Gift horse mouth inspection

Well found a lucky add for some firewood local to me. The seller was not sure how much there was but said it's been in the shed for 2-3 years and there's more in the house I can have. Turns out it was her mother's house and they are clearing it out as she has moved into a care home. Anyhow took a quick look, and calculate about 3 full bush cord (90 cubic feet x 4 rows). So asked how much, and got it all for $150 if I take it away. It's all cut 12-16" and split. Went back the next day (today) and started loading, however, all the first two rows are fill with pin holes. I am assuming some form of boring beetle. The wood is solid and still heavy, but just wondering if it's safe to burn. I figure I am only going to bring in what I am going to burn immediately to be safe. It's all mixed hardwood, mostly ash and maple, with a little birch and cedar mixed in. The wood measures at 13-14% moisture in a fresh split with the General meter I bought.

Any good, or did I just burn myself. Going to stack away from the house on skids, and wrap with some polytarp that I have left over from a construction project. I was going to store in the garage but figure that's a bad idea now.

Ian

Thanks guys, will do. Just moved a full cord today (140 cubic feet). That's a lotta work solo! Good thing I need the exercise. Going to move two more next weekend, and then whatever is left after that.

Will it be okay to be rained on once before I cover it? Or should it be covered right away?

Ian

Yeah I couldn't pass on the deal, around here the best price I could get is $300 cash per cord of 'seasoned' mixed hardwood.

We are supposed to get rain tomorrow, but the wood stove won't be installed until later this week at the earliest. It's been a long wait for it, we've already been relying on the furnace (propane) for almost a month now. My goal is to eliminate to monthly propane fill up this year ($6-900/mnth).

I'll tarp it tomorrow on the top and the wind side of the stacks to keep the blowing snow out between the wood.

Thanks again for the quick responses and advice. I made a soapstone hearth pad last week using 1 1/4" slabs of stone, I'll post some pictures later once the stove is in. All in all I am exhausted!

Ian

Example of a bad piece, not all like this and the birch seems completely free of holes.

fossil said:

Meh...they won't eat it all, nor will they eat you or your house.

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Hah, yeah it wasn't me I was worried about. More the house, this old house is barely standing as it is, doesn't need an infestation in what's left of the structural lumber.

Applesister said:

You can look up 'powder post beetle' if you are interested in researching.

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Yeah, I did a lot of research online before loading it. The province is fighting a loosing battle with a few invasive species of beetle (ash borer and Asian longhorn beetle) which makes it illegal to transport wood with signs of these pests. So my only concern was what kind of risk I was putting the house into, I'll keep the wood outside. My house is over 200 years old with rough cut 2" timber framing.

Ian

Woody Stover said:

You've done well, getting dry wood right when you need it. I would top-cover it immediately if at all possible.

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Thanks, one of the tricks with online classifieds is to try misspellings of words in your searches. This was an old ad that was spelled 'fire wood'. Otherwise I am sure this deal would have been snapped up pretty quick.

I haven't been able to cover it yet, but the stove install has been delayed. I'll cover it up this weekend when I get the rest of the wood. Might be another week or two for the stove..I'm a bit pissed, not much I can do, they're waiting on the legs.

Ian

Phew, this is getting to be a lot of work. It's a wheelbarrow load uphill to the trailer, then unload the trailer at home. Two full cord here, easily a cord and a half left to load and move. The seller was an elderly lady, so I kinda felt bad and paid $200 instead of the $150 I bargained her down to from $200. So figure about $75 in fuel and I got 3+ cord of very seasoned wood for $275 and a bucket load of sweat equity. A super bargoon by my count.



Ian

Final tally! 3.6 Bush cord exactly, packed very tightly. With a little stack on the deck, maybe two days worth. A good portion of the last load was super dry cedar. It sounded like bowling pins being knocked down when hitting them together! Total cost $280 including fuel for the four trips. Cost of labour...who knows! Three weekends of moving and stacking...but I still saved a tonne. We figure we saved about $6-800 for this wood.

Three large skids deep and two wide.


Ian

4 feet x 4 feet x 8 feet= 128 cubic feet for a bush cord

A single stack 4 feet x 8 feet for a face cord.

My stack measures 10 feet x 8.5 feet x 5.5 feet. Actually, now that I've done the math there's 3.6 bush cord in my pic...I'll correct that.

Ian

I would be if my bloody stove had been installed! They told me 2.5 weeks when I put the deposit down. We are on week 4. Supposed to be installed this Wednesday and I've got the day booked off from work so they better show. I really want to shut the propane off, but we've been stuck running the furnace all month. We actually had a dusting of snow this morning...I am not ready for winter yet! I still have a garage to clean out and an atv to prep for plowing.

Ian

Jags said:

128 cuft = a cord. Did yours come with a bunch of tiny branches?? (not sure why the "bush" part is being added).

Nice score. Getting truly dry wood as a new burner will save you much grief. Most new burners suffer from sub-par fuel during their first year or two.

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Around here you have to be specific. It's not unusual to see ads for a cord of seasoned wood for a very good price only to find out it's a face cord at a very bad price! So when you call around you have to specify a bush cord or face cord.

Hey Joful, I'll likely have a post later once the stove is installed. I have lots of pictures of my hearth build and such. Just figured I make it one epic post instead of a whole bunch of little ones.

It is an unusual house for its time, unfortunately there are a number of structural issues that need to be addressed.

Ian