# fastest seasoning wood.



## ohiojoe13 (Mar 7, 2015)

I have access to some woods and the owner says I can cut whatever I want.  What trees do I go for that will be ready to burn 15-16 winter. I looked it over quick and didn't see any ash. But I saw a good amount of cherry. Going tomorrow to do some cutting.  Thanks for the help.


----------



## pen (Mar 7, 2015)

Cherry seasons pretty quick also.  I always like cherry.  

However, I'd be looking for anything dead standing / leaner / dead tops /  etc, just to treat the woods as I'd treat my own property, in hopes of being able to cut there for a long while.

Good luck,

pen


----------



## PA. Woodsman (Mar 7, 2015)

Silver Maple doesn't take too long to dry out either.....


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 7, 2015)

Pine


----------



## claydogg84 (Mar 7, 2015)

Hogwildz said:


> Pine



Skip the pine - look for soft maple, cherry, and black walnut.


----------



## nrford (Mar 7, 2015)

ASH, if it isn't dead already odds are it will be soon!


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 7, 2015)

claydogg84 said:


> Skip the pine - look for soft maple, cherry, and black walnut.


Walnut ain't drying in a year. Ive plenty of Black Walnut, and it wasn't no where near ready by the next season.
Chery will be lucky to be ready by next season.
I'm not a soft Maple fan, but of course I'll burn it if I have it.
Discount pine all you want, it has plenty of place in burning and really excels in some circumstances.
You can skip it, but it will be dry in the time frame he is asking about.
Cherry and Black Walnut won't be ready 8 or 9 months.


----------



## claydogg84 (Mar 7, 2015)

Hogwildz said:


> Walnut ain't drying in a year. Ive plenty of Black Walnut, and it wasn't no where near ready by the next season.
> Chery will be lucky to be ready by next season.
> I'm not a soft Maple fan, but of course I'll burn it if I have it.
> Discount pine all you want, it has plenty of place in burning and really excels in some circumstances.
> ...



He's looking for wood for 15-16 season. That starts around November for most folks - 8 months from now. Black Walnut and Cherry will be low 20s on the mm by then. If and when my pine trees fall down on my property line, they will be thrown in the woods, not in my stove. It's about as useful as Cottonwood, which is barely capable of holding my tarps down. I do agree with the other person that suggested looking for dead standing stuff, as that is sure to have a head start on the drying process.


----------



## drz1050 (Mar 7, 2015)

Everybody in NY hates pine.. I have no problem with it. Since everyone hates it, it's actually hard to find though. Most people just throw it away without telling anyone.


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 7, 2015)

claydogg84 said:


> He's looking for wood for 15-16 season. That starts around November for most folks - 8 months from now. Black Walnut and Cherry will be low 20s on the mm by then. If and when my pine trees fall down on my property line, they will be thrown in the woods, not in my stove. It's about as useful as Cottonwood, which is barely capable of holding my tarps down. I do agree with the other person that suggested looking for dead standing stuff, as that is sure to have a head start on the drying process.


Whatever you say. And sorry to tell you, but they won't be ready in 8 months. You best get yourself a new moisture meter. If you need a moisture meter to know your wood is ready, you best get a few more years under your belt. Anyone can literally pick up and observe a split and tell if it is dry enough to be burnt or not. Weight alone tells everything.
Toss what you want, there are plenty of out burning brothers out west that have nothing but pine, fur, and other evergreens to burn, and do just fine with it.
Comparing pine to cottonwood shows your ignorance right there.
As far as dead standing, some folks get lucky once in a while to find it dry enough to burn. But, if you do some research, you will find enough posts on this forum where folks had dead standing, or even cut poles that were dead for even a few years, that were no where near close to burn.
Your statements are just crap thrown against a wall.


----------



## bholler (Mar 7, 2015)

Hogwildz said:


> Whatever you say. And sorry to tell you, but they won't be ready in 8 months. You best get yourself a new moisture meter. If you need a moisture meter to know your wood is ready, you best get a few more years under your belt. Anyone can literally pick up and observe a split and tell if it is dry enough to be burnt or not. Weight alone tells everything.


I am sorry but i regularly get cherry maple and ash below 20% in 7 or 8 months easily I have some stacks of oak locust and hickory that i let go for 2 years but the rest i am cutting now and it will be ready for next year.  I with you about the pine i don't go and look for it but i will cut it up and burn it gladly in the shoulder season.


----------



## jatoxico (Mar 7, 2015)

Dead standing is a good start and taking some is prob good from a land management point of view too. But, and I'm sure Pen would agree, it's no guarantee and can be a bit of a crap shoot. Dead standing oak can be quite wet for example. As mentioned tops are supposed to be more reliably dry. Dead standing locust is often quite dry around here.

Any of the softer woods are sure to season faster than hardwood. So true softwoods like pine but also hardwoods like aspen etc and most birches seem to dry pretty quick as does basswood. They're generally lower btu but heat just fine even if you do have to load a little more frequently.


----------



## DougA (Mar 7, 2015)

Pine, poplar, willow, basswood, ash all will dry in one summer if split and stacked properly.  Silver maple and some others will be OK if split smaller.


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 8, 2015)

bholler said:


> I am sorry but i regularly get cherry maple and ash below 20% in 7 or 8 months easily I have some stacks of oak locust and hickory that i let go for 2 years but the rest i am cutting now and it will be ready for next year.  I with you about the pine i don't go and look for it but i will cut it up and burn it gladly in the shoulder season.


