OMG green wood is SO heavy!

tickbitty said:

Friend gave us some newly cut and split birch for next year. I know birch isn't that great but we'll take whatever and burn it as long as it seasons long enough. DANG it's heavy! Same guy gave us some standing dead oak that was recently split, and it was heavy but not nearly as heavy as this wet birch! Do you scroungers have to be careful how much you load your trucks when the wood is wet so as not to overload them?

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Depends on which birch. Black birch is excellent. Grey birch, not interested. Then there's white, yellow, red. Pick one.

Operative concept here is density, not weight. Density is weight per unit volume, like x pounds/cubic foot.

If I say "pine is heavy" you might respond "WTF" unless I specify how much. A truckload is heavy, whatever a "truckload" is.

Northern red oak, freshly cut, is extremely dense since the MC is typically 80%. That means that for a given volume the weight of the water is 80% of the weight of the dry fiber. From experience, a pickup load of the stuff is a LOAD, with suspension on the stops. First, though, you don't want back injury.

I watch the weight in my truck closely. I try to load the smaller stuff in my truck, but have a 5800# trailer (with brakes) I tow behind. I have no problem getting a cord on the trailer and probably close to 1/2 cord in the truck. Its not worth breaking your equipment to get that extra round on the truck imo.

My truck can haul one cord of seasoned oak, but only 2/3s cord of green oak. It is a 3500 with E rated tires. A 1500 should have no more than 1/2 cord of green wood, and at that be driven carefully.

Beech is great firewood. it will be almost as heavy as oak when both are seasoned.

Yes, the beech is excellent firewood. And of course one always has to take into consideration the machinery that is used and that includes the truck. Overload it and bad things can happen.