# They say ash is good to burn right after cutting.



## Backwoods Savage (Nov 3, 2012)

Right... And you can cut down a dead tree and burn it right away too. Right...

Once again we see the difference. I wanted to get rid of a pile of wood so decided to burn that one this year. It is not our oldest wood but it was all dead when we cut it. As most folks say, dead wood is good to burn right away. On top of it being dead, it is ash. Two counts for it being great firewood.

It burns....sort of okay. Definitely harder to get started even on coals. So how old is this wood? It was cut during the winter of 2009-2010 and was all split and stacked in March 2010. So it is over 2 years in the stack after being split.

We are lucky and have plenty to compare it to and when I break out the wood that is a year older it is a huge difference! I'll take the 3+ years in the stack any day no matter what the wood type.

For those who would like to know, I do not know what the moisture content is for this wood nor do I care in the least. I know how it burns and I also know what 1 more year means. Give me 3 years or more in the stack and I'll show you some great firewood.


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## thewoodlands (Nov 3, 2012)

I'll take your 3 year old wood too, gotta go dinners ready.

zap


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## wishlist (Nov 3, 2012)

Couldn't agree more Dennis.  I think part of it is " seeing is believing ."


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## chvymn99 (Nov 3, 2012)

Yes, you are very correct.  I'm finding this out currently.  And quite the difference from last year and the year before when I started burning.


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## Backwoods Savage (Nov 3, 2012)

chvymn99, good that you are finding out now. This means you will make good decisions from here on out. How has deer season been out there so far this year?


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## thewoodlands (Nov 3, 2012)

Backwoods Savage said:


> Right... And you can cut down a dead tree and burn it right away too. Right...
> 
> Once again we see the difference. I wanted to get rid of a pile of wood so decided to burn that one this year. It is not our oldest wood but it was all dead when we cut it. As most folks say, dead wood is good to burn right away. On top of it being dead, it is ash. Two counts for it being great firewood.
> 
> ...


Dinners done, I'll still take that three year old + wood.  Meatloaf with mashed tatters with a veggie.
zap


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## Backwoods Savage (Nov 3, 2012)

Hush zap. You are making me hungry.


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## chvymn99 (Nov 3, 2012)

Backwoods Savage said:


> chvymn99,  How has deer season been out there so far this year?


 
I'm not quite sure, I know Dad's excited.  But with all my hours at work, it'll be another year that I haven't gotten out.  I miss it dearly, but works been almost nonstop for the last 6-7 years.  One day...


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## bogydave (Nov 3, 2012)

*They say ash is good to burn right after cutting.*


Who's "They"?


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## lopiliberty (Nov 3, 2012)

Backwoods Savage said:


> Right... And you can cut down a dead tree and burn it right away too. Right...
> 
> Once again we see the difference. I wanted to get rid of a pile of wood so decided to burn that one this year. It is not our oldest wood but it was all dead when we cut it. As most folks say, dead wood is good to burn right away. On top of it being dead, it is ash. Two counts for it being great firewood.
> 
> ...


 
How comes we came cut down dead trees and oak thats been laying on the ground dead for years, bring it home fill up the stove with it a day later and have a stove top temp of 700 with it shut down all the way and a 87 degree house?


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## cptoneleg (Nov 3, 2012)

lopiliberty said:


> How comes we came cut down dead trees and oak thats been laying on the ground dead for years, bring it home fill up the stove with it a day later and have a stove top temp of 700 with it shut down all the way and a 87 degree house?


 



How about - some dead trees are different and dryer- and it ain't that cold outside in Mineral County, West by Gawd Vergini--no one says you can't run into that dead standing tree that you bring home and seems to burn fine.  We here trade thoughts and try to help new burners and best is to get as far ahead as you can.  I have run into Black Locust dead on ground  burns good but burns better after sitting in stsck for a yr. Oak to

Good Luck


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## cptoneleg (Nov 3, 2012)

bogydave said:


> *They say ash is good to burn right after cutting.*
> 
> 
> Who's "They"?


 

Yep Who Dat Not Me


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## cptoneleg (Nov 3, 2012)

You ain't fixin to die on us are you Dennis, act like you are filling folks in on things, like Myths and such??????


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## rdust (Nov 3, 2012)

bogydave said:


> *They say ash is good to burn right after cutting.*
> 
> 
> Who's "They"?


 
The ones who wrote the poem that says "_Ash wet_ or _Ash dry_ a _king_ shall _warm his slippers by_"


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## bogydave (Nov 4, 2012)

lopiliberty said:


> How comes we came cut down dead trees and oak thats been laying on the ground dead for years, bring it home fill up the stove with it a day later and have a stove top temp of 700 with it shut down all the way and a 87 degree house?



