Well, as I’m a casual wood burner, don’t depend on it for heat, I’ll continue with the extra wisdom learned here. As NJ has weather much llike Virginia, including a lot of humidity in the summer, I’ll leave the cover off of “fresh” wood, and cover on some two year old hardwood, which I’ll try to burn next winter before it oxidizes in the open air. Also, given the small amount of wood I have, never much over 1 cord, putting a cover when heavy rain (e.g., tomorrow) is forecast is a possibility.
Hey Jerry, I’ve got about 2+ cords stacks and more to split up here and as a bike commuter, I don’t know how many times the forecasters cast doom and gloom only to have a couple of passing showers.. We’ll see about tomorrow and then saturday morning I am splitting some more monster rounds before I have to head to south jersey for Mother’s day…
I have taken to ignoring forecasts for the most part and just checking the radar image via wunderground.com and just looking at which way the clouds/rain are rolling in.
Wow lots of contrasting advice. I really wish i had one of the upside down U buildings thats really cool. I think what im going to do is put up a tarp but have it like a lean to. Then come the end of may ill uncover completely till October.
I hit another subject thread on this forum this evening with a question about mill ends (rounds?) in NJ and got one pointer to a mill in Allentown, NJ, near exit 7A NJ Turnpike. That’s a bit far for me. Do you have any advice on firewood for less if one picks it up, and splits it too if needed? The guy with my chimney service suggested going to a mill and buying mill ends, which I understand this to be the ends of tree trunks (hardwood I hope here in NJ) that the mill doesn’t include in their rip operation for some reason.
I have a Chevy Colorado and small trailer that I can use to pick up if they don’t weigh too much for me to pickup by hand.
I hit another subject thread on this forum this evening with a question about mill ends (rounds?) in NJ and got one pointer to a mill in Allentown, NJ, near exit 7A NJ Turnpike.
I didn’t associated “mill ends” with dimensional lumber scraps. While I have no idea what might be in the wood that would make it so troublesome, what I am looking for is undried “raw wood”. I have a neighbor I’ll try to catch at home who I have seen driving home in his pickup with a load of (what I’ll describe) as slices of a tree trunks, I suppose a couple of feet or less in length and a couple of feet in diameter. I assumed he was buying these as byproducts of some process, assumed by me to to be milling.
Hey Jerry, yeah, I pm’ed you awhile ago because I saw your username as Jerry_NJ.
Sounds like you are looking for a grapple load of logs. I don’t know specifically of a person that does such but I will send you the email address of the tree service guy who i got my grapple load from. However, these aren’t your 20” logs and some of them can be monster sized. If you are still interested and have a chainsaw with a 20” or more bar, might be fun. A gas splitter would also be handy. I’ll email him to see if he still has more wood, he seemed like he has an endless supply as he said if I wanted more, I can have em. I’m still working on the pile he gave me free, in fact, I’ve stacked about 3 cords total and I’m sure I have another 3 cords in the form of logs left....
My first year in my house, I didn’t have the time to split or time for unseasoned wood to season so I bought 2 cords from a guy in Jefferson at a reasonably $155 delivered (unstacked) per cord. Wood was good but since I had an odd place to store it, I can’t vouch for quantity.
As far as grapple loads, I’ll ask the guy I got it from but you can also probably ask any tree service guy as they probably cut and remove a bunch of trees all the time…
I’d be in big trouble with my wife if I ended up with several cords of wood on logs. I have big trouble keeping “things” in order in the garage/shed and around the house, not to mention the basement. I’ll take a look at your helpful web sites.
I do have several chain saws, the largest being a 20”, but having to deal with large logs is more challenging than I seek. I do get a large tree down on my property, that’s why I have a 20” saw. I have been able to harvest much of those few blow-downs, but I leave some of the larger (and best) stuff to rot when it lies on uneven ground.
I think we talked about Quadrafire too, at the time, still shopping, I was serious about a Quadrafire 3100-I (Insert). My wife has taken a liking to the next model up, the 4100-I. In any case if I upgrade/replace my old insert, I’ll surely want more fire wood for a year or two. We do enjoy the comfort of a warm fire on a cold winter night, and if the cost of the wood is low, the economics are great.
It is in my will that the family can uncover the tops of my woodpiles anytime after the funeral is over.
Have to agree with “BB”. I always cover just the top and orientate it North & South to catch the west wind. I also pile the top row with the bark up to shed any moisture that the wind can’t handle. Works for me.
Ed
Three inches of rain in the last 24 hours and a tornado took out 50 houses just south of here last night. Made for a long night around here. Raining now and will be for at least four days. If we didn’t keep the stuff covered we would be trying to burn wet sponges in the winter. I envy folks that can let it bask in the sun.
Pretty sure I dismantled my wood tent (14’x35x7) sometime in late march. I’ve had quite a few fires since then many of the logs burned were surface wet but they burned fine. As was noted above as long as the wood is not wicking moisture from the ground it will be fine...my wood sits on a 5” pad of run a crush. I don’t stack it neatly I just pile it up high and then using 4” saplings I make a walk through tent with tarps in the late late fall. btw not stacking saves me tons of time that’s why I do it the way I do.
The only wood I worry about uncovered is the little bit of punky wood I sometimes use for shoulder season use. When I burn it it’s as light as a feather but left uncovered it will soak up water like a sponge.
Why would I burn punky wood? Well if a tree falls in the woods and it’s in my way so I can’t drive over it I remove it. Once split and off the ground will dry up quickly and make a good campfire wood and save my good wood for the winter. We have a lot of campfires all year long and it use to kill me to see the kids use my good wood. So 20 years ago or so I made it routine to start cleaning up dead stuff I couldn’t drive over and use it for camp fires. This practice has improved my woodlot too.
Also this same punky wood is perfect for those cold mornings when you know it’ll be 65*+ by 1100 am and you want any fire out. Yeah I suppose there’s a lot of bugs in that wood but when I burn it in the winter they’re dormant anyway.
In short good wood seasons well exposed to all the elements because it has the chance to dry off during the mild months.
My pile always stays covered - but by covered I mean just the top layer, never the sides. I use a heavy tarp or preferably make the top cover out of bark, flipped over so the curved side is up and lay it down like roofing tiles. Works great regardless of the weather.
BB, good to hear you’re ok, there have been some really nasty storms just south of you this spring.
Ok, what is “punky wood”? I’d guess pine and cedar...I have a lot of that and other softwoods on my property and that results in some “free” wood each year, which I burn, at least to start the fire going. I never burn 24/7...so I have a start-up fire every time I have a fire, even if it is the next night, the fire is out all day long.
Ask 10 farmers how and when they start corn....and you’ll get 10 differnet answers. My stack is always covered....morning shade...afternoon sun...... works good for me. If your wood is dry & seasoned by November......then your doing it right.
Ok, what is “punky wood”? I’d guess pine and cedar...I have a lot of that and other softwoods on my property and that results in some “free” wood each year, which I burn, at least to start the fire going. I never burn 24/7...so I have a start-up fire every time I have a fire, even if it is the next night, the fire is out all day long.
Punky wood is not pine or cedar. It’s any wood that has started to rot and become soft and spongy. Some wood, like alder, does this really quickly if not kept totally dry.