If you split it small enough, it may very well dry in time, but personally, I don't split small. Most that do that, then complain of suffering short burn times & flaming nuclear fireboxes.
Depends on the stove you're using also. I may be wrong, but your stove is an older pre-epa model, which is much more forgiving to higher moisture content than the new EPA stoves are.
The OP didn't mention what stove he has, or is getting, so he may get by with less than optimal wood.
I have had both Cherry and Ash split in good sizes for what I use, 6x8ish in size, and they weren't ready in a year, closer to two.

The issue have with Cherry, is it leaves a shitload of ash, which lays on top of everything under it, insulating and choking off the lower splits from burning as well as they could. Just the experiences I have had with it. And this is 3+ year old Cherry I am speaking of. Not a moisture issue, but a def ash issue. Black Walnut is another notorious high ash wood. Both Medium heat, and tons of ash. I will burn them, but usually during the day.
I can get an easy 8 hours out of a load of dry pine. Little ash, and little coaling compared to Oak or Cherry.
I don't have a problem with Pine, and even as large as I split it, its ready the next season.
I have 6 x 8 and other large white oak, red oak & hickory splits in the barn, and have had them stacked outside at times also, that will need/needed a full 3 years to be dry for optimal burn. Will it burn in 2, sure, but not like it will in 3. If you can burn Oak & Hickory in two years drying time, kudos to you, I'll wait 3 and get the full benefit from it.
Hickory, I won't even think of burning for 3 years. Been there, done that. And I know I am not the only one that tried Hickory less than 3 years, and had issue with it.

If hes in a pinch, then he needs whatever will dry enough to burn in 8 months.
Bottom line is, it  is best to get 3 years ahead minimal when one can, then it won't matter what you have, it will be ready, with no issues.
Processing year to year, for the next years season, is just asking for problems unless you're in a very dry or arid area, and this side of the country ain't that. Not yet, anyway.
Of course if one splits little 2x2 splits, they will dry sooner, and in my opinion be useless for what my needs are.


----------



## jdogg (Mar 8, 2015)

No bark deadwood has always burned fine for me. I'd start by taking out the deadwood and downfalls on your friends property. Next I would take out the crooked trees and leaners. Show your friend the nice straight ones you left, tell him they will now grow faster with more sunlight and be worth more $$ if he ever sells them for timber. Tell him you will be glad to cut up the tops the loggers leave. Cut your stumps as close to the ground as you can without hitting dirt and stack the brush you leave in piles for the critters etc. If you treat his woods as if they were yours you may have a spot for life. If you just go in their and start cutting what ever is easy you may wear out your welcome in short order!


----------



## HDRock (Mar 8, 2015)

Hogwildz said:


> Walnut ain't drying in a year. Ive plenty of Black Walnut, and it wasn't no where near ready by the next season.
> Chery will be lucky to be ready by next season.
> I'm not a soft Maple fan, but of course I'll burn it if I have it.
> Discount pine all you want, it has plenty of place in burning and really excels in some circumstances.
> ...


walnut drying time depends on when it was cut, when it was split and stacked, what size it was split and where it was stacked,  same as all other firewood


----------



## claydogg84 (Mar 8, 2015)

Hogwildz said:


> Whatever you say. And sorry to tell you, but they won't be ready in 8 months. You best get yourself a new moisture meter. If you need a moisture meter to know your wood is ready, you best get a few more years under your belt. Anyone can literally pick up and observe a split and tell if it is dry enough to be burnt or not. Weight alone tells everything.
> Toss what you want, there are plenty of out burning brothers out west that have nothing but pine, fur, and over evergreens to burn, and do just fine with it.
> Comparing pine to cottonwood shows your ignorance right there.
> As far as dead standing, some folks get lucky once in a while to find it dry enough to burn. But, if you do some research, you will find enough posts on this forum where folks had dead standing, or even cut poles that were dead for even a few years, that were no where near close to burn.
> Your statements are just crap thrown against a wall.



I could bicker with you all day long here. I don't agree, or respect most of your opinions. When someone doesn't agree with you, you resort to calling them ignorant, how nice. You shouldn't compare the guys out west to the guys on the east coast. They are forced to burn pine, and given the chance to burn hardwoods, I'm sure they would. To the OP, sorry about the derailment here, but I still recommend dead standing first followed by soft maple, cherry, and walnut. Everything should be split on the smaller side for 8-9 month dry time.


----------



## Gboutdoors (Mar 8, 2015)

Pine, and dead standing with no bark on. Cut 16" and split 3-4" and the pine will be ready FOR SURE. I can go out back today cut a dead standing Red Oak 8" round or less with no bark and it will read 20-24% main trunk and in the teens on top. Split to 3-4 stack and burn this fall. I do not cut ANY GREEN unless its a blow down from storms then c/s/s for two years at least.

 As said by others out west all they burn is pine and softwood or freeze. I have my own land with hundreds of dead standing Oaks and White Pine. My stacks are 70% Oak the rest Pine and have been that way for three years now. We have been heating with wood for 5 years now,the first two were a fight trying to burn the Oaks cut down to make room for the house most of which were green.

 A fellow employee that also cuts and sells wood told me skip the Oak and to split the Pines that had been dropped to get us going. By the way he has burned wood for heat for 60+ years and  burns almost ONLY PINE because all his customers want all the hardwood he cuts. 

After finding this sight and learning more about cutting,splitting and stacking different types of wood pine will always be my got I wood for fast seasoning and clean burning.

Good luck with your new found wood supply and let's us know what you find.


----------



## ohiojoe13 (Mar 8, 2015)

Well that escalated quickly.  I still don't have a stove yet. I want to make sure I have enough wood before I buy one. Most likely it will be a non cat epa stove. When I walked the woods the first time I don't remember any pine. There were only 2 down trees one that was rotted and the other one I think was maple. I may check that one out. The woods is a valley and no way to get my truck back there so everything will be done by hand. Will try to take a few pictures today so you guys can id some of the trees. Thanks for the help.


