Ash (wood)

[Drumaz]

I did a quick search but couldn't find any other posts about this. A friend was over yesterday and I told him I was concerned about the amount of wood I had for this season. Little more than 2 cord... He asked if I had any ASH on my property. I had no clue so we looked around and found two trees that were perfect size. Easy to take down and get out of the woods. He said the ash could be burned "green" as long as it was mixed with the seasoned maple I have for this year. I'm leary about burning anything green. Thoughts on green ash ? thanks..

 

[smokinj]

yep hes right does better seasoned but can get you through the winter

 

[firefighterjake]

Well when you say "green" ash I assume you mean white ash that is unseasoned and green.

Thoughts on ash . . . technically it could be burned with little to no seasoning . . . but then again, so can any other wood . . . it just means you have to be more concerned about cleaning your chimney. White ash does start out with less moisture in the tree and as a result it does tend to season pretty quickly and I can tell you that more than one wood burner here has relied on ash to get them through that first year or so.

That said, I burned a lot of ash last year (along with a lot of dead elm) and what I realized pretty quickly was that even with three to five months of seasoning the ash would burn, but it still did not burn as well as the dead dead elm I had (standing dead with bark falling off) . . . it burned and burned OK, but the ash I've burned this year that was left over from last year has burned much, much better.

So, the answer is . . . yes, you can burn it, but it is most definitely not as good without seasoning it longer.

 

[Wood Duck]

I think you'd do about as well buying 'seasoned' wood, which won't be fully seasoned but I think will be about on par with live Ash, or searching for dead trees to cut. No, dead trees aren't necessarily fully seasoned, but I think average about as good as a live Ash tree. Whatever you cut, I'd burn it after the rest of your supply, when it has had a few months to season.

 

[efoyt]

Yes you can, mix it in with the rest of your wood and you will not even realize it is there. I added 3 ash treas to my mix last year and it burned great. Knock the tree's down first chance you get but don't cut it up right away,if thier are leaves still on it. If thier are leaves still on it leave the tree alone until the leaves start to shrivel and fall off. This will suck some of the water out of it. If the leaves are all ready gone cut and split as quickly as you can. Green, White Ash will burn beter then some tree's that have been set out to dry for a year.

 

[CTburning]

If you are worried about not having enough wood, cut down the couple of Ash trees that you have and get them split and hopefully covered in some way. If you run out in late February or March the wood still has 4 month's to season.

 

[Drumaz]

Thanks for all the advice. This would be for the end of the season so it would sit through the majority of the winter. Cords of "seasoned" wood are running in the mid to high 200's up here so taking that tree down saturday sounds like a better idea.

 

[rphurley]

If you are worried about not having enough wood, cut down the couple of Ash trees that you have and get them split and hopefully covered in some way. If you run out in late February or March the wood still has 4 month's to season.

I agree, but I'd just cover the very top and leave it exposed to the sun and wind if possible.

 

[Jack Straw]

Ash being "drier" seems to be a bit of a myth to me. Maybe it is because I have heavy clay soil that always seems to be wet. All I know is that I really need to dry my ash for a full year for it to be properly burnable. Just my 2 cents......

 

[joshlaugh]

I tried burning white ash the day I cut down the tree a couple of years ago. I didn't have any success with it, didn't burn good, and I couldn't get the fire very hot without mixing it heavily with other hardwoods. As someone else suggested I would cut the tree and season it as long as you can before using it. Ash is a great tree to limb out, split with a maul and burn. It is one of my favorites. Good luck

 

[gzecc]

If its white ash, it has about a 33% moisture content when green. The ideal MC for burning is below 20%. Ash will dry nicely in 4 mos with favorable conditions. Black locust is similar with higher btu's, if you have any of them.

 

[TreePapa]

I picked up a small load of green (fresh cut) Green Ash (as in type of tree) today. A very unscientific observation is that this wood must actually have a rather high moisture content, because there were some pieces that seemed to be 1/2 way seasoned, prolly 'cuz that branch had died, perhaps a few years ago. Anyway, those pieces were noticeably much much lighter than the rest of the wood, so I have to conclude that a lot of the weight of the green pieces is water.

