Wet Wooded/Blacklisted

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frederico265

frederico265

Member
Dec 1, 2018
19
New York
We moved into our house over the summer. I made arrangements to get wood from a friend of a friend. That fell through and I was left scrambling. I got a cord from one guy that appeared seasoned but was rain wet. That wood wasn’t awful but very wet. I got wet wooded by another guy and just turned 2 guys away for wet wood. I don’t know if I should keep looking and risk getting blacklisted if I turn guys away or just start working on next years supply.


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I know you need wood now, but if you can afford it, keep the wood and stack it up for next year. You’re gonna need it, may as well store it up and keep searching for some dry stuff. You may need to just find some standing dead ash or something similar to cut up for this season.
 
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I read on another forum that tsc is having a clearance sale on there compressed wood blocks, don't know if its just a local store or company wide, you may want to give them a call...$1.00 a package is a steal.
 
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I would buy a pallet or two of presto logs to tide you over. Wood is cheaper and easier when it’s not snowing. Bonus is you will have time for drying if you can let it sit a year.
 
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webby3650 said:
IYou may need to just find some standing dead ash or something similar to cut up for this season.
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If you have access to a wood lot, any standing trees 8" or less in diameter that the bark has fallen off should burn well now.
 
Woody Stover said:
If you have access to a wood lot, any standing trees 8" or less in diameter that the bark has fallen off should burn well now.
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Not here, or anywhere near the east coast..
Nothing is/was/did dry this summer... Even old c/s/s/ wood gained moisture this summer....... Damn it's been wet and humid...
 
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frederico265 said:
We moved into our house over the summer. I made arrangements to get wood from a friend of a friend. That fell through and I was left scrambling. I got a cord from one guy that appeared seasoned but was rain wet. That wood wasn’t awful but very wet. I got wet wooded by another guy and just turned 2 guys away for wet wood. I don’t know if I should keep looking and risk getting blacklisted if I turn guys away or just start working on next years supply.


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Fredrico do you have access to pallets ? They can really make the difference in getting not quite seasoned wood to produce heat .I see you are from ny too , can you get some of your wood inside ? You’ll be surprised what 3-4 days in low humidity will do, my stove is on basement so keeping stacks is no issue .
 
What I did was keep the wood, and then ordered 3 tons of Envi-Blocks to get me through year one. They burn great, nothing drier.
 
kennyp2339 said:
I read on another forum that tsc is having a clearance sale on there compressed wood blocks, don't know if its just a local store or company wide, you may want to give them a call...$1.00 a package is a steal.
Click to expand...
They're on sale 3 for $10 at my local store, not a bad deal but not $1.
 
Pallets got me through my first year of burning.

Collect wood for next year.
 
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There are a few wood processors around me and leaving wood in the shade, under trees, uncovered in a huge pile(s) is not going to be dry. One such place has had the wood sitting there for three years now. I would not be surprised if I walked up to the pile and saw mushrooms growing.
 
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Bad LP said:
There are a few wood processors around me and leaving wood in the shade, under trees, uncovered in a huge pile(s) is not going to be dry. One such place has had the wood sitting there for three years now. I would not be surprised if I walked up to the pile and saw mushrooms growing.
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Even properly put up for drying this year was wet ! Most of our Craigslist guys and some longer established sellers still try to unload 2-4 month splits which too many scammers around
 
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frederico265 said:
We moved into our house over the summer. I made arrangements to get wood from a friend of a friend. That fell through and I was left scrambling. I got a cord from one guy that appeared seasoned but was rain wet. That wood wasn’t awful but very wet. I got wet wooded by another guy and just turned 2 guys away for wet wood. I don’t know if I should keep looking and risk getting blacklisted if I turn guys away or just start working on next years supply.


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You should be working on next years supply no matter what. Or you will be in the same pickle next year too.
 
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There is saying is that "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.". Barring someone moving and having to sell their nice dry well seasoned wood you need to give up on wood sellers. The folks with dry wood don't need to advertise and the folks out to make a quick buck are going to say what they will to get your money in their pocket.
 