----------



## ckitch (Mar 8, 2015)

First year burner and have to say soft maple was a big dissapointment, I think its comparable to willow JUNK. Now pine has exceeded all my expectations burns hot, not as long as ash but great stuff


----------



## wahoowad (Mar 8, 2015)

Standing dead. Go look for it.


----------



## bholler (Mar 8, 2015)

Hogwildz said:


> I may be wrong, but your stove is an older pre-epa model, which is much more forgiving to higher moisture content than the new EPA stoves are.


My stove has no bearing on the moisture meter reading sorry.  And my stove needs dry wood in order to get the secondary combustion working just like any other stove.   Just because you cant get wood dry that quick doesn't make everyone who can an idiot It just means you don't know how to get wood dry that fast.  Now yes if you have a stove that tends to toke off on you then yes you will have to split larger and it will take more time to get it dry but i have never had an issue with it and neither has my father with his quad.  And with my smaller splits i can fit more wood into the fire box with much less space between them which for me means longer burn times.


----------



## DougA (Mar 8, 2015)

ckitch said:


> have to say soft maple was a big dissapointment, I think its comparable to willow JUNK.


I guess if you have lots of wood, then you would only burn the best but some of us have to burn everything.  I've got six 30"+ soft maple trees that went down last year that have to be css this spring.  It's either that or pay hundreds of $$ to haul away the stuff. I found that all wood, including willow, burn just fine if you intermingle them with better hardwoods and burn the best wood only at night.  I don't even sort my wood into species, I just burn it when it's dry enough.  The only wood I call junk is under 2" or has rotted.  If I had 10 acres of 50 yr hardwood that is 70' high & perfectly straight, then my opinion would be far different.


----------



## claydogg84 (Mar 8, 2015)

DougA said:


> I guess if you have lots of wood, then you would only burn the best but some of us have to burn everything.  I've got six 30"+ soft maple trees that went down last year that have to be css this spring.  It's either that or pay hundreds of $$ to haul away the stuff. I found that all wood, including willow, burn just fine if you intermingle them with better hardwoods and burn the best wood only at night.  I don't even sort my wood into species, I just burn it when it's dry enough.  The only wood I call junk is under 2" or has rotted.  If I had 10 acres of 50 yr hardwood that is 70' high & perfectly straight, then my opinion would be far different.



I actually like the soft maple. Sure, it's not Sugar Maple, but it did fine mixed in with other hard woods.


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 8, 2015)

ohiojoe13 said:


> Well that escalated quickly.  I still don't have a stove yet. I want to make sure I have enough wood before I buy one. Most likely it will be a non cat epa stove. When I walked the woods the first time I don't remember any pine. There were only 2 down trees one that was rotted and the other one I think was maple. I may check that one out. The woods is a valley and no way to get my truck back there so everything will be done by hand. Will try to take a few pictures today so you guys can id some of the trees. Thanks for the help.


Grab that maple before it rots. Any EPA stove is going to be less forgiving on less than dry wood. They will burn, but the wetter it is, the less efficiently it will burn, and less heat you will get out of the load. Do yourself a huge favor, and get an idea of how many cord you will need a season, and get 3 years ahead. The keep getting more, so you can have a nice 3 year rotation. If you can get ahead at that plan, almost anything you stack will be waiting and ready, and burn very nicely when the time comes to burn it. Plus, the stacks are nice to look at, and a put a smile on your face knowing you will have optimal wood ready when needed. It is a nice feeling.
Enjoy.

Access can be a real PITA. I have wood on the property here, that I just don't have the equipment to access the wood. So I bring in pole length, set it in an easily accessible area, and chip away at it at my leisure.
Another benefit of being ahead with stock.
What you think you need cordage wise, figure another cord to cord and a half, and you may find you're glad you did.

One more suggestion, you could also process and stack the wood in by species if you have the time and space. Then you will have stacks that are ready, and others in the waiting for next season or the season after.

Just be careful how small you split the wood. Anything real small will go up like a tinder box, and if this is your first go around with a wood stove, and you load that firebox full of small stuff, you will need a few changes of shorts until you get comfortable with the stove, how it burns, and what it can do.

Get what you can for next year, but try to concentrate on the denser hardwoods for the following stockpile, you will see the drastic difference between oak, hickory and a few others, as compared to pine, cherry, walnut, maple etc. And it will be a pleasurable difference.


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 8, 2015)

claydogg84 said:


> I could bicker with you all day long here. I don't agree, or respect most of your opinions. When someone doesn't agree with you, you resort to calling them ignorant, how nice. You shouldn't compare the guys out west to the guys on the east coast. They are forced to burn pine, and given the chance to burn hardwoods, I'm sure they would. To the OP, sorry about the derailment here, but I still recommend dead standing first followed by soft maple, cherry, and walnut. Everything should be split on the smaller side for 8-9 month dry time.


You seem to like to bicker with more than just me from the posts I have read of yours, and you just chose the wrong person, that's all.
I really don't care if you agree or disagree with me, nor do I really give a crap if you respect me or not. I am not here to please you. I am here to pass along what I was taught, have learned, and have experienced. And if I disagree, I have no problem letting that be known. If someone disagrees with me, that is fine. If someone chooses to be an asshat about it, then I will enjoy pointing that out also.

To come into a thread, and discount what another member is saying, without explanation, is just that, being an asshat. If the shoe fits....
And yes, I can be one at times also.