Just think how much better it would be if it was split & dried a year.
900 degrees & 98 in the house 
LOL


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## ditchrider (Nov 4, 2012)

not trying to stir the pot, really.
But our humidity this summer peaked at about 50%, but typically was 15-25%.Evening humidities over 60% were a bonus. Except when we got rain that one day. Yes, that one day.
Just a stab in the dark, and am cringing in anticipation of how BS's responds. But i'm thinking we can season in less time because of this.
This doesn't deter me from the mission of three plus years supply and then some, however, Sav.


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## bogydave (Nov 4, 2012)

Good point "ditch"
Location & ,weather play  a big part in how fast & well wood seasons.
I know it dries well thru our dry winters here. 
Just think how fast it would dry with a summer in Phoenix


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## ditchrider (Nov 4, 2012)

bogydave said:


> Good point
> Just think how fast it would dry with a summer in Phoenix


Not quite THAT hot here. But we had a record number of 90 plus temps.
Very hot, extremely arid, low precip. Hence, canals and reservoirs if you want to eat.

bogy, would you venture a guess you can season wood in two years up there?


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## bogydave (Nov 4, 2012)

ditchrider said:


> Not quite THAT hot here. But we had a record number of 90 plus temps.
> Very hot, extremely arid, low precip. Hence, canals and reservoirs if you want to eat.
> 
> bogy, would you venture a guess you can season wood in two years up there?



The mysterious "They"
say one year for birch to be below 25%, some say 25% or less is good, some say 20% or less.
I don't have a MM, but I notice a significant difference when I burn 2 or 3 year old seasoned birch over 1 year seasoned.
I think 15% or less for the newer EPA stove is even better (if your area allows wood to get that dry)

Answer: Yes, 2 years, I'm sure it's below 20%. 

 my wood this year is over 2 years . 
Now working on 15/16 wood so I'll have some 3+ year wood then.


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## Lumber-Jack (Nov 4, 2012)

I must be "they", because I cut dead trees (lodgepole pine) and burn them right away all the time. But like ditch, I live in a very different climate than you guys out East. Hot dry summers are the norm here, and trees like maple and ash couldn't survive here on the rain we get alone, you'd either have to irrigate them or they'd have to be rooted along a body of water or spring.
However, I would never advocate burning any kind of freshly cut live tree.


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## bogydave (Nov 4, 2012)

Not much wood value in a "dead standing " birch. Rots from the inside out & top down.
Dangerous to even try to fell them. 

Yea, all my birch is from live trees. 2 years CSS & it burns well.
I do get some dead standing & down spruce now & then. Have burned it within a few weeks & it worked well.


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## Lumber-Jack (Nov 4, 2012)

bogydave said:


> Not much wood value in a "dead standing " birch. Rots from the inside out & top down.
> Dangerous to even try to fell them.
> 
> Yea, all my birch is from live trees. 2 years CSS & it burns well.
> I do get some dead standing & down spruce now & then. Have burned it within a few weeks & it worked well.


Funny thing is, if the same lodgepole pine, that dries so nicely here, falls over and lays on the ground instead of standing upright, it will start to rot after just one year. It reabsorbs moisture again when it's laying on the ground.


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## ditchrider (Nov 4, 2012)

bogydave said:


> The mysterious "They"
> say one year for birch to be below 25%, some say 25% or less is good, some say 20% or less.


I bit into a cottonwood  yesterday. I've had it cut to length at least three years, probably about five. But it was about 40 inches in diameter. The wedge on that splitter just went _squish_ even on the first bite. That big of diameter you dont have too many choices to piece off the side and get something flat going. I got lucky and was able to finally chunk out the outer, drier stuff. But the inner 20 inches of diameter was just impossible. I made ten or so attempts to get another split out, but that stringy crap just wouldn't let go of one another. Now I have a giant wad of scrap. Kind of a bummer. I've got quite a few of those and I'm not going to complete the mission this month.

So far the elm, though stringy at times, all came apart.

So I'll step on board with the talk about unethical dealers claiming "seasoned" wood having been just split that year. But next november I'm going to check out what I did this year.


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## Dune (Nov 4, 2012)

lopiliberty said:


> How comes we came cut down dead trees and oak thats been laying on the ground dead for years, bring it home fill up the stove with it a day later and have a stove top temp of 700 with it shut down all the way and a 87 degree house?


 
The top half or third of a long dead tree (no twigs or bark) can be dry as a bone.


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## Blue Vomit (Nov 4, 2012)

Dune said:


> The top half or third of a long dead tree (no twigs or bark) can be dry as a bone.



