Mother lode or Pain in butt?

[Hunky1]

Hi All,

Trying to determine if cabinet scraps are worth the effort. Local cabinet maker has offered me all I want for free. The pieces range from thin strips to 1" x 2" or 3" by 4'to 8' long. It's all kiln dried hardwood (oak, alder, maple). It's one huge mixed up pile, so my thoughts were to rent a skid steer w/ grapple hooks, and use my dad's 2 ton grain truck. I could haul and dump in a shed to be cut up later.

My question is has anyone tried this before, and is it worth the hassle? I figured on using my radial arm saw to cut it to length, but am not sure how to cut multiple pieces at once. Any ideas?

BTW, has anyone had any experience w/ the sedore multi fuel down draft? (Like the design, and the price!) Thanx for any info.

 

[begreen]

If free, that is a pretty nice batch of wood. What do you have for a stove? The risk is that the wood is going to be very dry and will want to take off rapidly when burning. But with a stove that has good regulation and a healthy amount of prudence, it sounds like a nice haul. I have cut up flooring scraps by staking them 3 high and using a chop saw to cut through them. Worked ok.

 

[Hunky1]

I have'nt got a woodstove picked out yet, looking hard at the Sedore multi fuel. I realize most of this would be light duty (day), or kindling strips. I understand to really work well, these downdrafts need a healthy base of hot coals. Thanx for your input.

 

[bwolfe1]

You'll be making a good choice with the Sedore because not only will it burn the scrap wood but it will also burn the next free fuel you find. No limitations to the possibilities, makes for a wide variety of choices, as traditional fuels will be limited. Where is Deepfreeze MN?

 

[SlyFerret]

Sounds like it would make great kindling!

-SF

 

[jadm]

I just had a friend build me two wood storage racks. He used to burn and said he would go around to the cabinet makers in our area on a regular basis and collect wood. His experience was that it was excellent as it was clean, dry and top quality hard woods.

As others have mentioned, it will serve you well as kindling for years to come. A great way to get a fire up and going quickly.

Again, as others have said, if it is free - take it before someone else does. :coolsmirk:

 

[Vic99]

I would jump all over that. I cut up lumber like that with a sawsall. You should take it if it's not much effort to get because:

1) Kiln dried wood typically has a moisture content of <10%;

2) It's hardwood, so you'll actually decent heat out of it;

3) Great for shoulder season or to help you to stuff the firebox for those overnight burns in the winter;

4) It's free.

 

[annette]

Is renting equipment the only way to move it? The pile is that big? Make sure it works out to be worth the money, instead of spending the time to move it by hand. Scrap hardwood is absolutely worth some trouble or expense to get. It's good for kindling of course, but also helps a lot with fires if your firewood isn't totally dry.

Your radial arm saw should be perfect for cutting multiple pieces to length. I did that many times with scrap at work, for kindling or tomato stakes or whatever. The table/bench and fence let you do a lot at once. My portable chopsaw doesn't let me do as much, I'd like a nice radial arm saw setup!

 

[boostnut]

I've been burning scrap materials from my neighbors cabinet shop for the past few years. If I were you I'd be all over that deal! I use a 12" chop saw to cut mine down to size, I can go thru a wheelbarrow full in only a few minutes. My vote - Mother Lode!

 

[ansehnlich1]

get it to your place and cut it up as cheap as ya can.......bet me it ain't burnt up in a year or two

 

[DriftWood]

Mother lode, just get it!

 

[WarmGuy]

The main danger is that you'll look at all this great wood, and you'll want to make stuff out of it (cutting boards, etc.).

 

[Jake]

I mainly burn KD hardwood scraps,

This past winter, I took home a huge pile of 8foot long wood flooring rip scraps. I bundled em all together with a few rachet straps, then used the chainsaw to "buck em" it goes fast.

use a miter saw if ya want, but this method is WAY faster

 

[dakota03]

Just make sure ya don't throw it in loose and let it fire. Small and dry = overfire!

 

[jtb51b]

I go by a local cabinet shop that uses mostlty Oak and Maple to retrieve a 55 gal barrel full once a year. This, combined with SuperCedar starters (great BTW) keeps me from fooling around when its time to start a fire from scratch.. I know I don't burn nearly as long as you "yankees" but I still get a couple months of 24/7 burning, and even then its great to have a little really dry stuff to stoke the fire with..

Jason

 

[Jake]

Small and dry = overfire!

I filled my box full with 3/4" thick wood flooring scraps tonight, it got no where near overfiring. I'm starting to think you have to try real hard to overfire

 

[Redox]

I will burn just about anything if it is free (that's my favorite flavor!). I will actually make an effort to get hardwood in any form. Had to draw the line at pine skids a while back, but if someone wanted to drop them off at the house, well, I'll find a way to "recycle" them. Even pine works if you can control the draft.

Chris

 

[Kilted]

I just got a load almost like that, more smaller pieces. Makes WONDERFULL kindling started a fire last night worked well. I'll be getting another load as my kindling bin is only half full. I used a Sawzall to cut it up.

-- Brandy

 

[Hunky1]

Thanx for the great ideas and replies! Will be moving on it soon, as the word is spreading among the Maple Syrup producing peoples (a friend tells me it burns hot and fast!) Have access to a end-dump, (large tractor trailer dump box), so will hire one of the local guys w/ a grapple bucket on his skidsteer. Will have to maintain some semblence of moderation and only load a half load, the way this stuff is piled, I fear it would bridge and plug the trailer when dumping. At the very least, it will be free lifetime kindling supply!

 

[mtarbert]

I got a similar deal with decoy carvers. I get their scrap (55gallon drum) for starters and cool evenings. If I can keep our 7year old from making toys from the Neat shapes.......a room full of toys and he plays with scraps....go figure