I was not comparing west to east. I was pointing out, that pine is a decent wood, that dries quickly, puts out heat, and burns fine. Especially for someone who does not have a stockpile of seasoned, dry wood.
If Pine was so horrible, westerners would be screwed, but obviously they are not. THAT was my point. Whether they would burn hard wood or not, some don't have that option period. If I could burn fuel rods from the nuke plant, I would surely do that. Yes, non-relevant, get it?
To say, forget Pine, go get this and that, is jut a douche of a comment. The guy asked for quick drying wood, I gave an answer. Want to add to that, great, but don't be a prick about it discounting what another member suggests, because it ain't to your liking. 

Yes, split on then small side, but be wary of shorter burn times, and much hotter fires.
If I remember correctly, you just swapped out for a Defiant, jerryrigged it, then added an 8" liner to, and cracked the stove. Then purchased a new one that calls for a 6" liner, and hooked the 8" to it, then you were whining about the new one not burning hot enough.  It was suggested your wood was not dry. Then you gave the person who gave you suggestions, crap about it, and called them as trolling you. The Defiant would burn less than optimal wood than the new stove you have, so maybe your wood was not as dry as you claim. Maybe you need to look in the mirror, rather than get all butt hurt when someone give you advise your asking for, gets crap from you about it, then calls you on your ignorance, less experienced bullcrap.

You asked for it, you got it. 
You may go now.
Pine


----------



## claydogg84 (Mar 8, 2015)

Hogwildz said:


> You seem to like to bicker with more than just me from the posts I have read of yours, and you just chose the wrong person, that's all.
> I really don't care if you agree or disagree with me, nor do I really give a crap if you respect me or not. I am not here to please you. I am here to pass along what I was taught, have learned, and have experienced. And if I disagree, I have no problem letting that be known. If someone disagrees with me, that is fine. If someone chooses to be an asshat about it, then I will enjoy pointing that out also.
> 
> To come into a thread, and discount what another member is saying, without explanation, is just that, being an asshat. If the shoe fits....
> ...



You claim to not care, and then write an essay - for the third time. You've got the butt hurt thing right, but it's not me, it's you . One more thing, experience doesn't always equate to knowledge, you being a prime example. Take care !


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 8, 2015)

bholler said:


> My stove has no bearing on the moisture meter reading sorry.  And my stove needs dry wood in order to get the secondary combustion working just like any other stove.   Just because you cant get wood dry that quick doesn't make everyone who can an idiot It just means you don't know how to get wood dry that fast.  Now yes if you have a stove that tends to toke off on you then yes you will have to split larger and it will take more time to get it dry but i have never had an issue with it and neither has my father with his quad.  And with my smaller splits i can fit more wood into the fire box with much less space between them which for me means longer burn times.


My misunderstanding, I am not very familiar with your stove, hence I said I may be wrong... yes we all know that happens from time to time.
A member I have been pm'in with, is doing a reline, and is weighing flex & rigid. He mentioned double wall smooth flex, I advised him to PM you about the double wall flex, as you may have some input about quality, performance etc. Of course he is also weighing double wall rigid, so you know what I had to say about that.


----------



## ckitch (Mar 8, 2015)

DougA said:


> I guess if you have lots of wood, then you would only burn the best but some of us have to burn everything.  I've got six 30"+ soft maple trees that went down last year that have to be css this spring.  It's either that or pay hundreds of $$ to haul away the stuff. I found that all wood, including willow, burn just fine if you intermingle them with better hardwoods and burn the best wood only at night.  I don't even sort my wood into species, I just burn it when it's dry enough.  The only wood I call junk is under 2" or has rotted.  If I had 10 acres of 50 yr hardwood that is 70' high & perfectly straight, then my opinion would be far different.



Sorry came on a little strong there, but heard allot of people (not here) compare it to ash and that is just not true. I will cut it and burn it in the future, I'm sure, because I'm pretty much a scrounger with some connections so I take what I can get.


----------



## NordicSplitter (Mar 8, 2015)

drz1050 said:


> Everybody in NY hates pine.. I have no problem with it. Since everyone hates it, it's actually hard to find though. Most people just throw it away without telling anyone.


I tell my friends never to burn Pine if they have it. I tell them I will come over and dispose of it for free  Lol


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 8, 2015)

NordicSplitter said:


> I tell my friends never to burn Pine if they have it. I tell them I will come over and dispose of it for free  Lol


Pine gets the same bad rap around here. I used to think the same way, until I got a free couple cords worth from my neighbor, delivered to my lot.
During shoulder, between loads in the coldest of days, and night time fires when  it is milder out, is perfect for pine. 
I'll burn just about anything, but really appreciate some characteristics of less than desirable woods, and the place they serve around here.


----------



## DougA (Mar 8, 2015)

Hogwildz said:


> Just be careful how small you split the wood. Anything real small will go up like a tinder box, and if this is your first go around with a wood stove, and you load that firebox full of small stuff, you will need a few changes of shorts until you get comfortable with the stove, how it burns, and what it can do.


++1 from personal experience.


----------



## Fred Wright (Mar 8, 2015)

I wouldn't discount pine at all. The tales about chimney fires and excessive creosote probably originate from cases of burning the stuff before its had time to fully cure or burning it in log form. Pine is good firewood, catches up quickly and burns well. Folks in the northern latitudes burn pine all the time; it's the only tree that grows up there.

By all means, standing dead trees (not oak) are a fine way to get started on next winter's supply. Oak won't season in its natural state. From standing dead, it's gotta have at least a year split & stacked before ya burn it. If you can get some now, set it aside for later use.

I prefer red maple for fast drying time. Green off the stump, red maple will be ready to burn next winter if you get it stacked now. It won't burn super hot but it'll burn. Stack it loose where the sun and wind can get to it.

Mize well start working now on wood for winters to come, since you already have the OK to cut. Get what you'll need for next winter first, split & stack it. Then you can begin working up wood for the future.


