Ash – from Woodlot to Firebox

Drifthopper said:

Ash – from Woodlot to Firebox

After reading post after post about drying time, why is “Ash” the exception.

Comments such as “Get two yrs ahead, unless its ash” or … “ We were runnin’ low on wood last March so we cut some ash down.” or ...“Cut it down and burn it.”


What is different about Ash that it can be burnt sooner than other wood?

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White Ash has a lower moisture content to start with, the same thing can be said for Black Locust. You can burn it sooner but it still burns better after it's given more time.

Ash is usually in the low 30% range when fresh cut, my oak is usually to that point after being in the stack for a year.

In these new EPA stoves I would not bet on the green ash burning that well, so many varibles to the wood thing that all these cut and dried answers about dry wood are not "cut and dried".

oldspark said:

In these new EPA stoves I would not bet on the green ash burning that well, so many varibles to the wood thing that all these cut and dried answers about dry wood are not "cut and dried".

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I can guarantee green white ash will not burn well. Any wood at 30% m/c is going to burn lousy. There is a difference between it burning to keep you from freezing and burning well.

rdust said:

Drifthopper said:

Ash – from Woodlot to Firebox

After reading post after post about drying time, why is “Ash” the exception.

Comments such as “Get two yrs ahead, unless its ash” or … “ We were runnin’ low on wood last March so we cut some ash down.” or ...“Cut it down and burn it.”


What is different about Ash that it can be burnt sooner than other wood?

Click to expand...

White Ash has a lower moisture content to start with, the same thing can be said for Black Locust. You can burn it sooner but it still burns better after it's given more time.

Ash is usually in the low 30% range when fresh cut, my oak is usually to that point after being in the stack for a year.

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+1 . . . to the lower moisture content to start with . . . and that it can be burned earlier than many woods . . . but really burns well when given more time . . . especially with the EPA stoves. Last year I burned some ash that had been down for maybe 6-8 months. It burned OK . . . but when I started burning ash that had been seasoned for a year + . . . well . . . all I can say is "Whoa Baby . . . where have you been all of my life?" Once you experience the difference between semi-seasoned wood and truly seasoned wood with that lower moisture content you'll always want to season it for at least a year.

Fact is you can burn any wood green, once you get a nice hot fire going. Problem is it burns much less well than seasoned wood, you lose a bunch of the BTUs by having to evaporate the water in the wood, and you create creosote and smoke which are bad for the chimney and the air. Ash tends to burn better when green than most other hardwood (softwood too?), but not as well as seasoned wood. while camping I have burned lots of unseasoned wood, and it certainly burned and gave lots of heat, but when you come across a few pieces of seasoned wood you can really tell the difference. i personally haven't noticed a huge difference between green ash and green other woods, but I haven't burnt all that much ash green.

Drifthopper said:

Ash – from Woodlot to Firebox

After reading post after post about drying time, why is “Ash” the exception.

Comments such as “Get two yrs ahead, unless its ash” or … “ We were runnin’ low on wood last March so we cut some ash down.” or ...“Cut it down and burn it.”


What is different about Ash that it can be burnt sooner than other wood?

Click to expand...

I've stated before that I've heated a whole winter using fresh cut white ash and we did not freeze. However, we did have to clean the chimney several times that winter. As rdust stated so well, it is much better after given some time to dry properly.


On the comments on various types of wood I have a couple of examples: Ash is a great burning wood and the easiest or one of the easiest there is to split. However, occasionally you will get some ash that splits terrible. Ask rdust about that one! He learned that just recently. But not only that, occasionally you will get an ash or at least part of the tree that just does not burn worth a hoot! It doesn't happen often but it does happen.