I'm not sure this holds for other varieties of Ash, nor for other climate zones. I also know that in my experience, Ash seasons fairly quickly after being split.

Peace,
- Sequoia

 

[Drumaz]

Well, they are coming down this weekend. I already have a pile of wood I'm splitting for next year but that's going to have to wait. I'll let you all know how it goes... especially late in the season when I start burning it.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Drumaz, we have burned wood for more than a couple years now and have burned many different types of wood, including white ash. Naturally we are starting to burn more ash because they are all dying now. It hurts that the trees are dying but at least we know it makes excellent firewood. You will also love it because it splits so easy that a child can do it with ease.

One year, due to a move and the fact that physically I could not get wood put up we bought wood for the entire winter. We bought 100% which ash and it was not dead either. We kept warm that winter....but cleaned our chimney an extra time or three. We also had to be careful to not let the fire burn down too low because sometimes it could be hard getting the fire going. But the point is, we burned it right after it was cut and it heated our home well that winter. Sure, it took more wood to do the job but sometimes one has to make do.

I would hate to have to do that today but would in a pinch. I'd just be sure to check that chimney on a monthly basis and clean as necessary. This is also the reason I have a 7 year supply of wood on hand; so we can burn dry wood.

 

[Drumaz]

Drumaz, we have burned wood for more than a couple years now and have burned many different types of wood, including white ash. Naturally we are starting to burn more ash because they are all dying now. It hurts that the trees are dying but at least we know it makes excellent firewood. You will also love it because it splits so easy that a child can do it with ease.

One year, due to a move and the fact that physically I could not get wood put up we bought wood for the entire winter. We bought 100% which ash and it was not dead either. We kept warm that winter....but cleaned our chimney an extra time or three. We also had to be careful to not let the fire burn down too low because sometimes it could be hard getting the fire going. But the point is, we burned it right after it was cut and it heated our home well that winter. Sure, it took more wood to do the job but sometimes one has to make do.

I would hate to have to do that today but would in a pinch. I'd just be sure to check that chimney on a monthly basis and clean as necessary. This is also the reason I have a 7 year supply of wood on hand; so we can burn dry wood.

Thanks BS - Cudos to you for piling up 7 yrs worth of wood in a few years. I haven't been able to get that far ahead!! Hopefully I'll be in better shape next year as I have put together about 3 or more cord that I'm splitting now. I'm rallying some friends and the Ash trees are coming down this weekend!

 

[jrcurto]

How about standing dead ash? Tell me it is good to burn and I take mine down tommorrow!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

How long has it been dead? We cut some last winter that were basically dead, that is, there were a few leaves during the summer but not much. I would not hesitate to burn that right away. I do not know about moisture content as I have never used a moisture meter nor do I intend to. However, I do know enough about burning to know when the wood will burn decently. Dead ash should fall into this category.

 

[jrcurto]

I have ash trees that were completely dead three years ago, that died last year, and that died this year. When I first moved in, I dropped two that were over 48" diameter at the base. The ones I am looking at are 24" diameter, sweet. I would think that the oldest ones would burn nicely, I'll let you know.

 

[joshlaugh]

I have found that standing dead ash still needed some time to season. Dead Elm, on the other hand, was ready to go for me.

 

[firefighterjake]

I have found that standing dead ash still needed some time to season. Dead Elm, on the other hand, was ready to go for me.

Last year I burned some standing dead elm and I think I can safely say there is a difference between dead elm and dead-dead elm . . . the elm that had been dead for several years with the bark falling off or stripped away completely burned like a dream, but the elm that was dead for only a year still was a bit moist and had a lot of spluttering and spitting . . . and this year I cut live elm . . . and that would is wicked wet.

I also noticed a difference in the splitting. Live elm = tough, stringy, mangled lots of pieces. Dead elm (year) = some stringiness, some mangled pieces, Dead dead elm (dead for several years) would split cleanly and neatly with little effort.

 

[jrcurto]

Good points on splitting. When I split my first "green" white ash I couldn't believe how easliy it handled. I did most of it with spliiting mauls and an occasional wedge. One whack usually cracked 24-36" rounds right in half.