Slab wood

[karl]

Well, I'm well on my way to heating with wood. I have a little over 3 cords split and drying. I have what I think is a great deal on an insert. It's a Napoleon 1402 $1300.00 and that includes shipping and the gold door I wanted. I just have to order it. If anybody has any suggestions on a better insert for a better price, please let me know.

Anyway, here is my question. I friend of mine who lives way out in the country where alot of people heat with wood, said I was crazy for splitting my own wood. He told me to go to the local lumber mill and buy slab wood. He even called them for me. A dump truck load of slab wood cut to the length I want is $110.00 delivered. He said he thought it was a 3 ton dump truck and he said two loads wood heat my house for sure. Has anybody else head of this. It's the pieces of the tree they cut off when they square the log up before it goes to be milled. They have a guy that cuts it to length,(they said they would do 16" lengths for me) and then it goes up a conveyor belt and into the truck. When the trucks full they come to my house and dump it. This sounds like a great deal but I thought I would ask you guys. They pretty much only timber oak around here. Also how much wood do you think I would be getting in a load. I'm not sure how big a 3 ton truck is.

thanks for your help

Karl

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Karl, the only problem with slab wood is that you are buying mostly bark instead of wood.

Can you burn slab wood and get heat from it? Yes, you can. Will you get the same amount of heat from slab wood that you will get from "normal" firewood? Absolutely not. You don't get a whole lot of heat from the bark of a tree; it is from the wood that you get the heat. Have you ever noticed that you get the most smoke when a new log is laid on the fire?

All in all, if you don't need a lot of heat, then go ahead with the slab wood. Another way is to burn the slab wood during the daytime and logs during the night to give more heat and hold the fire longer.

 

[yukiginger]

A family friend runs a mill and deals in slabwood. Well, another guy gets loads there at some price, and then resells it. All of the slabs are from debarked logs, so you wouldn't be getting bark from him, and it is all hardwood. When I priced it out it was significantly cheaper than delivered cordwood, and why not - it's basically leftovers from the milling process.

I don't pay for my wood, but if I did I would seriously consider slabwood.

Call all your local mills and inquire.

MarkG

 

[DiscoInferno]

Can you burn slab wood and get heat from it? Yes, you can. Will you get the same amount of heat from slab wood that you will get from "normal" firewood? Absolutely not. You don't get a whole lot of heat from the bark of a tree; it is from the wood that you get the heat. Have you ever noticed that you get the most smoke when a new log is laid on the fire?

Now is that simply because bark is less dense than the wood, or because of chemical composition? Certainly bark seems to leave more ash. But several years ago I found a table online (which I do not have now) of the btu contents of various biomass fuels by weight, and both wood and bark were about the same.

I have found, though, that a stove load of nice dry red oak bark burns pretty well, even coals half decently. This was bark that fell off logs, though, so it's really dry. When the bark is still attached it's likely to be a little damp underneath, which might lead to some smoking.

Even without bark there's often an issue with slab wood in that it's often going to be small/thin and won't last as long as larger logs. Depends on how large the logs are that they are milling. I'd go take a ride and see what the average size is.

 

[restorer]

Maybe there is some confusion on just what you are buying. May be my own terminology. Correct as necessary. To me slab wood is the first few cuts that are ripped off the log. They are heavy on bark, because they are the outside of the tree. In hardwood the edge that is natural is referred to as wan wood, and is not desireable and of low value, so the board grading would be very low. What I thought I heard in the first post is what I call, "Off-cut" That's when the log is cross cut on both ends. The upper end is dressed, but the lower end, or butt is cut off to form the length the sawyer is cutting. Thus the butt could be several inches to feets, if the lumber company was not very good about their field lengths. These would be rounds or short logs.

If the second is the case, depending on the wood, you are basically buying rounds cut to length that you will have to split. Usually if they are the base of a tree they are denser than the average log, and might be a little to a lot harder to split.

If it's true slab, it will come at board widths, if they saw one-by lumber it will be 1-1 1/4 thick and will have lots of bark. Based on the thinness and the bark they are not a very good burning would compared to log rounds and splits of the same wood.

If I have confused you, sorry, but there is a significant difference in my mind anyway.

 

[karl]

I thought about the bark issue myself. I'm going to drive out and take a closer look. I remember from driving by it a few times that they were milling debarked trees. I don't know if this is the norm or not. They also have a huge pile out there and they charge 25.00 for all the wood you can put in your truck. I'll let you guys know what I find out.