Here's another. Just a few days ago there was a thread about splitting elm. Almost everyone agreed that if you cut a live elm it will split terrible but will dry quite fast and burn fast. That is all true. However, just 2 days ago I pulled a few pieces from the woodpile to keep the fire going and one was an elm that was cut green so it was a bit torn apart. That thing sizzled so much you'd swear it had just been cut and split. It was so bad I pulled it out of the stove and threw it outdoors. Here is the kicker: that had been cut either 6 or 7 years ago (I think it was 6 years last December that it was cut). It had been split the same day it was cut and was in a pretty fair sized wood pile and was on an outside row. Yet, it was full of sap! No, I have no idea why. It just happens every now and then. Here is a picture of the wood pile it came from but as stated, this was on an outside row. All the rest of the wood in that row is super dry.

I'm burning ash I cut in July and its dry and is not hissing....I have burnt almost a cord worth, I was hoping not to burn it this year but it's still cold in CT at night...

Drifthopper said:

And…Backwoods…it was funny reading your post. Back in March I loaded the furnace up in the morning, went up to make coffee, came back down to check on the fire, and I had one round in there, about the diameter of your wrist, it was hissin’ out water like crazy, just that one piece.
I closed the door and went to work. Who knows...???

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Maybe it was a sneaky snake in there hissing! lol

Drifthopper said:

I cut quite a bit of ash, I focus on it, it probably makes up half of what I burn in a season, I’m at about 10 face cards at about 21”/22” long.
I asked this question because what I’m cutting now is for the 11/12 season but I took down some trees, ,,,, 16 – 18” BHD, ( anything bigger is just too much for myself to safety handle) they were easy to get to and get out, and I have it stacked where I could get to them if I need to next Feb or March if I’m running low.
It sure does split nice. Heavy and burns long. The rounds sure do hold a fire.

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No Ash here, but spruce dries quicker than the other option, birch.
Same reason, less moisture content when green.

There's that face cord again. (unless "cards" is metric) This time 58.56 cubic feet & more than a 1/3 of a cord.
1.83 X 4 X 8. (almost a 1/2 cord) LOL
10 of your "face cards" is about 4.6 cords.

bogydave said:

No Ash here, but spruce dries quicker than the other option, birch. Same reason, less moisture content when green.

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Dave, spruce has a much higher moisture content than birch when they are both sitting on the stump in the woods.

For the most part, lower density species dry faster than higher density species. The cell walls of lower density woods are thinner, so water moves through them faster. Ash is one of the denser hardwoods. It has a very low MC (around 35%) when first cut (almost all "bound" water and very little "free" water), but it actually takes a lot longer to get rid of the rest of the water than many less dense woods do. Folks don't notice this since it seems to burn OK when green. Still, 35% MC ain't 20% MC, so it really pays to let it sit, just like any other wood.

By contrast, softwoods like spruce, fir, pine, and cedar have tons of free water, but the wood loses that very quickly and then loses the bound water quickly after that because of the thin cell walls. In hardwoods, poplar, basswood, aspen, and cottonwood are practically soaking when green, but they dry relatively fast compared to a very dense hardwood with a similar green MC like red oak.

Battenkiller said:

bogydave said:

No Ash here, but spruce dries quicker than the other option, birch. Same reason, less moisture content when green.

Click to expand...

Dave, spruce has a much higher moisture content than birch when they are both sitting on the stump in the woods.

For the most part, lower density species dry faster than higher density species. The cell walls of lower density woods are thinner, so water moves through them faster. Ash is one of the denser hardwoods. It has a very low MC (around 35%) when first cut (almost all "bound" water and very little "free" water), but it actually takes a lot longer to get rid of the rest of the water than many less dense woods do. Folks don't notice this since it seems to burn OK when green. Still, 35% MC ain't 20% MC, so it really pays to let it sit, just like any other wood.

By contrast, softwoods like spruce, fir, pine, and cedar have tons of free water, but the wood loses that very quickly and then loses the bound water quickly after that because of the thin cell walls. In hardwoods, poplar, basswood, aspen, and cottonwood are practically soaking when green, but they dry relatively fast compared to a very dense hardwood with a similar green MC like red oak.

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Good info,
Thanks