My woods dry right?

Set the wood aside for next year and find some dry wood.

Yuck, what a horrible sight...

Wow! that's some wet wood! It's very hard to find good dry firewood this time of year. I know around here a couple firewood dealers are advertising dry Oak firewood and they buck and split it the day before delivery from 8' logs. No way is that ready to burn. If he can't find dry wood maybe split it down small and mix it with pallet wood.

'Round these parts a simple "If you don't give me a refund I'll give it back to you one piece at a time, and windows are expensive" comment would be the norm. And we'd mean it.

Ah... I've burned worse. LOL

Seriously, that's what unseasoned oak will do in a fire like that. Notice how the ends are checked and everything, but the wood is still too wet. Still, that photo is very illuminating to me. You'd think from just looking at the picture that it is a hopeless situation, but it explains to me why so many folks blame their wood entirely. That stove is way overloaded with wet wood, and none of it is fully involved with flame. Get that fire going really big and hot with some smaller stuff and a bit of patience and add it a stick or two at a time and it'll burn. I've done it many times in the distant past when I got stuck with a load of oak that was "seasoned 6 months" and no more money to buy better stuff. Got lots of heat as well, but it also made a lot more creosote. Don't get me wrong, it's not at all an ideal situation, but I made it work believe it or not.

I guess if he otherwise got the amount of wood he should have, I wood stack it for next year, or the next. Maybe get some bio bricks or something to get him thru the rest of this year.. It looks to me like those are all over the east coast and N East area. But I also think if he cuts it with pallets or something, and doesn't load the wet wood until he has a real hot stove and fire and coal bed, it should burn.

What a mess. Might want to try placing the wood in with plenty of space between the splits for air to flow through the firebox. Could also create an air channel in the middle of the coals. I think this is called "gapping and channeling". Maybe even get some cheap low grade 2x4's and cut them into small kindeling pieces and layer a few between the splits.

My catalytic converter is cringing in agony looking at that photo. Cats don't like wet wood!

chad3 said:

Anyone know what someone can do in this situation? He can't even shut the door with out the thing dying.
Chad

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As other has said put it to the side for next year or trade him some of your wood for his. I think this falls under the live and learn category. I would also urge your friend to purchase wood for next season now if he hasn't already.

albertj03 said:

I think this is called "gapping and channeling". Maybe even get some cheap low grade 2x4's and cut them into small kindeling pieces and layer a few between the splits.

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Ah-ha! I knew there had to be a name for it.


My wife used to pass by a place that dumped construction cut-offs. No pressure treated, just little odds and ends. She got them for her Chiminea (where they'd transform into miniature spark bombs and burn holes through her favorite fleece), but they would work great if you can find some. Ask around at construction sites, I'm sure they'd be glad to give you all you want. Our HD has a bin with cracked and warped pieces of construction lumber for as cheap as 25 cents apiece. I always get some when I'm in there for odd projects and improvised jigs, etc. You could get 25 of them for the same price as one of those "bags o' kiln-dried" and you'd get that oak going for sure.

Funny thing, I remember back in the 70s when me and my housemates got one of those oval-bodied sheet metal Ashley's. What a fiasco, but eventually we got it figured out. Burned plenty of green wood in that thing, and it got so hot it once charred a broom handle 3' away! I remember that we had specific instructions how to load it, with a special mix of green wood, seasoned softwood and seasoned hardwood, placed in there in just the right way like so much voodoo. We argued all the time about what was the proper way to do it, and if you got a real bad burn you weren't allowed to touch the stove until the other guy screwed it up and you got to say, "See... I told you so." And on and on... boy, those were the days. Everybody burned green back then, and you learned how to do it and get good heat with it... And cleaned your chimney all the time.

I just saw this on Arboristsite...

chad3 said:

The guy also said it was seasoned and he hasn't had any complaints in 30 years about his wood.
Chad

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They must not be burning the wood in a EPA stove then. Theres no way something like that would burn without complaints unless its from an old stove that will burn anything you throw in it.

chad3 said:

The guy also said it was seasoned and he hasn't had any complaints in 30 years about his wood.

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Well, it is seasoned. You can see that it hasn't just been split. The ends are checked and darkened, the bark is starting to fall off, a bit of fungus on the end of that big boiler.... But what I see boiling in there is oak, and that's the problem. One year old oak will do that every time. That's why I leave it to other folks who have the time, space and patience to sit on it for three years.

Also, it may have gotten wet. Any wood that gets soaked will boil like that for a bit if you don't get it dry first. A few days inside will dry it out if that's the case.

That wood looks "rabid". Is it too late, or does the stove need shots? :bug:

Thanks for the picture. It tells a good story.
Explains the need for a moisture meter when buying wood. ( or any wood for that matter if history of it isn't known)
Split a piece or 2 & get a reading form the center. If it's not dry enough to burn now,
Adjust price accordingly, or reject the load.
But then you still need usable wood now? Maybe go check before delivered.
This would also teach the sellers, I don't think many of them understand moisture content or what the new EPA stoves require to burn properly.
Very good learning thread with a great illustration of what not to try to burn & why.
I can honestly say I've never burned wood that wet in my stove. I'm not sure birch is ever that wet, maybe the bark in spring & summer.

The only good thing is : Lessons learned the hard way, last forever

Glad you'll be able to help get him through the winter.

Great post

Oak. Makes me really appreciate Douglas Fir.

But the dealer said it was seasoned......

Thats why I check my wood after it's dumped before I pay for it. Aint hard to tell green from seasoned. I cant count the amount of times customers have told me "My stove don't work, it's defective. What? Of course my woods seasoned, it's 15 years cut and split and kiln dried, come look fer yerself" I'll walk into the closed garage where they store the wood, which is great for seasoning by the way, and the place stinks like freshly cut trees. I always have a 2 year season split or two with me. I'll have the customer hold a peice of mine and a peice of theirs in each hand. Then I get the "oh wow, well the guy I bought my wood from said it was seasoned" I'll say "it sure will be next year if you go stack it outside"

When i was a kid at home dad always had 3+ years of wood ahead.It was just something you do as a wood burner.
That being said and now being a large wood vendor myself . There is just no substitute for stocking up and planning ahead.
At one time at the levels wood was selling I had about 4 years supply ahead in heaps which covered about 4 acres.
The last 5-10 years I have considered many times to erect a building(never far enough to price one) to store wood in to take my business to the next level and offer a premium product. It just didn't make sound financial sense to put up a structure to store such a low profit commodity such as wood. I don't even want to guess how much I would have to raise the price of my wood to recover the cost of the building.
If you demand premium firewood and no problems in the dead of winter when you need oit most, buy 2 years ahead and season it yourself. If you dont have room to store wood find a friend out of town .
I'm a vendor myself and I can tell you you aren't going to find premium seasoned wood this time of year unless it's kiln dried from Home Depot.
The wood in the picture does look decently seasoned . I wood guess as others have said it's just wet.