softwood for shoulder season

[CowboyAndy]

Do you go out of your way to cut softer woods for shoulder season? I have access to a pretty big downed pine (24"), also there is alot of boxelder where we cut. I am just wondering if I should go after it intentionally for shoulder season.

BTW, what is "shoulder season"? Well, actually I know what it IS (fall, spring, light duty short fires), but where did the name come from?


EDIT: Another question. If I cut the pine and boxelder in early spring, will it be ready to use by october? It will be stacked where it gets 5-6 hours of sun everyday and is right in the wind.

 

[savageactor7]

Shoulder season= spring/fall when you have those cold mornings and warm afternoons and you don't want a lot of hot coals over warming your house. Sure Andy I've burnt box elder, poplar and willow in shoulder season. They burn hot and leave very little if any coals...also a good time to burn dry punky wood too.

 

[CowboyAndy]

Shoulder season= spring/fall when you have those cold mornings and warm afternoons and you don't want a lot of hot coals over warming your house. Sure Andy I've burnt box elder, poplar and willow in shoulder season. They burn hot and leave very little if any coals...also a good time to burn dry punky wood too.

But why do they call it "Shoulder" season?

 

[savageactor7]

I've been burning since '77 and only when I signed up here did I hear it called shoulder season.

When we fist started burning the old timers that schooled me said it a good ideal to burn the softer seasoned junk wood in the earlier and later season and told me why. They didn't have a name for that silly season but I suppose everything needs a name.

 

[d.n.f.]

There is a chart formation in Technical Analysis called a head and shoulders chart. It looks like it sounds. Small rise (shoulder) then decline, followed by a big rise (head) and decline, then small rise (shoulder). If it is right side up it then declines. Thus it is a bearish signal. If you see it in reverse it is a bullish signal. So temp wise maybe the head is the coldest part of the year (upside down temp).
Hey, I am grabbing at straws here.
Popular term in the travel industry.

 

[madrone]

I think dnf's on track. It's been discussed here a few times, I think. I suspect it's a description of the sloping sides of a graph of heating season btu need.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Do you go out of your way to cut softer woods for shoulder season? I have access to a pretty big downed pine (24"), also there is alot of boxelder where we cut. I am just wondering if I should go after it intentionally for shoulder season.

BTW, what is "shoulder season"? Well, actually I know what it IS (fall, spring, light duty short fires), but where did the name come from?


EDIT: Another question. If I cut the pine and boxelder in early spring, will it be ready to use by october? It will be stacked where it gets 5-6 hours of sun everyday and is right in the wind.

No. I put my greenest wood at the back of the shed, most seasoned at the front, and this is enough of a PITA without having to consider the BTU value of the various species of my wood pile.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I've been burning since '77 and only when I signed up here did I hear it called shoulder season.

When we fist started burning the old timers that schooled me said it a good ideal to burn the softer seasoned junk wood in the earlier and later season and told me why. They didn't have a name for that silly season but I suppose everything needs a name.

2x

I've also never heard of moisture meters or "temperatures"