Still good enough to burn?

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Rut13

Rut13

Member
Jan 28, 2015
14
W. PA
I came across this down tree walking my dog on my property about a month ago, walked by and assumed it was too far gone. No idea how long its been since its gone down. This week I was out bucking another tree I had taken down and decided to take a closer look. The whole tree (some sort of pine) is off the ground so I took a log out of the middle, seems solid enough, split just fine. My question is this tree has been down for at least a few years and looks decent enough to my untrained eye. Is there something I'm missing? My wood supply is marginal for 15/16 season and this would make for a good start for early in the season. Any input is appreciated. View attachment 156978 IMG_0324.JPG IMG_0322.JPG IMG_0321.JPG IMG_0320.JPG
 
While snow-shoeing around my property this winter, I found a stack of trees that the loggers left. They've been on the ground for at least 3 years. Other than the oak, it's all species that don't last too long in contact with the ground: white birch, soft maple, and black birch.

The sections of the trunks that were in direct contact with the ground are pretty far gone, however most of it was off the ground a little and is still primo.

The moral of the story is: I'll bet the parts of that pine that are off the ground are still good. The stuff in the pics looks good. If you put it up in the near future it would be great for this winter coming up.
 
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It all burns no matter how far gone it is. Dry it out and it will produce some heat. My issue with punky wood is if it gets wet it soaks up water like a sponge. Not good to be left in the stacks for three years. So most of the bad stuff gets saved for the summer fire pit.
 
I have a few blow downs around my property that are up off the ground. I have processed a few- cherry and ash- that are solid and fine. Key being off the ground. I didn't have time or motivation to get to them right away but when I got around to them they were solid, and are in the stacks now. If they were on the ground there would have been more urgency to buck and split them
 
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