Pieces of Punk Wood

[quads]

When I come across pieces of punky wood...

...if they break like this when I split them:

...I leave them in the woods to finish rotting:

...or if they split ok:

...I toss them on the pile:

 

[oldspark]

Sometimes I do not get that far, after the chainsaw "falls through the tree" I give up on it.

 

[quads]

Sometimes I do not get that far, after the chainsaw "falls through the tree" I give up on it.

Yep, same here, if it's really soft I don't even take a swing at it. I leave it for the moss to live on.

 

[Ratherbfishin]

When I get stuff like that I stack it aside and it will be fire pit wood for the summer.

 

[kenny chaos]

I burn my wood before it rots.

 

[quads]

I burn my wood before it rots.

Yep, I do too, or sell the excess.

The tree these pieces came from just tipped over last week. Up until then the woodpeckers were living in it. Whenever I see a woodpecker hole, I always figure the few pieces around it will be soft. It's ok though, I happily share the dead trees with the woodland creatures, until the tree tips over on it's own, even if it means losing some of it to rot. I've got plenty more where that came from.

 

[quads]

When I get stuff like that I stack it aside and it will be fire pit wood for the summer.

I love my firepit! I burn about a full cord of my seasoned oak in it every summer.

 

[Skier76]

I had some old leftover pine from the previous owners. The stuff feels like styrofoam. I used it in the spring and the fall. If it's dry, I'll burn it. I just hate to waste wood. I use a lot of cut up branches as kindling or in the firepit over the summer. We had a big branch fall this weekend. I told my wife: "Looks, heat from heaven..." :lol:

 

[LLigetfa]

When I come across pieces of punky wood...

...if they break like this when I split them:

...I leave them in the woods to finish rotting:

Same rule I live by. If I know they are going to be like that before felling, I leave it standing for the woodpeckers unless it is a hazzard to others.

 

[savageactor7]

Those chunk pieces top off our campfire stacks and usually get burned 1st. The other punky wood left gets burned in shoulder season.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

quads it appears we do things the same way but I rarely run into any punky stuff

 

[oldspark]

When the punk turns to funk you are sunk.

 

[quads]

quads it appears we do things the same way but I rarely run into any punky stuff

Just around the woodpecker holes is about the only time it's punky and sometimes if a log has been laying flat against the dirt for many years.

 

[billb3]

I've had still living (struggling) or wind downed oaks that are like that.
Usually you can tell with the saw where the punk ends and the good wood starts.
I've split some up just because it seems to rot and turn into earth faster. Worth a few swings if you're gonna be tripping over it down the road.

I've got a red oak with no insides.
It hasn't had any heart wood for at least thirty years.
Hasn't grown much but it's still alive.
Termites or carpenter ants I imagine - so long ago I never saw any signs of them - it's always been hollow.

If it ever snaps in the wind I'll have a chance to take a saw to try to figure out how it got that way.
critters or just wound decay.

 

[quads]

We have a lot of hollow oaks here for some reason. I can usually tell by looking at it if it's hollow; the base of the trunk from the ground up to about 3 feet has a big flair to it.