aging beech wood.

I think Beech should be ready in one year. That's what I'm finding here. It also seems to get punky kinda' fast, so I would keep it off the ground. Good firewood though!

gibchen said:

I was wondering what the consensus was on beech wood. Have about 4 cords that I am in the process of cutting and splitting. Will it be good next year or will it take 2? Many thanks.

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If it's getting full wind along with sun one year should be fine.

zap

Beech is very fast to season, thats why its my favorite. 6 months if split small is a great firewood.

gibchen said:

Thanks for responding. Hope all is well in the UP. I was looking on some old posts and found that beech is one of the better woods to burn green--which I will not do; unless we are into the beginning of a new ice age and need to keep on keepin' on to keep warm.

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Beech is definitely not one of the better woods for burning when green! But it does tend to dry quickly. A year is good for it.

'Beech wood aged' would be more refreshing than 'aging wood, beech'.



(sorry... lame attempt at Budweiser humor)

:lol:

Gonna say....I remember Ed McMahon years ago talking about Beechwood Aging.Was listed on all the cans & bottles too,dont remember if it still is though.I guess back in the early days of Budweiser they put beechwood chips in the fermentation tanks or something.

Beech, sugar maple, and black birch are proof enough for me that there is more than just wood density and beginning MC that determines how fast wood dries. All three of them seem to dry twice as fast as red oak, even though they are all denser and have similar initial moisture contents. Plus, they seem to burn pretty decent - even if they aren't well seasoned - while red oak at a similar MC will just sit there in the stove and sizzle. Nothing scientific behind this that I know of, but that has always been my experience in the wood burners I have used. Must have something to do with the extractives and the pore structure.

The diffuse-porous woods alway seem to dry faster and burn better many others when you have to burn then wet. Beeches, birches, maples, and cherries are all diffuse-porous woods. The oaks, ashes, locust, hickories are all ring-porous. Of these, both ash and locust are very low in MC to begin with, but they seem to take just as long as the hickories and oaks to get from around 30% MC down to 20% MC. So ash and locust burn OK when first cut, but finish to perfection rather slowly. The diffuse-porous woods OTOH seem to drop moisture quicker through the entire drying time, and they burn better for me at similar MC than the ring-porous woods. Cottonwood and aspen are considered semi-diffuse-porous woods, but their pores are so incredible numerous that the free water practically pours out of them. Aspen and cottonwood can dry incredibly fast, even though they have some of the highest starting MCs of all the hardwoods.

Battenkiller said:

The diffuse-porous woods alway seem to dry faster and burn better many others when you have to burn then wet. Beeches, birches, maples, and cherries are all diffuse-porous woods.

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Thanks for this useful info! Seems to me that someone posted a link recently to a page that discussed the microscopic structure of various woods and mentioned "ring- and diffuse-porous." I'm pretty sure I saved the link. This distinction probably accounts for why the diffuse-porous woods burn better; Once they are tossed into a hot stove, the remaining moisture cooks out faster than it would from Oak.
I've been concerned about the dead standing Ash that I continue to cut and split, wondering if it will have enough time to dry. We all have some left-over wood to start the season with, so the Ash may not be needed until December, and I think we'll be OK. Nonetheless, I'm adding Cherry to the mix. I'm starting with a nice blowdown that I saw while cutting some Ash. This Cherry trunk has got to be 30'+ and 16"+ diameter. I bucked and hauled the top section the other day, and went outside just now and split one of the largest rounds...23% MC. I need below 18% for a no-hiss burn, so it appears I don't have far to go. I'll be looking with renewed vigor for dead Cherry to grab.

Woody Stover said:

Seems to me that someone posted a link recently to a page that discussed the microscopic structure of various woods and mentioned "ring- and diffuse-porous." I'm pretty sure I saved the link.

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Drat! I didn't save that link. Has anyone got it handy, before I embark on a massive forum search? The linked page looked like it was packed with info...
Failing that, Google will be my teacher.
Hey, Dogwood splits look like Cherry splits as far as the texture of the wood...maybe Dogwood will dry fast, even though it is more dense?

Woody Stover said:

Woody Stover said:

Seems to me that someone posted a link recently to a page that discussed the microscopic structure of various woods and mentioned "ring- and diffuse-porous." I'm pretty sure I saved the link.

Click to expand...

Drat! I didn't save that link. Has anyone got it handy, before I embark on a massive forum search? The linked page looked like it was packed with info...
Failing that, Google will be my teacher.
Hey, Dogwood splits look like Cherry splits as far as the texture of the wood...maybe Dogwood will dry fast, even though it is more dense?

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Check the bark first.

Backwoods Savage said:

Check the bark first.

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I've only got a small amount of Dogwood cut right now, and I've separated out the stuff with very little or no bark. I'll monitor that to see if I can possibly burn it sometime this season.
There's quite a bit of dead or dying Dogwood that I can get here. I have a feeling that most of it will be for 2012, though...

Don't beat a dead dog Woody.

Backwoods Savage said:

Don't beat a dead dog Woody.

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I don't beat 'em, I bury 'em. I've got more of them planted around here than you can shake a stick at. Maybe that accounts for all the Dogwood trees here.