for more!     without a doubt.


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## Bigg_Redd (Jun 3, 2009)

There's no way to know for sure.  I say fill up your woodshed.  If you buy wood, it probably won't be cheaper next year.  If you cut your own wood just never stop cutting - get all you can whenever you can.


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## karri0n (Jun 3, 2009)

As to the space problem, you might try a Holz Hausen(geman for "wood house", which is what it looks like), essentially just a round tall wood stack rather than a straight row. They tend to be a bit more stable than rows, and can be built up to 10' high+ to use your vertical space. They are also a bit more aesthetically pleasing, and therefore less likely to get you any flack from your neighbors or homeowner's association.


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## rdust (Jun 3, 2009)

karri0n said:
			
		

> They tend to be a bit more stable than rows, and can be built up to 10' high+ to use your vertical space.



It seems every time I read about someone making one this would not be true.  It seems they end up being wrapped with a wire mess to keep them from falling over.  I'm sure some people have good luck with them but after reading some horror stories online I've decided to not even try.  http://www.woodheat.org/firewood/holtzhausen.htm


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## kbrown (Jun 3, 2009)

All very good points...especially about making sure it's seasoned. So far I would say most of the supply has aged about a year but not in a nicely split/stacked fashion. I have been thinking about this a lot since the predictions for next winter is that in the Great Lakes area we will have a colder than normal fall. Already we are colder and more rain than a normal spring. I'm starting to think that I should approach this like finding a dollar bill on the ground. If you see it, of course I'm gonna pick it up, but I am not going to make it a full time job looking for dollar bills on the ground! I will be very happy with 4 good cords full.


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## Todd (Jun 3, 2009)

rdust said:
			
		

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Yeah, it depends on how you build them. I had one collapse on me cuz I tried to make the top plum with the bottom, as it dried it started to bulge on one side and finally gave way. You need to taper inwards as you go up to give it a rounded top so they are more stable. There was almost 3 cords in this 8' holz.


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## karri0n (Jun 3, 2009)

The best piece of advice in that woodheat.org article is to navigate to www.holzmiete.de and look there to get some ideas. Plenty of them on that site that haven't fallen over. I was never one to believe the claim that the wood seasons faster, I just really like the fact that it saves space, has nice looks to it, and can be considered part of your landscaping. There's no doubt it is more time consuming, but if your straight row falls over, and the HH doesn't, how much time are you spending rebuilding?


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## Jags (Jun 3, 2009)

Here are a couple of my heap-hausens.  Very stable, never fall over and easy to stack.  They may not season as fast as others, but after a couple of years, its all good.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jun 3, 2009)

We live a bit further north than you and burn 3 cords and always plan on burning more; that way we have enough. We also do not put up wood this year that will be burned next winter. Better to season it and it won't season worth a hoot if it is not split. So my recommendation is to get split all that you have on hand now, get it stacked in the wind and sun and hope it will be ready to burn next winter. Remember, time is what wood needs and it will reward you with good fires and lots of heat. If you don't give it time it will then give you hard to light fires, cause you to keep the draft open further sending more heat up the chimney instead of in the house and as dessert it will give you lots of creosote so you can practice using that chimney brush.

Good luck.


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## smokinj (Jun 3, 2009)

Jags said:
			
		

> Here are a couple of my heap-hausens.  Very stable, never fall over and easy to stack.  They may not season as fast as others, but after a couple of years, its all good.






+1


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## Hurricane (Jun 3, 2009)

I use heap-hausens in the early stages then change them to stack-hausens. They both work fine for me also 

Oh and I forgot my holtz-hausen was a pain to build and seemed unstable from the start so I converted it before finishing it.


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## Todd (Jun 3, 2009)

Just another idea to throw out there. Last year I made a 7x7x6' cube of firewood. I cross hatched the corners and the inside middle as I went up. It turned out to be pretty stable all through the winter and held a little over 2 cord. I took it apart to fill up my wood shed this spring, but it was much easier than building a round HH and much easier calulating how much wood is into it. Also fits nicely on top of 4 pallets laid out in a square.


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## Duetech (Jun 4, 2009)

You never seem to have enough. But I hope you always have a friendly fire. It's worth the effort!