Yup.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/excellent-small-score.91139/


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## bogydave (Nov 4, 2012)

ditchrider said:


> I bit into a cottonwood yesterday. I've had it cut to length at least three years, probably about five. But it was about 40 inches in diameter. The wedge on that splitter just went _squish_ even on the first bite. That big of diameter you dont have too many choices to piece off the side and get something flat going. I got lucky and was able to finally chunk out the outer, drier stuff. But the inner 20 inches of diameter was just impossible. I made ten or so attempts to get another split out, but that stringy crap just wouldn't let go of one another. Now I have a giant wad of scrap. Kind of a bummer. I've got quite a few of those and I'm not going to complete the mission this month.
> 
> So far the elm, though stringy at times, all came apart.
> 
> So I'll step on board with the talk about unethical dealers claiming "seasoned" wood having been just split that year. But next november I'm going to check out what I did this year.


 
The trouble with most of the northern & high elevation hardwoods. If not CSS soon after death, it decays fast.
Not that cottonwood & aspen are hard woods, but are on the hardwood list.
Birch the same, gotta be Cut & Split , or it will be punky in 2 years.

+1 on the wood seller's claim of "seasoned",  few say dry & ready to burn 
I think to most of them, seasoned means "split yesterday"


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## wishlist (Nov 4, 2012)

I see it all the time Dave. Around me there's wood for sale on every corner. Mostly labeled "face cord" and ready to burn and you can see the pile of rounds in the guys backyard. In fact, I know of one person who has his splitter set up in the front yard and sells his wood as he splits it.  

My own opinion is many people have never burnt good, dry, seasoned wood.  I do realize not everyone has the ability to store 3 years worth of wood but I bet these same people would notice a huge difference in burning properly seasoned wood.

Another perfect example is running the evaporator during sugaring season. I'm trying to burn as hot as I can possible get it and will load the evaporator every 10 minutes or so.  If I was to put in 1 year old oak , I can guarantee that I will lose my boil and wouldn't be able to load for a much longer period of time. If I load with seasoned wood, stack temps and boil will be waaaay up there!


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## bogydave (Nov 4, 2012)

wishlist said:


> My own opinion is* many people have never burnt good, dry, seasoned wood*. same people would notice a huge difference in burning properly seasoned wood.


 
+1
There are "those who know & those who don't" 
& some that never will


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## Backwoods Savage (Nov 4, 2012)

lopiliberty said:


> How comes we came cut down dead trees and oak thats been laying on the ground dead for years, bring it home fill up the stove with it a day later and have a stove top temp of 700 with it shut down all the way and a 87 degree house?


 
It all depends upon the situation. Around here that rarely happens but sometimes it does. Just rare.


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## Backwoods Savage (Nov 4, 2012)

cptoneleg said:


> You ain't fixin to die on us are you Dennis, act like you are filling folks in on things, like Myths and such??????


 
Good Lord, I hope not!  There should be a few years left in this old body.


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## Backwoods Savage (Nov 4, 2012)

ditchrider said:


> not trying to stir the pot, really.
> But our humidity this summer peaked at about 50%, but typically was 15-25%.Evening humidities over 60% were a bonus. Except when we got rain that one day. Yes, that one day.
> Just a stab in the dark, and am cringing in anticipation of how BS's responds. But i'm thinking we can season in less time because of this.
> This doesn't deter me from the mission of three plus years supply and then some, however, Sav.


 
Lots of places in CO with very low humidity; lots lower then MI and yes, that does help, especially if it is windy, which in my experience, CO seems to have an abundance of.


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## Pallet Pete (Nov 4, 2012)

If it is not cut up and dried it isn't ready to burn in my book dead alive in between or otherwise ! 

Pete


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## blades (Nov 4, 2012)

Well just add fuel to the fire, Ash dead standing then downed into rounds last Fall on the ground, so Just for grins , as I am just getting around to splitting now, I tried some in the stove, yep it burns but so will any wood eventually, but this ash was still too high in moisture and really held back the NC30. So  like any other wood got to be dried down under the 20% or better to be of any use heat wise in my book.


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## Woody Stover (Nov 4, 2012)

Carbon_Liberator said:


> I must be "they", because I cut dead trees (lodgepole pine) and burn them right away all the time. But like ditch, I live in a very different climate than you guys out East. Hot dry summers are the norm here


It's generally quite humid here during Summer, but it's hot too. Last year I found a bunch of dead standing Red (Slippery) Elm and most of the wood except for lower in the trunk was already in the 16-18% range and burnable immediately, contrary to what Dennis has found. It could be that different species  dry at different rates, or maybe the fact that most or all of the bark was off of the Elms let them dry more completely, even with high humidity.


