# Burning Ash FIrewood



## lawandorder (Dec 15, 2008)

Anyone ever burn ash in gassifier.  My "seasoned" wood pile is not seasoned. I found someone selling log length ash rounds. They are not split but the seller says you can split it and burn it right away. It was cut in may of 2008 and been sitting stored in a garage. I was just wondering if I will be able to split it down and let it dry for a month or so and hopefully it will be dry (less than 25% MC ) Any help appreciated as always.


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## Eric Johnson (Dec 15, 2008)

That's what they say about white ash, but it's better when dried. Dry ash is good firewood. Not as good as oak, beech & hard maple, but decent. I can't tell you how it burns in a gasifier because I've never burned any, but I'm guessing pretty darn good.


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## ikessky (Dec 15, 2008)

White ash is very low in moisture content to begin with (mid-40%).  I'm not familiar with the gassifiers, but I had a large blown over white ash that I cut up and split in September and I'm burning it in an add-on furnace.  The tree was probably down sometime this summer.  The leaves were all still green and there were new shoots starting.


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## Tony H (Dec 15, 2008)

I have just burned some Ash in my EKO and it was not real seasoned and it burned ok I just had to open up the fan cover a little and it would take a little longer to get up to temp on a new load but other than that it worked fine.


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## Steaming Pile (Dec 15, 2008)

I dumped a large ash round (probably 16" through) in my GW about a week ago just to see how it would do. Dad always said you can burn it green with out any fear of creosote. This was cut in Sept. and still very much green. It heated the house all day and burned to powder.


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## ikessky (Dec 15, 2008)

Still Smokin’ said:
			
		

> I dumped a large ash round (probably 16" through) in my GW about a week ago just to see how it would do. Dad always said you can burn it green with out any fear of creosote. This was cut in Sept. and still very much green. It heated the house all day and burned to powder.



That's one of the drawbacks to white ash.  It doesn't coal as well as other hardwoods like maple and oak.


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## ISeeDeadBTUs (Dec 15, 2008)

If you have to burn unseasoned wood, ash is the safest bet I know of. Still not as good as seasoned. I've never seen an ash that was big enough to need splitting.

I think from a technical standpoint there is quite a difference in BTU value depending on the type od Ash. However, I'm not smart enough to know the difference between types.

As long as I'm able I'll burn Red, White and Chestnut Oak :cheese: exclusively.


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## LeonMSPT (Dec 15, 2008)

Growing up, dad owned 40 acres of woodlot. We'd run in with the snowmobile in January/February, and fell our trees for the next fall. Just drop them and go to the next one. Tie a bit of orange ribbon on a limb to find them when things green out. 

Hardwoods shunt the sap into the roots in winter, so they don't split when they freeze. That's why there is a sap run during syrup season and things begin to loosen up. 

With the limbs on, the tree will bud out and bloom in the spring, when it would normally. This sucks even more of the moisture out. 

Go in July/August and twitch out the logs to where you can limb them, or limb where they lay. 

That wood will easily be ready to burn by Thanksgiving if you cut it to length and split it by September.


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## lawandorder (Dec 15, 2008)

My hope is that I can split it and get it reasonably dry to mix in with maple/oak/ and some questionable wood I have left. I am going to go through more than I figured on since my woods moisture level is high


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## Tree farmer (Dec 16, 2008)

Ash stored in a garage since May?  Split it and burn it! I have been stuffing some not so dry ash in my 25 and it seems to do just fine, most of my wood has been on the higher side of MC but I just got down off the roof from installing a chimney cap and the flue is clear as a bell after running the boiler for over a month.  I think my neighbor thought I was going insane with work lights and a headlamp lighting up the roof.   I would guess you got lucky with some nice pieces of ash  ;-) if it has been in a garage since may.


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## pybyr (Dec 16, 2008)

ikessky said:
			
		

> Still Smokin’ said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



yep- I have burned a lot of ash over the years in my wood furnace, and have a lot waiting to go in my Econoburn.

it's true that it does not hold a bed of coals like some other hardwoods, but it seasons wicked fast and has a lot of heat to give when it burns.

it splits VERY easily.  after you've split ash, everything else seems difficult to split

an experienced and salty woodburner I know always loves to say "There is nothing like a piece of good Asssh"


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## Rancherii (Dec 16, 2008)

You can burn anything at any moisture content, that is if you can get the fire started and you do not mind that half the heat goes to driving off the water.


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## lawandorder (Dec 16, 2008)

Sounds like the ash will be good to mix in with other hardwoods but a full load of ash may not be great??  Thanks for all the help once again.


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## ikessky (Dec 16, 2008)

I burn ash when I'm around home and can stoke the fire a little more often.  For overnight burns and times I'm at work, I try to stick with maple and oak so I can have some coals to relight from when I get home.  Ash gives great heat, just doesn't give the coals like other hardwoods do.