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## fossil (Jun 4, 2009)

I season in heap-hausens, like Jags', then keep ~ a year's worth of ready-to-burn wood in my shed-hausens.  For me, burning almost exclusively softwoods in two stoves, a year's worth can be around 7 cords.  Rick


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## kbrown (Jun 4, 2009)

Well, scored another load tonight; the family and I were out to check out some logs by the side of the road, possibly left from the local public works fellows when I heard about a tree across the roadway (I also work as a part time firefighter for the neighboring city). We high tailed it back to town and over to where the tree fell and met up with my guys already cutting it up. Turns out it was a 20" diameter 40' long branch off a cottonwood. Homeowner said to take it all so I came back with the gear and got a nice truck load. Don't know about the quality of cottonwood, but I do know that free wood always burns good ;-) . Talking to people around, they took my number since this opened the eyes of a lot of people around there who now think their cottonwoods are suddenly going to fall. It was a clear, sunny evening, no wind and only saw about 8" of the limb with beginning rot. Funny thing why it fell. Whats the feeling about cottonwood? Take as much as you can when offered? Gonna be splitting everything with weekend with friends splitter.


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## SolarAndWood (Jun 4, 2009)

heatit said:
			
		

> Whats the feeling about cottonwood?



It is decent shoulder season or when you are home anyway heat.  Free wood seems to make the best heat.


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## LLigetfa (Jun 4, 2009)

heatit said:
			
		

> Whats the feeling about cottonwood?


If you are tight for storage space, then pass on it.  It takes twice as much as a good hardwood to get the same heat and it makes four times as much ashes that fly out of the stove every time you open the door.


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## Bigg_Redd (Jun 4, 2009)

Jags said:
			
		

> Here are a couple of my *heap-hausens*.  Very stable, never fall over and easy to stack.  They may not season as fast as others, but after a couple of years, its all good.




*BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

ROTFLMMFAO


GOLD!
*


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## kbrown (Jun 5, 2009)

My wife says that I'm cheating on her...with wood! I have been cut off from any more scrounging until everything is split and stacked this weekend. What gives?! Just wondering, how many others are what I call the "suburban loggers" around here? I find myself looking around at people's chimney's trying to find fellow wood burners. Most people that find out we heat with wood think automatically we much live 50 miles from the nearest town!


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## jdinspector (Jun 5, 2009)

heatit said:
			
		

> My wife says that I'm cheating on her...with wood! I have been cut off from any more scrounging until everything is split and stacked this weekend. What gives?! Just wondering, how many others are what I call the "suburban loggers" around here? I find myself looking around at people's chimney's trying to find fellow wood burners. Most people that find out we heat with wood think automatically we much live 50 miles from the nearest town!



Interesting comment. I live in a small town, but a suburb of Chicago. Granted, I don't heat exclusively with wood, but it's a HUGE part of our winter heating. People come over to our house and are amazed at the amount of wood I have stacked. (Probably 5-8 cords now). I am jealous of those that have space for 4-5 years of wood. I wish!

Suburban Logger, I like that.


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## kbrown (Jun 5, 2009)

I look at it this way, the space now taken up by stacks no longer needs to be cut, so now there's more money being saved by running my lawn mower less! It certainly would be great to have the space to hold at 5-8 cords let alone 4 years worth. Because of that, I tend to not want to pass up any opportunity for free wood; starting to think about making a deal with my parents to store wood on their property. Problem is they are about an hour drive but at least have an acre of space to store. DON'T TELL MY WIFE! LOL. Heck I may even see if I can talk them into letting people drop off wood there and stop by occasionally to process it there! Always need a backup plan no?!


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## SolarAndWood (Jun 5, 2009)

heatit said:
			
		

> how many others are what I call the "suburban loggers" around here?



My guess is you have a lot of fellow suburban loggers here.  We live 4 miles from downtown and heat exclusively with wood.  Our immediate neighbors don't understand the 10 cord currently in heap-hausens and 3 cord stacked under the roof from last season.  However, At the city mulch pile a couple weeks ago, I met a gent who turns out has an EKO and lives 1/4 mile up the road from me.  A neighbor a few houses the other way just had their annual 5 cord delivery this past week.


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## Jags (Jun 5, 2009)

SolarAndWood said:
			
		

> .......in heap-hausens



I think I may have started something. :lol:


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## LLigetfa (Jun 5, 2009)

Jags said:
			
		

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I do a hybrid variation on those by stacking the perimeter in a rectangle and then loosely heaping the splits in the middle.  It helps to reduce the sprawl and lets me mow in closer.


