8 Months ok for Maple? Creasole?

[daveswoodhauler]

Ok, ran out of my oak that was split and seasoned for 2 years...now on to the maple that was cut in Jan 08, split in March and stacked in June 2008 with the top covered. It seems to take a little while longer to get it going, but once burning it seems to burn welll at 500-525 or so with the damper about 3/4's closed.

Question, if there is no white/puffy smoke coming from my chimney....would you say thats its dry enough to burn? Or, can you get creasole buildup even with no white smoke from the top of the chimney?

Thanks.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Usually you can burn maple after it has been split and stacked through the summer, especially seeing as how it was cut before the sap was up.

 

[wendell]

I cut some Norway Maple last April and then split and stacked it on Memorial Day weekend. At the first part of this winter I was burning some old dead elm and finally got to the maple a few weeks ago (which corresponded with a cold snap). I at first attributed the lack of warmth to the temperature outside but 2 days ago split a piece and used my moisture meter on the freshly split surface and got a reading of 30%!

Needless to say, I have gone back to the elm and am leaving the maple for next year. What I saw was the maple burned fine but what I now see having gone back to some really dry wood is how much heat I was losing (at the same flue temperature) burning the maple and how much more I was leaving the air vent open to keep the flue at 450 degrees.

I hope that helps.

 

[Malatesta]

Not sure how long your summers are in MASS but 8 months should be plenty of time for Maple.