Neighbor is splitting Oak NOW to use this Winter!

[Knots]

Hope you like the smell of oak smoke

Moving right now to 80+ acres. Closest neighbors are horses.

 

[Ashful]

Joful's life mistake #1063: don't marry a woman who considers 10 acres just minutes from town, "too remote".

 

[Knots]

Joful's life mistake #1063: don't marry a woman who considers 10 acres just minutes from town, "too remote".

Yikes! By Maine standards I'm still in suburbia. Paved road, 20 minutes to town, 35 minutes to Portland.

Build house first, get woman later...

 

[firefighterjake]

Yikes! By Maine standards I'm still in suburbia. Paved road, 20 minutes to town, 35 minutes to Portland.

Build house first, get woman later...

I know some folks that would say Alfred is Northern Massachusetts . . . or eastern New Hampshire. Then again, these are the same folks who a) have never left the State for their entire life, b) folks who think driving to Bangor or Portland is going to the "Big City" and c) they think if they go to Portland they will surely be mugged.

For a real slice of Maine . . . try heading to The County or Downeast . . . things are way, way different there . . . quite different even from where I live.

 

[Woody Stover]

Been telling my wife's cousin for a few months that he's got some dead stuff behind his house that's almost dry.....he had cut some dead trees on the edge of his woods and stacked it for this winter. All Red or Black Oak....35% MC!

So we finally got back in there last week, and here's what we came up with that was dry:
Lotta Sassafras, a little Black Cherry, a couple small Oak, like 6 or 7", some Redbud and Dogwood. Then we grabbed a couple BL on the edge of his yard, 20% or so. A couple tossers in there, as you can see.

About two cords or so. I'm sure there's more small dead stuff, Dogwood, Mulberry and such, in another section of his woods, but we're gonna wait until the brush dies back so it's easier to find.

 

[chazcarr]

I had a neighbor last month come up to me and say I better not be burning the wood I was splitting this season. He is tired of smelling everyone's smoke. I told him not to worry as I plan on using the oil burner this year. In actuality I have tons of Envi-8s in my basement that I plan to burn while all this new stuff dries. I had to buy them because the polar vortex damn near wiped me out.

I wasn't even mad at him for nosing in, I actually agree. A new person has moved in behind him and burns like he is trying to communicate by smoke signal to some Indian tribe on the moon. I see ash raining out of his chimney sometimes. He burned about 4 months ago, not sure when he'll start up again but he has since cut every tree in his back yard down. Big difference is that my large wood pile is noticeable, therefore everyone only really knows me as the crazy wood guy.

I hate when un-baptized (to use this thread's language) newbies make everyone scowl at me.
Luckily once people get to know me they realize I've been fully confirmed in this religion and know my stuff.

I wish there was some type of hearth.com pamphlet I could staple to this guy's door.

 

[Woody Stover]

I had a neighbor last month come up to me and say I better not be burning the wood I was splitting this season.

I'm surprised that anyone actually has a neighbor that knows that dry wood is a necessity.

 

[Craig S.]

I've seen so many people around here splitting wood this summer with the intention to burn this winter.

 

[Hobie]

My neighbor, who is in the landscaping business....not sure if he deals with firewood in his business.....dropped a bunch of rounds next to his house last winter, got out the splitter, split everything, stacked it against the house, and over the next few weeks, would pass it though the window to his wife to burn.

Last year was my first year burning, and even I wouldn't do that!

 

[paul bunion]

My neighbor, who is in the landscaping business....not sure if he deals with firewood in his business.....dropped a bunch of rounds next to his house last winter, got out the splitter, split everything, stacked it against the house, and over the next few weeks, would pass it though the window to his wife to burn.

Last year was my first year burning, and even I wouldn't do that!

Yes, he should have made her carry the wood in by the armload through the back door.

 

[Lyndenbrook Farm]

Hey friendly flame-heads! Total newbie here. I'm happy I stumbled on this forum and this thread, so I decided to register and pop in for some insight.

My wife is happy that we just moved a tad more remote (but I still can commute to my desk job without too much hassle). We have a nice place with seven acres, a brook, a patch of woods and 10 horse stalls (oops, don't marry a horse lover again).

We just installed a used Hearthstone Heritage and we have a metric buttload of standing victims of the emerald ash borer.

We are new here and there is only a small stack of seasoned stuff sitting around (1/3 cord max) from the previous owner, who obviously was not into the whole thing because of the horror that was the chimney when we inspected. (But at least that small stack is REALLY seasoned).

Some of the ash around has been standing dead for a couple years obviously. We had to have some taken down, and that is about all that is available. So that is what I am burning this winter like it or not.

Some of it seemed pretty dry/seasoned to my untrained eye. Cracks all through, and it splits in four pieces if you just look at the logs cross-eyed. Others more shaded were less dry.

So, am I ok?

I am ready for my baptism!

 

[Ashful]

No experience (yet) here with EAB, but Ash is one of the fastest drying high BTU woods you'll find, so that's in your favor. Best advice, check freshly-split faces with a $30 General moisture meter from Lowes, and look for numbers around 20% at room temperature. Split small, even green ash can dry in one summer.

