Craigslist.....Ash just cut but ready to burn

[Jfk4th]

(broken link removed to http://buffalo.craigslist.org/grd/1535761407.html)

Talked to this guy today, He claims his ash, green mind you, is 10% moisture content, hmmmmmm. Now to tell you more he just cut down the living trees this week so I told him 165 is a great price but you really should not be telling people you can burn it today. He said "I have been burning for 20 years and with ash you can burn it right away, this isn't maple you know"....

Well I told him maybe I'll stop by sometime and again 165 is a good price per full cord(good for next year I am thinking)... but if he thinks it is already 10% from a standing living tree damn he must have some magic trees out there

Just wanted give fellow Western New Yorkers a heads up on "If the price seems to be good to be true...."

 

[gzecc]

Its possibly 30% green, which will burn. Its probably 10 percentage points higher than optimal which is 20%. Some people gage MC by moisture above seasoned (20%). Like the difference between mark up and margin.
Bring a moisture meter. I have seen ash @25% green. I would be very surprised to see 10%.

 

[Battenkiller]

I have seen ash @25% green. I would be very surprised to see 10%.

Some species of hardwood have slightly less water in them during cold weather, particularly in the upper reaches. During summer, water is being pulled up past 32 feet by the transpiration of the leaves. When they drop, that effect no longer works. I'm not sure, but it is possible that ash is one of them. Was the stuff you measured at 25% cut during winter?

 

[gzecc]

It was a long dead tree. Only the tops were that dry.

 

[Jfk4th]

Its possibly 30% green, which will burn. Its probably 10 percentage points higher than optimal which is 20%. Some people gage MC by moisture above seasoned (20%). Like the difference between mark up and margin.
Bring a moisture meter. I have seen ash @25% green. I would be very surprised to see 10%.

Yah, 10% would be incredible but I am sure when I bring my moisture meter it will say like you said between 25-30% easy....I don't want to put down this guy, at least to his face, because 165 for a full cord in Orleans county is a good price(he just shouldn't say it's ready to burn). Maybe he could say "It is ready to burn if you want to clean your chimney 5 times a year"

I have guys where I live that charge 90-100 dollars per face cord and sadly people pay it.....
But at any rate this wood will be great for next years burn....

 

[CrawfordCentury]

Many years ago, I had to buy wood. The wife lost her job and was home a lot more, requiring more wood than I'd planned for.

Bought some ash. Hated to pay for wood, but half a cord costed less than what the oil man would've exacted.

I was leery about burning green. But it did go good in the stove. A few splits, I put in the stove oven - and was very surprised how little moisture bubbled out of the endgrain

 

[Battenkiller]

Many years ago, I had to buy wood. The wife lost her job and was home a lot more, requiring more wood than I'd planned for.

Bought some ash. Hated to pay for wood, but half a cord costed less than what the oil man would've exacted.

I was leery about burning green. But it did go good in the stove. A few splits, I put in the stove oven - and was very surprised how little moisture bubbled out of the endgrain

I'm an old pro at burning green ash, and it will burn fine, but it doesn't have to bubble out the end to cut way back on the available heat it can provide. Any water will lower the wood temp as it evaporates out. The more that is in there and the thicker the wood is split, the worse the problem becomes. Even wood at 15% moisture content has, well... 15% water still inside it. It doesn't sizzle because most of the sizzling comes from the water that is considered "free water", that is, not bound to the cells. Free water can actually be squeezed out of wood (with a vice unless you're Superman) when it is green. And that's why seasoned wood that has become wet will sizzle, even though it will dry out again completely and burn fine after a few days in the stove room.

Ash has very little free water, so little comes out the end compared to oak, but the bound water that is there will reduce the amount of heat available. Heat of vaporization is always a factor, and oven-dried wood at <4% MC will put out more heat than the best shed-dried wood no matter how long you season it (unless your shed is in the desert).

I had about 20 nice, big splits of white ash sitting for a couple of years now, cluttering up the workshop under the pretense that they would one day jump up onto the chuck of my wood lathe and transform themselves into salad bowls. Well, yesterday, I decided I had enough of their false promises and decided to feed them to Beulah and get them out of the shop (I really like to turn green wood anyway). Wow! What nice heat they gave off. Lots more than I'd get out of fresh ash.

So, yes, you can burn it safely, or at least more safely than any other hardwood I know of, but you will get more heat when you need it most if it is down to 15% or less. But I still recommend splitting it small and burning it hot as you dare.