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## Slow1 (Jun 5, 2009)

Hi - I'm a fellow urban logger here 

I have my estimated 4 cords stacked next to the driveway in a block, roughly rectangular (12x9.5x9.75x9.5 walking around it) and on a slope so one corner is over 7' tall the shorter is about 5.75'.  Yup - makes it harder to exactly figure out how much is in there - top is pretty much level, but center is mounded a bit as I plan to cover it when rains start in the fall and I want there to be a slope to the edges when I do...  That's my "ready for this year pile".  Hopefully it will be enough... if not, I'll just have to burn oil (humph).

Along my property line on other side of house I have a cord+ of oak on two pallets, then 1/3 cord of pine on another, then next pallet has 1/2 cord of birch (love that minty smell) followed by another with just over 1/4 of poplar(?) and something else that looks like it.  These are making a nice wooden fence line for me - they run from front lawn down the side...  nice windy area but not much sun.  Oh well.  I'm still building on the last three piles.  When I get done cutting/splitting the logs at the end of my driveway I estimate I'll have a total of 3 cords lined up there so I still have work to do to have my 10/11 supply lined up (literally) there.  

Neighbors walking by almost always stop and ask questions if they see me out there... so far no complaints but I am keeping things as neat and clean as I can - stacks stable, straight etc so hopefully nobody will take offense at a mess.  I clean up my splitting/cutting area after each session as well so it doesn't look like a wood lot (everything is visible from the street).  I would love to get more than one year ahead (I would consider having 10/11 lined up to be one year ahead), but somehow I suspect it will be difficult to find space to put it anywhere.  Perhaps I'll get lucky and find that the new stove and our burning habits will require less than 4 cords/year on average... somehow I doubt it though.


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## Jags (Jun 5, 2009)

LLigetfa said:
			
		

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I meant the verbiage, cuz I sure as heck didn't invent the pile of wood. :coolsmile:


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## Slow1 (Jun 5, 2009)

Jags said:
			
		

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Oh I'm sure Al Gore must have beat you to that invention by at least a few days


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## SolarAndWood (Jun 5, 2009)

Jags said:
			
		

> I meant the verbiage, cuz I sure as heck didn't invent the pile of wood. :coolsmile:



Speaking of verb iage...what is the verb form?  heapen-hausen?  as in, I've been heapen-hausen all day and am ready for a cold one?


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## Jags (Jun 5, 2009)

SolarAndWood said:
			
		

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Heap-hausening??


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## wldm09 (Jun 5, 2009)

heap-hausen is just brilliant.


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## Slow1 (Jun 5, 2009)

"Heaping Hausen Batman is that good seasoned wood I see there"

"No Robin, don't let that superficial checking on the ends fool you, always verify with a moisture meter if it hasn't been split for at least two years or your chimney too may fall prey to the dark influence of the evil Dr. Creosote!"


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## kbrown (Jun 7, 2009)

Borrowing a friends splitter this weekend to clean up the yard and get everying stacked. You can see the racks I built in the background - there are more along another fence line with more to come. Hopefully the picture loads right...


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## kbrown (Jun 7, 2009)

That was a neighbor helping split in the previous post. Here is a look from another part of the yard.  Anyhow, I just wanted to post some pics as I had promised from my original post. I think once everything is finally split and stacked, we should have almost 3 cords, but at least 2/3 of a cord will not be ready for this season, it's some maple and cottonwood that is just way too green still. In another photo you can also see the sawbuck I just built from plans found here in another post. Works great.


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## SolarAndWood (Jun 7, 2009)

Jags said:
			
		

> I meant the verbiage, cuz I sure as heck didn't invent the pile of wood. :coolsmile:



I have never seen a heap haused like yours before


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## LLigetfa (Jun 7, 2009)

Jags said:
			
		

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Well, hausen means house so one may have visions of a house like shape... but a mound of wood is not unlike a beaver house so you're off on a technicality.  Here is what I mean by the term you coined as heap hausen.  I keep the heap from sprawling by containing all four sides with stacks.  This is just my interim Summer drying setup.  It gets neatly stacked in the shed come Fall.


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## rustybumpers (Jun 10, 2009)

heatit said:
			
		

> Borrowing a friends splitter this weekend to clean up the yard and get everying stacked. You can see the racks I built in the background - there are more along another fence line with more to come. Hopefully the picture loads right...



HeatIt, Do you mind sharing your wood rack design?  They look nice but I can't quite tell how they are built.  Thanks.