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## pybyr (Dec 16, 2008)

Rancherii said:
			
		

> You can burn anything at any moisture content, that is if you can get the fire started and you do not mind that half the heat goes to driving off the water.



not quite-- a friend of mine who is a maple syrup producer, and burns wood in an evaporator, was once given a load of red pine logs.  they were not rotten, but they'd been stored in a way that they were pretty darn wet.  A roading fire with coals was already  established,, but when you put one in the firebox,, the temperature gauges went down drastically.  when someone put three in the firebox all at once, the fire began to die down so rapidly that if we had not compensated with some seasoned slab wood, the fire would have been spiraling downhill


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## Piker (Dec 16, 2008)

ash is a favorite of mine for those times when procrastination prevents me from having an abundant supply of seasoned wood.  This year I am burning primarily a mix of ash and soft maple... cut and split about the middle of august this last summer.  Seems to be working great.  Not sure of the exact moisture content... meter is on it's way.

cheers


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## WoodNotOil (Dec 16, 2008)

We have tons of white ash on our property and I cut and burn it all winter, no seasoning really.  Only the stump is too wet to burn straight off.  I split anything over 4" round into real small pieces and try to have it in the basement for about a week before burning.  It lights off fine and burns well.  I mix it with other seasoned wood sometimes, but usually just burn it straight.  It is often more dry than some of the hardwood that is seasoned.  I love ash!  I would get it, split it, and burn it for sure!  The key is to cut it in the winter when there is no sap in the tree.


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## ikessky (Dec 16, 2008)

WoodNotOil said:
			
		

> The key is to cut it in the winter when there is no sap in the tree.


That should be the goal of any wood though shouldn't it?


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## woodmeister (Dec 16, 2008)

If you burn it alone its tough to get a long burn, but to get up to temp quick or mixed with other hardwood its great plus it doesn't make much of a mess.


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## antos_ketcham (Dec 17, 2008)

"But Ash wood wet and Ash wood dry
A King may warm his slippers by."


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## pybyr (Dec 17, 2008)

The shame is that, the way that the Emerald Ash Borer is on the move, these great trees may be the next big victim of an invasive parasite, like the Elms, Chestnut, etc, have all vanished.  

it's apparently spreading rapidly, and apparently it creates a very high if not total mortality rate among the ash trees once it hits an area

Between that and the Asian Longhorned beetle that is apparently now in MA and can go after maple- thank heavens that its life cycle apparently causes it to spread slowly- although it can apparently be in a place and not be noticed until it has become established, at which point, it's quarrantine and then cut, chip, and promptly burn or landfill all the wood.  I got a sad earful about this from a fellow in MA who is dealing with it from a professional perspective of trying to contain an outbreak.


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## machinistbcb (Dec 17, 2008)

Woods for Burning.

Logs to burn! Logs to burn!
Logs to save the coal a turn!
Here’s a word to make you wise
When you hear the woodsman’s cries.

Beech wood fires burn bright and clear,
Hornbeam blazes too’
If the logs are kept a year
To season through and through.

Oak logs will warm you well
If they are old and dry.
Larch logs of the pine smell
But the sparks will fly.

Pine is good and so is Yew
For warmth through winter days,
But poplar and the willow too
Take long to dry or blaze.

Birch logs will burn to fast,
Alder scarce at all,
Chestnut logs are good to last
If cut in the fall

Holly logs will burn like wax –
You should burn them green.
Elm logs like a smouldering flax,
No flames to be seen.

Pear logs and Apple logs
They will scent a room,
Cheery logs across the dogs
Smell like flowers in bloom.

But Ash logs all smooth and grey,
Burn them green or old,
Buy up all that come your way
They’re worth their weight in Gold


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## tuolumne (Dec 17, 2008)

I'm burning mostly green ash right now...fell, buck, split, into fire same day.  I have an EKO 40.  It burns great (with little ash!) and generates quick heat.  However, they leave little coals as others have said.


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## ikessky (Dec 17, 2008)

I also make a lot of kindling out of the smaller white ash splits that I have.  It splits so easy, lights off great, and burns really hot.


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## Tree farmer (Dec 18, 2008)

Consensus - nothing beats a nice piece of ash!


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## chuck172 (Dec 18, 2008)

I seem to remember the end of a similar poem that went like this:
But ashwood wet, or ashwood dry,
A King would warm his slippers by.


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## penfrydd (Dec 18, 2008)

Ash has got to be one of my favorites to cut, certainly to split, and even to burn.  After burning wood since '72, I can assure you that you can burn it fairly well not all that long after it is cut.  It gives a very hot fire and very few coals, but the ease of handling and so few limbs to cut off just make it a dream to work with.  

It also grows fast.  It's like a firewood factory.


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## WoodNotOil (Dec 18, 2008)

penfrydd said:
			
		

> Ash has got to be one of my favorites to cut, certainly to split, and even to burn.  After burning wood since '72, I can assure you that you can burn it fairly well not all that long after it is cut.  It gives a very hot fire and very few coals, but the ease of handling and so few limbs to cut off just make it a dream to work with.
> 
> It also grows fast.  It's like a firewood factory.



My sentiment exactly!  I am so glad I have access to so much of it.  If it does end up going the same way as the elm, it will be very sad!


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## lawandorder (Dec 21, 2008)

Went and looked at the ash for sale The seller was shocked to see a moisture meter come out.  I explained how much "seasoned" wood I have purchsed  but cant use because its 30 % still.  He had jsut finished splitting the logs up and I figured they'd read at 25-30 but every piece I checked was 22-24% and he is storing it inside a large barn. He had 15 face cords left and wants $75 a face.A bit pricy but it solves my wood problem at least for the next few months if I just buy 4 or 5. He also is going to keep it stored inside so i can take as I need it so looks like more wood for me.  Thanks for all the replies.  Sitting here watching a big snow storm roll through. Looks like another 10-15 inches today to add to the 12-16 we already have.


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