 

[Woody Stover]

Some of the ash around has been standing dead for a couple years obviously. We had to have some taken down, and that is about all that is available. So that is what I am burning this winter like it or not. Some of it seemed pretty dry/seasoned to my untrained eye. Cracks all through, and it splits in four pieces if you just look at the logs cross-eyed. Others more shaded were less dry.

Welcome! I seldom find White Ash that's ready to go in the stove immediately, but a lot of the dead stuff is low to mid-20s moisture content. "Cracks all through" sounds promising. Stack it in single rows in the wind and hope for the best. You can mix it with Bio-bricks if needed this winter. Any dead Ash you can split and stack now will be ready by next fall, for sure. Oak is a different story, very slow drying. As mentioned, a moisture meter is useful when you are under the gun for dry wood, and need to find out where you stand. Once you have a few years' worth stacked, you know it's gonna be dry by the time you burn it. See my post above; You can probably go out and find small, dead stuff that is ready right now, then the split and stacked Ash will be better in a few months than it is now.

 

[Lyndenbrook Farm]

Thanks, Joful and Stover!

Being that I am burning what is available and that is my only choice, I'm not sure if a meter will do me any good. But I will try to stack it right and hope for the best.

Winters in my area usually start out pretty mild. Do you (or anyone else in the peanut gallery) have any tips on stacking/storing for drying in colder months?

 

[D8Chumley]

Welcome! These guys gave some good advice. I have burned less than ideal wood, it will burn but just not very efficiently. Keep an eye on the chimney for creosote build up. I have let some wetter splits "dry" next to the stove for a few days. Not the best way but when you are up against it you gotta do what u gotta do. I'd agree with the moisture meter, for 30 it's peace of mind to me. Fortunately I found this site last year and I'm right about where I need to be to have the 3 year ahead goal met.

 

[Lyndenbrook Farm]

Can someone point me to a link about stacking.storing 101?

My DW is insisting that the most seasoned stuff be used for horse jumps instead of heating our home. Argh. Won't even let me swap it out if I do all the moving.

Thanks

 

[Ashful]

Speechless. Why would a horse care if the wood is seasoned? Your stove will.

Seems to me that horse jumps would be the perfect place for stacking green stuff to season.

 

[Bmore]

Does wet oak burn better in catalytic vs secondary burning stoves? Split and stacked a lot of wood this spring that I hope to be burning in a big cat this season.

 

[Lyndenbrook Farm]

Speechless. Why would a horse care if the wood is seasoned? Your stove will.

Seems to me that horse jumps would be the perfect place for stacking green stuff to season.

Before I knew which end was up, I let her put some together. Now they are "permanent installations"

I did get a giggle out of your comment, though, and will share with her

 

[Hoozie]

(oops, don't marry a horse lover again).

Truth!
<-- attempting (poorly) to maintain a 9 acre horse farm. Repeat after me: "If I really wanted horses, I would have had them already."

Tell her you'll rebuild them bigger/better/more awesomer? Or do it anyways when she isn't looking?

 

[Ashful]

Does wet oak burn better in catalytic vs secondary burning stoves? Split and stacked a lot of wood this spring that I hope to be burning in a big cat this season.

I am unfortunately very qualified to answer this question. Yes, you can burn unseasoned wood in a catalytic stove, perhaps better than in a non-cat, but that statement requires a few qualifying remarks:

1. You will need to leave your stove in bypass much longer, to bake out the water.
2. You'll be throwing away a lot of your hard-split BTU's on boiling water.
3. It will funk up your chimney while burning in bypass.
4. In any stove aside from a downdraft catalytic, the steam passing thru your ceramic cat might cause it to fracture. Putting 200F steam thru a cat that was just cooking at 1000F+ causes some serious mechanical stresses.

The one advantage of the catalytic stove for burning wet wood, over the non-cat, is that bypass damper.

 

[Woody Stover]

Does wet oak burn better in catalytic vs secondary burning stoves? Split and stacked a lot of wood this spring that I hope to be burning in a big cat this season.

The Buck don't like wet wood...

 

[blacktail]

SPLITTING now? My neighbor has spent the last week cutting down maples and alders for this coming winter. He'll have it all split in the next week or two. Should burn nice in his old slammer insert.

 

[BCC_Burner]

Lots of my neighbors are coming back from the Uintas with their trucks full of rounds for this winter lately. A few guys have had their rounds stacked since July, but only 2 other people in my neighborhood who are burners have any quantity of wood split yet. Most people won't start splitting until it's cold enough to start burning in mid or late September. My next door neighbor even invited me to his "splitting party" to get ready for this winter...he's having it the 27th and 28th of September.

If dead standing softwoods weren't so prevalent around here, I would be getting confrontational with my neighbors about their practices and the fact that I'll have to breathe their pollution. Most of them manage to scrape by because of the species we're dealing with, but it's disconcerting to see how little people care about instituting responsible burning practices.

 

[Ashful]

SPLITTING now? My neighbor has spent the last week cutting down maples and alders for this coming winter. He'll have it all split in the next week or two.

Nothing wrong with splitting now... if it's not for this year!

I usually do 80% - 90% of my splitting for any year on Thanksgiving weekend. However, with 15 cords cut, split, and stacked, I'll be splitting my 2016 - 2018 wood this Thanksgiving.