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## kbrown (Jun 12, 2009)

I can't take credit for the basic design, but I modified it a bit to suite my needs and make it more pleasing to neighbor's. Below is a better picture. To me it reminds me of a long suspension bridge minus the cables holding the deck. They are made from pressure treated 2x4 off the scrap pile at Home Depot. The rails are all 8' long.  The uprights are cut 5' long with 2 - 11" wide pieces secured between them; this was just my preference as this gives me an overall width of 14" since some of the rounds I have were small. One is 6" from the bottom to which the rails rest on. The other is at the top. Everything is secured with 3" deck screws. The rails rest on edge and what I did to conserve both lumber and space was to set the rail back 1 3/4" where it rests on each upright so you can then continue another rail for the next rack using the same upright. It may be overkill, but I use 3 screws for every connection point (rails to uprights, center brace across rails, etc). At the 4' mark of each rail, there is a 2x4 piece mounted on edge between them and under that I have a 4x4 to keep it from sagging under the weight. All racks were then placed on 6" landscape blocks leftover from a flower bed we removed. Those are set on a bed of crushed paver base which I also had a small pile from previous landscape work. I am hoping to minimize frost heave and having the rack so high off the ground gives me plenty of airflow and less attractive to it becoming critterville as my dogs can then police this area!


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## kbrown (Jun 12, 2009)

:lol: For anyone who saw my post on the value of cottonwood, in the pic I posted in the last reply you can see it stacked to the far right - the dark center is almost pure moisture! The rounds on the left two racks are a Craigslist find of red oak that was cut back in summer 2008. All this has now been split and stacked; counting on the red oak being ready for this winter. Cottonwood will be a crapshoot, but that part of the yard is 100% sun facing south so it also gets good wind.


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## JayD (Jun 17, 2009)

Heatit, Not sure wear your at. But I'm in Mt. Clemens area,  I burned 2.75 cords last winter this was with {Good Wood} Ash, Elm, Cherry},. Get some Ash Its all  around us, and It will be ready by Feb-Mar Lots of BTUs I scrounge also but I am selective only grabbing good stuff-{learn your wood type's by the bark & leaves }- Pass on lower quality wood you don't have the room for it. You will learn what to grab or pass on. Stove is a new Pacific Energy burned 24-7 Nov-April. My bench mark is 3 cords ready to burn, 3 cords seasoning for next year on site bye Oct, 6 total on site bye start of winter.  Make those racks come out more from the fence and each one will give you a cord. Jay


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## Hiram Maxim (Jun 17, 2009)

I'm in W. Bloomfield area and I went through 6 cords of wood this last winter. About 1.5 cords was pine and the rest was white ash,cherry, red oak, and white oak.

 I have learned (thanks to Dennis) to get years ahead of the game. After I get the pile in my driveway split I should be sitting good for the next 4 years.

 This was my second year burning 24/7, first year went through 4 1/2 to 5 cords.

 From just about everyone I have talked in Michigan, this last Winter most folks went through about 25% more wood than normal. :-S 

The stuff I will burning this winter will have been cut, split & stacked for 18 months.


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## kbrown (Jun 17, 2009)

Thanks for the info wood and Hiram. I'm very familiar with Mt. Clemens; grew up in Fraser and most of the family still live in that area. I'm out in Commerce Twp; pretty much found that we are right in the bulls eye all winter; Hiram can probably attest to that also. Can I assume that you buy your supply Hiram or just have a good free source?! Last winter was mostly all ash and some oak. Got the ash from 3 trees I removed from brother's yard but that source has now dried up. I would love to get my hands, and axe, on some more but things on Craigslist seem slow for this area. Been putting the word out to friends and family.


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## Hiram Maxim (Jun 22, 2009)

I get my wood from neighbors, tree services, and Craig's list free-bees. 

I have only bought 2 face cords........ever. And that was because it was cut, split, and seasoned for $25!

If you need some wood, I can be on the look out for you. If the tree service drops some off, I will let you know. 

One of best ways to get wood around here is to approach tree services in the neighborhood and look for them after storms.

After storms they will be more than happy to give it away so they don't have to haul the stuff. We are lucky here in Michigan with all the trees!

Here is what I currently have to work with................from a tree service, all for a case of Heineken! :cheese: 

Red Oak,Cherry,and White Ash!

90% of the wood they dropped off was cut in 16" and 32" lengths.


