What do you guys do with remaining bark when you stack your wood?

[CatfishHunter]

If I have a bonfire going with good coals, they go in there. If not I chuck them into the woods. It will break down and feed the forest.

 

[ScottLewis]

Toss it off into the woods. Bark rots very well.

 

[PASmoker]

Burn it in the barrel stove I have in my detached garage, along with other scraps it heats the garage up when I'm working in it.
Have a bunch of it from the ash trees I took down and split.

 

[Sawset]

Dear Community!

I'm still learning the science of burning and preparing wood... I had 3 cords delivered so far. I stacked them well, but have a lot of bark leftovers. I tried to put most of it together with the logs, as if they're together, but still have plenty left. So far I put it to a separate carton box, but what are you guys doing with it? Do you stack it together with the wood to later burn it in the stove? Or do you leave it out for the campfire? Or maybe just throw it away?

Thanks!

Bark that falls off gets gathered up and tossed on the brush pile.
Somewhere I read that oak wood will create about .5% ash, yet the bark creates 5-10% ash.
So I did a test one year.
4.5cords white and red oak
created about 120lb of ash, or 3 chicken feed bags full
120lb ash/(4.5cord x 4000/cord) = .66%
Usually when I'm moving wood around everything goes with it, bark scraps and all. Then only the cordwood gets restacked, like in the garage, or lean to out back, and the scraps at the bottom of the trailer then get hauled away.

 

[coal and wood man]

I use it for mulch or as a base for paths which are then covered with chips.

 

[yuryk]

When you guys use it for mulch, do you somehow shred it? What do you use for that? My bark is usually in pretty big chunks... I tried to throw it on a muddy area with naked tree roots to make it more walkable, but it's not very convenient now, so I guess I have to cut/shred it somehow.

 

[ozarkoak]

I put it in 55 gallon drums with lids and use it for kindling. I have two drums that sat all summer baking to use this winter.

 

[Prof]

When you guys use it for mulch, do you somehow shred it? What do you use for that? My bark is usually in pretty big chunks... I tried to throw it on a muddy area with naked tree roots to make it more walkable, but it's not very convenient now, so I guess I have to cut/shred it somehow.

I find that if you step on it enough it breaks down nicely. Unfortunately at that point it is much less effective as mulch.

 

[yuryk]

I find that if you step on it enough it breaks down nicely

Oh, not my bark... I could not break it by wakling or even driving my heavy cart full of wood on it. It doesn't bend, very hard bark... I would probably need an axe or bug hammer to cut it...

 

[Prof]

Oh, not my bark... I could not break it by wakling or even driving my heavy cart full of wood on it. It doesn't bend, very hard bark... I would probably need an axe or bug hammer to cut it...

I burn mostly hemlock, beech, birch, and maple. Birch bark can be a bit tough. What are you burning?

 

[kborndale]

White birch bark is nature's firestarter.

 

[yuryk]

What are you burning?

This is going to be my first year so I'm not very good in IDing the firewood... But my supplier says that it's mostly Hickory, Red oak or Maple. And so far all the bark I found was very tough to break!

 

[Toasty-Yote]

I live in the suburbs and scrounge for all of my wood so it all goes in the fire. I use my paper grocery bags to scoop up pieces of bark and sawdust/chips from where I cut and split and then put that BTU grab bag into my insert. It doesn't last long but it burns nice and hot and is a decent way to start a fire.

 

[Prof]

This is going to be my first year so I'm not very good in IDing the firewood... But my supplier says that it's mostly Hickory, Red oak or Maple. And so far all the bark I found was very tough to break!

Hickory bark can be like iron--I'd be tempted to throw that into the stove--plenty of BTUs! Enjoy your first year--it will be a steep learning curve, but you are in the right place to learn a bunch. My first year with an EPA stove was about 15 yrs ago--the folks on this forum were a great support.

 

[Wildflush]

I save it in totes and use it to burn down coals. I don’t waste anything.

 

[colin.p]

I usually just burn them but I ran out of pallets and got 3 cords that need piling, so....I'll lay the bark down and pile my splits on top of them. I guess they'll wind up in the stove anyway (or my neighbours field when he's not looking).

 

[ispinwool]

we generally use the bark as kindling.

 

[Woody Stover]

Bark I've tried to use for kindling seems to be inflammable, and if it's still on the split I put the wood side of the split on the coals and it catches faster than the bark side. If the bark falls off while processing wood such as Ash, we might use some of it for mulch or paths.

 

[ReggieT]

Sometimes it gets burned in the fireplace, other times it gets burned in the fire pit. It just depends on the day...

I was just up in NC...Hillsborough to be exact for a Church Conference!
Beautiful region and we had a blast.

BTW...I bet I saw thousands of cords lying on the roadside due to that crazy storm!
Are you set for several winters in firewood?

 

[GG Woody]

If the bark falls off in the bush while splitting it gets tossed, if it falls off at home it gets stacked and burned early or late season in the insert.
I have only had about 5 fires so far this year, burning uglies and mostly Douglas Fir bark. Douglas Fir bark can be quite thick and burns into really nice coals.
I like the idea of using it to prohibit weed growth as well.

 

[Wildflush]

Love keeping a tote of bark on hand. Amazing how it increases STT while burning down coals. STT was 400 added 3 small to medium sizes of bark and STT jumped to 500. Coals burned down nicely. Every piece of wood I have has a purpose from uglies, to smaller cutoffs to fill in the gaps to kindling slivers from splitting.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

I split and store my wood out on the hill in the pasture so I leave it where it lays. We have lots of soil life so between sheep trampling it and the bugs in the soil it seems to be breaking down as fast as I add to it.