----------



## bholler (Mar 8, 2015)

Hogwildz said:


> My misunderstanding, I am not very familiar with your stove, hence I said I may be wrong... yes we all know that happens from time to time.
> A member I have been pm'in with, is doing a reline, and is weighing flex & rigid. He mentioned double wall smooth flex, I advised him to PM you about the double wall flex, as you may have some input about quality, performance etc. Of course he is also weighing double wall rigid, so you know what I had to say about that.


Yeah i talked to him about it.  My stove is pre epa but it is also a very early clean burn stove.  I am by no means saying it is as efficient as new ones but for its age it is pretty efficient and clean burning.  I absolutely respect your opinions and experience but when you say that Cherry walnut and maple cannot get dry in 8 months you are wrong it is very possible i do it every year.  Would i rather be 3 years ahead?  You bet but i live on 1/4 acre in town so i am not able to do that so i split small and dry fast.  And i have never had my stove take off on me due to small splits i know some have a tendency to do so but knowing my situation i would not buy one of them.


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 8, 2015)

It all depends on the size ya split it I suppose.
We all do what we must. 1/4 acre is a tough one. That is one issue I am glad I don't have.
Guess the OP should weight these things in consideration when purchasing their stove.
I welcome and respect your opinions also. I guess it all depends on how opinions are expressed, as to how they are responded to.
And of course which way the wind is blowing, what positions the planets are lined in, and which side of the bed one wakes up on.
Hoping soon, we can all be talking about putting the stove night night till next season.


----------



## Pennsyltucky Chris (Mar 8, 2015)

Hogwildz said:


> Cherry and Black Walnut won't be ready 8 or 9 months.



I had Cherry at 14-16% in 6 months.

From my experience, Cherry is ready after one summer.


----------



## husky345 vermont resolute (Mar 8, 2015)

be nice guys spring is coming lol


----------



## jatoxico (Mar 8, 2015)

husky345 vermont resolute said:


> be nice guys spring is coming lol



This evening is a shoulder season night. Got a load of sass ready to fire up. Actually wish I had some pine left but I am out. See how the sass does.


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 8, 2015)

jatoxico said:


> This evening is a shoulder season night. Got a load of sass ready to fire up. Actually wish I had some pine left but I am out. See how the sass does.


Sass will burn similar to pine, but smells even better.


----------



## jatoxico (Mar 8, 2015)

Hogwildz said:


> Sass will burn similar to pine, but smells even better.



It sure is snappy. Don't think I've ever burned a full load just pcs here and there. Just fired up.


----------



## ohiojoe13 (Mar 8, 2015)

Got about a half of truck load of cherry. It's all cherry and maple in there.


----------



## claydogg84 (Mar 8, 2015)

ohiojoe13 said:


> Got about a half of truck load of cherry. It's all cherry and maple in there.



Good stuff. If it's hard maple it's going to struggle to burn after the 8 or so months you have. If you're unsure, snap a photo and share it - There are a few guys here that are very good at tree identification.


----------



## jatoxico (Mar 8, 2015)

ohiojoe13 said:


> Got about a half of truck load of cherry. It's all cherry and maple in there.



Keep it coming and...get it split ASAP. One mistake I made was stacking too deep when I was trying to get ahead and putting up a lot of wood in a short time. I wanted to save space and wasn't setup right. I stacked on pallets but didn't allow for the airflow I needed. When it came time to burn, even though it was 3 year CSS the stuff in the interior wasn't fully dry.

Some of my wood is still stacked on pallets but now two single rows instead of solid through. If you're trying to get wood ready for next season I'd say single rows are essential.


----------



## claydogg84 (Mar 8, 2015)

jatoxico said:


> Keep it coming and...get it split ASAP. One mistake I made was stacking too deep when I was trying to get ahead and putting up a lot of wood in a short time. I wanted to save space and wasn't setup right. I stacked on pallets but didn't allow for the airflow I needed. When it came time to burn, even though it was 3 year CSS the stuff in the interior wasn't fully dry.
> 
> Some of my wood is still stacked on pallets but now two single rows instead of solid through. If you're trying to get wood ready for next season I'd say single rows are essential.



How deep were you stacked, and what kind of wood? I'm asking because I'm currently set up like that and am hoping it will be good after 2-3 years. It's not ideal but I'm stacked 3 pallets deep by 4 wide for my one section.


----------



## jatoxico (Mar 8, 2015)

claydogg84 said:


> How deep were you stacked, and what kind of wood? I'm asking because I'm currently set up like that and am hoping it will be good after 2-3 years. It's not ideal but I'm stacked 3 pallets deep by 4 wide for my one section.


These were single pallets so what are they 3.5-4'? Mostly oak but other hardwoods too, maple, some sass, locust. Had a 2 yr pallet of ash that really could have been better too. Probably could be successful in 2-3 years if; effectively top covered and in breezy/sunny location. If you're stacked multiple pallets deep you'll need a prime location and top cover IMO.

I have a fair amount of shade so not the best conditions. It was a big disappointment to hit marginal wood especially once you've had better. I ended doing some restacking and don't do that anymore. For the OP whose trying to get wood seasoned in a few months for next year, go single row.


----------



## Dix (Mar 8, 2015)

Pine, cherry, ash, elm split small.

What Hogs said. That pine will get you through. You can mix it with less than seasoned hardwoods, and it'll get the job done.

I love pine, easy to get around here, as most people stack it by the road, and look at me like I'm nuts when I knock on the door and ask if I can have it.

6 loads in the 8 foot bed of the F250 in one week. I was a happy camper.