 

[jpl1nh]

Can you burn slab wood and get heat from it? Yes, you can. Will you get the same amount of heat from slab wood that you will get from "normal" firewood? Absolutely not. You don't get a whole lot of heat from the bark of a tree; it is from the wood that you get the heat. Have you ever noticed that you get the most smoke when a new log is laid on the fire?

Now is that simply because bark is less dense than the wood, or because of chemical composition? Certainly bark seems to leave more ash. But several years ago I found a table online (which I do not have now) of the btu contents of various biomass fuels by weight, and both wood and bark were about the same.

I have found, though, that a stove load of nice dry red oak bark burns pretty well, even coals half decently. This was bark that fell off logs, though, so it's really dry. When the bark is still attached it's likely to be a little damp underneath, which might lead to some smoking.

Even without bark there's often an issue with slab wood in that it's often going to be small/thin and won't last as long as larger logs. Depends on how large the logs are that they are milling. I'd go take a ride and see what the average size is.

DI, I read the same thing a while back, about bark having about the same BTU value as wood (what wood?) Have to do some more lookin in to this. I must say though that I can't say I'd recommend stuffin your stove full of bark for a good overnight burn hh:

 

[DiscoInferno]

[
Now is that simply because bark is less dense than the wood, or because of chemical composition? Certainly bark seems to leave more ash. But several years ago I found a table online (which I do not have now) of the btu contents of various biomass fuels by weight, and both wood and bark were about the same.

DI, I read the same thing a while back, about bark having about the same BTU value as wood (what wood?) Have to do some more lookin in to this. I must say though that I can't say I'd recommend stuffin your stove full of bark for a good overnight burn hh:

Yeah, I just had a pile of thick oak bark sitting there one day and decided to find out if it was useful fuel or not. It burned a lot better (and longer) than I expected, but certainly not all night, and it seemed to leave a lot of ash. But I wonder if it was pressed into bricks, would it burn as well as the sawdust ones?

 

[Robbie]

If it's already cut to the size you use, it seems like a really good deal to me. I have burned slabs and they burn great during the day and to start fires.

I would buy a load and then continue to work on my other regular wood along. This way you would have slabs drying and use them as needed.

Another thing I often do is to use slabs for starting fires but split them into smaller pieces which is much simpler to do since they are thinner.

Slabs and thick bark is good, as long as you also have your regular night buring wood too.


Robbie

 

[jpl1nh]

[
Now is that simply because bark is less dense than the wood, or because of chemical composition? Certainly bark seems to leave more ash. But several years ago I found a table online (which I do not have now) of the btu contents of various biomass fuels by weight, and both wood and bark were about the same.

DI, I read the same thing a while back, about bark having about the same BTU value as wood (what wood?) Have to do some more lookin in to this. I must say though that I can't say I'd recommend stuffin your stove full of bark for a good overnight burn hh:

Yeah, I just had a pile of thick oak bark sitting there one day and decided to find out if it was useful fuel or not. It burned a lot better (and longer) than I expected, but certainly not all night, and it seemed to leave a lot of ash. But I wonder if it was pressed into bricks, would it burn as well as the sawdust ones?

just found this link (broken link removed) which seems to show that pound for pound, bark yeilds relatively similar BTU's to other wood. However, while you might be able to put 25 -30 lbs of hardwood or much more (depending on your firebox size) in a well stacked load in your stove at one time, it seems to me you would be hard pressed to get that amount in in pieces of bark. Plus all those pieces would burn like crazy :snake: DI, I would bet the bark would work great pelletized or pressed into bricks.

 

[Gooserider]

Being a cheap SOB, I like to burn everything I get when I buy wood, or cut down a tree, including the bark - I rake up the bark that comes off during splitting and all the little fragments and season that just like I do the rest of my wood, and use it as tinder / kindling when starting a fire or getting one going again.

Relevant point is that I find I get plenty of heat out of that stuff, but it burns fast. I also use small amounts of it in my bee smoker, where it works great as well, though I have to be careful not to let it get to hot.

I have heard slab wood called that regardless of whether it came from logs with or without bark, so it probably depends on the source and what they are cutting.