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## kbrown (Jun 23, 2009)

Hiram Maxim said:
			
		

> I get my wood from neighbors, tree services, and Craig's list free-bees.
> 
> I have only bought 2 face cords........ever. And that was because it was cut, split, and seasoned for $25!
> 
> If you need some wood, I can be on the look out for you. If the tree service drops some off, I will let you know.



Thanks so much for the offer Hiram. I would love to get my foot in the door with some services. This being our first full season of burning, I think that I am just in a slight panic mode not knowing just how much we are going to need for the season and although there is wood on the racks, some of it really shouldn't be burned until the 2010/11 season. One service was just in my neighborhood last week and even with my name on their list and the homeowner telling the guys that I wanted the wood, they still gave it to their sub. It was tough not being on site to "claim it" but those are the breaks. Seems like it can be a game to play to get the good wood with some of these guys. I'm gonna keep on doing the CL thing and word of mouth by all means.


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## Don Ed (Jul 31, 2009)

I'm starting out with 2 cords but we'll only burn while we are not teaching.  I am guessing I'll need more so I'm on the lookout for more free deals.  Good Luck!


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## SolarAndWood (Jul 31, 2009)

Don Ed said:
			
		

> but we'll only burn while we are not teaching.



Famous last words, you will be burning 24/7 and trying to figure out how to get 5 years ahead in no time.


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## firefighterjake (Jul 31, 2009)

SolarAndWood said:
			
		

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HehHeh . . . I was thinking the same thing . . . I suspect a lot of 24/7 wood burners start out thinking they will only be burning nights and weekends and then once they realize it's safe and cheaper than oil/propane. . . . . well, the rest is history.


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## FrankMA (Jul 31, 2009)

Last year was our 1st year burning and we went through about 3 cords. That was burning from November to March about 80% of the time and it was a pretty cold winter. Most of the time it was in the 20's and we never got any of the mid winter "thaws" we usually get aroung here. It was all good, seasoned hardwood - I still have about 1 cord leftover. At the suggestion of many on this site, I got 4 cords and it worked out great.


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## LLigetfa (Jul 31, 2009)

Last year we burned 24/7 but this year we plan to let the furnace kick in more unless the price of natural gas goes up substantially again.


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## Hiram Maxim (Jul 31, 2009)

Heatit,

Did you want some Red Oak?  

If you want to bring your chain saw over, I have a little over a face cord you can have. Everything is on the driveway.......

Let me know.

Hiram


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## BrotherBart (Jul 31, 2009)

New burners laugh but I always say have a cord a month on hand December through March. After you get used to the stove it will be less but you go through more wood that first year. And because it won't be as dry as you think it is so you will burn more than if you had the bone dry stuff and a season under your belt with the stove.


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## SolarAndWood (Jul 31, 2009)

BrotherBart said:
			
		

> New burners laugh but I always say have a cord a month on hand December through March.



I will be one happy wood scrounger/processor if I ever get down to anywhere near 4 cord/year.


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## BrotherBart (Jul 31, 2009)

SolarAndWood said:
			
		

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Put the cat back in the stove.  :lol: We used to go through five to six cords a year. The last two years with the new stove have been colder than average and we burned a little over three cords of oak each season keeping the house from 72 to 74. What we didn't have is the snowfalls we have had in the past.


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## SolarAndWood (Jul 31, 2009)

The cat is still there, just no way to encourage the gasses through it anymore.  And I refuse to put any more money into those bleep to bleep bleep bleep stoves.  Even with it working properly, we went through 7-8 although 2/3 of it was softwood as opposed to oak.

My big dilemma now is whether to buy some time with a new big bombproof stove or take the big swing and try to get the boiler/distribution system in place.


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## kingfisher (Aug 1, 2009)

are you guys talking face cords


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## LLigetfa (Aug 1, 2009)

kingfisher said:
			
		

> are you guys talking face cords


LOL

I wish.


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## Hiram Maxim (Aug 1, 2009)

kingfisher said:
			
		

> are you guys talking face cords



Outside of Michigan when folks talk cords they are referring to a full cord!  (3  cords for us Michiganders)  %-P


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## kingfisher (Aug 1, 2009)

I think I'm gonna have to get more wood


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## SolarAndWood (Aug 1, 2009)

kingfisher said:
			
		

> I think I'm gonna have to get more wood



Better to figure that out on Aug 1 instead of mid February.  Any wood that you don't burn this year is only going to be that much drier next year.