----------



## DougA (Mar 8, 2015)

Shade and lack of good airflow are a double whammy for good drying.  Sometimes there is not enough room to provide a better solution, so you have to accept what you can't change. I was getting too much mold on my wood from exactly the same shade and lack of airflow problem, so I spent a month plus $500. this fall building a few wood sheds where I could properly store enough wood for 2-3 yrs. ahead. I've got the room in the yard for that but some don't.  To be clear, I don't care if there is mold on my wood when it goes from outside into the stove immediately but I store a week's worth inside and mold is not something I can accept in my house on an ongoing basis.  Mold in a house is really bad news.

I separate my rows by about 10". It kinda varies a bit as I'm not the neatest stacker and I don't know if 10" is enough or too much but I do know that an inch or two is not enough for good air flow.  A lot also depends upon which direction the gap is going vs. the normal prevailing winds. I altered mine so that the wind now goes through rather than over and around the wood. I used to stack against a leeward wall that was shaded almost all day. The wood did dry eventually but was moldy.

If you want dry wood, all of these things combine to make a difference.


----------



## ohiojoe13 (Mar 8, 2015)

What are the characteristics of soft and hard maple? Also you guys say split small. How small is small? Like 4"? Thanks for all the help. I love that I can post in this forum and have answers in minutes.


----------



## Dix (Mar 8, 2015)

4" or so is good, stack single rows.

Keep anything in rounds that you can at 3" or so, to help with over night burns.

Rounds help alot when it's frigid outside.


----------



## drz1050 (Mar 8, 2015)

I have about 4 cords stacked on pallets 3 splits deep right alongside the train tracks.. it's a mix of birch, beech, oak and random other woods... mostly hard, with a little bit of pine and box elder thrown in. Lots of air flow, and no shade. Have had it there since last spring/ summer... hoping it'll be dry by next winter. Even when there's no breeze, the train comes by about 12x/ day so that creates some movement.. that was my thought process at least, not sure if it's enough to make any difference though.


----------



## Poindexter (Mar 8, 2015)

As above, softwoods like spruce and pine are your best friends for September 2015.  

If I could burn spruce only in my cat stove for the rest of my life I would have 1 complaint only, the bark flaking off on the living room carpet getting from the garage to the stove.  The family dries quick and burns nice.

From reading about it here, once you have a good supply of evergreen split and stacked, go after ash, cherry and soft maple next.  Once you have a bunch of that in the pipeline, then cut up  your first oak tree and look for it to be ready in Sept 17 maybe if you get it up fast, or more likely Sep 2018 if you spend a fair amount of time on evergreen and cherry first.

If you have any birch its a candidate for Sep 2015.  Whack it with a baseball bat or similar before you fell it.  Look for conchs, fungus globs growing on the trunk.  If you find one with zero, one or two conchs on it still alive and tinkling like a bowling pin when you whack the snot out of it, go ahead on, fell it and split it smaller than a 4x4 for Sep 2015 with good sun and good wind, stacked off the ground and covered on top.  21M BTU per cord average, pretty good really.  Punky birch with center rot is good enough to burn in shoulders, but you got to cover birch punk, it will absorb a lot of water in a hurry otherwise.

If you find a birch that sounds at all dull when you whack it, or one with three or more conchs on it, leave it standing for bird habitat.  If you got three birches to choose from, whack all three.  Leave the dull sounding two, fell the tinkly sounding one and see what you got.


----------



## DougA (Mar 9, 2015)

ohiojoe13 said:


> What are the characteristics of soft and hard maple? Also you guys say split small. How small is small? Like 4"?


I really depends upon your stove.  I've got a big stove and 4" is small for me and is burned during the day.  An overnight chunk would be 6x8 or larger.  A 4" round is 12.5 sq in whereas a 6x8" is 48 sq inches. So, big chunks take a long time to burn and are great for overnight. 
Of course, if your stove is 2 cu ft., 4" is not so small. 

Soft maple such as Silver Maple is much less dense, weighs less for the same sized piece when equal dryness to hard (Sugar) and has less BTU available to use for burning.  All the wood species that dry fast as lighter and less dense and that allows the moisture to escape faster when split and drying. The downside is that they burn faster and you have to re-load more often and dump ash more often.  They still produce good heat and if you have them available, why not use them?  There are a lot of maple species and they all have varying amounts of potential BTU.  The worst in our area are called Manitoba Maple which are actually Box Elder. Fast growing, rarely grows straight and smells bad when cutting or burning but wood is wood when you're cold, they all produce heat.


----------



## DougA (Mar 9, 2015)

Poindexter said:


> If you find a birch that sounds at all dull when you whack it, or one with three or more conchs on it, leave it standing for bird habitat.


Good for you. 
Always remember to leave some old stuff standing for all the small creatures to live in and eat from. I love walking in the woods in the winter and hearing all the woodpeckers echoing through the forest.  Better that than on my house!


----------



## Dune (Mar 9, 2015)

claydogg84 said:


> He's looking for wood for 15-16 season. That starts around November for most folks - 8 months from now. Black Walnut and Cherry will be low 20s on the mm by then. If and when my pine trees fall down on my property line, they will be thrown in the woods, not in my stove. It's about as useful as Cottonwood, which is barely capable of holding my tarps down. I do agree with the other person that suggested looking for dead standing stuff, as that is sure to have a head start on the drying process.


Hardly. Dry pine burns like gasoline.


----------



## ohiojoe13 (Mar 9, 2015)

Are there pines that are better than others? Or is any pine ok?  My in laws have been asking me to take a pine tree down for them.


----------



## Dune (Mar 9, 2015)

ckitch said:


> First year burner and have to say soft maple was a big dissapointment, I think its comparable to willow JUNK. Now pine has exceeded all my expectations burns hot, not as long as ash but great stuff


Must not have been seasoned enough. All types of maple burn great.