I know where I here a lot of slab wood getting used in New England is for maple sugaring... They need a lot of cheap heat in a fairly large firebox under the pans when cooking the syrup, and slabs seem popular for that, but I haven't heard of them being used as much for house heating, other than in OWB's.

1. Stuff with bark is going to be mostly bark, but enough wood to be interesting, certainly good for getting fires started, maybe daytime burning and smaller "take the chill off" fires.

2. Stuff w/o bark is going to be all wood, I would consider it about the same as smallish splits. Definitely good burning, but tends to give short hot fires, and you would need to watch the stove carefully to avoid overfiring.

The only cautionary note I would mention is that some of The Chimney Sweep's concerns about why one shouldn't burn lumber (Sorry I don't have the link to his article handy, but it's on Tom Oyen's site) might be relevant, such as possible salt water contamination of the logs, etc.

Gooserider

 

[Bill]

I just bought a bundle of slab wood and it weighed 6000 pounds, of which half is water. It did not have bark on it and sizes vary in each bundle. I have some very thick pieces and some only 1/2 inch. I like it for kindling, I cut it in 10 inch long pieces and then split it with a hatchet like furring strips. Gets a fire going fast, but I would still get logs for overnight burns. You can seriously over-fire a stove with this dry oak slab. I cut mine up myself, which didn't take to long. But I only paid $25.00 for one bundle. Of course prices vary from area to area, but 6000 pounds is one bundle, as you cut it the pile really grows. I got one rack approximately 10 feet long and 5 feet high, from one bundle. But it stacks very tight, with very little air space between the rows. In my opinion it's the cheapest firewood you can buy, the only thing better is free.

 

[PAJerry]

Slab wood is the best thing we have found to use in our small stove. The advantages - it dries fast, it can easily be split with a hatchet if too wide for the stove, it stacks very easily into 5 ft. high rows if using tie-through ropes, it is light enough that my wife can easily load the stove with it, and you can get more wood into the stove at one time for a longer burn. I paid $120 for a 1.5 cord load - got 2 with bark on and 1 without. We'll see if there is any difference. Mostly ash and maple wood.
The way I see it, we are using an item that would end up as waste anyway, so it's a good environmental move, too.

I have 4 acres of ash/cherry/maple woods here, but when working 6 day weeks it's hard to find the time to cut. I figure it will still be there in 6 years when I retire and have the time to cut and split.

 

[DiscoInferno]

I have 4 acres of ash/cherry/maple woods here, but when working 6 day weeks it's hard to find the time to cut. I figure it will still be there in 6 years when I retire and have the time to cut and split.

And by then EAB will have spread to PA and your ash trees will be dead anyway... :-S

 

[jpl1nh]

I have 4 acres of ash/cherry/maple woods here, but when working 6 day weeks it's hard to find the time to cut. I figure it will still be there in 6 years when I retire and have the time to cut and split.

And by then EAB will have spread to PA and your ash trees will be dead anyway... :-S

Not to say that EAB isn't a tremedous threat everywhere as any introduced pest can be, but I hope we might see ash come through this. It may be much diminished in population but I believe it will survive. Take for example the American elm which used to grace the streets of almost every turn of the century New England downtown. Then elm beetle with the accompanying Dutch Elm disease wiped them out by the millions. Still is killing them. But the elm population is so sparce now that transmission of the disease isn't happenig as well. The Gypsy moth invasion panicked foresters, but over time, the insect's own disease vunerabilities, weather cycles, etc, have reduced it to an expensive and annoying pest, but nothing lethal on a large scale. Let's hope similar scenerios play out with the borer and we just end up bored with it :cheese: DI, glad you brought it up though, cause in the meantime, all of us need to learn to recognize Emerald Ash Borer, http://www.ohioagriculture.gov/eab/ report it if we find it, and most importantly, not move ash from any areas that are even possibly infected!! :ahhh: I don't know about you all but I always say there is nothing like a nice round piece of ash to keep you warm at night.

 

[DiscoInferno]

I assume eventually they will identify EAB-resistant ash varieties, like they did with Elm. Let's just hope those buggers don't suddenly get a taste for another type of tree.

I read recently that Michigan is going to introduce Chinese wasps that feed on the ash borer larva (EAB is native to Asia). I sure hope this isn't heading down the "old lady who swallowed a fly" path...

 

[Bill]

I have lots of ash trees, it would be a shame to lose them. Nice looking trees, nice straight trunks. It would be more firewood than I could ever use in a lifetime.