What wood to cut now for next season?

[albertj03]

Based on my wood consumption so far this year with my new stove I'd like to add more wood to next seasons stacks. What would be the best wood for me to c/s/s now and be ready for next season? I have white birch, cherry, sugar maple, white oak, red oak, black oak readily available. I have beech and elm too but they are further out in the woods and would be hard to get to until spring. Obviously oak is out of the question, the birch and maple are the easiest to get too and most plentiful. Are those my best bets?

Thanks

 

[Thistle]

I dont know about beech,none growing around here that I'm aware of.But plenty of Silver Maple & a little Sugar Maple in spots.They dry pretty fast when split & stacked in area that gets wind & sun.

 

[Dune]

Cherry. But while you are at it, cut some oak for three years out, and some hard maple and beech for two years out.

Leave the white birch unless you can keep it in a shed, and let the elm grow for as many more years as possible. If you have soft maple, add it to next winter's cherry.

 

[albertj03]

Would Birch be ok if I have it stacked and covered well outside? The cherry is a little harder to get to this time of year and the ones that are closest are on the smaller side.

 

[NH_Wood]

Would Birch be ok if I have it stacked and covered well outside? The cherry is a little harder to get to this time of year and the ones that are closest are on the smaller side.

Birch should rate right up there with cherry in terms of what you have available. If you get it c/s/s now, you'll be good to go for next winter. I used about 1/4 cord of white birch this fall that was c/s/s in Jan 2010 - it burned very well. Don't worry about covering it at all - let the wind and sun get at it for the whole year until you need it next winter. Unsplit birch is what you need to be concerned with - the rounds tend to rot quite quickly. I have splits of white birch in my stacks for next year that were c/s/s in May 2009. They are solid - no signs of rot. Splitting is key. Cheers!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Based on my wood consumption so far this year with my new stove I'd like to add more wood to next seasons stacks. What would be the best wood for me to c/s/s now and be ready for next season? I have white birch, cherry, sugar maple, white oak, red oak, black oak readily available. I have beech and elm too but they are further out in the woods and would be hard to get to until spring. Obviously oak is out of the question, the birch and maple are the easiest to get too and most plentiful. Are those my best bets?

Thanks

Albert, it is good to hear you are thinking ahead. For sure the birch and cherry will be good and possibly the sugar maple should work out well for you. If it were me I'd get the cherry, then birch and then maple and you might stack them separate too.

I'd stack it in single rows out where the wind will hit the wood. I like to stack 4' high (actually 4 1/2' high shrinks to 4') and I wouldn't cover the wood at all until next fall. Then I'd cover the top of the stacks only. However, if you are in a really wet area (like some areas along the coast) then you might want to cover the top as soon as you get it stacked.

Good luck.

 

[Wood Duck]

I'd get Cherry and Birch. If you're planning to burn it next winter, and if you plan to split and stack it off the ground, the birch will be fine. Birch rots faster than most other hardwoods, but not that fast.

 

[gzecc]

Sugar maple is the highest btu and shortest seasoning wood you have.

 

[albertj03]

Thanks! I'll be cutting next weekend.

 

[Flatbedford]

I'd start with the Cherry. I have had good results with Cherry after only one summer split and stacked. I stack on pallets, three rows deep and about 5' high uncovered in the sun.

 

[firefighterjake]

If I was cutting wood right now and hoping to use this wood this coming Fall . . . cherry, white birch and then the maple . . . but once that was done I would keep on cutting for the year after!

 

[CountryBoy19]

Sugar maple is the highest btu and shortest seasoning wood you have.

This ^^^ get the sugar maple...

I loaded the fireplace with sugar maple this morning. MC is 20% and it was CSS in late August of this year. You should be fine if you get sugar maple now.

ETA, check out these numbers (you definitely want the sugar maple if you're at all concerned about seasoning time. Ok, the chart below is a little sloppy, if you want to see the original chart scroll down in this link: http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html


Excess moisture, Rank grn, Rank seas.
Ash 15% 1 8
Beech 17% 2 4
Black Locust 17% 3 1
Red Spruce 18% 4 16
Shagbark Hick. 19% 5 2
Sugar Maple 21% 6 5
Norway Pine 19% 7 14
Tamarack 21% 8 10
Black Cherry 22% 9 11
Yellow Birch 23% 10 7
White Birch 24% 11 12