I was watching the local CBS affiliate last week and they had a segment about how to safely buy firewood for newbies. The expert they had on was a firewood dealer that said he'd been in the business for 16 years. He said a few things that were good and a one that floored me. He said pine was trash and don't burn it. Oak was the best. Ash was an all purpose wood that could be cut and split and burnt all the same day. Did I miss something? I've always been under the impression that wood needs to season to burn properly and reduce creosote. I know some wood seasons/dries faster than others, but 12 hrs? Granted this was a short segment, but I think it was some pretty poor info.
Cut it today, split it today, burn tonight..What?
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ash can be burned green - much better than green oak / pine BUT everything burns better when it's seasoned
Ok.
I had no idea you could burn ash green. Wouldn't still increase creasote build up due to the moisture?
I had no idea you could burn ash green. Wouldn't still increase creasote build up due to the moisture?
Cory92 said:
It's a low moisture wood to begin with, so you're ahead of the game compared to most.
I am burning the ash tree we cut down in September - it is drier than the oak that was cut in the spring. Two things to note here - Ash starts with less moisture so it is already ahead of the game. The time of year a tree is cut has a lot to do with it as well - deciduous trees pull sap to the roots for winter - so a tree cut in January will have less moisture than in July. I dont think you could burn an ash tree the next day if it still had leaves on it when cut.
Just to clarify - Burning green ash is still NOT recommended. It can be done, but so can alot of other things that aren't a really good idea. It does start with less moisture than many. It will season in a shorter time frame than most, but will DEFINITELY be on the high side of acceptable moisture content if burned green.
Even a couple of months seasoning will improve the wood, but following the standard 12 month rule of thumb will make it even better.
Even a couple of months seasoning will improve the wood, but following the standard 12 month rule of thumb will make it even better.
Cory92 said:
Here's the facts.
Fact: All wood burns . . . if you get it hot enough, long enough.
Fact: Wood burns best however when seasoned . . . 6 months - 2 years depending on the species.
Fact: Pine is and can be burned safely (in fact last night I was burning some pine and folks out west burn a lot of softwoods) . . . the idea of pine producing creosote is myth . . . well kind of . . . if someone burns unseasoned pine (like any other wood) it will produce creosote. Pine is not a favored wood by folks with easy access to hardwood however since many species of pine (eastern white in my area of the country) burns up quickly . . . plus it can be a bit messy when cutting, splitting and stacking due to the sap.
Fact: Oak is a good wood to burn . .. but there are also many other good wood to burn when it comes to BTUs -- locust and hickory for example.
Fact: Ash is a good, low-moisture wood. Can it be cut and burned the same day? Sure . . . but so can any wood. Refer back to Fact #1 . . . if you have enough heat and apply it long enough you can get any wood to burn. Is it a good idea? Nope . . . see Fact #2. You really want to season your wood and get it drier so your stove burns cleanly and you get more BTUs out of that wood (vs. using up heat trying to burn the water out of the wood to get it to the point where it will burn.) Trust me on this one . . . having burned some ash that was seasoned 5-6 months last year and burning ash that was seasoned for a year . . . there is a major difference in how well the wood burns (i.e. moisture spitting out of the ends, how fast the wood catches, etc.) and how much more heat you'll get when you have wood that is truly seasoned. Oh yeah, also burning wood that is less than ideal (i.e.not seasoned) = more creosote in the chimney.
You can't deny that ash COULD be cut and burned in the same day, but should it be? Any firewood will burn a whole lot better after it seasons for a year. Burning wet versus seasoned wood is like night and day, but here, like everywhere else, most people burn less than fully seasoned firewood. i am sure there are quite a few trees standing live today that will be on the Thanksgiving fire.
Ah, the old ash thing strikes once more.
As you can tell from my signature, we have cut and burned wood for a few years now. Through the years we've cut and burned good wood and also a bit of junk wood. We've burned mostly dry wood (ours now is seasoned 7 years) but a few times we've been forced to burn green wood.
First, our cutting is all done during the winter months. We'll be starting next week. We split in the spring and stack right away following splitting. We leave the stacks uncovered until late fall or early winter. Then we cover the tops of the stacks only.
There were a few years that I could not cut or split wood due to an injury. One year we were forced to buy wood, so I bought from an old friend. Sadly, he, like his father, still believes you can cut and start burning right away. I asked what he had and he said he was clearing some old fencerows of his neighbors and there was a lot of good ash there and big enough they had to be split. So I asked only for the ash that he would have to split.
So naturally we got all green ash. We did keep warm that winter. What we did was always try to keep a hot fire (ash usually is a slow starter) going and we also cleaned our chimney probably 4 times or more; maybe six but don't remember for sure how many. It does seem we cleaned it monthly though.
The point is, we did burn green ash and we did keep the house warm. It did cause extra work cleaning the chimney and we did burn much more wood than normal. So even though it can be done, it certainly is not the ideal. If forced to do it, all I can say is do it and also clean that chimney monthly at the very least. Also do not expect to start a fire from just a few coals as that takes a bit of time. Best to add wood before it gets completely to the coaling stage.
So the ideal is to still age ash for a year or at least through one summer and fall. Other wood needs varying amounts of time. Anywhere from 6 months to 3 years.
As you can tell from my signature, we have cut and burned wood for a few years now. Through the years we've cut and burned good wood and also a bit of junk wood. We've burned mostly dry wood (ours now is seasoned 7 years) but a few times we've been forced to burn green wood.
First, our cutting is all done during the winter months. We'll be starting next week. We split in the spring and stack right away following splitting. We leave the stacks uncovered until late fall or early winter. Then we cover the tops of the stacks only.
There were a few years that I could not cut or split wood due to an injury. One year we were forced to buy wood, so I bought from an old friend. Sadly, he, like his father, still believes you can cut and start burning right away. I asked what he had and he said he was clearing some old fencerows of his neighbors and there was a lot of good ash there and big enough they had to be split. So I asked only for the ash that he would have to split.
So naturally we got all green ash. We did keep warm that winter. What we did was always try to keep a hot fire (ash usually is a slow starter) going and we also cleaned our chimney probably 4 times or more; maybe six but don't remember for sure how many. It does seem we cleaned it monthly though.
The point is, we did burn green ash and we did keep the house warm. It did cause extra work cleaning the chimney and we did burn much more wood than normal. So even though it can be done, it certainly is not the ideal. If forced to do it, all I can say is do it and also clean that chimney monthly at the very least. Also do not expect to start a fire from just a few coals as that takes a bit of time. Best to add wood before it gets completely to the coaling stage.
So the ideal is to still age ash for a year or at least through one summer and fall. Other wood needs varying amounts of time. Anywhere from 6 months to 3 years.
Cory92 said:
Real simple, the wood must be dry before you put it in the Temple.
Define dry.
Moisture meter reads 15-20%
or
You wood knock two pieces from the same batch together and they make a hollow not thud sound, and they feel somewhat light
or
You've had the splits exposed to air and sun for 6 months to 3 years and they pass one of the two steps above
or you're Lee and the wood speaks to you
or you're BrotherBart and the stove speaks to you
seen it done many times ,yes ,ash can be burned the same day its cut ,granted it will always be better if seasoned though.if i was forced to burn green wood i would pick ash as the preferred species to go with
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