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 9, 2015)

ohiojoe13 said:


> Are there pines that are better than others? Or is any pine ok?  My in laws have been asking me to take a pine tree down for them.


Grab it, any pine will dry fast, and burn hot, with shorter burn time. If you have other wood to mix it with, feel free. It does burn hot.


----------



## Applesister (Mar 9, 2015)

Tamarack or larch
But they arent a common tree where I am. They usually appear as nursery trees. Douglas fir, also not in my area.
Im following this thread thinking of easy pickings to fill in serious gaps in next seasons woodpile.
Im gonna try some downed white pine, even though my instincts tell me it will burn like a run away train.
Im also a hopeful dead oak hunter, petrified, half gone partially decomposed white oak fan.
Like a swamp logger.


----------



## Jon_E (Mar 9, 2015)

Most of my firewood for the past three or four years has been white pine.  It does burn fast when dry.  The only problem with it is, because of the low BTU content, you have to burn twice as much volume to make up for it.  I'm sure that if I burned only hardwoods, my total firewood needs would decrease on an average annual basis.

I'm gonna wind up with mostly pine again for 2015-2016, but I'll have a fair amount of soft maple, ash, white birch and larch mixed in.


----------



## claydogg84 (Mar 9, 2015)

Dune said:


> Hardly. Dry pine burns like gasoline.



And just as fast. Plenty of better options that will meet his criteria.


----------



## Dune (Mar 9, 2015)

claydogg84 said:


> And just as fast. Plenty of better options that will meet his criteria.


 Um, no, I have no problem getting an overnight burn from pine except on very cold nights like last month ( I do have a pretty big firebox). One November I had coals after 24 hours. 
I burn a lot of pine, in fact I save oak specifically for the last before bedtime load, but only in the deep of winter. 
I get pine delivered to my house, stove length. I just have to split it and stack it. Pine also seasons faster than oak which is the predominant wood in my area. 

Pine is excellent fuel the only problem is you need twice as much because it isn't as dense as oak, but for how little effort I need to expend, I am gradually burning more pine and less oak. 

The funny thing is, on those super cold nights, 10 or more below zero, oak isn't hot enough and I have to burn some pine or the stove will overfill with coals (yes, I still need to do some insulating).


----------



## jatoxico (Mar 9, 2015)

I don't pass up pine either. Aside from it being a great shoulder season wood I find other uses for it. As a night/weekend burner I do a lot of cold starts. When I have it I use it as mostly as a mix in wood to stretch it out because it's very good at getting the firebox heated up quick until the hardwoods can take over.

As a scrounger I get what I get and actually wish I'd run into it more often. I usually run out of it before I run out of uses for it and as originally mentioned, it dries quick.


----------



## claydogg84 (Mar 9, 2015)

Dune said:


> Um, no, I have no problem getting an overnight burn from pine except on very cold nights like last month ( I do have a pretty big firebox). One November I had coals after 24 hours.
> I burn a lot of pine, in fact I save oak specifically for the last before bedtime load, but only in the deep of winter.
> I get pine delivered to my house, stove length. I just have to split it and stack it. Pine also seasons faster than oak which is the predominant wood in my area.
> 
> ...



What I said wasn't an opinion - it is factual, so "no" won't work there. Soft Maple, Cherry, Black Walnut, and Elm are all options in this situation. ALL of which are of a higher quality then pine.


----------



## ohiojoe13 (Mar 9, 2015)

How big should I split the pine. Also all the wood I have split and stacked now is in a single row. How much space do I need between rows?


----------



## claydogg84 (Mar 9, 2015)

ohiojoe13 said:


> How big should I split the pine. Also all the wood I have split and stacked now is in a single row. How much space do I need between rows?



I would split all the wood you're going to need this coming season 4-5". Are you stacking on pallets? 5-10" between rows will help it dry for sure.


----------



## DougA (Mar 9, 2015)

I like a variety of split sizes and stack everything together so when I grab pieces for the stove I'v got a choice of small, med. or large, depending upon my needs.

You'll need smaller than 4-5" to get the fire going, some 4-5" and some larger for longer burns but I'd say 4 to 6" is most useful. It also depends how large your stove is and how controllable it is. If I filled my 4 cu ft stove with dry 4-5" pine, I'd be in real trouble with overfiring, even with the controls closed.


----------



## jatoxico (Mar 9, 2015)

DougA said about what I would say. Remember you can always split it down a bit more depending on what you're trying to do but can't go back the other way. Considering you don't have a stove yet it's a bit tough but I'd go a little big with pine since it will still dry, any hardwood you want to have ready for next year I'd split a bit smaller. What you do for wood 2 and 3 years out might be different.


----------



## Seanm (Mar 9, 2015)

ohiojoe13 said:


> Are there pines that are better than others? Or is any pine ok?  My in laws have been asking me to take a pine tree down for them.


Ive included a link to chimney sweeps btu chart which will show the btus of the various coniferous trees. Any pine is good but like hard woods not all pines are created equal.

https://www.chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm


----------



## Tom Wallace (Mar 9, 2015)

claydogg84 said:


> You shouldn't compare the guys out west to the guys on the east coast. They are forced to burn pine, and given the chance to burn hardwoods, I'm sure they would.