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My first year I used the compressed sawdust bricks instead of green wood.....even this year my two year old split oak is not always ideal still figuring out best method of cutting size, stacking and covering
 
All of the split cordwood I bought this year was (and still is) soaked. So frustrating to lift the tarp off and see fungus growing. I had bought some unsplit logs that had been bucked the year before for cheaper that I split myself and it’s the only dry stuff I have to burn. Guess i’ll Be going that route next year as well. Such is life in the Northeast, I suppose.
 
kennyp2339 said:
I read on another forum that tsc is having a clearance sale on there compressed wood blocks, don't know if its just a local store or company wide, you may want to give them a call...$1.00 a package is a steal.
Click to expand...

No sale at our TSC in Sussex or in Flanders. Must be local to the guy who wrote that on the other forum.
 
all my wood is damp as well from the wet/humid spring, summer,Fall(?) this 3-4 years in the stacks split. Looking at getting a conex container as around my place it is almost impossible to keep any thing on top of the stacks- wide open farm country, wind- 20mph is a light breeze. Horizonal rain is normal.
 
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All good responses. It sounds like there’s a lot of wet wood out there. The guys I turned away were 25-35% (not from a fresh split). I have 2 cords of oak that’s around 25-30% and another cord of what looks like maple that’s 25-35%. I have room for another cord-cord and a half until I can get more pallets for stacking. I’ve brought wood inside for a few days and it does dry out a bit more but still wet on the fresh split.

Ecobricks/Biobricks were like 6 bricks for $3.99 if I remember correctly. I asked these guys before they came if the wood was good. They couldn’t give me a moisture content but they all said “guys love it” or “I’m burning it in my stove.” Thanks to the info here I believe we were burning efficiently before when we had “ok” wood. Now we’ve cut back burning bc of the high MC and it’s a headache.
 
There are several caveats when buying wood, seasoning is just one. Getting a full cord is another. Lots of guys will loose fill a truck and call it a cord. There's a lot of air space in a loose fill which can lead to a 25% shortage. If you are buying wood it's easier to assume the wood will be poorly seasoned or green. Buy it at a lower price and stack it top covered for the following year(s).
 
Ask for a green wood discount when ordering. If there is no such discount then you may as well take whatever it is now and only verify that you are getting the agreed upon volume which is a whole different source of being scammed by wood sellers. Season it yourself.

On edit: BG beat me to it!
 
frederico265 said:
We moved into our house over the summer. I made arrangements to get wood from a friend of a friend. That fell through and I was left scrambling. I got a cord from one guy that appeared seasoned but was rain wet. That wood wasn’t awful but very wet. I got wet wooded by another guy and just turned 2 guys away for wet wood. I don’t know if I should keep looking and risk getting blacklisted if I turn guys away or just start working on next years supply.


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Now your talking about wet wood not just green wood that's wet right ?If it's seasoned and just wet get some hardwood bricks and dry the wood by the stove.I'm doing that as I write.
 
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Here is a way to get some dryer wood. Every town has a cabinetry shop or two. They throw away tons of scraps to the local dump almost every week.
I would take the pickup truck and go by there and ask if you can glean their scraps for the fireplace. Almost all of them will gladly let you do so and might even help you empty the scrap barrels. Then go home and cut them to length using your chop saw.
 
around here the cabinet shops, what is left of them ,caught on to that and want green stamps now.
My tree service customers are all buying the biggest chippers they can (eab) . one just a few blocks away big tub grinder in the yard. I do not know if they bought it or if it is a hired service. Those tub grinders are pricy.
 
Last edited:
Thank you everyone for the advice. I recently got lucky. I got a free face cord of ash, a bunch of pallets and a cord of seasoned wood that’s a little wet from the weather. I’ve been stacking wood by the stove to dry it out. I also bought bio blocks (12 for $5.99). I’ll be using the pallets to stock up on wood for feature years. I just gotta push through this season and next year I’ll be better prepared.


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