I have wood with punk it in that dries. However, unlike its solid friends in the pile, if it does get wet it soaks it right in then takes longer to dry back out.
pen
pen
Burning sugar maple...
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Andrew I've always argued that wood is not a sponge. However, once there is punk, that all goes out the door. That punk will definitely soak up lots of moisture.
This also is one reason some folks should not be out looking for standing dead trees. They may or may not be good.
If it's really punky, pretty easy to knock the punk out with a small hatchet, before bringing the wood in to burn.
HDRock
Minister of Fire
Yeah, but I don't know if this is the OP's problem. Punky wood sucking up water is pretty obvious. I have to give him credit that he can tell the difference between waterlogged punky stuff and not.
oh I certainly know the difference from the OUTSIDE but the INSIDE looked very different. I have seen punky wood, it looks "petrified" and is heavy. But seeing as this was maple, it was already heavy. ANd when I split it open to test the MC, that is when I saw it seemed to be a BIT punky. I don't think I could have knocked off/hacked out the punky parts quite yet (as I have done with other wood).
What folks are these, the ones who can't tell the difference between punk and solid wood? Usually, there's some bad wood that needs to be culled when splitting just about any dead standing tree. It's pretty easy to do.
I've got the impression that you don't really like harvesting dead wood. If the EAB wasn't dumping tons of dead stuff in your lap, would you prefer to cut only live trees?
Firewood is a byproduct of maintaining a healthy woodlot. For my practices. I have more than I could handle in my lifetime. I feel for those who have seen the devastation of the demise of the Ash tree species. I have American chestnut trees. I watch for blights, black knot, cankers, fungal infections, beetles...borers...invasive species.
I joke about the arboretum of pestilence and disease. Im jealous of the scroungers picking up healthy storm damaged trees from Sandy. And Lee and Irene.
Backwood Savage is right, the dead oak Im cutting could take 10 years to dry out. If ever.
But better to burn it than let it spread.
I joke about the arboretum of pestilence and disease. Im jealous of the scroungers picking up healthy storm damaged trees from Sandy. And Lee and Irene.
Backwood Savage is right, the dead oak Im cutting could take 10 years to dry out. If ever.
But better to burn it than let it spread.
I've had pretty good luck with dead standing Red/Black Oak. I'm burning some now that has dried for two summers, not even two full years. It was in the upper 20s MC when split, split medium size, single-row stacked, and is rockin' out the heat right now.
Whoa, hang on there Woody. While it is true we've been cutting dead ash for the last 10 years or so we have also been cutting dead elm. Actually before the ash started to die off, I'd guess 90% or more of the wood we burned was dead wood. To tell the truth, it is quite rare for us to cut many live trees.
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