I dunno, I'm quite happy with douglas fir actually. It's easy to split, dries fast, ignites easily and produces great heat. Sure oak would burn longer, but also takes 3 years to dry compared to 6-9 months for douglas fir to dry. Means I can use a lot less space in my yard for storing split wood. We are more or less forced to burn fir here, but we do have some hardwoods like madrona (higher btus than most oak), but that stuff's expensive. Not worth it in my opinion. We've also got a lot of fruit wood, mostly apple, plum and cherry, but again those are expensive, and in my experience a huge pain in the ass to split. Douglas fir can often be had for free since it's so abundant here. Other evergreens are not nearly as good as douglas fir, though. If I was forced to burn western red cedar or hemlock instead, both of which are common here, I'd consider hardwoods.


----------



## claydogg84 (Mar 9, 2015)

Tom Wallace said:


> I dunno, I'm quite happy with douglas fir actually. It's easy to split, dries fast, ignites easily and produces great heat. Sure oak would burn longer, but also takes 3 years to dry compared to 6-9 months for douglas fir to dry. Means I can use a lot less space in my yard for storing split wood. We are more or less forced to burn fir here, but we do have some hardwoods like madrona (higher btus than most oak), but that stuff's expensive. Not worth it in my opinion. We've also got a lot of fruit wood, mostly apple, plum and cherry, but again those are expensive, and in my experience a huge pain in the ass to split. Douglas fir can often be had for free since it's so abundant here. Other evergreens are not nearly as good as douglas fir, though. If I was forced to burn western red cedar or hemlock instead, both of which are common here, I'd consider hardwoods.



Free wood is always better than paying for it. Doug Fir is a bit better than the typical White Pine I would be burning around here - Actually pretty close to Silver/Red Maple BTU wise.


----------



## FIshing_Fool (Mar 9, 2015)

Douglas fir, alder, pine, plum and poplar should all be ready by next fall from my experience. Plum being the best (heat wise)  followed by alder and fir. 

The notion that us in the pacific NW would burn all hard woods if we could is false. My house would get WAY too hot most nights burning hardwood. I save that stuff for the days/nights the temperature is below freezing and this year I can probably count those on my fingers. 

Get a big alder tree if you can - great coaling properties, easy splitting even through big knots and good enough heat output.


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 9, 2015)

Applesister said:


> Tamarack or larch
> But they arent a common tree where I am. They usually appear as nursery trees. Douglas fir, also not in my area.
> Im following this thread thinking of easy pickings to fill in serious gaps in next seasons woodpile.
> Im gonna try some downed white pine, even though my instincts tell me it will burn like a run away train.
> ...


Split the pine big, and load big pcs, that will help control from a blazing inferno. Once the pitch burns off, it burns like any other wood, just doesn't last as long. Larger splits will also help it last a little longer.


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 9, 2015)

ohiojoe13 said:


> How big should I split the pine. Also all the wood I have split and stacked now is in a single row. How much space do I need between rows?


Split the pine on the larger size. Not like 2 blocks that fill the stove, you want dome air between to help the burn, but large 6x6, 6x8. It will be dry in time for next season, and those large pcs won't flame to hell like smaller ones, and will also get a longer burn time. Other hard woods, split around 4x4 size or in that area.


----------



## ohiojoe13 (Mar 9, 2015)

This is cherry correct?


----------



## claydogg84 (Mar 9, 2015)

ohiojoe13 said:


> This is cherry correct?



Yes.


----------



## ohiojoe13 (Mar 9, 2015)

My small start to wood heat


----------



## Dune (Mar 9, 2015)

claydogg84 said:


> What I said wasn't an opinion - it is factual, so "no" won't work there. Soft Maple, Cherry, Black Walnut, and Elm are all options in this situation. ALL of which are of a higher quality then pine.


Nah, it is only a fact in your opinion. Read my post, that is all factual too, IMO.


----------



## ohiojoe13 (Mar 9, 2015)

claydogg84 said:


> Yes.


I split about 3 rounds. It was horrible to split. Idk if it's difficult to split cuz it was growing out of the side on the main trunk or what.


----------



## Andy S. (Mar 9, 2015)

I'm a huge Pine fan. For me it is as much about my burning limitations as anything. As an evening and weekend burner with a small firebox I value the quick heat for an initial warm-up and the ability to burn down coals with a couple of small splits. I'll always have a place for it in my stack. To the initial question I'd definitely not turn my back on the faster drying hardwoods mentioned above but I'd actually focus on Pine and split as much of it as possible 4" or less without the bark and as square as I can get it for tight loading in the stove.


----------



## claydogg84 (Mar 9, 2015)

ohiojoe13 said:


> I split about 3 rounds. It was horrible to split. Idk if it's difficult to split cuz it was growing out of the side on the main trunk or what.



Cherry can be a bear to split as it tends to grow like its always trying to go around a corner.


----------



## Dix (Mar 9, 2015)

Nice start, Ohiojoe .... keep it going !!

I am also a fan of cherry. Not much around here, but I take what ever I can get.


----------



## Hogwildz (Mar 9, 2015)

ohiojoe13 said:


> I split about 3 rounds. It was horrible to split. Idk if it's difficult to split cuz it was growing out of the side on the main trunk or what.


Cherry is typically pretty easy to split. But, as with other species, anywhere near a crotch or branch can be twisted and gnarly.  You should find it easier to split normally. Ant infestation is common of Cherry also, at least a good majority of what I have had. Don't sweat them, they vacate after the wood is split.

Easier said that done at times, but they look stacked pretty tight. Leave them be if you want, but try and stack any additional stacks a bit loose. Air space between promotes better drying in shorter time.


----------



## Dix (Mar 9, 2015)

+1 on the ants in the cherry, usually in the middle around here. I think if it weren't for the ants...

They do skidaddle in a hurry, and the birds get them right quick, unless one crawls up your pants leg 

Hogs is right about twisted and gnarly, but those pieces, once split, give you a nice pile of uglies for at home burning, when packing the stove isn't an issue.


----------