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## kingfisher (Aug 1, 2009)

I have a bunch of ash to pick up that was cut and split last Dec. Plus I have alot of birch for next year if I want it.


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## Stevebass4 (Aug 1, 2009)

kingfisher said:
			
		

> are you guys talking face cords



what the heck is a "face" cord   












a few that need to be stacked 






and a few misc stacks


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## burntime (Aug 1, 2009)

Stevebass, how do the piles dry?  I used to stack 3 wide on a pallet and the middle was always damp.  Now I do two rows with an air gap and it seems to dry much better/quicker.  I am in Wisconsin so not a long summer but it does seem to make a difference to me.  Last year I stacked in the open air/sun with the wind going thru it.  Seemed to make a big difference from the piles in the shade on the property line.  Never dry enough after a season or two...


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## Stevebass4 (Aug 1, 2009)

i hope they will be fine in 10/11 - this has been a very tough summer in New England because it seems to have rained every other day - but when it's not raining they get full sun and wind - plus nothing is bigger than 12 inches (have a small insert)   

i guess time will tell


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## kbrown (Aug 1, 2009)

Hiram Maxim said:
			
		

> Heatit,
> 
> Did you want some Red Oak?
> 
> ...



That would be great, but only if you are sure you don't want it. I have been able to do some scrounging and have about 3 cords total in the yard now. Tree services stuff never panned out, but word of mouth did pretty good.


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## Backwoods Savage (Aug 1, 2009)

Hiram Maxim said:
			
		

> kingfisher said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Hiram, that's "most Michiganders." A cord is still a cord. I'm actually amazed that some folks haven't been taken to court over this so-called "cord" of wood they sell around here.


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## LLigetfa (Aug 1, 2009)

The problem with calculating a face cord is it depends on the bucked length. Based on the length I buck my wood, I'd have to change my sig to say 33 face cord shed.  In the last two years I bucked, split, and stacked around 69 face cords.


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## kbrown (Aug 1, 2009)

Ok, what am I missing here; a face cord is a defined measurement as well as a cord, so how is it that it would be anything other than 42.6 cubic feet? Is this because of how one would stack the wood depending upon the size of the splits?


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## LLigetfa (Aug 1, 2009)

heatit said:
			
		

> Ok, what am I missing here; a face cord is a defined measurement as well as a cord, so how is it that it would be anything other than 42.6 cubic feet? Is this because of how one would stack the wood depending upon the size of the splits?


There is no legal definition for a face cord but the commonly held definition is 4 feet by 8 feet by whatever the bucked length.  The bucked length being an unknown variable makes it impossible to convert to cubic feet.  A full cord has three dimensions so can be translated into 128 cubic feet.


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## kbrown (Aug 1, 2009)

See, I was going on the principal that a face cord is 4x8x16" or any other variant so long as it comes to around 42 cu ft.  So, when speaking of face cords, you should always ask the bucked length then?


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## SolarAndWood (Aug 1, 2009)

16 is the common definition and rarely deviated from but the technical definition is 4x8x buck length.


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## burntime (Aug 1, 2009)

A face cord is a third of a cord, plain and simple.  Yes, basically 42-43 cu ft no matter how you measure it the volume needs to be 42-43 cu ft.  Yes 16 inch is the most common.  I tend to go 16-18 on my stuff.  Sometimes close to 20.  But, I also have my share of 12 inch stuff.  It all averages out.


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## LLigetfa (Aug 1, 2009)

A third of a cord is a safe assumption because wood is seldom bucked shorter than 16 inches.  Some purveyors may sell a stove cord, the "stove" being a cookstove that takes wood shorter than 16 inches.  A stove cord is usually split to smaller size as well so there is a lot more air space in the stack.


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## kbrown (Aug 1, 2009)

.....and this is why I love Hearth.com! Always learning something. ;-)


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## Hiram Maxim (Aug 2, 2009)

heatit said:
			
		

> Hiram Maxim said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Its not that I don't want it  :cheese: but thought I would help you out a bit......
If you want some PM me with your phone number and I will give you a call
http://i39.tinypic.com/k183lz.jpg


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## Hiram Maxim (Aug 2, 2009)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> Hiram Maxim said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I know what you are saying! Like the company in Detroit (lists on Ebay) that calls a face cord, a cord. I have also seen this on Craigs list........

I think if I ever had to start buying wood..... I'd just turn on the NG furnace :roll:


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