# Dead ash still standing end of September, when's it safe to burn?



## barwick11 (Oct 10, 2011)

I had 3 good size ash trees someone had on their property cut into lengths & dropped off about a week ago.  I split it all this weekend (well, most of it, more on that later), and most of it "sounds" pretty dry already.  Some of the thicker pieces from near the base still seemed to have more moisture than the rest.

These trees were all dead for at least a year or two, probably more, from the Emerald Ash Borer here in Southeast Michigan.  But all were still standing.

I'm a noob at this, so bear with me... I'm not entirely familiar with the borer, but I guess they eat the outermost part of the rings, which prevents moisture and such from moving up the rest of the tree, and it dies.  Pretty much every single ash tree around here.  So, they *should* be more dry than a fresh cut tree.

So, my question is, when should most of this wood be good to split?

And my other question is, those big giant gnarly pieces that have massive limbs coming out of it, how in the heck do you split them?  I'm splitting entirely by hand, which works great for most of the pieces, and even for good chunks of those gnarly pieces (mostly the ends obviously), but there's some pieces I can't think of anything besides taking a freaking chainsaw to just to cut it up, and that just seems stupid to me.  Any ideas?


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## Waulie (Oct 10, 2011)

I've been dealing with a lot of standing dead ash.  I had seven trees dropped from around the house last December.  I actually burned quite a bit of that last winter.  I do not recommend this practice, but had no choice as I had just moved into the house.  My trees were only recently dead, but on a couple of them the bark fell off as I split and they seemed mostly dry.

The same ash that has been cut, split, and stacked since March/April now burns very well.  I would say you need at least a few months to really have it burn decent.  However, if you are in a bind you could probably burn the upper part of the trees right away if you split on the small side.  It will be a bit of a PITA and you will need to check your chimney monthly.  This should be a last resort.


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## joefrompa (Oct 10, 2011)

Ash will burn decently freshly cut and green - it's a low moisture wood. Standing dead and given a month or two of split & stack? It'll burn fine. Might need a tad bit more air.


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## Jags (Oct 10, 2011)

barwick11 said:
			
		

> So, my question is, when should most of this wood be good to split?



Are you asking when it is best to split, or to burn? (or both).

Ain't nothing wrong with noodling the ugly monsters (thats what it is called when you chainsaw them into halves, quarters etc.).  In case you are not familiar with it, the most accepted way to do this is to lay the log on the ground and saw into the bark, not from the end grain.  Make sure you allow the noodles to clear from your sprocket/clutch area.  You don't want to get them jammed in there.

And for the record, yes, ash is a low moisture wood when compared to others, but I do not agree with the camp that says you can burn it freshly cut.  Just for a test last year I took some splits that had been split for ~5 months.  Even THEY performed poorly.

Just one dudes opinion.


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## barwick11 (Oct 10, 2011)

Yeah sorry I meant when's it good to burn.  It's already split, just mis-spoke.

So if I don't plan on burning till I get an insert (which may be November/December) instead of my regular fireplace, and it's miraculously 70 degrees for the last week, and will be for a few more days...  Then normal October weather shows back up.

I'll just try to pick the most dry pieces (one of the trees had a lot of the bark fall off already up in the air, or when he dropped it, but it's still solid wood, which is good).


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## Jags (Oct 10, 2011)

2.5 months of seasoning is not very popular around here.  Is it possible??  Yes, if it was good and dead, the tops were probably ready to burn, the middle might be ok with 2.5 months, but the bottom part of the trunk will  more than likely be a PIA to burn this year.  Just say'in.

Edit: what stove are you feeding this to??


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## smokinj (Oct 10, 2011)

Jags said:
			
		

> 2.5 months of seasoning is not very popular around here.  Is it possible??  Yes, if it was good and dead, the tops were probably ready to burn, the middle might be ok with 2.5 months, but the bottom part of the trunk will  more than likely be a PIA to burn this year.  Just say'in.
> 
> Edit: what stove are you feeding this to??



Split it and burn in that order.... ;-)


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## Waulie (Oct 10, 2011)

> And for the record, yes, ash is a low moisture wood when compared to others, but I do not agree with the camp that says you can burn it freshly cut.  Just for a test last year I took some splits that had been split for ~5 months.  Even THEY performed poorly.



You definately "can" burn it freshly cut.  However, I do not recommend it.  In my experience, the borer-killed standing dead does have a lower moisture content than living ash.  Mine burns great after 6 months in the stack.  If the OP's was standing dead a couple years, I would think the tops could be burned right away.  Again, not ideal, but it will keep him warm.  Just keep a close watch for creosote.


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## Jags (Oct 10, 2011)

Waulie said:
			
		

> ]
> 
> You definately "can" burn it freshly cut.



True, but you "can" burn cinder blocks with enough heat.  (just giving you heck  :cheese: )

This is why I ask "what stove".  If he is gonna feed a VC Neverburn, he will be out of luck.  If he is trying to feed this to an old PaPa Bear, he can make it work.


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## barwick11 (Oct 10, 2011)

I haven't even gotten the insert yet, still shopping around.

Yeah at my old house, we took down literally a good 25 good ash trees, and them suckers, 2" thick pieces I could snap by hand without much effort they were so dry.


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## Waulie (Oct 10, 2011)

> True, but you â€œcanâ€ burn cinder blocks with enough heat.



and, they give you great burn times.  ;-)


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## firefighterjake (Oct 11, 2011)

+1 to Jags' comments . . . my first year experience in burning some white ash and maple tops that had been cut just a few months earlier along with some standing dead elm was that the wood burned . . . but it most definitely did not burn as well as the wood I had left over and started burning the following year . . . even with standing dead wood there can be a huge difference in two, six or twelve months of seasoning.


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## gpcollen1 (Oct 12, 2011)

I just got a 2 cord scrounge of Ash.  Tree was standing just about dead when tree company cut it down.  When split it had a bit of moisture to it.  Now a week or so later and dry weather and the wood seems quite dry.  Split a piece in half with minimal moisture apparent.  I would consider burning this in January-March if I needed it but glad I do not need it of course.


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## tfdchief (Oct 13, 2011)

I posted this a few days ago in another thread.  
_"I cut a big dead downed ash one winter, and as I split it, it seemed very dry, so I put it to the ultimate moisture test, and threw a couple pieces in the stove.  Heck, it burned better than some of the 1 year stuff I was burning.  I ended up burning all of it that winter.  Sometimes though, the dead stuff is not dry and just has to wait." _


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