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## Beer Belly (Nov 5, 2012)

Okay.....here we go....just dropped some Ash over the weekend...lit the stove...threw on some Oak and Cherry splits....stove reading 600*...threw in a _3 inch round_ of just cut Ash.....not at all impressed


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## eclecticcottage (Nov 5, 2012)

wishlist said:


> I see it all the time Dave. Around me there's wood for sale on every corner. Mostly labeled "face cord" and ready to burn and you can see the pile of rounds in the guys backyard. In fact, I know of one person who has his splitter set up in the front yard and sells his wood as he splits it.
> 
> My own opinion is many people have never burnt good, dry, seasoned wood. I do realize not everyone has the ability to store 3 years worth of wood but I bet these same people would notice a huge difference in burning properly seasoned wood.


 
Same here, usually around October the ads start popping up on CL and the racks start appearing on lawns.  "Seasoned firewood" all sold by the (face) cord-I almost NEVER see anyone actually call a face cord a face cord, they're all "cords" here.

We'll probably buy some every year or two from a local guy, he's got a good price delivered.  We'll stack it for future years so we have stuff for longer burns (seems all of our scrounges are softwood like pine and box elder).  He even said it was fresh split and probably could use a year to season before being burned when we picked up a few (face) cords from him last year.  Haven't touched it yet this year, we just stacked it last year after he dropped it in the driveway.


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## oldspark (Nov 5, 2012)

I have some one year old dead ash that burns just fine, from a dead start I can have the stove top up to about 500 in 20 mins., not sure what I will gain by waiting 2 more years, dont get it and never will.


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## Backwoods Savage (Nov 5, 2012)

Nope oldspark. Looks like we were born to disagree. That's okay though. You are still a nice guy.


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## oldspark (Nov 5, 2012)

Thanks Backwoods, we really dont disagree that much as we both know how well dry wood works. You sir are a nice person also, we all know if everyone follows your advice there wont be any problems with wet wood any more.


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## Bacffin (Nov 10, 2012)

Thanks for the info Dennis. I got it .


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## oldspark (Nov 10, 2012)

I will add that the ash I have is Green Ash which drys a little faster than Whte Ash which is what Dennis has I believe.


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## OhioBurner© (Nov 10, 2012)

I wish I could get three years ahead. Think its been about 3 years I've been burning (this will be the 4th) and I have yet to even cut as much as I need in one year. End up having to get some not so seasoned stuff or switch to propane. I want to get ahead just never have been able to. Would be easier with a closer source of wood & without family and commitments and such, and having more weekends off work. So I believe ya, just can't do it though.

Oh and my cousin, like always, is _starting_ to cut wood for this winter (as of 2 weeks ago). Had to throw that in there. But its true. Many people burn unseasoned wood I think its pretty much a fact that it can burn. Just a matter of how much efficiency you expect and how often you want to clean out your flue. He has an old smoke dragon and takes a few 5 gal pail fulls of creosote out. But it doesnt phase him.


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## wishlist (Nov 10, 2012)

Ohio, your doing the right thing by trying to get ahead.  Try scrounging in the spring /summer.  I've noticed on Craigslist real good " scores" can be had at that time.


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## OhioBurner© (Nov 11, 2012)

Thanks wishlist. I often watch craigslist but have yet to score any free wood yet. Heck in the last week alone I sent out 4-5 emails responding to different ads and not one response yet. I always check right after big storms especially. I live in the middle of no where also, so the ones I do see for free are from the city, an hour away.

I'm really wanting to move, and looking for a place that has enough woods to hunt on my own land and cut firewood without having to get a truck involved. That would be a HUGE advantage, both in cost and time.


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## Backwoods Savage (Nov 11, 2012)

Ohio, that would be great if you find your place as you have described. Good luck.


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## lukem (Nov 11, 2012)

Around here wood drys so fast it can be "seasoned" and still have leaves on it...or at least the guy down the road selling "seasoned" firewood can.  I wonder how he does that?????


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## Gasifier (Nov 11, 2012)

I would not say it is good to burn then. But Ash can burn better than any other wood I have seen right after you cut it. And when it has not been seasoned for a year or more, I think it burns better than any other wood with the same amount of drying time. The moisture content seems to get better quicker than the other woods. Maybe from the straight grain. I do not know. I would not recomment burning wood that has not been dried for at least 6 months. Obviously, the longer, the better. But I have also had good luck with Ash for many years when I did not get ahead a whole year. I split it smaller and stacked it in the early spring and stacked out in the sun and where it gets some wind. Splitting it smaller certainly makes a difference in drying. But, I have burned White Ash and White Pine like this and have good luck. I have now been getting ahead for one year. And hoping to get further ahead this year. I have most of my my supply for next year with the recent 10 face cord purchase. Then two years ahead from then on out. Hope to get a good amount cut in the next 3 or 4 months after the ground freezes.


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